Prohibitions that are taken too lightly – Complete book by Sheikh Munajjid
English Translation
Book by Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
Contents
Shirk: associating partners in worship with AllaahGrave-worshipSacrificing to anything other than AllaahAllowing what Allaah has forbidden and forbidding what Allaah has allowedMagic, fortune-telling and divinationAstrology, or believing that the stars and planets have an influence on people’s lives and eventsBelieving that certain things can bring benefit when the Creator has not made them soShowing off in worshipSuperstitious belief in omensSwearing by something other than AllaahSitting with hypocrites and wrongdoers to enjoy their company or to keep them companyLack of composure in prayerFidgeting and making unnecessary movements in prayerDeliberately anticipating the movements of the imaam (when praying in congregation)Coming to the mosque after eating onions or garlic, or anything that has an offensive smellZinaa – fornication and adulterySodomy (homosexuality)Not allowing one’s husband to have marital relations for no legitimate reasonAsking one’s husband for a divorce for no legitimate reasonal-ZihaarHaving intercourse with one’s wife during her periodHaving intercourse with one’s wife in her rectumNot treating co-wives fairlyBeing alone with a non-mahram womanShaking hands with a non-mahram womanA woman wearing perfume when going out or passing by non-mahram menA woman travelling without a mahramDeliberately looking at a non-mahram womanSeeing one’s womenfolk behaving in an immoral fashion and keeping silentMaking false claims about a child’s lineage, or denying one’s own childConsuming riba (usury or interest)Concealing a product’s faults at the time of saleArtificially inflating pricesTrading after the second call to prayer on FridayGamblingTheftOffering or accepting bribesSeizing land by forceAccepting a gift in return for intercedingHiring someone and benefitting from his labour, then not paying him his wagesNot giving gifts equally to one’s childrenAsking people for money when one is not in needSeeking a loan with no intention of repaying itConsuming haraam wealthDrinking khamr – even a single dropUsing vessels of gold and silver, or eating or drinking from themBearing false witnessListening to music and musical instrumentsGossip and backbitingSlanderLooking into people’s houses without their permissionTwo people conversing privately to the exclusion of a thirdIsbaal – wearing clothes that come down below the anklesMen wearing gold in any shape or formWomen wearing short, tight or see-through clothesWearing wigs and hairpieces, whether made from natural or artificial hair, for men and womenMen resembling women and women resembling men, in dress, speech and appearanceDyeing one’s hair blackHaving pictures of animate beings on clothing, walls or paper, etc.Lying about one’s dreamsSitting or walking on graves, or answering the call of nature in a graveyardNot cleaning oneself properly after passing waterEavesdropping on people who do not want to be heardBeing a bad neighborWriting a will for the purpose of harming one of the heirsPlaying backgammonCursing a believer or someone who does not deserve to be cursedWailing (at time of bereavement)Striking or branding the faceAbandoning a Muslim brother for more than three days with no legitimate reason
—————————————————
Shirk – associating partners with Allaah
This is the most serious of all prohibitions, according to the hadeeth narrated by Abu Bakrah, who said: “The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Shall I not tell you of the most serious of the major sins?’ three times. We said, ‘Of course, O Messenger of Allaah!’ He said, ‘Associating anything in worship with Allaah . . .’”
(Agreed upon; see al-Bukhaari, no. 2511, al-Bagha edition).
Every other sin may be forgiven by Allaah, apart from shirk, which requires specific repentance, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, Allaah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases . . .” [al-Nisaa’ 4:48]
One of the forms of shirk which is particularly widespread in Muslim countries is:
Grave-worship, the belief that dead awliyaa’ (“saints”) can fulfil one’s needs or help at times of distress, and calling upon them for aid. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him . . .” [al-Israa’ 17:23]
Similarly, they call upon dead Prophets, righteous people and others to intercede for them or to rescue them from some calamity, but Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Is not He (better than your gods) Who responds to the distressed one, when he calls Him, and Who removes the evil, and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? . . .” [al-Naml 27:62]
Some of them have adopted the habit of mentioning the name of a shaykh or wali (“saint”) when they stand up, or sit down, or stumble, or encounter problems or distress, so they might say “O Muhammad!” or “O ‘Ali!” or “O Husayn!” or “O Badawi!” or “O Jeelaani!” or “O Shaadhili!” or “O Rifaa’i!” – or they may call upon al-’Aydaroos or Sayyidah Zaynab or Ibn ‘Alwaan. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily those whom you call upon besides Allaah are slaves like you . . .” [al-A’raf 7:194]
Some of those who worship graves walk around them as if in Tawaaf, and acknowledge their corners, or touch them, kiss them, wipe their faces with their dust, prostrate towards them when they see them, or stand before them in fear and humility, praying for whatever they need of healing from some disease, or for a child, or for help with some difficulty. Sometimes they call upon the occupant of the grave, saying “O my master, I have come to you from far away, so do not let me down.” But Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And who is more astray than one who calls (invokes) besides Allaah such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls (invocations) to them?” [al-Ahqaaf 46:5]
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever dies calling on someone else as a rival to Allaah, will enter Hell.” (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 8/176).
Some of them shave their heads at the graves, and some have books with titles like Manaasik Hajj al-Mashaahid (“The Rituals of Pilgrimage to Shrines”), mashaahid or shrines referring to graves or tombs of awliyaa’. Some of them believe that the awliyaa’ are running the affairs of the universe and that they have the power to benefit or harm. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And if Allaah touches you with hurt, there is none who can remove it but He; and if He intends any good for you, there is no one who can repel His Favour . . .” [Yoonus 10:107]
It is also shirk to make a vow to any other than Allaah, as is done by those who vow to bring candles or lights for the occupants of the graves.
Another manifestation of al-shirk al-akbar is
Sacrificing to anything other than Allaah.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord, and sacrifice (to Him only)” [al-Kawthar 108:2]
– i.e., sacrifice to Allaah and in the name of Allaah. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
“Allaah will curse the one who sacrifices to anything other than Allaah.” (Reported by Imaam Muslim, may Allaah have mercy on him, in his Saheeh, no. 1978, ‘Abd al-Baaqi edition). This sin combines two haraam deeds, that of sacrificing to anything other than Allaah and that of sacrificing in the name of anything other than Allaah, both of which make the meat of the animal slaughtered haraam. One of the forms of sacrificing to anything other than Allaah which was known during the first Jaahiliyyah and is still widespread nowadays is the practice of “offering a sacrifice to the jinn,” whereby upon buying or constructing a house, or digging a well, people slaughter an animal at its entrance, out of fear of harm from the resident jinn. (See Tayseer al-’Azeez al-Hameed, al-Iftaa’ edition, p. 158)
Another widespread form of al-shirk al-akbar is the sin of allowing what Allaah has forbidden and forbidding what Allaah has allowed, or believing that anyone has the right to do so except Allaah, or referring matters for judgement to jaahili (non-Islamic) courts freely and by choice, and believing that this is permissible. Allaah has mentioned this form of major kufr in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning):
“They (Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to their lords besides Allaah (by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allaah). . .” [al-Tawbah 9:31]
When ‘Adiyy ibn Haatim heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) recite this aayah, he said, “But they were not worshipping them.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) replied, “Yes, but they permitted things that Allaah had forbidden, and the people accepted this, and they forbade things that Allaah had allowed, and the people accepted this too, and this is a form of worshipping them.” (Reported by al-Bayhaqi in al-Sunan al-Kubraa, 10/116. See also al-Tirmidhi, no. 3095. Al-Albaani classified it as hasan in Ghaayat al-Maraam, p. 19).
Allaah described the mushrikeen as (interpretation of the meaning): “. . . [those who do not] forbid that which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth . . .” [al-Tawbah 9:29]
And Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning): “Say: ‘Tell me, what provision Allaah has sent down to you, and you have made of it lawful and unlawful.’ Say: ‘Has Allaah permitted you (to do so), or do you invent a lie against Allaah?’” [Yoonus 10:59]
Other widespread forms of shirk are:
magic, fortune-telling and divination. Magic (sihr) is an act of kufr, and one of the seven sins which doom a person to Hell. It causes harm but no benefit. Allaah says of the one who learns it (interpretation of the meaning):
“. . . And they learn that which harms them and profits them not . . .” [al-Baqarah 2:102]
“. . . and the magician will never be successful, no matter what amount (of skill) he may attain).” [Ta-Ha 20:69]
The one who deals in magic is a kaafir, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“. . . Sulayman did not disbelieve, but the shayaateen (devils) disbelieved, teaching men magic and such things as came down at Babylon to the two angels, Haaroot and Maaroot, but neither of these two (angels) taught anyone (such things) things till they had said, ‘We are only for trial, so disbelieve not (by learning this magic from us).’ . . .” [al-Baqarah 2:102]
The prescribed punishment for the one who practices magic is death, and his income is haraam and impure. But people who are ignorant wrongdoers and weak in faith go to magicians to help them harm someone or take revenge on someone. Some people commit the sin of going to a magician to ask his help in undoing the magic of someone else, when they should turn to Allaah to help them and heal them, by reciting His words, such as the soorahs that offer protection (al-Falaq and al-Naas), and so on.
