Gathering on New Year's Eve to remember Allah!
Is it permissible for us to gather
on New Year's Eve to remember Allah, offer supplication (du'aa')
and read Qur'aan?
This is a message that
I have seen a lot on the Internet, but in fact I have not sent it
to anyone because I am not sure if it is an innovation (bid'ah) or
not. Is it permissible to spread it and will we be rewarded for
doing so, or is this not permissible because it is an
innovation?
"In sha' Allah, at 12 midnight
on New Year's Eve we will all pray two rak'ahs, or read Qur'aan, or
remember our Lord, or offer du'aa', because if our Lord looks at
the Earth at a time when most of the world is disobeying Him, he
will find that the Muslims are still obeying Him. By Allah, you
have to send this message to everyone you know, because the more
our numbers increase, the more our Lord will be
pleased."
Please advise me, may Allah
bless you.
Praise be to
Allaah.
You have done very well not to
spread this message which is widespread on many websites on which
uneducated attitudes and ignorance prevail.
With regard to those who
published this message and want the Muslims to pray and recite
dhikr, we do not doubt that their intentions are good and great,
especially if they want acts of obedience and worship to be done at
a time when sins are being committed. But this good and righteous
intention does not make the actions legitimate, sound or acceptable
in sharee'ah. Rather it is essential that the action be in
accordance with sharee'ah in terms of its reason, type, quantity,
manner, time and place. For a detailed discussion on these six
categories, please see the answer to question number 21519. In this
manner the Muslim may distinguish between legitimate and innovated
actions.
We may list the reasons why
this message should not be spread by noting a number of points,
including the following:
1.
There have been Jaahili
special occasions and special occasions of the disbelievers and
misguided since the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) until the present time, but we have not seen any
text from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
which encourages us to do acts of worship and obedience at the time
when others are committing acts of evil and disobedience, or to do
prescribed actions at the time when innovated actions are being
done. There is no report of any of the well-known imams
recommending doing such a thing.
This comes under the heading
of dealing with sin by means of innovation, as happened in the case
of responding to the innovation of mourning on the occasion of
'Ashoora', as done by the Raafidis, by introducing the innovation
of spending a great deal and making a show of joy and
happiness.
Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:
As for taking the days of
calamities as occasions for mourning, this is not part of the
religion of the Muslims; rather it is closer to the religion of
Jaahiliyyah. Thus they missed out on the virtue and reward of
fasting on this day. Some other people introduced things on the
basis of fabricated hadeeths for which there is no basis, such as
the virtue of doing ghusl on this day, or applying kohl to the
eyes, or shaking hands. These and similar things are innovations,
all of which are makrooh. What is recommended is to fast on this
day.
There are also well known
reports about spending generously on one's family on this day, such
as the hadeeth of Ibraaheem ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir from his
father, who said: We heard that the one who spends generously on
his family on the day of 'Ashoora', Allah will give him in
abundance for the rest of the year. This was narrated by Ibn
'Uyaynah, but the fact that he said 'we heard that…' and it is not
known who said it indicates that the isnaad is munqati'
(interrupted). It is most likely that this was fabricated because
of the hatred that appeared between the Naasibis and Raafidis. The
Raafidis regarded the day of 'Ashoora' as a day of mourning, so the
Naasibis fabricated reports about it which indicated that one
should spend generously on this day and take it as an Eid. Both
views are false.
It is not permissible for
anyone to change anything in Islam for the sake of anyone.
Expressing joy and happiness on the day of 'Ashoora' and spending
generously on this day are all innovations that were introduced as
a reaction against the Raafidis.
Iqtida'
al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, p. 300, 301
We have quoted some other
valuable words of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah in the answer to
question number 4033.
2.
There are special times for
offering du'aa' and prayers as prescribed in Islam. The Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) encouraged us to offer
du'aa' at these times, such as the last third of the night, which
is the time when the Lord, may He be glorified and exalted,
descends to the nearest heaven. Encouraging people to do that at a
time when no saheeh text has been narrated concerning it is
introducing legislation concerning the reason or the time, and
going against sharee'ah with regard to either of them is sufficient
to deem the action to be a reprehensible innovation, so how about
if it has to do with both of them?!
In the answer to question
number 8375, we were asked about giving charity to poor families at
the time of the Gregorian New Year, and we replied that it is not
allowed. Among the things that we said there was the
following:
If we Muslims want to give in
charity, we can give to those who really deserve it, and we should
not aim to do that specifically on the days of the kaafirs'
festivals. We should do that whenever there is a need, and make the
most of good and great occasions such as the month of Ramadaan and
the first ten days of Dhu'l-Hijjah, and other virtuous occasions
when rewards are multiplied. End quote.
The basic principle for a
Muslim is to follow (the Sunnah) and not introduce innovations.
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه
وسلم to mankind): "If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e.
accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah), Allah
will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (31) Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه
وسلم): "Obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad SAW)." But if they
turn away, then Allah does not like the disbelievers."
[Aal-i-Imraan 3:31-32]
Transliteration:
Qul in kuntum
tuhibboona Allaha faittabiAAoonee
yuhbibkumu Allahu wayaghfir lakumthunoobakum
waAllahu ghafoorun
raheemun (31) Qul
ateeAAoo Allaha waalrrasoola fain
tawallaw fainna Allaha la yuhibbu
alkafireena
Ibn Katheer
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
This verse states that
everyone who claims to love Allah but is not following the path of
Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is lying in his
claim unless he follows the path or religion of Prophet Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) in all his words and
deeds, as it is proven in al-Saheeh that the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Whoever
introduces an action that is not part of this matter of ours will
have it rejected." [Narrated by Muslim]
Tafseer Ibn
Katheer, 2/32
Shaykh
Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:
You should love the Messenger
more than you love yourselves, and your faith is not complete
unless you do that. Do not introduce into his religion anything
that is not part of it. What the seekers of knowledge should do is
explain to the people and tell them: Occupy yourselves with
legitimate and sound acts of worship; remember Allah; send
blessings upon the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) at all times; establish regular prayer; pay zakaah; and be
kind towards the Muslims at all times.
Liqaa'aat
al-Baab al-Maftooh, 35/5
3.
You are forgetting to do what
you are obliged to do with regard to these sins and evils, which is
enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, offering
sincere advice to those who are going against Islam, and focusing
on individual acts of worship when there are other communal acts of
disobedience and evil which you should not do.
What we think is that it is
haraam to spread such messages and that it is an innovation to
adhere to these acts of worship on such occasions. It is sufficient
for you to warn against haraam celebrations on occasions of shirk
and innovation. You will be rewarded for that and you will be doing
your duty with regard to these sins.
See the answer to question no.
60219 for some comments on good intentions and that good intentions
will not benefit a person or make his innovated deeds
rewardable.
And Allah knows
best.
Islam
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