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Particular practices shirk or Not?

Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalaamu alaykum wa Rahmathullaahi Ta’Ala Wa Barakaathuhu I thought this Question is important because this is connected to SHIRK, which is the MOST HEINOUS CRIME. Which of the following should I consider to be Holy or special and of more respected than any ordinary thing? In what way should I consider the following items and how can I respect these so that I don’t commit SHIRK ?

 

1. Zam-Zam Water (can I believe that drinking Zam-Zam water can protect me from danger or can bring me any benefit )

 

2. Dates,other fruits from Mecca

 

3. Prayer Mats, Counters, Counting Chains purchased at Mecca

 

4. Prayer Mats, Counters, Counting Chains purchased elsewhere Is it Shirk if I eat (NOT treating special ) 1. Food, sweets which they distribute at Mosques during Laylathul Qadr 2. Food, sweets which they place before them during their recital of Moulood and fatiha( I do object to Moulood,Fatiha for dead family members, but elders don’t listen to me ) 3. The packets of sweets which send by Mail from Nagoor, Ajmer and other sweets from Dargah.( I do Not believe in Dargah prayers nor do I visit them but elders do not listen ) How should I respect the 1. picture of Kaaba 2. pictures of other Important sacred places in Saudi 3. pictures of any mosques anywhere else in the world 4. Audio/video cassettes, cd, vcd which contains Quran or hadeeth if they do not have any sacred text on them.

 

5. Is it wrong if I lay my feet on my computer processor in which I have saved quran or hadith (because it is placed near my feet ) Is it wrong if I throw into the dust bin 1. Wedding Invitations which contain Bismillaahi Al-rahmaani Al-raheeymi in Arabic or in English. 2. Visiting cards of persons which contain words like Abdul Gafoor, Muhammad, names of sahaabis etc. Please excuse me if I have asked anything that is of very trivial importance. Please answer my Question with refernce from Quran/hadith so that I can show to others and also please tell whether such habits of respect were followed by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and please tell me which of the following of the above are SHIRK. Thank you very much. WAssalaam  

 

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Answer:

 

Particular practices shirk or Not?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

As you have rightly said, in the sight of Allah Subhanah, the most heinous of all sins is ‘shirk’ or associating, invoking, worshipping or sharing of any of Allah’s Attributes with anyone or anything else. This sin of ‘shirk’ is so heinous and so monstrous, that Allah Subhanah has declared this sin unforgiveable on the Day of Judgment, and made Paradise haraam for those who die while in the state of shirk.

 

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 72:

Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking anything with Allah), Allah shall forbid for him Paradise, and Hell shall be his abode. And for such wrong doers there will be no one to help.

 

Allah says in the Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48

Shirk (associating other deities with Allah) is the only sin that Allah does not forgive, and He forgives, whomsoever He pleases, sins other than this. For whosoever associates any other partner with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie and commits the most heinous sin

 

All the prior communities that were destroyed in the times gone by were all destroyed and annhiliated by the All Mighty Lord, because they were engrossed in this most heneous of all sins in the sight of Allah; ‘shirk’!!!

 

Q-1. Zam-Zam Water (can I believe that drinking Zam-Zam water can protect me from danger or can bring me any benefit )

The water of the Zam Zam well are indeed blessed by Allah Subhanah. But by itself, the Zam Zam waters cannot protect anyone from any danger, nor can they bring any benefit to anyone. We, as believers, must drink, wash, or use this water in the manner it was used by the Messenger of Allah (saws).

To believe that anything or anyone other than Allah can protect or benefit us, is a form of shirk.

 

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 10 Surah Yunus verses 106-107:

And do not call besides Allah, any being that can neither do you any good nor any harm. For if you will do so, you shall be one of the doers of wrong. If Allah afflicts you with a calamity, there is none to remove it, but He Himself. Likewise, if Allah wills to bestow a favor on you, there is none to withhold Allah’s bounty. He bestows His bounty on anyone of His servants He wills. And He is The Forgiving, The Merciful.

 

Q-2: Dates,other fruits from Mecca

Again, like the water of the Zam Zam well, the dates or fruits of Makkah might have their own inherent qualities of being a particular fruit, which are beneficial to the ones who eat them. But they should not be considered holy, simply because they have originated from the holy city of Makkah.

 

Q-3: Prayer Mats, Counters, Counting Chains purchased at Mecca.

Q-4. Prayer Mats, Counters, Counting Chains purchased elsewhere

One may use the prayer mats, counters, or counting chains or beads according to their qualities. But just because they have been brought from Makkah, does not make them holy or things with baraka or shifaa! These things may be used for their usefulness, and nothing more. Even if these things were purchased from some place else on earth, they would have the same usefulness as the ones purchased from Makkah.

 

Q-5: Is it Shirk if I eat (NOT treating special ) 1. Food, sweets which they distribute at Mosques during Laylathul Qadr

If someone is distributing food on a particular night for the pleasure of Allah, that food is absolutely legal for the believers to consume.

 

But if someone is distributing this food in the name of some holy man or grave, etc. or in any name other than that of Allah Subhanah, it would not be halaal for the believers. The one who distributes such food in the name of some holy man or grave, and for earning the pleasure of some personality, dead or alive, is involved in shirk. The one who eats this food, and believes that he will be blessed by the grave or person in whose name the food is being distributed, will also be involved in shirk!

 

 

Q-6: Food, sweets which they place before them during their recital of Moulood and fatiha( I do object to Moulood,Fatiha for dead family members, but elders don’t listen to me )

To make a celebration and a feast out of the Mulood or Fateha are not from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), and thus an innovation or bidah in the deen of Islam. The believers must avoid going or taking part in these gatherings, leave alone eating the food and sweets which are being distributed there.

 

Q-7: The packets of sweets which send by Mail from Nagoor, Ajmer and other sweets from Dargah.( I do Not believe in Dargah prayers nor do I visit them but elders do not listen )

The Durgahs are the modern temples of shirk! The food or sweets that come from any of these Durgahs are forbidden as food for the believers, as someone else’s name have been associated with this food distribution other than the One Lord of the Worlds.

 

Q-8: How should I respect the 1. picture of Kaaba

The Kaabah and the Sacred Mosque are holy and worthy of honor, because they house the Sacred House of Allah. Any picture of the Sacred House must be looked upon only as a picture. To bow down to the picture, or to kiss the picture, or do any rite of worship towards the picture would be a form of shirk! A picture should be treated like a picture, and not the actual place.

 

Q-9: pictures of other Important sacred places in Saudi.

Q-10: pictures of any mosques anywhere else in the world

Treat it like a picture, nothing more! And do not treat it like the real place.

 

Q-11: Audio/video cassettes, cd, vcd which contains Quran or hadeeth if they do not have any sacred text on them.

Treat them with the respect that they hold the sacred words of Allah and His Messenger (saws), and see and hear them and obtain guidance from them just as a believer would obtain guidance from reading the actual Quran and Hadiths.

 

Q-12: Is it wrong if I lay my feet on my computer processor in which I have saved quran or hadith (because it is placed near my feet )

Because the computer processor is honored to hold the Sacred Words of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one should avoid putting his feet on them; just as a believer would never lay his feet on the Glorious Quran or the Books of Hadith. But if one unintentionally does lay his feet upon the computer processor, there is no harm; provided he had no intention of dishonoring the Divine Words.

 

Q-13: Is it wrong if I throw into the dust bin.

Q-14: Wedding Invitations which contain Bismillaahi Al-rahmaani Al-raheeymi in Arabic or in English.

Q-15: Visiting cards of persons which contain words like Abdul Gafoor, Muhammad, names of sahaabis etc.

If there is a page or pages which have the Divine Words of the Glorious Quran written on them, it would be prudent to shred them, rather than simply throw them into the dust-bin. But if he does throw them in ignorance, without the intention of dishonoring the Divine Words of Allah, there is no harm.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

 

Your Brother in Islam,

 

 

Burhan

 


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