Visiting the dwellings of the punished and ancient sites for the sake of taking a lesson
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Visiting the dwellings of their forefathers in their difficult state for the sake of taking a lesson and admonition, is there any harm in that?
The Shaykh:
Traveling specifically to them is not permissible. However, if a person is heading to Sham and they are on his way, there is no harm in him entering them, on the condition that he is weeping, not being happy or amazed by the works and civilization as they say, and that these are people of civilization and he admires their works. That is not permissible. But he enters them for the sake of taking a lesson, just as one visits a cemetery, for the sake of taking a lesson and admonition. Entering them as ruins and civilization as they say, or for tourism, is not permissible. And it is not permissible to travel to them. But if he passes by them on his way, there is no harm in him entering them for the sake of taking a lesson. Not entering them is better. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions when they passed by them on their way to Sham:Sahih al-Bukhari 4420, Sahih al-Bukhari 4420.
Or if a person enters them from the perspective of, meaning, broadening the mind and tourism, meaning this is admiration for the actions of the disbelievers, and this is not permissible.
The questioner:
Is this specific to the dwellings of the punished, or does it apply to all ruins?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
This.
The Shaykh:
The intended meaning is the ruins of the punished disbelievers in which the punishment fell upon the disbelievers. These are the ones to be avoided. As for the remaining ruins, if this is from the perspective of reviving the ruins, this leads to seeking blessing from them, even in the long run. So leaving these things and neglecting them, as the Salaf neglected them, as the Companions neglected them. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not care for these ruins, nor did he go to revive them and define them. And the Companions did not do this, up to the past centuries. So reviving them and caring for them leads to polytheism, even in the long run. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
May Allah reward you. Visiting the dwellings of their forefathers in their difficult state for the sake of taking a lesson and admonition, is there any harm in that?
The Shaykh:
Traveling specifically to them is not permissible. However, if a person is heading to Sham and they are on his way, there is no harm in him entering them, on the condition that he is weeping, not being happy or amazed by the works and civilization as they say, and that these are people of civilization and he admires their works. That is not permissible. But he enters them for the sake of taking a lesson, just as one visits a cemetery, for the sake of taking a lesson and admonition. Entering them as ruins and civilization as they say, or for tourism, is not permissible. And it is not permissible to travel to them. But if he passes by them on his way, there is no harm in him entering them for the sake of taking a lesson. Not entering them is better. For this reason, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to his Companions when they passed by them on their way to Sham:
Do not enter upon these people who are being punished, except in a weeping state
لا تدخلوا على هؤلاء المعذبين إلا أن تكونوا باكينlest the same calamity as of theirs should befall you
أَنْ يُصِيبَكُمْ مِثْلُ مَا أَصَابَهُمْOr if a person enters them from the perspective of, meaning, broadening the mind and tourism, meaning this is admiration for the actions of the disbelievers, and this is not permissible.
The questioner:
Is this specific to the dwellings of the punished, or does it apply to all ruins?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
This.
The Shaykh:
The intended meaning is the ruins of the punished disbelievers in which the punishment fell upon the disbelievers. These are the ones to be avoided. As for the remaining ruins, if this is from the perspective of reviving the ruins, this leads to seeking blessing from them, even in the long run. So leaving these things and neglecting them, as the Salaf neglected them, as the Companions neglected them. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not care for these ruins, nor did he go to revive them and define them. And the Companions did not do this, up to the past centuries. So reviving them and caring for them leads to polytheism, even in the long run. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
شرح نونية ابن القيم [33] — alfawzan.live (1:04:48)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.