Arabs who call their priests "father" or of the foreigners who call
their religious leader the pope (a title derived from the Greek word
for father; cf. papa)?
Praise be to Allah.
There is nothing wrong with addressing a scholar or elderly man as
father, in the sense that his status is like that of a father in terms
of respect, not in the sense of blood ties.
Abu Dawood (8), an-Nasaa'i (40) and Ibn Maajah (313) narrated that Abu
Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "I am to you like a
father; I teach you."
(Classed as hasan by al-Albaani inSaheeh Abi Dawood).
In the Qur'an, the word father is used to refer to someone other than
a biological father, as in the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
"They said, 'We shall worship your Ilaah (God — Allah) the Ilaah (God)
of your fathers, Ibraaheem (Abraham), Ismaa'eel (Ishmael), Ishaaq
(Isaac), One Ilaah (God), and to Him we submit (in Islam)"
[al-Baqarah 2:133].
Ismaa 'eel was one of his (Ya'qoob's) paternal uncles, not one of his
(fore)fathers.
InFataawa Ibn as-Salaah(1/186) it says: Is it permissible according to
the Holy Book and the saheeh hadeeths to call someone "father" other
than the biological father?
He (may Allah have mercy on him) replied: Allah, may He be blessed and
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): "They said, 'We shall
worship your Ilaah (God — Allaah) the Ilaah (God) of your fathers,
Ibraaheem (Abraham), Ismaa'eel (Ishmael)..." [al-Baqarah 2:133], and
Ismaa'eel was one of his paternal uncles, not one of his
(fore)fathers.
And Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):"And he raised his
parents [abawayhi] to the throne"[Yoosuf 11:100], but his mother had
died previously. (The scholars) said that what is meant is his
maternal aunt. This is an example of the word abawayn (parents, lit.
two fathers) being used to refer to someone other than a biological
parent, which is a valid usage in Arabic.
Use of the word in this manner to refer to the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) or a scholar or an old man is acceptable
in terms of linguistic usage and meaning. From the shar'i point of
view, Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning):"Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is not the father of any
of your men" [al-Ahzaab 33:40]. In the saheeh hadeeth, the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him said): "I am to you like a
father; I teach you."
Hence some of our scholars are of the view that the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) should not be called the father of the
believers, even though his wives are the mothers of the believers, and
the reason given for that is what we have mentioned. Based on this, it
may be said that he is like a father, but it cannot be said that he is
our father. However, other scholars regarded the latter as permissible
too, and the one who stated this view wrote a lengthy argument to
support it. But to be on the safe side and as a precaution it is
better to avoid that. End quote.
Ash-Shaafa'i (may Allah have mercy on him) stated that it is
permissible to call him the father of the believers, i.e., in terms of
respect. Seeal-Durar al-Bahiyyah Sharh al-Bahjah al-Wardiyyah, 4/91
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The correct view is
that it is permissible to say that he is the father of the believers,
i.e., in terms of respect. The verse (interpretation of the
meaning):"Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم( is not the father of any of
your men" ]al-Ahzaab 33:40[refers to biological fatherhood. End quote.
So there is nothing wrong with calling him (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) "father", and it does not matter that the
Christians use this word too, because resembling them is only
forbidden with regard to matters that are unique to them, but this
word is something common to all people, Arabs and others, and was also
known before the time of the Christians, as Allah says concerning
Ibraaheem (peace be upon him):"it is the religion of your father
Ibraheem (Abraham) (Islamic Monotheism). It is He (Allah) Who has
named you Muslims both before and in this (the Qur'an)" [al-Hajj 22:78
– interpretation of the meaning].
Allah, may He be exalted, called him the father of the believers.
Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in hisTafseer(12/91):
Ibraaheem is the father of all the Arabs. It was also suggested that
this is addressed to all the Muslims, even though not all of them are
his descendants, because respect for Ibrahim is required from the
Muslims as respect for the father is required from the son. End quote.
People still use this word in their speech; they may call a scholar,
teacher or elder "father", and one of these people may say to one who
is younger than him, "O my son," and so on.
Muslim narrated in hisSaheeh(2151) that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said to me, "O my son."
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) included this hadeeth in a
chapter called: Permissibility of saying to someone other than one's
son, "O my son"; doing so is mustahabb.
What is meant by son in this case is like what is meant by father, and
it is no different. It does not mean biological son; rather what is
meant is to show compassion and mercy, which is an acceptable usage,
even if this word is used by (Christian) priests when speaking to
their followers, because it is not something that is unique to them,
as mentioned above.
Shaykh 'Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak (may Allah preserve him) was asked:
Nowadays it is common to use the word father to refer to Muslim
religious scholars who are senior in age, knowledge and status; is it
permissible to use this word, noting that the Christians use the word
father to refer to their scholars who are senior in knowledge and
status?
(He replied:) There is no report to indicate that the Messenger
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), the Companions, the
Taabi'een or early generations used the word father to refer to the
scholars.
If anyone were to be given the title of father, no one would be more
deserving of that than the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him), of whom our Lord said (interpretation of the
meaning):"Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is not the father of any of
your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the
Prophets" [al-Ahzaab 33:40].
He replied:
Praise be to Allah. We do not know of anyone among the scholars who
was given the title of father; rather in some societies it is
customary to describe an old man as father, whether he is a scholar or
otherwise, so this word is used when addressing him, such as saying "O
my father" or "O father", and when referring to him. There is nothing
to suggest that this is an imitation of Christian usage, because the
Christians use that word as a title for leaders of their religion. As
for your saying that the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), depite his high status and virtue, and despite of the great
rights that he has over his ummah is not a father, based on the verse
in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):"Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is not the father of any of
your men" [al-Ahzaab 33:40], what is meant by fatherhood here is
biological fatherhood. However fatherhood in the sense of status and
respect is established in the case of the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him), as it says in some modes of recitation
(interpretation of the meaning):"The Prophet is closer to the
believers than their ownselves, and his wives are their (believers')
mothers (as regards respect and marriage) and he is a father to them"
[al-Ahzaab 33:6]. What is meant by fatherhood and motherhood here is
in terms of status, respect and honour. The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: "I am to you like a father," however
he is of even higher status than that, so his rights over his ummah
are greater than the rights of parents and all other people, as he
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:"No one of you truly
believes until I am dearer to him than his son, his father and all of
mankind."Narrated by al-Bukhaari (14) and Muslim (44). And Allah knows
best.
To sum up, there is nothing wrong with addressing a scholar or old man
as father, and this is not regarded as imitating the Christians.
And Allah knows best.
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