Valentine’s Day is an example of the types of festivals we have mentioned above. This is because it is a festival practiced by the idol-worshippers from the Christians and it is not permissible for a Muslim, someone who believes in Allaah and the Last Day, to do the same acts they do or to approve of it or greet people and congratulate people due to it. Rather, it is obligatory for us to abandon all practices connected to it and to stay away from it, replying to the commands of Allaah and His Messenger and to prevent ourselves from falling into the Anger or Punishment of Allaah.

Likewise, it is also Haraam for a Muslim to give any significance to this festival, or any other festivals that are Haraam for us, such as exchanging food or drink or from buying and selling or making or giving out gifts. The prohibition also includes us sending messages or making announcements or anything similar to this, on the occasion of this festival. This is all because cooperating in sin and transgression of the limits of Allaah is a sin and disobedience to Allaah and His Messenger, as Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted, says;

“Help you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment.”

[Maaidah 5:2]

Therefore is obligatory upon the Muslim to hold fast to the Kitaab and the Sunnah in all of the aspects in his/her life, especially in the times of trials and tribulations and the spread of corruption has increased. It is also obligatory for him/her to be attentive and protect themselves from falling into the misguidance and gaining the Anger of Allaah themselves or from being misguided by the sinner, those who don’t seek to please Allaah or have dignity and they don’t know anything from Islaam. It is also incumbent upon the Muslim to resort to Allaah, the Most High, in seeking guidance from Him and to be steadfast upon it as there is no guidance except from Allaah and there is no one who can make one form except Allaah, the Glorified and the Exalted.

And Allaah is the Source of all Strength and May the Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon His Messenger.

Permanent Committee for Research and Religious Rulings

President
Shaykh Abdul-Azeez bin Abdullah bin Muhammad Aal ash-Shaykh

Member
Shaykh Saaleh bin Fawzaan al-Fawzaan

Member
Shaykh Abdullah bin Abdur-Rahmaan al-Ghudayaan

Member
Shaykh Bakr bin Abdullah Aboo Zayd

Fataawaa Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saaleh al-’Uthaymeen
[May Allaah Mercy on him]

Answer: It is upon the Muslims to do four things;

Firstly, it is upon the Muslims there to explain that this act of the Muslim youth has nothing to do with Islaam. This is because Islaam prohibits drinking alcohol and the reason for this incident was because of them contradicting the rules set in Islaam. Therefore it is necessary for us to explain this matter to them; what they did has nothing to do with Islaam and its teachings.

Secondly, it is also equally important to firmly establish to the non-Muslims that Islaam prohibits its followers from harming others. It is also against the teachings of Islaam to go against the laws and regulations that the country has set out for you to follow. Those people who enter the country with a visa or they live there, then it is necessary that they abide by the rules of the country.

Questioner: Shaykh, most the Muslims living there are citizens and they don’t have visa.

Shaykh Sa’d: Even those who are citizens. If you live in a country then it is binding that you live by the laws of that country because these are the regulations that the government has set out, such as a highway code etc. for the betterment for its citizens, so it necessary that we follow these rules in order for this goal to be achieved.

Thirdly, fighting or going to war with other citizens that live in the UK is not allowed for us to do. Calling for fighting is a sole right for the leaders of countries and it is not left to the decision of individuals. This is due to the statement of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] said, “The leader is a shield for his community, you follow his commands and he protects you from harm.” Based on this, it is not correct for an individual to decide that he is going to fight with others, even if he had a group and got permission from the government to fight with these people and to call to it, it would still not be permissible for them to fight.

Fourthly, the last piece of advice I give to the Muslims there, is to be sincere and try do good deeds to others, seeking to get closer to Allaah, The Exalted and Glorified. Allaah, The Exalted and Glorified, gives the believers who do good for other people a great reward in the Dunya and in the Aakhira , this is to compensate them for good deeds that they did. So I call on the Muslims in the UK to be like the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] as their situation is similar to his when he was getting oppressed and faced hardships in Makkah before Hijrah. So it is upon them to study the Seerah or the biography of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] and to learn how he dealt with harm that was afflicted upon him and how he dealt with those who tried to stop his Da’wah and how he dealt with all the different types of hardships and difficulties and despite this being the reality he was still merciful towards. 

Questioner: May Allaah grant you with good, would it be then permissible for the Muslims to cooperate with the police and the government in general in order to ward off any harm to themselves?

Shaykh Sa’d: Cooperate is of two types, this is taken from the statement of Allaah, The Exalted and Glorified;

“And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression”

[Maaidah 5:2]

So if you are cooperating with them in doing acts of righteousness and piety and upon upholding the rights of people and bringing about betterment then this is what the Shariah dictates we should do. In fact, this Ayah was revealed in connection to the Muslims and their cooperation with non-Muslims. For Allaah, The Exalted and Glorified, says:

“O you who have believed, do not violate the rites of Allah or [the sanctity of] the sacred month or [neglect the marking of] the sacrificial animals and garlanding [them] or [violate the safety of] those coming to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and [His] approval. But when you come out of ihram, then [you may] hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.”

[Maaidah 5:2]

Question: What is the ruling on this new type of Salaat that they have created, calling it Salaat al-Fujaa’ah [The Sudden Prayer]. In explaining what it is; some of the Muslims in the UK have called other Muslims to gather in their cities in well-known areas like the market place, and they all pray a well-known Salaah, like ‘Asr prayer for example, at the same time in their respective cities. They chose New Years’ Day 2012 to do this. They state that the reasons for doing this are four;

1)     They are calling to Allaah

2)     They are uniting the Ummah

3)     They are starting the year with prayer so it will be a year of prayer

4)     It can be a recreational act for the youth

What is the ruling on such an event?

Answer: Whoever seeks to do this then they are trying to do something good and they are trying to benefit the people. However, our religion is based on following the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] and walking on his path, as Allaah, The Exalted and Glorified, says;

“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you should love Allah , then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.’

[Aal Imraan 3:31]

And as He, The Exalted and Glorified, says;

“And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from”

[Hashr 59:7]

And as He, The Exalted and Glorified, says;

“There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.”

[Ahzaab 33:21]

These Ayaat prove that the way we worship Allaah can only be done in the manner that the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] had done and taught us. Based on this, if someone was to look into likes of the Salaah, they will find that they are not following the way of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him]. They are not following him in the aspect of their timing, the place they are gathering and as a result praying Salaah in this manner is not in accordance with the way of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] or his guidance. Therefore, a prayer such as this is not legislated and it’s not done in the correct way.

If the slave knows that Allaah is the Lord, All-Honour and All-Sublime, He Knows best for His slaves and He is Glorified, the One Who Knows how to spread this religion in its true reality and its best form, therefore He has ordered us to follow a specific way when it comes to worship and He has told us the best way to attain these goals that have been mentioned in the question, is by following the Shar’.

So I advise the Muslims there to be diligent in following the religion of Islaam in the best and most perfect manner and to make it apparent, and this will be cause for the non-Muslims to enter the religion of Islaam. The way they can follow Islaam and make it apparent can be done in ways:

Firstly, for the Muslims to be united, having one call and negating any forms of splitting, to follow the Kitaab and the Sunnah and use it as a yardstick for them to follow and use it to resolve their problems, whether this be on a larger or an individual scale.

Secondly, the Muslims should seek ways to create ease for each other and to treat people with the best of conduct, and a result this will be a cause of the goodness of Allaah to be placed upon them and for their hearts to be united.

Thirdly, the Muslims, due to their excellent conduct and righteousness, should be a cause for people to be guided to Islaam in their religious and worldly affairs. Therefore, they should seek to resolve problems that they have with non-Muslims and they should be a cause of good deeds spreading so that the hearts of the people will be affected positively.

Fourthly, the Muslims should be strong in having the Akhlaaq that Islaam teaches us to have, whether this is connected to contracts and oaths we have or in the laws and regulations they have or beware of consuming the wealth of others in a wrong manner, or all the manners that the Shariah promotes when it comes to Akhlaaq, that our monotheistic religion has come with.

If the Muslims stick to and follows these matters and they stick to following their religion then this will be a cause for people to return to the religion of Allaah and it will be a cause for the non-Muslims to be guided to the religion of Islaam.

I  remember the statement of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him], “Whoever does a deed that is not in accordance to our religion then it will be rejected” meaning the doer of this deed will find this deed rejected and Allaah, The Glorified and Exalted, will not accept it from him.

Who are the saved sect?

They are called the saved sect (firqutun najiyah) because they are saved from bidah in this life and the fire in the next life.Sheikh ul Islam described them as saying” so the intent of Ahlu sunnah(specifically) is Ahlu hadeeth (the people of hadeeth) and the people of the unadulterated sunnah.One is not to be included in within it except those that affirm the attributes of Allaah, The Exalted and says “The Quran is not created” and says Allaah will be seen in the hereafter affirms the divine decree and other well- known matters according to the people of hadith and sunnah.(minhaj us sunnah vol 2 p.163)

Based upon the above statement of Sheikh Islam and what i have researched of the aqeedah of the Ibadhis I can safely say the Ibadhis are from the 72 astray deviant sects that have been threatened with the hell fire if they dont repent from their falsehood and return to the truth,According to my research they hold a mixture of deviant creeds such as the mutazilah and the khawarij and other sufi beleifs.I have included a table below to show some of the major differences between Ahlu sunnah wal jamah(the saved sect) and the Ibadhis.

The essence of this pledge and agreement was that all the signatories would not refute each other and agree to cooperate with each other for the sake the benefit of the Muslims in the West and they would put their differences in Islaam aside.

From the fruits of this pledge is that we have witnessed Deobandi Imams such as Zahir mahmoud on the IERA platform which can be found here . Abdurraheem Green who is a trustee and chairman of IERA was from the early callers to the Salafi Dawah in the early nineties. The questions is why has he and those similar to him who were from the early pioneers of Dawah Salafiyah chosen this new methodology of cooperating in dawah and sharing platforms with people who are upon clear misguidence ?

A Principles of the Muslim brotherhood (Ikwanul Muslimeen)

Some of the students from the Islamic University of Madeenah approached some of the scholars of Madeenah and asked them about this pledge. The first Scholar that was approached concerning the pledge was Shaykh Alee Naasir Faqeehee (a lecturer at al-Masjid an-Nabawee and the Islaamic University of Madeenah, and Head of the Department of Knowledge Related Affairs at the King Fahd Quraan Printing Complex) on the 22nd of Ramadhaan 1428.

The Shaykh, may Allaah preserve him, mentioned a number of points which are worthy of reflecting upon – for all:

After reading it, the Shaykh began by stating that: “This is not the first, second, tenth or even hundredth time that an attempt such as this has been made. For a long time efforts have been made in order to produce such a formula, the only thing that differs is the method and the wordings. It should be known that achieving the objectives of such a pledge is impossible; it is like shooting a stray bullet that will never reach its target. How can (a pledge such as) this be possible, bringing together people of different theological backgrounds that are contradictory to each other?!”

The Shaykh described the basis for such a pledge as proceeding from the principle of “Let us co-operate amongst ourselves in the issues that we agree upon, and excuse one another in the issues that we disagree upon”.

In support of the Islaamic University of Madeenah, the Shaykh iterated: “Just because some of the co-signers (of “The Pledge”) are graduates from the Islaamic University (of Madeenah) does not mean that the methodology of the University is at fault. Rather, the methodology of the University is correct, however, the University cannot guarantee that all the students who graduate from it are or will remain upon the same methodology”.

In reference to the claim that “The Pledge” is specific to issues pertaining to the West, the Shaykh vehemently rejected this by saying: “Their claim that this is a Western issue and that Major Scholars elsewhere do not need to be involved: We say to them that the same Islaam you have over there in the West is the same Islaam we have here. What is false and contradictory to Islaam over here is also false and contradictory to Islaam over there. Islaam is suitable for all times and places”.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Haadee al Madkhalee was approached regarding the pledge on the 3rd of December 2007, and commented with the following…

…During these times that we live in, those who speak have become numerous; those who speak with knowledge, truth and adherence [to the Book and the Sunnah], those who speak with desires and evil intentions, and those who speak with ignorance. All three groups are present, and the callers to falsehood are more plentiful.

Do not be deceived that a caller to falsehood [4] is praised, has degrees or a high status in the life of this world, because this is of no significance. What is of significance is whether his speech is in accordance to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, may the Salaat and Salaam be upon him, and what his righteous Caliphs and companions were upon – may Allaah be pleased with them all.

Amongst the callers to falsehood who have graduated from here, the Islaamic Univeristy of Madeenah, is Yasir Qadhi. I severely warn you against him, especially as Allaah the Glorified has exposed him after he wrote this document that has reached us and propagated it over the internet. He gathered with others and signed a pledge in which – from the beginning to the end – revolves around one point; dissolving Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah in the midst of the people of innovations, removing their character and extinguishing their identity.

Indeed this document that has reached us, that was signed by a number of people and propagated over the internet; it is falsehood, misguidance, injustice, oppression and ignorance [repeated 3 times]. It only serves the people of desires and is an injustice to Ahlus Sunnah. It is an obligation to be wary of it, to not listen to it, accommodate it, unite upon it and make excuses for it. All of this is in contradiction to the methodology of Ahlus Sunnah and what they are upon, those who are upon what the Messenger of Allaah and his companions, may Allaah be pleased with them, were upon.

He is calling to the methodology of Ahlus Sunnah, as he states himself, with the general understanding of term ‘Ahlus Sunnah’, meaning that all the other misguided groups are included in it, we seek refuge with Allaah from that, as we seek refuge with Allaah from this misguidance.

The evidence has been established upon him as he studied in the Islaamic University of Madeenah. I taught him in the faculty of Hadeeth, he once requested a sitting with me along with those who criticize him, so I agreed and informed him that I have no problem with that, and that was the last time I saw him. The point is that I never heard of him again until he entered the Masters program in ‘Aqeedah, and sadly, this is what is used by him and others to misguide a lot of people, saying that he is the student the scholars or that he graduated from the Islaamic University of Madeenah. But if this is the methodology that he is upon, the likes of this pledge that he and others have signed, by Allaah it would not benefit him if he graduated from within the Ka’bah! Because this is a false methodology, and being a student of such and such a Shaykh or studying at such and such a place does not justify falsehood, for those who taught him here have taught him the correct ‘Aqeedah, they didn’t teach him this falsehood.

In any case, we ask Allaah for safety, as we ask him to cause the Knowledge that we gain to be beneficial for us as well as yourselves in the life of this world as well as the next…(1).taken from www.madeenah.com

Shaykh Albani himself was asked about Unity and he explains this issue here.

Hamza Yusef one of the signitories of the agreement can be seen and heard calling to this false unity

Has refuting Ahluh Bidah become a dirty word 0r something that callers should feel shy about?

Listen to the words of our Sheikh Muqbil (Rahimullah)

posted by Jafar

The essence of this pledge and agreement was that all the signatories would not refute each other and agree to cooperate with each other for the sake the benefit of the Muslims in the West and they would put their differences in Islaam aside.

From the fruits of this pledge is that we have witnessed Deobandi Imams such as Zahir mahmoud on the IERA platform which can be found here . Abdurraheem Green who is a trustee and chairman of IERA was from the early callers to the Salafi Dawah in the early nineties. The questions is why has he and those similar to him who were from the early pioneers of Dawah Salafiyah chosen this new methodology of cooperating in dawah and sharing platforms with people who are upon clear misguidence ?

 A Principles of the Muslim brotherhood (Ikwanul Muslimeen)

Some of the students from the Islamic University of Madeenah approached some of the scholars of Madeenah and asked them about this pledge. The first Scholar that was approached concerning the pledge was Shaykh Alee Naasir Faqeehee (a lecturer at al-Masjid an-Nabawee and the Islaamic University of Madeenah, and Head of the Department of Knowledge Related Affairs at the King Fahd Quraan Printing Complex) on the 22nd of Ramadhaan 1428.

The Shaykh, may Allaah preserve him, mentioned a number of points which are worthy of reflecting upon – for all:

After reading it, the Shaykh began by stating that: “This is not the first, second, tenth or even hundredth time that an attempt such as this has been made. For a long time efforts have been made in order to produce such a formula, the only thing that differs is the method and the wordings. It should be known that achieving the objectives of such a pledge is impossible; it is like shooting a stray bullet that will never reach its target. How can (a pledge such as) this be possible, bringing together people of different theological backgrounds that are contradictory to each other?!”

The Shaykh described the basis for such a pledge as proceeding from the principle of “Let us co-operate amongst ourselves in the issues that we agree upon, and excuse one another in the issues that we disagree upon”.

In support of the Islaamic University of Madeenah, the Shaykh iterated: “Just because some of the co-signers (of “The Pledge”) are graduates from the Islaamic University (of Madeenah) does not mean that the methodology of the University is at fault. Rather, the methodology of the University is correct, however, the University cannot guarantee that all the students who graduate from it are or will remain upon the same methodology”.

In reference to the claim that “The Pledge” is specific to issues pertaining to the West, the Shaykh vehemently rejected this by saying: “Their claim that this is a Western issue and that Major Scholars elsewhere do not need to be involved: We say to them that the same Islaam you have over there in the West is the same Islaam we have here. What is false and contradictory to Islaam over here is also false and contradictory to Islaam over there. Islaam is suitable for all times and places”.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Haadee al Madkhalee was approached regarding the pledge on the 3rd of December 2007, and commented with the following…

…During these times that we live in, those who speak have become numerous; those who speak with knowledge, truth and adherence [to the Book and the Sunnah], those who speak with desires and evil intentions, and those who speak with ignorance. All three groups are present, and the callers to falsehood are more plentiful.

Do not be deceived that a caller to falsehood [4] is praised, has degrees or a high status in the life of this world, because this is of no significance. What is of significance is whether his speech is in accordance to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, may the Salaat and Salaam be upon him, and what his righteous Caliphs and companions were upon – may Allaah be pleased with them all.

Amongst the callers to falsehood who have graduated from here, the Islaamic Univeristy of Madeenah, is Yasir Qadhi. I severely warn you against him, especially as Allaah the Glorified has exposed him after he wrote this document that has reached us and propagated it over the internet. He gathered with others and signed a pledge in which – from the beginning to the end – revolves around one point; dissolving Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah in the midst of the people of innovations, removing their character and extinguishing their identity.

Indeed this document that has reached us, that was signed by a number of people and propagated over the internet; it is falsehood, misguidance, injustice, oppression and ignorance [repeated 3 times]. It only serves the people of desires and is an injustice to Ahlus Sunnah. It is an obligation to be wary of it, to not listen to it, accommodate it, unite upon it and make excuses for it. All of this is in contradiction to the methodology of Ahlus Sunnah and what they are upon, those who are upon what the Messenger of Allaah and his companions, may Allaah be pleased with them, were upon.

He is calling to the methodology of Ahlus Sunnah, as he states himself, with the general understanding of term ‘Ahlus Sunnah’, meaning that all the other misguided groups are included in it, we seek refuge with Allaah from that, as we seek refuge with Allaah from this misguidance.

The evidence has been established upon him as he studied in the Islaamic University of Madeenah. I taught him in the faculty of Hadeeth, he once requested a sitting with me along with those who criticize him, so I agreed and informed him that I have no problem with that, and that was the last time I saw him. The point is that I never heard of him again until he entered the Masters program in ‘Aqeedah, and sadly, this is what is used by him and others to misguide a lot of people, saying that he is the student the scholars or that he graduated from the Islaamic University of Madeenah. But if this is the methodology that he is upon, the likes of this pledge that he and others have signed, by Allaah it would not benefit him if he graduated from within the Ka’bah! Because this is a false methodology, and being a student of such and such a Shaykh or studying at such and such a place does not justify falsehood, for those who taught him here have taught him the correct ‘Aqeedah, they didn’t teach him this falsehood.

In any case, we ask Allaah for safety, as we ask him to cause the Knowledge that we gain to be beneficial for us as well as yourselves in the life of this world as well as the next…(1).taken from www.madeenah.com

Shaykh Albani himself was asked about Unity and he explains this issue here.

Hamza Yusef one of the signitories of the agreement can be seen and heard calling to this false unity

Has refuting Ahluh Bidah become a dirty word 0r something that callers should feel shy about?

Listen to the words of our Sheikh Muqbil (Rahimullah)

posted by Jafar