What is the ruling on going to the lands of Thamud for the purpose of recreation and tourism?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on going to the lands of Thamud for the purpose of recreation and tourism, where there are now people calling for attention to be paid to these archaeological sites, visiting them and traveling to them?
Answer:
It is not permissible. However, if one travels for a purpose other than visiting them and merely passes through them as a traveler, there is nothing wrong with passing by and looking at them, just as the Companions did. But if he intends to visit them and travels specifically for that, this is not permissible, because this is part of exalting ancient ruins, and exalting the lands of disbelievers as well. They become places of pilgrimage. Does this not open the door?
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on going to the lands of Thamud for the purpose of recreation and tourism, where there are now people calling for attention to be paid to these archaeological sites, visiting them and traveling to them?
Answer:
It is not permissible. However, if one travels for a purpose other than visiting them and merely passes through them as a traveler, there is nothing wrong with passing by and looking at them, just as the Companions did. But if he intends to visit them and travels specifically for that, this is not permissible, because this is part of exalting ancient ruins, and exalting the lands of disbelievers as well. They become places of pilgrimage. Does this not open the door?
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [34 -2802] ما حُكْم الذِّهاب لديار ثمود لغرض النزهة والسياحة؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.