RELATIONSHIP WTH
NON-MUSLIMS
Salaam
alaikumWarahmatullahwabarkatuh noble scholars, brothers and sisters in Islam.
Praise is for Allah the
knower of the unseen and the controller of the affairs of man. There is nothing
in the heavens above and the earth below that initiates a motion except by the
permission of Allah.
I bear witness that,
there is no god worthy of Servitude except Him. He is alone without any
partners! I also bear witness that Our Master Muhammed is his servant and
messenger, may the Salutation of Allah be upon Him, his household, his
companions and those who follow them in good till the day of judgement.
I deem it a great
privilege to be invited once again to benefit this noble group with the little
knowledge Allah has granted us, the topic before us today is “Relations with Non-Muslims”.
The human is by nature
social, there is always this yearn for interaction with one another. Doing away
with it will therefore mean going against what Allah has ordained for us.
Imagine yourself alone in
a room for three months without any means of communication, how would you feel
when you have something to say but no one to say it to? You will begin talking to yourself and that
will be your descent into madness.
Beloved in Islam, we
never take a step except we know the ruling of Islam on it. What does Islam say
about relating with non-Muslims?
It is enshrined in the
Shariah that, Humans are one big family. We are from one origin, one mother and
father as Allah stated in Surah Nisah verse one “O
Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, who created you from a single person (Adam),
and from him created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and
women…”
Allah also stated to us
in Surah Hujurat verse 13 on the equity between humans and said “Oh mankind, we created you from male and
female, and have made you nations and tribes so that you may know each other
and verily the best amongst you is the one who has the consciousness of Allah”
From these two verses we
get to know that, Allah recognizes us to be one family with a point of
distinction, which lies with Allah! This leads us to the point that, someone’s disbelief in Islam does not negate his
humanity. Therefore, Islam as comprehensive as it is sets for us ways of
relating and living with non-Muslims in our societies.
We shall look at 6 points
which surrounds our basic interactions with non-muslims.
How to greet non-Muslims
This point will deal with
how to initiate greeting with a non-Muslim and the permissibility of responding
to their Salaam.
To begin with, it is
permissible to initiate a greeting with a non-Muslim (But not with Salaam).
This is proven from the action of the SahabiibnMasood who used to greet the
non-Muslim by waving “Alqamah
(rahimahullaah) narrated: “AbdullaahIbnMasood
greeted the non-Muslims by waving.”Reported
by al-Bukhaaree in al-Adab al-Mufrad, 1104. This proves greeting non-Muslims by
other than Salaam is permissible. NB: This is for initiating a greeting.
Responding to the salaam
of a non-Muslim is also permissible per the following evidences.
“Al-Bukhaaree
reported in al-Adab al-Mufrad (no. 1101) with an authentic chain of narration:
Abu ‘Uthmaan an- Nahdee
(rahimahullaah) said: “Abu
Moosaa (radiyallaahu‘anhu) wrote to a non-Muslim
and greeted him with salutations of as- Salaam in his letter. So it was said to
Abu Moosaa, “You greet him whilst he is a
non-Muslim?!” He replied, “Indeed he wrote to me, and he greeted me, so
I greeted him in return.”
It also has been reported
by al-Bukhaaree in al-Adab al-Mufrad (1107) and IbnJareer at-Tabaree in
at-Tafseer (10,039) via two chains of narration from Sammaak, and Ikrimah, from
IbnAbbaas (radiyallaahu‘anhumaa)
who said: “Respond to the greeting of
salaam upon the Jew, the Christian, or the Magian in accordance to the verse of
Allah where he said “And when you are greeted
with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return
It”
These evidences prove
that, we can respond to the salam of non-Muslims, when we hear the clear
wording of the salaam.
The response
"Waalaika" was commanded by the Prophet when the Jews changed the
wording to "Assaamualaika". So
when the wording is clear then it's permissible to respond.
The next point
Good Neighborliness to
Non-Muslims
I hope brothers and
sisters are following
We are enjoined as
Muslims to be good neighbors no matter the faith of the person. Being a good
neighbor means, you do not harm him, give him charity
If he is poor, give him
gifts and advise him in that which is in his benefit because all of this will
give him a desire for Islam and be a cause of him entering it. That is due to
the fact that the neighbor has rights in Islam.
The Prophet (salallaahu‘alaihiwassallam) said: “Jibreel
did not cease to exhort me concerning the neighbor until I began to think he
would inherit from me”.
This shows the importance
of being Good neighbors by the general meaning of this hadith.
So if the neighbour is an
unbeliever, he still has the rights of a neighbour and if he is an unbeliever,
a neighbour and a relative then he has two rights: the rights of a neighbour
and the rights of a relative. And it is legislated to give charity to the
neighbour who is an unbeliever, and to one who is not a neighbour other than
Zakaat, so long as he is not at war with him, due to the saying of the Most
High: “Allah does not forbid you to
deal justly and kindly with those who did not fight against you on account of
Religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who
deal with equity.”
The Prophet and the
sahaba proved this by their actions.
We shall only one cos of
time
Quote
Abdullaah b. ‘Amr (radiyallaahu‘anhumaa)
mentioned that he slaughtered a goat or sheep and then said to his servant: “Did you send some to our Jewish neighbour?
Indeed I heard the Messenger (salallaahu‘alaihiwassallam)
say: “Jibreel did not cease to
exhort me concerning the neighbour until I began to think he would inherit from
me!” (An authentic naration, see
Al-Irwaa, 891.)
This is Abdullah ibnAmr
putting the hadith into practice. May Allah give us the ability to do same.
The next point is
"Accepting Gifts from non-Muslims"
It is authentically
reported that the non-Muslims would send gifts to the Prophet (salallaahu‘alaihiwassallam) and he would accept them,
and in return he would send them gifts. Imam Al-Bukhaaree has a chapter
heading: The chapter of Acceptance of Presents from the Pagans. Abu Humaid
(radiyallaahu‘anhu) narrated that the king
of Aila sent a white mule to the Prophet (salallaahu‘alaihiwassallam),
and the Prophet (salallaahu‘alaihiwassallam)
sent him a garment and wrote to him a confirmation of the treaty concerning his
country (Reported al-Bukhaaree 2615). Note: This acceptance of gifts does not
include the gifts given in the celebration of their festivals.
Acceptance of gifts on
their festivals will mean we're endorsing their Kufr, the Muslim must stay away
from this and find a polite way to reject the gift.
May Allah guide us
We move to the next point
Visiting Sick non-Muslims
It is also permissible as
a Muslim to visit non-Muslims who are sick per the ahadith of the prophet; we
shall quote one to this effect.
It was narrated in Saheeh
al-Bukhaari via HammaadibnZayd from Thaabit from Anas (may Allaah be pleased
with him), who said, “There
was a Jewish boy who used to serve the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him). He fell sick, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) came to visit him. He sat at his head and said to him, ‘Embrace Islam.’
(The boy) looked towards his father, who was with him. (His father) said, ‘Obey Abu’l-Qaasim
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).’
So he embraced Islam, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) went out saying, Praise be to Allaah Who has saved him from the Fire”.
We shall refrain from
explanation cos of our time.
We move to a very
important point, which is friendship with non-Muslims.
Friendship with non-Muslims
Allah has forbidden the
believers to take the disbelievers as friends, and He has issued a stern warning
against doing that.
Allah says “O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the
Christians as Awliyaa’
(friends, protectors, helpers), they are but Awliyaa’
of each other. And if any amongst you takes them (as Awliyaa’), then surely, he is one of them. Verily,
Allaah guides not those people who are the Zaalimoon (polytheists and
wrongdoers and unjust)”
[al-Maa’idah 5:51]
ShaykhMuhammedAmeen
al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
In this verse Allaah
tells us that whoever takes the Jews and Christians as friends is one of them
because of his taking them as friends. Elsewhere Allah states that taking them
as friends incurs the wrath of Allah and His eternal punishment, and that if
the one who takes them as friends was a true believer he would not have taken
them as friends.
We should note that, this
doesn’t negate the fact that we
should be kind and nice to them. May Allah give us comprehension?
Refraining from Insulting
their Faith
Allah the Most High has
stated in the Holy Qur’an:
“Insult not those who worship
others besides Allah lest they insult Allah without knowledge...” (An’aam
verse, 108)
From the above verse of
the Holy Qur’an, it is clear that those
people who follow a religion besides Islam cannot be mocked or insulted for
doing so, even though Islam does not allow the worship of any deity besides
Allah the Almighty.
In view of this fact, the
teachings of Islam are that, even in this matter it is incumbent upon a Muslim
to respect the beliefs of other religions even though they are not in
conformity with the Islamic ideology. However, this does not mean we should
confirm their faith as being true as some Muslims fall into these days. The
one, who accepts the belief of the non-Muslims as true, becomes a disbeliever
by consensus (Ijmaa).
Conclusions
Having said all of the
above, this kind treatment, gentleness and justice, and calling the non-Muslims
to Islam necessitates that one bear in mind the following important points:
A Muslim is forbidden
from worshipping alongside non-Muslims in their places of devotion, or
participating in their rituals, rites, festivals, mournings and celebrations.
2. Muslims do not
participate in interfaith forums wherein Muslims are invited to accept that
Judaism and Christianity are Monotheistic religions –
and as such our beliefs are virtually one and the same. Rather a Muslim calls
the Jews, Christians and others to Islam, to Tawheed, to the worship of Allah
alone, upon the guidance and Sunnah of the Prophet (salallaahu‘alaihiwassallam).
3. A Muslim does not
glorify the religion of the unbelievers, nor praise their idols or their
practices that are in opposition to Islam. However, there is no harm in
mentioning the justice of a non-Muslim if there is a benefit in that, as the
Messenger (salallaahu `alaihiwassallam) said concerning the Christian King of
Abyssinia, “for indeed there a king
there who does not oppress anyone.”
It is not permitted to glorify individuals amongst the non-Muslims and look up
to them as heroes or examples to be followed by the Muslims, whether they are
footballers, leaders, movie actors or musicians! Our examples are the Prophets
and Messengers and their true believing Disciples with the finality of them,
and best of them being Muhammad and his disciples.
4. A Muslim does not
congratulate the non-Muslims on their religious occasions or celebrations in
opposition to Islam such as Christmas Day, Thanks Giving, birthdays,
anniversaries, etc. On these occasions one neither gives them gifts nor accepts
them, but politely declines and explains as to why a Muslim does not
participate in such practices –
because the Lord of creation has clarified for us that He alone is to be
worshipped and the practices of worship are legislated by Him through the
guidance of the Prophets, and this ritual was not practiced by the final
Prophet (or even by the
Prophets who were sent before him), and by Muslims participating or
acknowledging them would be to contradict the Divine Revelation.
Giving gifts, and
greetings on other days is permitted as the texts indicate – and as scholars such as ShaikhAbdullaah
al-Ghudayaan (rahimahullaah) have stated, that on Eid or in Ramadaan gifts can
be given to the non- Muslims as a display of kindness.
6. It is permitted to
respond to a non-Muslim to words of truth and praise that he utters concerning
Islam, and this does not necessitate that a Muslim has agreed with his religion
or his tyranny, or that he has betrayed the Muslims!
7. One is permitted,
rather encouraged, to use polite courteous tones with non-Muslims that he is
inviting to Islam by good conduct, just as occurred with Moosaa (‘alaihi salaam) and the Pharaoh.
8. One should respond to
the greetings of Salaam of a non-Muslim if his words are clear.
9. Being kind to them and
just with them should not prevent one from explaining Islam and the beliefs of
a Muslim, and to speak against Polytheism.
10. Speaking to
non-Muslims gently does not necessitate honoring or glorifying their religions.
11. Oppression towards
Muslims and non-Muslims alike is forbidden, even if that means failing to
respond to a greeting in kind!
12. In one’s speech with non-Muslims, it is not
permitted for a Muslim to degrade Islam or to compromise one’s faith, or to praise the false deities and
false religions – and every religion besides
Islam is false and everything that is worshipped besides Allah is false. But
knowing and affirming that did not prevent the Prophets Moosaa and Harun
approaching the Pharaoh with gentle words as they were commanded.
13. There is no harm in
transmitting the truthful statements of the unbelievers who are in positions of
influence so that those non-Muslims who look towards their figureheads may be
attracted to Islam. That is because it shows the non-Muslims that, “those to whom you look up to have
acknowledged the goodness of Islam and have asked you to look into this
religion.” This may direct many of
them to look into Islam and embrace it –
and guidance of the hearts is with Allah.
And Allah knows best
Salaam alaikumWarahmatullahwabarkatuh
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