Letters to the Editor

Q. In the July’99 issue of the YMD you have answered in one of the questions that prostrating before graves is outright Shirk. I have certain questions on this subject as well as certain other subjects. The Muslims bow before the Kaaba and also lay Chadars over it. Why is that not considered wrong? Is it just because (God forgive) we have to blindly follow the Prophet (saws) without any recourse to logic or is there some sound reason behind it?

YMD

You seem to have exactly the same kind of belief about certain Islamic practices as those that the Hindus think of us. They say we are also stone-worshippers like they are. When asked how, they say, “Don’t you bow down before the Ka`ba?”

We were not aware that among the Muslims there are people who can read and write the English language (apart from their mother tongue), but who still believe, in this age of wide-spread knowledge, that we Muslims worship the Ka`bah.

Well, the answer to you is the same as we give to the Hindus. We do not worship the Ka`bah when we go to Makkah and bow down before it. We worship One God and He is not sitting in the Ka`bah. We bow down in all our Prayers, be they performed before the Ka`abah, in ordinary mosques, or at home. To bow down in Prayers is part of the ritual of Prayers. It has nothing to do with the Ka`bah. The Ka`bah is no more than a building. It has been erected for orientation purposes and not for worship.

Can we worship without the Ka`bah? Of course, we do that all the time, all over the day, in millions of mosques spread over the globe. Now just as we do not worship the front wall in the mosques when we offer Prayers facing it, we also do not worship the Ka`bah when we face it when Praying in front of it.

As for the cloth covering of the Ka`bah, it is not for worship and is not equivalent to the cloth laid over the graves. The covering around the Ka`bah is for its protection. The building is made of stones and mud: as it was made centuries ago. If you didn’t cover it then two factors will wear off the mud. First, the weather, rain and winds, and second, the touch of the pilgrims. Although not compulsorily required to touch the Ka`bah, or move their hands over its walls lovingly, the sentimental ones among the Muslims do it. In fact, the Prophet himself used to sit with his back resting on the Ka`bah, and so did many others after him. The Ka`bah is made of stones and mud; a symbol; and no more. However, since violence is not allowed at the Ka`bah, the people who touch it with their hands or body cannot be prevented. That causes dirtying and some wear and tear. And, since there are about 150,000 touches a day, the problem of wear and tear has to be attended to. The answer is, cover it.

Now, since the covering is made of cloth, and the weather in Makkah is very destructive, it gets completely worn out in a year’s time. (Once, a carpet left in the sun for about four months was recovered in shreds, pieces and dust). So the Ka`bah covering is also replaced every year. But, that does not lend the covering cloth any sanctity. It is similar to the window drapes of a mosque. Those window drapes do not acquire any sanctity because they are hung on a mosque window.

As for the covering cloth on the graves, what is their function? Are they meant to preserve the grave from pilgrim’s touch and spoilage? If that is so, then it is all the more necessary to remove them because any touch of the graves out of reverence – as in the case of the Ka`bah – is disallowed. In fact raising of the grave above the ground level is disallowed in Islam. The Chaader cost is more deserving of the school-drop out who cannot pay his fees.

Q. I have learnt that the punishment of a Muslim who renounces Islam is death. Is it true? But Allah says in Qur’an that there is no compulsion in faith. Now if a person is born in a Muslim family & on attaining adulthood wants to abandon Islam, why do we call him a murtad and punish him?

YMD

The topic has been discussed earlier. Since a detailed answer will require much space, it might be pointed out that any state will tolerate anything from its citizens except disloyalty. Once disloyalty is proved, a man is hanged without mercy. No one, not even those opposed to death penalty, criticise the punishment. Now, humans build states on nationalism, regionalism, culture, language or other factors as their motto. An Islamic state is a Godly state. It is built on the testimony, “There is no God save Allah.” If somebody denies that, after having been its citizen by default, then that is the extreme kind of disloyalty in an Islamic state punishable by death.

Q. It is necessary for a Muslim to obey the commands of prophet (saws). But is it also necessary to agree to whatever opinion on any subject expressed by the Prophet (saw)? To what extent is it allowable to differ in opinion with him?

Aslam Ahmed,
KDH – Delhi.

YMD

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of Prophetic statements: one pertaining to religion, the other to worldly affairs. Now when it comes to the former – religious matters – there can be no two opinion about it. His opinion is final. But, as regards the second kind, his followers are free to take or leave. For instance, he recommended that we drink cow’s milk because he noticed that it eats from every kind of grass and green leaves. He concluded, perhaps, although he didn’t say so, that an animal that ate from a variety of pasture, would yield a richer milk than another that didn’t. Now, his followers are free to drink cow’s milk or any other of their choice. There is no sin upon them if they chose not to drink cow’s milk – especially today when it is fed only one kind of feed. If they drank, then there are two situations: either they drank it simply because he recommended, or because of other reasons. If they drink simply for the reason that he has recommended, they would be rewarded for the intention but not for the act. That is because, drinking cow milk is not a virtuous act. If they drank for other reasons, then neither they will be rewarded nor punished.

Of course, there are several acts that seem to fall in between: the religious and the worldly. Sometimes a part of an act is religious, while a part is not. In such cases the person involved should himself assess to the religiosity or otherwise of the deed.

Now, taking up the religious part of the Prophetic statements or his examples in deeds, we have said above that there can be no two opinion over them. He is always right, without the least possibility of another opinion opposed to it being correct. Whoever held an opinion other than the Prophet’s in religious matters is wrong, and, if he expressed it, will be questioned about it on the Day of Judgement. One might, however, note carefully that it is the opinion that we are talking about.

As regards actions in accordance with the Prophetic statements of the religious kind or deeds (the Sunnah) in accordance with his, the following is a further explanation. Religious acts are divided into several kinds. A rough division would render them as: the obligatory and the non-obligatory ones. The Sunnah also gets divided into these two kinds: those that necessarily, obligatorily demand action, and those that don’t. If one acts according to the latter kind, he gets rewarded, if he doesn’t, he will not be questioned about them.

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