Discover Islam, - The moral system in Islam

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Islam has laid down universal fundamental rights for humanity that are to be observed and respected under all circumstances. In order to realise these rights in one's everyday social life, Islam provides both legal safeguards and a very effective moral system. In brief, whatever improves the well-being of an individual or a society is morally good, and whatever harms this well-being is morally bad.
Islam attaches great importance to the love of God and fellow human beings, and discourages excessive formalism. We read in the Quran )what means(:“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards East or West, but ]true[ righteousness is ]in[ one who believes in Allaah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller, those who ask ]for help[, and for freeing slaves; ]and who[ establishes prayer and gives Zakaah; ]those who[ fulfil their promise when they promise; and ]those who[ are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous.”]Quran: 2:177[
These verses give a beautiful description of the righteous and religiously committed individual. He should obey salutary regulations but fix his gaze on the love of God and the love of humanity. An individual's faith should be true and sincere and he must be prepared to show it in deeds of charity to other people and by living as a good citizen and supporter of social organisations. Finally, individual faith must remain firm and unshaken in all circumstances.
This is the standard by which a particular mode of conduct can be classified as either good or bad. It also provides the nucleus around which an individual's and society’s moral code should revolve. Before laying down any moral injunctions, Islam seeks to implant firmly in man's heart the conviction that his dealings are with God, Who sees him at all times and in all places. While he may hide himself from others or deceive them, he cannot do so with God.
Islam teaches that the objective of one's life is to live a life that is pleasing to God. To make such a goal possible, Islam has provided humankind with the highest possible standard of morality. This moral code, which is both straightforward and practical, provides the individual with innumerable ways to embark upon and then continue the path of moral evolution. By making Divine Revelation the primary source of knowledge, moral standards are made permanent and stable. However, this does not make them inflexible, for there is room for reasonable adjustment and adaptation when needed. The danger of moral relativism, now so widespread in many societies, is thereby avoided.
Another benefit is the gradual internalisation of these moral standards, for one seeks to obey them voluntarily to please God, not because some government or people tell him to do so. An individual's belief in God, when added to his belief in the Day of Judgement, is a powerful motivating factor to live a highly moral life.
Islam does not seek to minimise the importance of traditional and
commonly accepted moral norms or give exaggerated importance to some and neglect others.
The Islamic moral code incorporates all the commonly accepted moral virtues and then endows them with a sense of balance and proportion, by assigning each one a suitable place and function in the scheme of life. It widens the scope of man's individual and collective life by dealing with his domestic associations, civic conduct, and his activities in the political, economic, legal, educational and social realms. It covers his life from the home to the society, from the dining table to the battlefield and peace conferences. In short, from the cradle to the grave - for no sphere of life is exempt from the universal and comprehensive application of the moral principles of Islam. It makes morality reign supreme and ensures that the affairs of life are regulated by moral norms, and not dominated by selfish desires and petty interests.
A major goal of Islam is to provide humankind with a practical and realistic system of life by which he can conduct his life. It calls upon humankind not only to practice virtue, but also to establish it and to eradicate all that is harmful. It seeks the supremacy of the conscience in all matters so that what is harmful cannot gain the upper hand either in an individual's life or in society. Those who respond to this call are known as Muslims, which literally means those who have submitted to God. The sole object of the resulting community of Muslims or Ummah is undertaking an organised effort to establish what is good and to fight and eradicate what is evil and harmful.
Some of Islam's basic moral teachings are given below. They cover the broad spectrum of a Muslim's personal moral conduct as well as his social responsibilities.
God-Consciousness
The Quran mentions God-consciousness as the highest quality of a Muslim, saying )what means(:“…The most noble of you in the sight of Allaah is the most righteous of you…”]Quran: 49:13[
Humility, modesty, control of passions and desires, truthfulness, integrity, patience, steadfastness and fulfilling one's promises - all these moral values are mentioned many times in the Quran, such as )what means(:“And God loves those who are firm and steadfast.”]Quran: 3:146[
The Quran also tells Muslims )what means(:“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden ]i.e.,Paradise[ as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous. Who spend ]in the cause of Allaah[ during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people – and Allaah loves the doers of good.” ]Quran: 3:133-134[ And: “…Establish prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient over what befalls you. Indeed, ]all[ that is of the matters ]requiring[ determination. And do not turn your cheek ]in contempt[ toward people ]Rather, respect them by directing your face and attention to them.[ And do not walk through the earth exultantly. Indeed, Allah does not like everyone self-deluded and boastful. And be moderate in your pace and lower your voice; indeed, the most disagreeable of sounds is the voice of donkeys.”]Quran: 31:17-19[
The following statement of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, summarises the moral behaviour of a committed Muslim:“My Sustainer has given me nine commands: to remain conscious of God in private and in public; to speak justly whether angry or pleased; to show moderation when poor or rich; to rekindle friendship with those who have broken it off with me; to give to him who refuses me; that my silence should be occupied with thought; that my looking should be an admonition; and that I should command what is right.”
Social Responsibilities
The teachings of Islam regarding social responsibilities are based on kindness and consideration for others. Islam stresses specific acts of kindness and defines the responsibilities and rights that belong to various relationships. Our first obligation is to our immediate family - parents, spouse and children, then to other relatives, neighbours, friends and acquaintances, orphans and widows, the needy of the community, our fellow Muslims, our fellow human beings and animals.
Parents
Respect and care for parents is a very important part of a Muslim's expression of faith. The Quran says )what means(:“And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age ]while[ with you, say not to them ]so much as[, 'uff' and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: 'My Lord! Have mercy upon them as they brought me up ]when I was[ small.'”]Quran: 17:23-24[
Other Relatives
The Quran says )what means(:“And give the relative his right, and ]also[ the poor and the traveller, and do not spend wastefully.”]Quran: 17:26[
Neighbours
The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:"He is not a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour is hungry"and:"He does not believe whose neighbours are not safe from his injurious conduct."
According to the Quran and Sunnah )traditions and approved actions of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam(, a Muslim has to discharge his moral responsibility not only to his parents, relatives, and neighbours but also to all humankind, animals, and useful trees and plants. For example, hunting birds and animals for sport is not permitted. Similarly, cutting down trees and plants that yield fruit is forbidden unless there is a very pressing need for one to do so.
Thus, on the basic moral plane, Islam provides humankind with a higher system of morality that can be used by an individual to realise his greatest potential. Islam purifies the soul of self-seeking egotism, tyranny, wantonness, and lack of discipline. It creates God-fearing men who are devoted to their ideals, motivated by piety, abstinence and discipline, who do not make any compromise with falsehood. It creates moral responsibility and fosters the capacity for self-control. Islam generates kindness, generosity, mercy, sympathy, peace, selfless goodwill, scrupulous fairness, and truthfulness towards all creatures in all situations. It nourishes noble qualities from which only good may be expected.
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Discover Islam, - Islam and social responsibility

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One of the serious facts of this present age is that the old norms have failed to convince and hold our youth, and we are facing a new time of Ignorance, a fresh 'Jahiliyyah', as the Arabs or Muslims would state it. Whether this is because Western values are basically false or that some form of dry rot has infected our communications media, the fact remains that we are facing a real crisis throughout the Western world.
This process is the opposite of the great eighteenth-century movement, which was called the Enlightenment, when Western Europe andNorth Americaseemed to be shaking off their age-old prejudices.
For Muslims it also forms a contrast to the startling period when the Prophet Muhammadsallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam)may Allaah exalt his mention( led his arid peninsula out of chaos, both political and social, into the leadership of the then known world. In fact, wherever Islam entered during its earliest youth, the Middle Ages - especially asWestern Europeknew this dark period in human history - simply ceased to exist.
The Islamic Era:
Prophet Muhammadsallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallamestablished religion; thereafter, the Islamic State or commonwealth developed slowly, somewhat challengingly, during the decade from the year 622 of the Christian era )CE(, or the Hijrah as it is called - the Zero year in the Islamic calendar, until his death in 632, only ten years later.
By that time, instead of being a peninsula of mutually raiding tribes,Arabiahad become a commonwealth, which raised new standards for the world to adopt. All this occurred within the ten years after the Hijrah or 'Migration' of the Prophetsallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallamand his Muslim community from trying circumstances in Makkah to its new capital of Yathrib or Madeenah as this city came to be called, two hundred miles to the north in an oasis on the ancient caravan route to Syria.
The life of the Prophetsallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallamthus lasted from around the year 570 CE, when he was born, until 632 CE. He was called An-NabiyyAl-Ummiyyor the 'Unlettered Prophet' in the Quran ]7: 157- 158[
What does this term mean? It means simply that Prophet Muhammadsallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallamwas not college trained, as we might expect him to be today; nevertheless he led his people formally and sincerely to a better way of life. He was the most cultured and concerned individual yet he had never been to school, only trained to speak good Arabic by living as an infant out on the desert, where they spoke the best Arabic in that era.
Almost immediately following his death, Islam burst upon the Near Eastern and the world scene to take over the whole Sassanid empire of Persia plus the southern tier of the Byzantine empire as far West as Spain and Morocco on the Atlantic. This covered less than one century: by the year 711 CE, or only eighty years after the Prophet's death, Muslims were on the borders of France in the far West, and they were entering India to the East.
Islam was termed the 'Middle Nation' ]Qur'an 2: 143[, the community which was to follow the happy and balanced medium in all matters, which was the stated aim of both Greek and Islamic society, and indeed of any moderate one.
Basic Purpose:
The Muslim's basic purpose in life is to worship God in His Oneness )Monotheism( and not through the trinity of the Christians, or the duality and idolatry of other religions. The Muslim works through the power of God's transcendence; in the words of King Arthur, as this Celtic leader was preparing to enter the next world, he admonished his Knights of the Round Table: "For what are men better than sheep or goats, that nourish a blind life within the brain, if, knowing God, they lift not hands in prayer both for themselves and those that call them friends?"
God is thus Transcendent, 'Al-Ghaniyy' as the Quran teaches us; while mere man is only 'rich' or 'wealthy' when this same adjective is applied to him. Divine service or worship means giving 'worth' or value to what we respect and revere. We Muslims know God; we meet Him five times a day at least, and while we are on our knees before Him.
Today our New World is helping to lift the dead hand, which opposed these concepts, and to spread the universal message of Islam. If we all are willing to listen, then we may clear up some of the misunderstanding, which has hindered Western appreciation of Middle Eastern ethics and values, especially since Islam itself is now pushing into the cities of North America, Great Britain and continental Europe.
]From: 'Islam, its Meaning and Message'[
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Dought & clear, - Is it permissible to remove the innovators from the mosque?

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There are people in our masjid in charge of adhan, iqamah and khutbah. But they also do many innovations ‘bida’. We have advised them more than once, but they did not stop their innovations.
Should we remove them from the masjid by force?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to expel a Muslim from the houses of Allaah, even if he is an innovator, because they are houses that are built to establish the remembrance and worship of Allaah. The innovator is to be appreciated for his worship and will be rewarded for all the good that he does for the sake of Allaah, but he incurs sin for his innovation. So it is not permissible for anyone to prevent him from worshipping and obeying Allaah, rather we should help him in that and encourage him to attend the congregational prayers of the Muslims, in the hope that he may learn the Sunnah from the people of knowledge, and give up innovated matters of religion.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) even gave permission to some of the mushrikeen to enter the mosque, as in the story of Thumaamah ibn Athaal (may Allaah be pleased with him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be tied to one of the pillars of the mosque. That was before he became Muslim, and he became Muslim on the third day. He said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allaah, there was no face on earth that was more hateful to me than your face, but now your face has become the dearest of all faces to me. By Allaah, there was no religion on earth that was more hateful to me than your religion, but now your religion has become the dearest of all religions to me. By Allaah, there was no city on earth that was more hateful to me than your city, but now your city has become the dearest of all cities to me” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (462) and Muslim (1764).
Look at how his staying in the mosque became a cause of his being guided to Islam. How about the Muslims who take care of the maintenance of the mosque, give the adhaan, deliver the khutbah and so on, as mentioned in the question?
When Ka’b ibn Maalik stayed behind from the campaign to Tabook, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be shunned and forbade the people to talk to him, and he even ordered him to stay away from his wife, but he did not forbid him to attend the prayers in congregation with the Muslims.
He (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the Muslims to speak to us three among those who had stayed behind. So the people shunned us, or their attitude towards us changed, until it seemed to me that the land itself had turned hostile towards me and was no longer the land that I knew. We stayed like that for fifty days. As for my two companions, they stayed in their houses weeping, but I was the youngest and strongest of them. I would go out and attend the prayer, and go around in the marketplaces, and no one would speak to me. I would go to the Messenger of Allaah (S) and greet him with salaam, when he was sitting with the people after prayer, and I would say to myself: Did his lips move in response or not? Then I would pray close to him, stealing glances at him. When I focused on my prayer, he would look at me, then when I looked at him he would turn away. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2757) and Muslim (2769).
When the Khawaarij manifested their bid’ah (innovation) and separated from the main body of the Muslims because of the idea and innovations they introduced, none of the Sahaabah ordered that they be removed or expelled from the mosques, because they are houses which Allaah has given permission to be built and His name mentioned in them. So it is not right for anyone to forbid that for which Allaah has given permission.
‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said concerning the Khawaarij: “They have three rights over us: that we should not initiate fighting with them so long as they do not fight us; that we should not prevent them from entering the mosques of Allaah to mention His name therein; and that we should not deny the booty to them so long as they have fought alongside us.”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah inal-Musannaf(7/562) with a hasan isnaad.
What is prescribed in your case is to treat them kindly in the house of Allaah, and to strive to explain the Sunnah to them by all means. If you can prevent them from establishing their bid’ah, after asking the scholars and making sure that this particular action is indeed bid’ah, then you may prevent them from doing this bid’ah only, but you cannot prevent them from entering the mosque altogether. That is subject to the condition that preventing this bid’ah will not lead to trouble among the Muslims or to an evil that is greater than the bid’ah that you want to prevent.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Based on this, if the person or group combines good with evil in such a way that they cannot be separated, rather they will do it all or abandon it all, then it is not permissible merely to enjoin good or forbid evil, rather you should look and see. If the good is more prevalent, then it should be enjoined, even if that will entail a lesser amount of evil, and you should not forbid an evil if that means that a greater amount of good will be lost. In that case, forbidding evil would be more akin to blocking the path of Allaah and striving to stop people from obeying Him and His Messenger, and to stop people doing good. But if the evil is more prevalent then it should be forbidden, even if that means that a lesser amount of good will be lost. In that case, enjoining that good which entails a greater amount of evil is in fact enjoining evil and striving to disobey Allaah and His Messenger. If the good and evil are equal, then you should neither enjoin nor forbid, rather in some cases it will be better to enjoin (the good) and in some cases it will be better to forbid (the evil), and in some cases neither enjoining good nor forbidding evil will be appropriate, because the good and evil are so strongly connected.
That has to do with specific issues. But when speaking about specific actions, then good should be enjoined in general and evil should be forbidden in general.
With regard to a single person or group, then its good should be enjoined and its evil should be forbidden; its praiseworthy actions should be commended and its blameworthy actions should be criticized, in such a way that enjoining good will not cause most of the good to be lost or a greater evil to occur, and in such a way that forbidding evil will not cause a greater evil to occur or a greater good to be lost. If the matter is unclear then the believer should wait until the truth is clear to him, so that he will not do an act of obedience without the proper knowledge and intentions.
End quote fromMajmoo’ al-Fataawa(28/129-130);al-Istiqaamah(2/217-218).
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
We have Shi’ah with us at work. Is it permissible for us to return their salaams? We also see them in the mosque praying on pieces of paper; is it permissible to expel them from the mosque?
He replied:
I say: treat them as they treat you. If they greet you with salaam, then return their salaams. It is not good to expel them from the mosque, rather some of them may be from among the common folk who do not know anything and have been misled by their scholars. If you are clever and call them in ways that are better, you may be able to influence them. Using violence is not something that is narrated in sharee’ah. Allaah loves kindness in all things. Now if you oppose them and say “Do not prostrate on pieces of paper, do not prostrate on stones” and the like, if the matter may be settled there and they will give up these things, that is good. But (the problem is that) they will persist, and the enmity and hostility between you will increase. What I think you must do is advise them first, especially the ordinary people. Advising does not mean attacking their madhhab and false religion. No, advising means explaining the truth to them and teaching them the Sunnah. Then after that, if you explain the Sunnah to them, I am absolutely certain that if they have real faith, they will come back to the Sunnah and give up their falsehood. If that happens, then that is better. If it does not happen, then you should treat them as they treat you. As for expelling them from the mosque, you have no right to do that.
Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh(no. 80, question no. 4).
Finally:
We should point out to you that not everyone who does an act of bid’ah (innovation) is an innovator, and not everything that you regard as bid’ah is necessarily an innovation. It is not permissible to take as a reference point in this issue the junior seekers of knowledge or those who are zealous about the Sunnah. They themselves need guidance, care and advice. For example, they may think that clasping the hands to the chest after rukoo’ (bowing) is a bid’ah. Do they judge the one who does that as an innovator? Do they want to expel such people from the mosques? Do they know that those who do that – clasping the hands to the chest after bowing – are among our imams and scholars?
We appreciate these brothers for their enthusiasm for the Sunnah, but we do not want them to let their enthusiasm make them pass judgement on people or expel them from the houses of Allaah. How much we have suffered from categorization of people; do we want to bring that categorization into the houses of Allaah? We hope that this will not happen and we hope that they will be sensible and ask – as they have done in this case. Here the fatwa of the scholars is clear even with regard to extreme innovators such as the Shi’ah, and we should not neglect to call them and encourage them to follow the Sunnah in the way that is best.
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Dought & clear, - Is it permissible to remove the innovators from the mosque?

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There are people in our masjid in charge of adhan, iqamah and khutbah. But they also do many innovations ‘bida’. We have advised them more than once, but they did not stop their innovations.
Should we remove them from the masjid by force?.
Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to expel a Muslim from the houses of Allaah, even if he is an innovator, because they are houses that are built to establish the remembrance and worship of Allaah. The innovator is to be appreciated for his worship and will be rewarded for all the good that he does for the sake of Allaah, but he incurs sin for his innovation. So it is not permissible for anyone to prevent him from worshipping and obeying Allaah, rather we should help him in that and encourage him to attend the congregational prayers of the Muslims, in the hope that he may learn the Sunnah from the people of knowledge, and give up innovated matters of religion.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) even gave permission to some of the mushrikeen to enter the mosque, as in the story of Thumaamah ibn Athaal (may Allaah be pleased with him), when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be tied to one of the pillars of the mosque. That was before he became Muslim, and he became Muslim on the third day. He said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. O Muhammad, by Allaah, there was no face on earth that was more hateful to me than your face, but now your face has become the dearest of all faces to me. By Allaah, there was no religion on earth that was more hateful to me than your religion, but now your religion has become the dearest of all religions to me. By Allaah, there was no city on earth that was more hateful to me than your city, but now your city has become the dearest of all cities to me” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (462) and Muslim (1764).
Look at how his staying in the mosque became a cause of his being guided to Islam. How about the Muslims who take care of the maintenance of the mosque, give the adhaan, deliver the khutbah and so on, as mentioned in the question?
When Ka’b ibn Maalik stayed behind from the campaign to Tabook, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) ordered that he be shunned and forbade the people to talk to him, and he even ordered him to stay away from his wife, but he did not forbid him to attend the prayers in congregation with the Muslims.
He (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade the Muslims to speak to us three among those who had stayed behind. So the people shunned us, or their attitude towards us changed, until it seemed to me that the land itself had turned hostile towards me and was no longer the land that I knew. We stayed like that for fifty days. As for my two companions, they stayed in their houses weeping, but I was the youngest and strongest of them. I would go out and attend the prayer, and go around in the marketplaces, and no one would speak to me. I would go to the Messenger of Allaah (S) and greet him with salaam, when he was sitting with the people after prayer, and I would say to myself: Did his lips move in response or not? Then I would pray close to him, stealing glances at him. When I focused on my prayer, he would look at me, then when I looked at him he would turn away. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2757) and Muslim (2769).
When the Khawaarij manifested their bid’ah (innovation) and separated from the main body of the Muslims because of the idea and innovations they introduced, none of the Sahaabah ordered that they be removed or expelled from the mosques, because they are houses which Allaah has given permission to be built and His name mentioned in them. So it is not right for anyone to forbid that for which Allaah has given permission.
‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said concerning the Khawaarij: “They have three rights over us: that we should not initiate fighting with them so long as they do not fight us; that we should not prevent them from entering the mosques of Allaah to mention His name therein; and that we should not deny the booty to them so long as they have fought alongside us.”
Narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah inal-Musannaf(7/562) with a hasan isnaad.
What is prescribed in your case is to treat them kindly in the house of Allaah, and to strive to explain the Sunnah to them by all means. If you can prevent them from establishing their bid’ah, after asking the scholars and making sure that this particular action is indeed bid’ah, then you may prevent them from doing this bid’ah only, but you cannot prevent them from entering the mosque altogether. That is subject to the condition that preventing this bid’ah will not lead to trouble among the Muslims or to an evil that is greater than the bid’ah that you want to prevent.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
Based on this, if the person or group combines good with evil in such a way that they cannot be separated, rather they will do it all or abandon it all, then it is not permissible merely to enjoin good or forbid evil, rather you should look and see. If the good is more prevalent, then it should be enjoined, even if that will entail a lesser amount of evil, and you should not forbid an evil if that means that a greater amount of good will be lost. In that case, forbidding evil would be more akin to blocking the path of Allaah and striving to stop people from obeying Him and His Messenger, and to stop people doing good. But if the evil is more prevalent then it should be forbidden, even if that means that a lesser amount of good will be lost. In that case, enjoining that good which entails a greater amount of evil is in fact enjoining evil and striving to disobey Allaah and His Messenger. If the good and evil are equal, then you should neither enjoin nor forbid, rather in some cases it will be better to enjoin (the good) and in some cases it will be better to forbid (the evil), and in some cases neither enjoining good nor forbidding evil will be appropriate, because the good and evil are so strongly connected.
That has to do with specific issues. But when speaking about specific actions, then good should be enjoined in general and evil should be forbidden in general.
With regard to a single person or group, then its good should be enjoined and its evil should be forbidden; its praiseworthy actions should be commended and its blameworthy actions should be criticized, in such a way that enjoining good will not cause most of the good to be lost or a greater evil to occur, and in such a way that forbidding evil will not cause a greater evil to occur or a greater good to be lost. If the matter is unclear then the believer should wait until the truth is clear to him, so that he will not do an act of obedience without the proper knowledge and intentions.
End quote fromMajmoo’ al-Fataawa(28/129-130);al-Istiqaamah(2/217-218).
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
We have Shi’ah with us at work. Is it permissible for us to return their salaams? We also see them in the mosque praying on pieces of paper; is it permissible to expel them from the mosque?
He replied:
I say: treat them as they treat you. If they greet you with salaam, then return their salaams. It is not good to expel them from the mosque, rather some of them may be from among the common folk who do not know anything and have been misled by their scholars. If you are clever and call them in ways that are better, you may be able to influence them. Using violence is not something that is narrated in sharee’ah. Allaah loves kindness in all things. Now if you oppose them and say “Do not prostrate on pieces of paper, do not prostrate on stones” and the like, if the matter may be settled there and they will give up these things, that is good. But (the problem is that) they will persist, and the enmity and hostility between you will increase. What I think you must do is advise them first, especially the ordinary people. Advising does not mean attacking their madhhab and false religion. No, advising means explaining the truth to them and teaching them the Sunnah. Then after that, if you explain the Sunnah to them, I am absolutely certain that if they have real faith, they will come back to the Sunnah and give up their falsehood. If that happens, then that is better. If it does not happen, then you should treat them as they treat you. As for expelling them from the mosque, you have no right to do that.
Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh(no. 80, question no. 4).
Finally:
We should point out to you that not everyone who does an act of bid’ah (innovation) is an innovator, and not everything that you regard as bid’ah is necessarily an innovation. It is not permissible to take as a reference point in this issue the junior seekers of knowledge or those who are zealous about the Sunnah. They themselves need guidance, care and advice. For example, they may think that clasping the hands to the chest after rukoo’ (bowing) is a bid’ah. Do they judge the one who does that as an innovator? Do they want to expel such people from the mosques? Do they know that those who do that – clasping the hands to the chest after bowing – are among our imams and scholars?
We appreciate these brothers for their enthusiasm for the Sunnah, but we do not want them to let their enthusiasm make them pass judgement on people or expel them from the houses of Allaah. How much we have suffered from categorization of people; do we want to bring that categorization into the houses of Allaah? We hope that this will not happen and we hope that they will be sensible and ask – as they have done in this case. Here the fatwa of the scholars is clear even with regard to extreme innovators such as the Shi’ah, and we should not neglect to call them and encourage them to follow the Sunnah in the way that is best.
And Allaah knows best./- -*-
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Regards
NAJIMUDEEN M

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