O people… Glorify the name of your Lord!
Since 2012-11-11
How do we glorify the Lord (the Exalted the Glorious) and consider Him too exalted while we throw these papers everywhere?!
All Praise is due to Allah the Lord of the worlds. And prayers and peace of Allah be upon the most honorable Prophet and Messenger, our prophet Muhammad, and all his family and companions.
After the spread of printing in cheap cost, papers and magazines became in everywhere; you could see them in the streets and roads. Furthermore; they may be thrown in the bins. In our countries (i.e. the Muslim countries) the name of the Lord is written on the majority of the papers and cartoons and even on the wrap paper. Therefore; how do we glorify the Lord (the Exalted the Glorious) and consider Him too exalted while we throw these papers everywhere?!
Unfortunately; this became normal in the eyes of the adults and children, although the parent should care for this issue for two reasons:
First: Deeming the name of Allah (Glorified and Exalted) far above being despised or thrown in the garbage.
Second: Making the children accustomed to glorifying the rituals of Allah, respecting and glorifying the name of Him Almighty along with being careful in case of subjecting it to despise. The issue is easy with the large cartoon boxes; the name could be removed by cutting or could be hidden by drawing lines on it, by heavy ink pen, in a way conceals the name.
Indeed, there is significant note about such writing (i.e. writing the name of Allah on the cans, boxes and papers). Such cans and containers finally go to the bins; therefore, whoever has the name of Allah included in his name or his father’s name should care for that in order not to have the name of Allah (Glorified and Exalted) despised.
The same is applied to the shops that are in streets their names include the name of Allah (the Exalted the Glorious); such as ‘Abdullah ibn Abbas St.’ or ‘Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair St.’ Such shops should have their address written on their wrapping paper without mentioning the name of Allah, in order not to have the name of Allah despised unintentionally.
The same is applied to the official documents that have the name of Allah written on them. When the civil servant ends his dealing with the document or does not need it any more, he tears it then throws it in a bin; although, in many offices, there are paper shredders. If the paper is torn by paper shredder, the name of Allah will no longer remain on it, after having it shredded.
Once I admired a civil servant. He hanged, in the office, an envelope says ‘pieces of paper contain the name of Allah’, and then he collects such pieces of paper to personally burn them.
Muhammad ibn As-Salt said, I heard Bishr ibn Al-Harith say, when he was asked ‘why your name among people is like that of a prophet?’: “It is a grant from Allah that has reason. I was a wandering man with a family to look after. One day, during my wander, I found a paper in the road. When I raised it, I found in it ‘In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful’. So, I wiped the paper and put it in my pocket. At this time, I had nothing but two dirhams; therefore, I went to the perfume man and bought Ghaliyah (i.e. a kind of perfume) and perfumed the paper by it. When I slept this night, I saw a caller saying to me, ‘O Bishr ibn Al-Harith, you raised our name from the road and perfumed it; therefore, I will perfume your name in the worldly life and Hereafter too.’ Then, what happened has happened.” (Reported by Abu Naeim in Al-Heliah)
Sa’eed ibn Abu Sakina said: “I heard that Ali ibn Abu Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a man writes ‘in the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful’, so he said to him, ‘write it as well as you can, because a man wrote it well and had his sins forgiven because of that.’” Sa’eed also said: “I heard that a man saw a piece of paper there was ‘in the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful’ written on it; so, he kissed it and put it on his eyes, and then he had his sins forgiven for him because of that.” (Mentioned by Al-Qurtubi in At-Tafsir)
Actually, this does not mean that whenever a Muslim sees a piece of paper the name of Allah is mentioned on it, he has to raise it, perfume it and kiss it; rather he has to raise the name of Allah and keep it away from being despised. Furthermore; he should make his children accustomed to that. The books of the school, the pieces of paper that contain Qur`an verses or prophetic traditions and even the children notebooks (if the children’s names or the names of the children’s fathers contain the name of Allah) should not be despised.
The Holy Qur`an should not be used for mean purposes:
The permanent committee for Fatwa was asked the following question:
There are milk cans have part of a verse of the Qur`an written on it {pure milk; palatable to the drinkers} [Surat An-Nahl 16:66]
{لَبَنًا خَالِصًا سَائِغًا لِلشَّارِبِينَ} النَّحل: 66
Transliteration: Labanāan Khālişāan Sā'ighāan Lilshshāribīna
Actually; these cans end up, after using them, in bins. So, if it was not permissible to have the verses of the Qur`an written on the cans nor was it permissible to have them thrown among the garbage, then tell me what should be done, in order that I tell the milk sellers to care for that. May Allah guard you! (The permanent committee for Fatwa: Fatwa No. 204)
The permanent committee answered by the following: “Those people take sentences from the Qur`an and Hadith without meaning to narrate them as Qur`an and Hadith. They do not say ‘Allah Almighty said’ or ‘the Prophet (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) said’; rather they mention such sentences as a kind of approval and for their being suitable sentences to be used in their signs or advertising. So; such sentences could no longer be considered as Qur`an or Hadith. Such doing is called ‘Quotation’; and it is defined (according to the scholars of rhetoric) as taking something from the Qur`an or Hadith without meaning it as Qur`an or Hadith, in order to make the speech prose or poetry. Hence; it does not take the rulings of the Qur`an (e.g. prohibiting carrying it or touching it for the person who is not in state of purification, or prohibiting reading it for the person who is in state of major ritual impurity). However; it is neither suitable for a Muslim to quote a sentence from the Qur`an or Hadith for mean purposes nor is it suitable for Muslim to take it as a slogan to industry, craft or mean work, because such quotation indicates contempt. As for throwing such wrapping paper or cans in the garbage or using them in a way indicates despising them, this is not permissible; and the evil is graver, if the written quotation is Qur`an. Moreover; if the person meant by throwing the thing that contains the Qur`an out of despise, not caring of throwing it in the garbage or not caring of using it for mean purposes; then he would be infidel because of that.
Also, the committee was asked the following question:
What is the ruling for the person who puts his belongings, or wraps them, in books or paper contain chapters and verses from the Holy Qur`an or purified Sunnah and then says to whoever criticizes his doing ‘this is ok; nothing wrong’ and does not stop this act, pretending that he does not find any other paper to use; taking into consideration that he can read and write. In fact, this is widespread in our land; so, what is the ruling of this. Moreover; would I kneel during my walk in the street to collect such verses and chapters that are thrown, although people mock at such doing? What would I do to get rid of this widespread evil?
The committee answered: First: it is not permissible for a Muslim to put his belongings in paper containing chapters and verses from the Holy Qur`an or purified Sunnah. Moreover; it is not permissible for him to throw such paper in the streets or dirty places, because this indicates contempt and violation to the sanctity of the Holy Qur`an and Prophetic traditions and Words of Allah. As for pretending that there is no other paper; it is false pretend. In fact, the means of protecting the belongings are numerous could make the person get along without using the paper that contains the Holy Qur`an or Prophetic traditions or Words of Allah. Indeed, this is only due to laziness and weakness of belief.
Second: It is enough for you, to be innocent from the wrong deed and sin, to advise the people not to use such paper, cans and to warn them against throwing them in the garbage, streets and such places. Moreover; you are not obliged to do whatever is hard for you (e.g. dedicating your efforts for collecting such things from the roads); rather you should collect what is easy to collect without hard effort.
The ruling of making the paper, which contains verses from the Holy Qur`an, dining table:
All praise is due to the Lord of the worlds. And prayers and peace of Allah be upon the master of the first and last people, our prophet Muhammad, and all his family and companions.
Indeed, the Holy Qur`an is the speech of Allah (Glorified and Exalted); He revealed it upon His servant and messenger, Muhammad (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) to be guidance and light to the worlds till the Day of Judgment. Allah Almighty honored the forefathers of this nation by guarding the Holy Qur`an in the hearts and applying it in all life affairs along with taking it as judge in every matter, whether it is major or trivial. In fact, the bounty of Allah Almighty still descends upon some of His servants; therefore, they present to the Holy Qur`an the glorification and respect that are due to it in every aspect. However; there are many people are called Muslims have been deprived from fulfilling the rights of the Holy Qur`an and whatever is narrated on the authority of the Messenger (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). Actually, I am afraid that many of such people are among whom He said about them: {And the Messenger (Muhammad, prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) will say: "O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Qur’ân (neither listened to it, nor acted on its laws and teachings)} [Surat Al-Furqân 25:30]
{وَقَالَ الرَّسُولُ يَا رَبِّ إِنَّ قَوْمِي اتَّخَذُوا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ مَهْجُورًا} الفرقان: 30
Transliteration: Wa Qāla Ar-Rasūlu Yā Rabbi 'Inna Qawmī Attakhadhū Hādhā Al-Qur'āna Mahjūrāan
Verily, many of them deserted the Holy Qur`an; they deserted reciting, considering and applying it. There is no might or power except with Allah! Indeed, many of them forgot the glorification and observance of the Holy Qur`an that are enjoined upon them; they neglected the memorizing, contemplation and applying along with neglecting the glorification and honoring that are due to the speech of the Lord of the worlds. The flyers, papers and magazines got spread in the Muslim world; and the covers and pages of such published materials usually contain verses from the Holy Qur`an. However; many Muslims throw such publications after reading them. Hence; such publications get accumulated in the garbage and the feet step on them. Furthermore; some people use them for other purposes and bring dirtiness to them, although Allah (Glorified and Exalted) says in His Noble Book: {That (this) is indeed an honourable recitation (the Noble Qur’ân). In a Book well-guarded (with Allâh in the heaven i.e. Al-Lauh Al-Mahfûz ). Which (that Book with Allâh) none can touch but the purified (i.e. the angels). A Revelation (this Qur’ân) from the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists)} [Surat Al-Waq’iah 56:77-80]
{إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ (77) فِي كِتَابٍ مَكْنُونٍ (78) لا يَمَسُّهُ إِلا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ (79) تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ} الواقعة: 77-80
Transliteration: 'Innahu Laqur'ānun Karīmun. Fī Kitāibn Maknūnin. Lā Yamassuhu 'Illā Al-Muţahharūna. Tanzīlun Min Rabbi Al-`Ālamīna.
This verse indicates that the Muslim could not touch the Holy Qur`an, unless he is in state of purity; according to the opinion of the majority of scholars. Moreover; it is mentioned in the Hadith of Amr ibn Hazm, which was written to him by the Messenger of Allah (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him): “None touches the Qur`an except the pure (person).” [Authenticated by Al-Albani 122 in Irwâ` Al-Ghalil]
«لا يمسُّ القرآن إلا طاهر» صحَّحه الألباني 122 في إرواء الغليل
Also, it is narrated that Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “None touches the Qur`an but the purified (people).” [Authenticated by Ad-Daraqanti in his sunnan]
Therefore; he recited the Holy Qur`an without touching it, when he did not have ablution.
Moreover; it is narrated that Sa’d ordered his son to have ablution in order to touch the Holy Qur`an. If this is about touching the Noble Qur`an, then what about whoever makes the paper that contains verses of the Qur`an dining table then throws it in the garbage along with the dirtiness. Surly, this is contempt to the Noble Book of Allah and His plain speech.
Hence; it is obligatory for every Muslim man and woman to guard the publications that contain verses of the Qur`an or prophetic traditions or some of Allah’s Names or attributes. The Muslim should keep such publications in pure place; and if he did not need it any more, he could bury it in pure land or burn it. Moreover, he should not be indulgent with that. Many people are inattentive to this issue, the person may commit this evil doing as a result to being ignorant about that ruling.
I thought in writing this speech as a reminder and declaration to what the Muslims have to do with the Book of Allah and His Names and Attributes along with the Ahadith of His Messenger (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him). Moreover; I wrote it as a warning against falling in whatever may enrage Allah and contradict with the exalted rank of the speech of the Lord of the worlds. Actually; it is Allah Almighty Who could guide us and all Muslims to whatever He likes. Also; it is He alone Who could protect us from the evil of ourselves and wrong deeds. And it is He Who could enable us all to glorify His Book along with the Sunnah of His Messenger (prayers and peace of Allah be upon him) and to apply them and guard them against any evil saying or deed. Indeed, He is over everything Omnipotent. And prayers and peace of Allah be upon our prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
The general chief of the departments of the scientific researches, Fatwa, Dawa and guidance
Abdel-Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz (may Allah mercy him)
Al-Qasim House
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