The Practices of the Pre-Islamic Age of Ignorance, Imitating the Disbelievers, and Their Relationship to Major Sins
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The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is it the case that what is established as being from the practices of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) is a sign that it is one of the major sins?
The Shaykh:
Yes, all the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance are forbidden, and we are prohibited from imitating the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. They are all major sins. The four that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned—slandering in boasting about lineages, slandering in genealogies, seeking rain by the stars, and wailing over the dead—are all major sins, and they are from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. The display of adornment by women (tabarruj) is from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and it is a major sin. Yes.
The questioner:
And likewise what has been transmitted.
The Shaykh:
The greatest of the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and making lawful what Allah has forbidden, and forbidding what Allah has made lawful. These pre-Islamic matters are, in reality, as they are.
The questioner:
And likewise, what has been transmitted regarding similarity to the polytheists or the People of the Book, is it considered one of the major sins?
The Shaykh:
Imitation, imitation, yes. This Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:Sunan Abi Dawud 4031Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani) Does this indicate that imitating the disbelievers is a major sin? Imitating the disbelievers is a major sin, because if he is one of them, the Shaykh al-Islam says that the least of his states is that it is a major sin, even though its apparent meaning is that it is disbelief, for he said, "He is one of them." If he is one of them, it means he is a disbeliever like them. Imitation is very serious; imitating the disbelievers in what is specific to them is very serious.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is it the case that what is established as being from the practices of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) is a sign that it is one of the major sins?
The Shaykh:
Yes, all the practices of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance are forbidden, and we are prohibited from imitating the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. They are all major sins. The four that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned—slandering in boasting about lineages, slandering in genealogies, seeking rain by the stars, and wailing over the dead—are all major sins, and they are from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance. The display of adornment by women (tabarruj) is from the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and it is a major sin. Yes.
The questioner:
And likewise what has been transmitted.
The Shaykh:
The greatest of the matters of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah the Exalted and Majestic, and making lawful what Allah has forbidden, and forbidding what Allah has made lawful. These pre-Islamic matters are, in reality, as they are.
The questioner:
And likewise, what has been transmitted regarding similarity to the polytheists or the People of the Book, is it considered one of the major sins?
The Shaykh:
Imitation, imitation, yes. This Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says:
He who copies any people is one of them.
من تشبه بقوم فهو منهم
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { أَفَأَمِنُوا مَكْرَ اللَّهِ فَلا يَأْمَنُ مَكْرَ اللَّهِ إِلا الْقَوْمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ } — islamhouse.com (1:00:28)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.