Question
Salaam Muti Abdur Rahman
I just have a few questions
1)My parents are my partner follow innovations off the disbelievers ignorantly such as birthday parties bridal showers Etc I have been told hat if you follow these beliefs off the disbelievers you are one of them?Does this take them out of the fold off Islam?
They also follow these so-called religious innovations such as milaads and khatams Do you follow all of these innovations religious and non-religious ignorantly without knowing the reason behind them they believe that there is no harm in following them as they hold no religious aspects anymore and with the religious innovations that they are just doing more worship and because they are so common in the subcontinent I want to know the ruling on such individuals who ignorantly commit these acts have they left the fold of Islam?
2)Is saying statements such as “why is this happening to me why is it me stuck in this problem why me” is this kufr? as you are not acknowledging that it is Allah who put you in this situation
and statements such as” if only I could go back and change this or if I could go back I wouldn’t make this decision” is this also kufr
3) when you sin and you know that you are sining but you enjoy it, is this haram or kufr. You compliment it, and enjoy it knowing its haram-like music and smoking.
Answer
1. A person being deemed a Muslim or non-Muslim is dependent on the beliefs they hold.
If a person rejects the essential tenets of the faith or holds beliefs that are contrary to these tenets, they will no longer be Muslims. For example, believing the Prophet ʿIsa (may Allah bless him and give him peace) to be God will render a person non-Muslim as belief in one God, Allah Most High, is a necessary aspect of faith.
As for carrying out acts of religious innovation (bidʿah), this will result in a person being sinful. However, in and of itself such actions will not take a person out of the fold of Islam, as long as the act does not entail rejection of the essential tenets of Islam as mentioned above.
Based upon this, some common practices and their categorisation is as follows:
There is a common misconception that if an act is not taught by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) it automatically becomes a religious innovation. This is not correct. Rather, the act itself will need to be taken into consideration as well as the intention for carrying out that act.
The same applies to cultural practices. Not all practices of other cultures are by default unlawful. Rather, only if certain conditions are met will the practice be regarded as a religious innovation and thus sinful.
Some of these conditions are as follows:
– When the act conflicts with the Islamic method of doing that same act. For example, keeping a grave flat as opposed to having a small hump.
– When there are aspects of the practice which conflict with the teachings of Islam. For example, the act involves people of the opposite sex mixing together or being in seclusion with one another, or people not covering themselves correctly, listening to music, etc.
– When the intention is to imitate, resemble and be like non-Muslims.
– When the act is taken from the practice of another religion.
– When the practice is not taught by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace), yet the individual believes is to be a Prophetic practice (sunnah) or compulsory within the religion.
One would have to take these factors into consideration when ruling on an issue and determining whether or not it falls within the prohibition of unlawful imitation and whether or not it can be classed as a religious innovation.
As for the cases mentioned in your question such as birthdays, one would have to look at the specific event. If it does not fall into one of the above-mentioned categories then the practice can be permissible even if it was not practiced at the time of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace). We will be releasing a detailed write-up on birthdays and other cultural celebrations on the Fatwa Centre website in due course.
2. One of the tenets of faith is to believe in Allah’s decree. One must understand that Allah the Almighty is not questioned about what He does. Allah the Almighty says in the Qur’an:
‘He will not be questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned.’
Therefore, one must be careful about the statements they make during times of difficulty. It is permissible to complain to Allah the Almighty about the difficulties one is going through and seek help from Allah the Almighty. However, one cannot question Allah the Almighty as to why He has inflicted them with the difficulty they are going through. Doing so could conflict with the verse quoted above and take a person out of the fold of Islam. If such statements were uttered one should re-new their faith by reciting the kalimah and repent to Allah the Almighty.
3. A person will be sinful for carrying out an unlawful (haram) act and must repent to Allah the Almighty. Enjoying the sin will not take a person out of the fold of Islam. However, considering the sinful action to be permissible may take a person out of Islam. For example, if a person drinks wine and enjoys it they will be sinful but will not come out of the fold of Islam. If however, they consider it permissible to drink wine then this would take a person out of the fold of Islam, because the prohibition of wine is established explicitly in the Qur’an. If however, the sinfulness of the action is not established via definitive proof then a person will be sinful but may not necessarily fall out of the fold of Islam.
متن الطحاوية (ص: 49)
وَأَصْلُ الْقَدَرِ سِرُّ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِي خَلْقِهِ لَمْ يَطَّلِعْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ مَلَكٌ مُقَرَّبٌ وَلَا نَبِيٌّ مُرْسَلٌ وَالتَّعَمُّقُ وَالنَّظَرُ فِي ذَلِكَ ذَرِيعَةُ الْخِذْلَانِ وَسُلَّمُ الْحِرْمَانِ وَدَرَجَةُ الطُّغْيَانِ فَالْحَذَرَ كُلَّ الْحَذَرِ مِنْ ذَلِكَ نَظَرًا وَفِكْرًا وَوَسْوَسَةً (1) فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى طَوَى عِلْمَ الْقَدَرِ عَنْ أَنَامِهِ وَنَهَاهُمْ عَنْ مَرَامِهِ كَمَا قال الله تَعَالَى فِي كِتَابِهِ: (لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ) [الْأَنْبِيَاءِ: 23] (2) . فَمَنْ سَأَلَ لِمَ فَعَلَ؟ فَقَدْ رَدَّ حُكْمَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَنْ رَدَّ حُكْمَ الكتاب كان من الكافرين
For Allah Almighty has hidden the knowledge of taqdir from His creation and has prohibited them from seeking it, as said by Allah Almighty in His Book, ‘He will not be questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned.’ Whoever asks why He did something has rejected the judgment of the Book, and whoever rejects the judgment of the Book is among the unbelievers.
الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (6/ 349)
قلت: وفي البزازية استماع صوت الملاهي كضرب قصب ونحوه حرام لقوله – عليه الصلاة والسلام – «استماع الملاهي معصية والجلوس عليها فسق والتلذذ بها كفر» أي بالنعمة فصرف الجوارح إلى غير ما خلق لأجله كفر بالنعمة لا شكر فالواجب كل الواجب أن يجتنب كي لا يسمع لما روي «أنه – عليه الصلاة والسلام – أدخل أصبعه في أذنه عند سماعه» وأشعار العرب لو فيها ذكر الفسق تكره اهـ أو لتغليظ الذنب كما في الاختيار أو للاستحلال كما في النهاية
Answered by:
Ifta Research Fellow
Checked & Approved by:
Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Mufti Zubair Patel