banquets and celebrations when their favourite team wins a tournament
or cup. What is the ruling on these banquets and what is the ruling on
attending them for one who is invited?
Praise be to Allah.
The fatwa on this issue must adopt a middle linebetween the basic
permissibility of such banquets and taking into account the reality of
the situation and the motives that people have concerning such matters
and the consequences to which they may lead, so as to find the right
answer and the moderate approach that will bring good to people and
avoid hardship at the same time. Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted,says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Allah does not want to place you in difficulty, but He wants to
purify you, and to complete His Favour on you that you may be
thankful"
[al-Maa'idah 5:6].
By examining this matterand the motives and consequences of
holdingbanquets and celebrations for the fans of sports teams we will
find many mistakes and things that are contrary to sharee'ah, or at
the least there are many badhabits, including the following:
1.
Wasting money on things that are of no benefit. Allah, may He
beglorified and exalted, will ask us about this blessing and His many
blessings. He will ask us about our wealth, from where it was acquired
and on what it was spent. Ibn Mas'ood (may Allah be pleased with him)
said: Wastefulness means spending inappropriately. Narrated by
at-Tabaraani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabeer, 9/206. We do not think that any
of those who give these banquets claim that they serve a purpose or
are done for an appropriate reason; rather they know that they are
extravagance and excess, and they are a reason to waste one's life in
causes that are of no use. See the answer to question no. 137954
2.
These banquets fill people's hearts with hateful partisanship and they
create resentment in the fans' hearts against one another, so they
increase division amongst people, and increase them in weakness and
decline. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation
of the meaning):
"and do not dispute (with one another) lest you lose courage and your
strength depart"
[al-Anfaal 8:46].
3.
As for being a waste of time and sapping the mental and physical
energy of those who follow sports teams, this is something that fills
one with regret and sorrow. We are expecting our ummah torise up and
play a leading role in civilization and play an eminent role in
carrying the beacon of guidance, but when we see these practices we
realise that our dawn is still far off and that our society has not
yet reached the levelrequired to achieve true revival; it will never
reach that level until all the energy of the youth is focused on
constructive efforts. Our backwardness in relation to other
nationsrequires us to increase the time we put into ourefforts and to
focus all our energy in a constructive manner on all fronts.
We do not say that this applies to all fans and we do not say that all
the things they do are haraam; rather there arethings that are
contrary to Islam that we are afraid they will fall into and that
their carelessness may lead them to unknown consequences. If we pause
and think about what has been happening, that is sufficient to realise
how much time has been wasted in irrelevant matters. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "No people attend a
gathering in which Allahis not remembered and they do not send
blessings upon their Prophet, but it will be loss and regret for
them;if He wills He will punish them and if He wills He will forgive
them."
Narrated by at-Tirmidhi in as-Sunan, no. 3380. Heincluded it in a
chapter entitled: Chapter on people who sit and do not remember Allah.
Following the report he said: This is a hasan hadeeth. It was
narratedvia more than one isnaad from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be
pleased with him) from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him). End quote.
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, no. 2274
As Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to say, "The
worst of food is the foodof a (wedding) feast to which the rich are
invited and the poor are ignored," (narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5177;
Muslim, 1432), it is more apt to say that the worst of food is that to
which people are invited for reasons of hateful partisanship and
illusoryjoy. The fuqaha' stated that it is makrooh to attend banquets
given by people for the purpose of showing off and pride. See Nihaayat
al-Muhtaaj, 6/370. It saysin Kashshaaf al-Qinaa' (5/166): Ibn al-Jawzi
did not allow accepting the invitation of an evildoer or one who
showed off by holding this banquet. The same applies if it involves
any laughing at evildoing or lying, because that constitutes approval
of sin. It also applies if he knows that some evildoers will attend
that banquet, if they are going to speak of haraam things, in which
case the invitation involves something haraam, and if they are going
to speak of makrooh things, then it involves something makrooh.
Endquote.
To sum up: we think thatit is makrooh to hold such banquets and it is
also makrooh to attend them. On our website wehave previously
published a number of fatwas that cover the topic of supporting sports
teams and the bad practices and habits involved. - And Allah knows
best.
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