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Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and may He bless and grant peace to our Master Muhammad, the Faithful and the Honest, and may Allah bless his folks and companions.
Islamic ruling is what really counts:
Dear brothers, by a grace from Allah the Almighty, I always try to choose subjects for our Sunday lessons that tackle the causes of Muslims’ suffering. It is unusual how many celebrations Muslims have nowadays. This issue is not a trivial one. It is rather a serious issue; it is a matter of belonging and not belonging, and it is about allegiance and abandonment.
Applying all Shara’e (rituals) of Allah the Almighty, but imitating the other’s lifestyle, the way of celebrating ceremonies, the way of grieving, everyday behavior and the way people deal with each other weakens the Muslim’s belonging to this religion and strengthens his belonging to something else. Importing those things from the other party makes the Muslim less proud of his religion. He seems to be believing in one religion and abiding by something else. I would like to refer to the Islamic ruling concerning this issue in our lesson today. None of the Muslims, no matter how knowledgeable he is, is qualified to legislate. The Islamic rulings should be taken from Quran and Sunna. These rulings should be based on the Shar’e. Thus, the personal points of view are worthless in religious matters. You are a creature who was created by a Great Creator, so all what you have to do is to follow the instructions of the Creator; to do things that you have to do and keep away from the things that you are not allowed to do.
Scholars have agreed upon the fact that sharing the other party’s celebrations means admitting one of their rituals. Consequently, a Muslim will incline to the other party, take its side and like it. Whoever loves non-Muslims will be resurrected with them, and all his deeds will be worthless then.
The following ayah is very precise and clear:
﴾ O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and polytheists, etc.) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth (i.e. Islamic Monotheism, this Qur'an, and Muhammad)﴿
An Eid (a fest) of any nation is one of its distinctive characteristics. It is integrated into its beliefs, cultivation, and lifestyle. Hence, upon sharing the festival of a non-Muslim nation, its ceremonies, its grieving habits,, its customs, its traditions and lifestyle, one will be tending to it, showing affection towards it and eventually loving it subconsciously.
Neutral matters were avoided by the Prophet PBUH:
Again; an Eid is one of the distinctive characteristics of every nation, and its rituals can be best manifested in the Eid. It is well known that the first mission of our Prophet PBUH is to order us to do the things which draw us closer to Allah, and to stop us from doing the things which drive us far from Him. However, he did not comment on matters of neutral nature. These matters don’t bring us nearer to Allah, nor do they drive us far from Him. Listen what he said in that respect:((You know better the affairs of your worldly life.))
Wearing dark-colored clothes or bright colored ones have to do with your own personal taste. Sometimes the climate itself plays a role in deciding what to wear; the bright colored clothes reflect the sun rays in counties of the hot climate, whereas the dark colored clothes absorb the sun rays in countries of cold climate. People differ in their tastes concerning food, houses, and furniture. These are neutral matters, and they have no significant effects.
All the matters which the Prophet PBUH didn’t mention have no positive or negative effects. He did not mention them to have mercy on us. It is up to you to sit on the ground while eating or use a table of a medium height or a one of a high height because this is a matter of taste. Such matters are related to customs, traditions, behavior and income. The Prophet PBUH ordered us to do
whatever draws us closer to Allah, and to stop doing whatever drives us away from Him. There is a profound wisdom behind being uncommunicative of some matters.
The matters which the Prophet PBUH ordered us to do will bring us closer to Allah and will grant us happiness and safety, while the ones he PBUH ordered us to keep away from will drive us away from Allah if we do them, and will cause us torment and doom. As for the matters, which the Prophet PBUH did not comment on are neutral ones. He did not comment on them not because he forgot to do so, Allah forbid. He PBUH never spoke about certain issues nor did he postpone the clarification of them out of his own desire; the Prophet PBUH was always guided by the Divine Revelation.
Thus, we are not allowed to celebrate the festivities of the other party. Your participation in the other party’s celebrations is not a trivial issue; it means that you belong to it, and by the passage of time you start to show affection towards it. You will end up following its Aqidah and religion.
Some ayat about our relation with non-Muslims:
Dear brother, if we want to refer to the proofs which the Islamic ruling is based on, we will have a lot of them, but to be fair I will first reauthor some ayaht which show you how your relation to the other party should be:
﴾ So long, as they are true to you, stand you true to them.﴿
In another ayah:
﴾ Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity.﴿
In a third one:
﴾ and let not the hatred of some people in (once) stopping you from Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah) lead you to transgression (and hostility on your part). Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety)﴿
Who are the people that you hate? They are the other party, and your hatred shouldn’t lead you to be unjust to them. The Divine order in this respect is to be just to them, because this will bring you nearer to piety. In fact, Allah answers the supplication of the unjustly treated person, even if he is not qualified for being answered to, and even if he doesn’t fulfill the requirements of Allah’s answer. It is not a question of being qualified or not, rather it has to do with Allah’s Justice.
((Beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and Allah))
Beware of the supplication of the oppressed person, even if he is Kafer (infidel.) The supplication of the needy is answered as well, even if he is not qualified for the Divine answer. Again, this is not a question of being qualified or not, rather it has to do with Allah’s Mercy. Hence, the supplication of the oppressed person is answered because of Allah's Justice, even if this man is Kafer. Also the supplication of the needy person is answered because of Allah’s Mercy, even if he is not qualified to be answered.
Do not accept an Aqidah that is against the Quran and Sunnah:
You can greet them, visit them, congratulate them when they have a newborn baby, give them gifts and advice if you deal with them. These are duties of Muslims, yet you are not allowed to approve the creed they believe in, which goes against the Noble Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah.
Accordingly, you are not allowed to celebrate a religious occasion, which consolidates an Aqidah that is against Quran and Sunnah. As a Muslim you should not be inflexible, stubborn, narrow-minded or intolerant. The Prophet PBUH stand up for a funeral of one of the People of the Book, so his companions asked him, “"Do you stand for his funeral?" He replied, "Is not he a human being?"
Do not be narrow-minded or intolerant. You can visit them, deal with them and even enter their temples, which is one of your duties. However, you are not allowed to imitate their lifestyle. I will repeat what I mentioned two days ago about an ambassador in the most powerful country (USA.) That man was appointed an ambassador in East Europe, in Romania. According to the ceremonial protocols of assigning an ambassador, a farewell party is held in the State of Department the Secretary of the State should attend that party. The wife of the ambassador should attend as well, for it is a great day. The surprise was that the ambassador had no wife, he had a same-sex spouse instead (he is gay). He is now the ambassador in Bucharest. Having a gay ambassador is something very normal in such great country. I will give you another example; it is about an English princess, who died in a car accident and was supposed to be the queen of England. In a press conference that was broadcasted on ten T.V channels and watched by eighty million people, that princess stated with an innocence of a little child, that she had committed adultery seven times. She said that once in the stable with someone and another time with someone else and so forth. For those people it is normal to commit such a sin. The Secretary of State for Health in the UK boasted about being gay. Do you know what the mission of the minister of health is? It is to fight against AIDS which is the most dangerous disease at all. Do you have an idea about the main causes of this disease? It is homosexuality. Homosexuals in the USA and Britain are promoted to the highest positions. You might find a mayor who is gay. Do you think we can get along with their lifestyle? This is impossible.
Let me tell you a story about a guy who wanted to get married. He fell in love with a girl but his father told him, "O son, you cannot marry this girl, because she is your sister. Your mother does not know that." He fell in love once again with another girl, but his father told him the same thing. He fell in love for the third time with another girl, but his father told him that she was also his sister. The young man was disappointed, so he told his mother about the whole thing. She said, "You can marry the girl you fall in love with, because you are not his son and he does not know that."
Taking the side of non-Muslims is a very serious matter:
Can we get along with those people? Is it logical for an expert to come back to his homeland after being far from his wife for two years and celebrate his newborn son? What a celebration is this? Whose son is this? If you have a friend like this person, you will not be able to get along with his
lifestyle nor will you be satisfied with his behavior. It is dangerous to be loyal to non-Muslims, to belong to them, to show affections towards them and to glorify them. You should always be by the Muslims' side even if they are weak and poor, and you should not belong to the other party even if its people are powerful and rich. Let me show you how we imitate the other party. I would like to start with the word "Bye," what is this word?
I will give you an example which is realistic. A TV channel once had a talk show about the Expedition of the Trench (Ghazwat al-Khandaq) Listen what the interviewer, who was a woman without Hijab, said at the end of the show, "Merci beaucoup to Allah who has given victory to Mhammad and his group (she meant his companions) in Al Khandaq Expedition." That is exactly what she said. She did not even use the correct vowels when she pronounced the name of the Prophet PBUH; she should have pronounced it like this; Muhammad. Hence, instead of saying "Bye," use the Islamic expression: Assalam Alaikum (peace be upon you.) Make your greeting an Islamic one, and apply the Islamic teachings to your family. Do not have birthday parties for your children, because it has nothing to do with the Muslim's lifestyle. You can celebrate the birthday of the Prophet PBUH him instead. Let us not argue about it as being an act of Sunnah or an innovation, Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ And all that We relate to you (O Muhammad) of the news of the Messengers is in order that We may make strong and firm your heart thereby﴿
As the birthday of the Prophet is coming soon, let me tell you that one should be moderate in celebrating this occasion. You should not be among those who are against celebrating it, nor should you be among those who commit sins while celebrating it.
It is a call to Allah to tell people about the traits of the Prophet PBUH:
A brother from an Islamic country used to pray at this Masjid. What attracted my attention about this man was his shinny face, his regular attendance of my lessons and his regular attendance of my lectures on Fridays, on Sundays and at dawn prayer. He lived nearby, so I invited him once to my house and he accepted my invitation. I am not exaggerating if I tell you that the man seemed to be pious and righteous. While he was in my house, it was about time for a wedding which I had to attend. I couldn’t apologize to him and cut this meeting short, so I asked him, "Will you come with me?" His reaction was unbelievable; he refused strongly to come with me saying, " I seek refuge from Allah to attend." I asked him, "Why?" He answered, "Because a lot of sins are committed there."I said, "What sins are you talking about? Come with me. The hall where the wedding is taking place is at the end of the road. There will be a Munshid (singer of Islamic songs) whose song is about the attributes of Allah. I will deliver a speech, and there will be refreshments. "I swear by Allah, he was astonished when he saw that the wedding was exactly what I described to him. He said, "I thought that there will be dancers and singers." I assured him that there will never be such a thing. Allah says:
﴾ And all that We relate to you (O Muhammad) of the news of the Messengers is in order that We may make strong and firm your heart thereby﴿
The heart of the Prophet PBUH, who is the Master of mankind and the beloved to the Haqq (Allah the Right), used to become strong and firm when he listened to a story of one of the Prophets, may Allah have peace and blessings upon them. Thus, the believer who feels that his heart has been weakened by this worldly life should listen to the biography of our Prophet PBUH, his traits, his attributes and his method. His heart will be affected and will be firm once again. If people gather to listen to your speech which revolves about the traits of the Prophet PBUH, this will be considered as part of the call to Allah. We can find the proof in the following ayah:
﴾ Or is it that they did not recognize their Messenger (Muhammad) ﴿
﴾ Say (to them O Muhammad): "I exhort you on one (thing) only: that you stand up for Allah's sake in pairs and singly, and reflect (within yourselves the life history of the Prophet): there is no madness in your companion (Muhammad)﴿
Festivities reflect the orientations of the nation and its Aqidah:
It will be fine for you to gather people and remind them of the traits of the Prophet, his method and his attributes, and serve refreshments while doing so. The Prophet PBUH said:((Kind speech and feeding (the hungry) guarantee you Paradise. ))
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, may allah have peace and blessings upon him said,
((Verily there are chambers in Paradise; their insides and outsides can be seen – for him who spoke kindly and fed (the hungry).))
Are you committing a sin then? Are you doing something prohibited? Are you doing a kind of innovation? Of course you are not. However, if you say that celebrating the birthday of the Prophet PBUH is an act of worship, then it will be an innovation. Such celebration is part of the call to Allah, and it is an occasion that can be celebrated all the year round, not only on one specific day. You can remind people of the traits of the Prophet PBUH, his attributes, his biography, his favors, and the Sunnah. Not to mention that you may serve refreshments. It is fine when you intend to do these things as one of the Islamic activities. Yet, you are mistaken if you claim that this celebration is an act of worship. The celebration of festivities in a nation expresses its distinctive characteristic, its creed, its values and its orientations. Listen to the proof clarified in the following ayah:
﴾ O you who believe! Take not My enemies and your enemies (i.e. disbelievers and polytheists, etc.) as friends, showing affection towards them, while they have disbelieved in what has come to you of the truth (i.e. Islamic Monotheism, this Qur'an, and Muhammad)﴿
Here is another ayah:
﴾ verily, the disbelievers are ever unto you open enemies.﴿
Here is a third one:
﴾ and follow not the way of the Mufsidun (mischief-makers)."﴿
The believer is dutiful to his mother everyday not only on Mother’s Day:
Is it acceptable for a woman to show up among men as if she is on her wedding day? No it is not acceptable in Islam. In non-Muslims’ societies women mix with men, and they drink wine and commit many other Munkarat (sins), Allah says:
﴾ and follow not the way of the Mufsidun (mischief-makers)."﴿
In another ayah Allah says:
﴾ And if any amongst you takes them as Auliya', then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allah guides not those people who are the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers and unjust).﴿
I am telling you this because people now are celebrating what is called "Valentine’s Day." When did this particular day become one of our Eids? Why did everything suddenly become red? What is the story behind this so-called Eid? We do not need such an Eid in our societies, we do not need for a day to be a Mother’s Day either. By Allah dear brother, in the life of the Muslim every day of the 365 days is actually the Mother’s Day. If the Muslim is a true believer, cannot he honor his mother every day? Some children honor their msh3er every day and evening; they visit them, respect them, satisfy their needs and kiss their hands. This is how Muslims should honor their msh3er.
Once I stayed in my friend's house when I was in a western country. A fifty-five year old woman lives next to his house. That woman had to drive an hour and a half to get to her job and had to drive the same distance when she got home. Let alone; that she worked for eight hours in ticket booth in a game center. Had she stopped working, she would have been starving. She had to work although she had four children who lived in the same country. On the other hand, our msh3er as being Muslims are honored, dignified, served and have their hands kissed every day; in the morning and in the evening.
Hence, every single day of the year is the Mother’s Day in our society, while in the western societies they dedicated one day, because they are undutiful to their msh3er. We, Muslims, do not need this day
Difference between life in the West and the one in our country:
A brother told me that once he went to Germany, but he couldn’t find vacancy in any hotel. Therefore, he was obliged to rent a room in a house owned by a sixty year- old woman. He said that he had never seen more beautiful garden than the one of that house. The owner of the house used to keep her house clean and tidy, used to bake sweets, and cook delicious food in order to convince
her children to visit her once a year. He said, "When I was there, they apologized to her for they could not come. She cried her eyes out, saying that she worked hard on that garden just to convince them to come and visit her."Where does that leave us? We have our dinner in our parents' house every evening. If one day passes without visiting our parents, they will call us immediately asking about the reason. Notice how the children of that mother –in Germany- refrained from visiting her even once a year. The brother went on saying, "I went to the market and got her a present, but that made her cry even more." We have a law in Syria that does not allow for anyone to work according to his PH.D that he has got abroad, unless his baccalaureate was got in Syria. Those who did not study the baccalaureate have to study certain subjects to get a certificate that equals the baccalaureate. They will be tested in four subjects (Arabic, Geography, History and other subjects in order to occupy a job in Syria. I was appointed to mark the exam papers of the Arabic language. A man knocked my door and said, "I am a doctor and I have got my license at Cambridge University. I used to have a clinic and a huge income. I had Jaguar there, but I intended to come back to my homeland (Syria). May you help me please to pass the test I had yesterday?" I answered him, "By Allah, no one fails in my tests, because I am convinced that we are in dire need to bring our best minds back home. It is only a formal test, but may you tell me please why did you decide to come back to your homeland (Syria)?" He said, "I used to live in a four-story building in London. As you know London is very cold in winter. One day the people who lived in that building found out that their neighbor in the fourth story had been dead for six months. We could not discover that earlier, because of the cold weather, and because his department was well locked. When the smell of his dead body spread in the whole building we decided to break in his house only to find him dead. He had four children in London, but none of them thought of visiting him during those six months. I was afraid that I might have the same destiny if I stayed there."
In Syria you will find your children around you to look after you. The father is well-respected and the mother is well-revered.
Another brother, who traveled to France on a mission, said to me, "While I was wandering around I found a disoriented young man standing by the Seine River. I wanted to practise my French language by asking him, "You are distrait. What is the matter?" He answered, "I am thinking of killing my father." Our brother asked him, "Why?"The young man said, "I loved a very beautiful young girl, but my father fell in love with her and now she is his girlfriend." Can this happen in Syria? No it cannot. In Syria father’s first priority is to get his children married. He may sell his house in downtown in order to buy them houses in the suburb to live in. Fathers do all that out of their duties to their children. It is so hard to have a common ground between them and us (as societies). This is my point of view.
It is impossible to be part of the non-Muslim community:
San Francisco is the most beautiful city in West USA. A whole villa costs 300 thousand Dollars in the suburb, and in the downtown a 100meter square house costs five million Dollars. Yet seventy five percent of the people there are homosexuals. A woman lives with a woman as her spouse and a man lives with a man. This is what makes immersing in such society very difficult. You are mistaken if you celebrate their festivities, if you look up to them, if you consider them pioneers and
outstanding people and if you think that they are civilized peoples. By Allah we are the owners of best civilizations at all. When we opened Al Quds, no one was killed from the other party. A woman lost her child at that time, so our Master Salahuddin kept worried until her child was found. In contrast to what our Master did, the Francs killed seventy thousand Muslims in one day when they entered Al-Quds. If you listen to the news you will find out that one thousand innocent people were killed because of the shelling during the last two days. Tens of thousands people are dead because the bombardment went on. Killing people has become just like slaughtering sheep (people kill each other mercilessly). The killer doesn’t know why he killed, and the victim doesn’t know why he was killed. On that day, a believer’s heart will melt because of the scenes of killing, but he will not be able to change the situation for the better.
A Khateeb in Germany said a month ago that Britain was the first country which allowed homosexuality. Holland was the second, and Germany followed those countries few months ago. The homosexual person is well-respected there, he has a national security number, he has a spouse and they both are registered normally in the records as husband and wife. When that Khateeb condemned homosexuality on the Minber (pulpit) of the Masjid in Germany, his citizenship was canceled, and he was obliged to pay fifteen thousand Marks as penalty. I have chosen these facts in order to show you how difficult it is for a Muslim to blend in with their society. Here are some proofs from Quran:
﴾ and follow not the way of the Mufsidun (mischief-makers)."﴿
What do we do in our Eids? We congratulate each other, we obey our Lord and we revere Him. How about them? What do they do? They turn off lights at midnight, and what next? Only Allah knows.
Ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet PBUH said:
((Whoever resembles a people, is one of them))
Allah has forsaken the believers for very good reasons:
By Allah, I once came into a Muslim’s house to find that he had a bar although he did not drink wine. He had that bar just because they had one in their houses. By Allah, in some Islamic countries, they love to drink apple juice in bottles that are similar to the bottles of wine. If they are not allowed (by Islam) to drink wine, they put apple juice in bottles that look like the bottles of wine. These bottles have the same colors and the same shape. Is not that a kind of looking up to them (to the West?)
Abu Sa’id Al Khudri, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The Prophet PBUH said:
((You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, p by p and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you would follow them." We said, "O Allah's Apostle! (Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians?" He said, "Whom else?"))
Is it rational for Muslims to allow their daughters and wives to put on exposing clothes that are designed by a Jewish designer in France? How are young girls and women dressed in streets nowadays?
((You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, p by p and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you would follow them."))
It is the fashion to wear faded jeans. The jeans are weaved first, dyed in blue and at last it is faded. You will be considered backward if your jeans are not faded or not ripped with strings. As for women, their bellies should be seen, otherwise they are considered backward. . Some people think that this is how civilized people should be. I tell you that if you wonder why Allah has forsaken us, you should realize that there are good reasons for that.
((You will follow the ways of those nations who were before you, p by p and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch) so much so that even if they entered a hole of a lizard, you would follow them."))
We should be grateful to Allah for worshipping Him only:
In Another Hadith that was narrated by Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him:
((The Prophet PBUH said, "The Hour will not be established till my followers copy the deeds of the previous nations and follow them very closely, p by p, and cubit by cubit (i.e., inch by inch)." It was said, "O Allah's Apostle! Do you mean by those (nations) the Persians and the Byzantines?" The Prophet said, "Who can it be other than they?"))
There are detailed proofs in texts, Allah says:
﴾ And those who do not witness falsehood, and if they pass by some evil play or evil talk, they pass by it with dignity.﴿
Some scholars and interpreters said that the meaning of "Do not witness falsehood," is that they do not believe in the festivities of Kuffar (the other party). In India, for example, when a man passes away, he is burnt with his living wife. Our great Islam allows the widow to inherit her deceased
husband after and to remarry again, whereas the religion in India orders her to be burnt alive with her dead husband. In India they worship the cow, so they place its dung in the guests’ room. If a cow enters a grocery store and eats expensive fruit, the grocer will be very pleased, because according to his beliefs the god visits him and eats his fruit. Dear brother, by Allah you should be grateful because you are worshipping Allah. A brother showed me an article in a magazine which was about the people who worship mice in India. It was mentioned in the article that there is a very luxurious temple full of hundreds of mice.
A brother in LA took me to a temple, which is located seventy miles far from the city. When I reached there, I saw a temple whose building cost is about six million Dollars (equals three hundred million Syrian Pounds.)It is located in the middle of a beautiful forest, and on the gate of the temple, they placed a coconut cracker. I asked about the reason, and they said that their God loves to eat coconuts. When I entered the temple, I found an idol made of Bronze, and a million dollar worth diamond is placed on its chest. Next to it, there were three other idols. I was astonished when a man who seemed to be well-educated entered the temple and suddenly laid face down in front of the idol (prostrating). When I asked about the coconuts and who ate them, I was told that the gods eat them at night. Obviously, they are eaten at night because the priests ate them and not the gods as the worshippers believe. Although the whole thing is superstition, you can find educated people among the worshippers.
Any vow by which we disobey Allah is invalid:
One should be grateful to Allah for his Aqidah is right.
In Japan, which is the first industrialized country, they worship male genital organ.
One of our brother, who lived there for a long time could visit their temples and saw what was going inside. He saw how they worship the genital organ of man. You see how great our religion is. We, Muslims, worship Allah, and we are blessed that we have the Devine Revelation and we have the complete and righteous Divine Method to follow:
﴾ And those who do not witness falsehood, and if they pass by some evil play or evil talk, they pass by it with dignity.﴿
It means that they do not admit the festivals of the other party. Narrated by Anas Ibn Malek, he said:
((The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) came to Madeenah, and the people of Madeenah had in Jahiliyah (pre-Islamic period) two days of play and amusement (they are the day of Niarooz (New Years Day) and the day of Maharajaan (Final Day of the Year). So, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) said: "I came to you and you had in Jahiliyah two days of play and amusement. Indeed, Allah has replaced them for you by that which is better than them: The day of Nahr (slaughtering) and the day of Fitr (breaking fast)."))
Narrated by Thabet Ibn Al Dahhak, he said:
((A man vowed to sacrifice some camels in Buwaanah. He came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, "I have vowed to sacrifice some camels in Buwaanah." The Prophet Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, "Were there any idols there that were worshiped during the Jaahiliyyah?" He said, "No." He said, "Did they hold any of their festivals there?" He said, "No." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Then fulfill your vow, for there is no fulfillment of any vow which involves disobeying Allah, or with regard to something that the son of Adam does not own.))
Accordingly, if someone vowed not to pray, what should he do? Do you think he should fulfill his vow and stop praying? No, he should not. You can never fulfill any vow which involves disobeying Allah, Allah says:
﴾ To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way﴿
In the chapter that is entitled The Undesirability of Sharing Polytheists Their Religious Festivities and Imitating Them in Celebrating Niarooz and Maharajaan, Al Baihaki narrated in an authentic Hadith that Ata’a Ibn Dinar narrated that Umar Ibn Al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "Don’t jargonize like Persians in your speech."
So if they say: "OK" or "Bye," then we are using their jargon. There are lots of similar words that are used by the high-class people.
We should be proud of our religion and our Eids:
The controlling idea of our lesson today is that all Muslim scholars agreed upon forbidding copying Kuffar and attending their festivities. Some of them went even further by saying that whoever cuts a watermelon on their festivity, it will be like slaughtering a pig. I have chosen this subject for our lesson today, because I have seen how Muslims, who are blessed with Quran, Sunnah, Divine Revelation, Prophetic method and heroic events which only Allah knows about, celebrate the festivities of the other party. These festivities, like the Valentine's Day, are their innovations not ours. I have heard many stories about this particular day, but I did not want to mention them for I could not have the chance to verify them. I will tell you about these stories insha’ Allah once I finish my research on them.
We can find what satisfies us in Quran, Sunnah and Sirah (Prophetic Biography). By reading these great books our emotions, hearts and thoughts will be filled with values, principles and great ideas. Whatever drives you away from the core of this religion is dangerous to your life, and whatever brings you closer to the core of this religion, is beneficial to your life. Don’t be taken by the illusion that this religion is only the five pillars; Salah (prayer), Sawm (fasting), Zakat (Alms-giving), Hajj (pilgrimage) and the Two Shahadas (Bearing witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad PBUH is His Messenger). If this is religion in your opinion, then you know nothing about it. I am not exaggerating when I say that there are about 500 thousand items (between orders and bans) in Islam.
You (as Muslim) have your Eids, your values, your method, your laws, your system, and your Share’e (Islamic Law). You have the solution for every problem that people suffer from, so why should you forsake this great religion and imitate what the other party? Take for example wedding ceremonies; it becomes a custom that the groom sits beside his bride in front of women who are dressed immodestly, who did legislate this? We should kick away all customs which go against the Right Path of Islam. Is it acceptable to film all these women who are dressed immodestly? Don’t they have husbands? When these tapes are sent as gifts, won’t the husband ask who these women are? Won’t he comment on the beauty of this woman and that one? Won’t he comment on the daughter of such person and the wife of another? Is this how religion should be?
A brother, who seems to be not in control of his house, told me that in his daughter’s wedding, he tried hard to prevent filming it, but he couldn’t. Thus, he asked the female photographer, "How much do you want for filming the wedding?" She answered, "Two thousand Pounds. " He said, " I give you four thousand Pounds, but film the wedding without any tape."Everybody thought that the wedding has been taped, but they found out later that it wasn’t.
We should keep away from everything that goes against our religion. We should do that firmly not by begging. The believer should always abide by Allah’s book (Quran):
﴾ "O Yahya (John)! Hold fast the Scripture [the Taurat (Torah)]."﴿
We shouldn’t go soft in applying Islam, like what we do in our wedding ceremonies and in our marriage contracts. I ask Allah for good health to all of you, and I supplicate Him that this lesson will help us dignify our religion, our Eids, our traditions, our customs, and our own lifestyle and I supplicate Him that this lesson will help us stay away from whatever weakens our belonging to this religion. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds and may He bless and grant peace to Muhammad, the Faithful and the Honest. O Allah bestow your blessings upon us and do not withdraw them from us, honor us and do not humiliate us, choose us and do not choose sh3er over us, and grant us satisfaction and be pleased with us. O Allah, send Your Blessings on our Master Muhammad, the illiterate Prophet and his family and companions.
