The Presence of Scholars in Clubs and Societies and the Evils Within Them

The questioner:
Your Eminence the Shaykh, we are returning to the topic of clubs. I feel that we are in need of youth gatherings. I mean, it has been my lot to see in the southern region some summer programs held for the youth—cultural programs. I used to see that almost all the entities in the region help supervise these cultural, literary, and intellectual gatherings. However, I did not see a clear impact from the da'wah centers in this matter. So we return to this matter anew and say that I see it is the duty of the da'iyah (callers to Allah) to venture into such places.

The Shaykh:
By Allah, this is on his bed, as I said, if it were a good place.

The presenter:
And.

The Shaykh:
Perhaps they do it, and I do not know, perhaps they do it, but...

The presenter:
Yes.

The Shaykh:
Yes.

The presenter:
Yes.

The Shaykh:
And they are important. And encouraging them to this thing by the people responsible for the clubs, this is what is required, so that the one who is not active becomes active, and so that the one who has not paid attention to it pays attention. And I see that it is not limited to the known official da'iyah, but it is obligatory for those in charge of these clubs to ask the scholars, even if they are readers, even if they are teachers, to ask them, if they are in the town or near the town, to attend and participate in this good. The da'wah should be from the scholars who are judges, and from the scholar teachers, and from the official da'iyah. It is not limited to the specific da'iyah, but the clubs and non-clubs, in any gathering that takes place in a wedding, or in a walimah (wedding feast) gathering, or in any place where a gathering takes place to discuss water, it is incumbent upon the one in charge of it to seize the opportunity. He should ask those who are capable among the scholars to participate in this good with a word or a group, one after another, two or three scholars, this one delivers a word and this one delivers a word, all of this benefits the gathered people, whether in the clubs or in other gatherings. This is what I see in this, and that it is of concern to the Muslims, and of concern to the clubs as well. And although it is obligatory for the scholars to venture into these matters and hasten to them, they may be occupied, they may not pay attention to these clubs, they may have other engagements that prevent them from attending, they may attend for other reasons, some of them may have smoking in them, or there may be such and such, or there may be images, or there may be such and such. Some people may refrain from this because of the photography or because of the smoking. But if those in charge of the clubs' work ask them and remove what they dislike, if the lecturer does not agree with the presence of designs, no, not designs, if the lecturer is offended by the presence of smoke, and does not agree to be in a place where there is smoke, the smokers are prevented during his presence, and he is informed that the club is free from this, so that he becomes active and attends. If the scholars are afflicted in wars, some scholars may be delayed for reasons they believe are real or not real, or real, but if they responded to the call, they would remove it from themselves and attend and take...

The presenter:
Your Eminence the Shaykh, it seems that we will object to this.

The Shaykh:
Yes.

The presenter:
The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) entered the clubs of Quraysh and mixed with them, and likewise he entered the gatherings

The Shaykh:
of the disbelievers. My brother, the Muslims must remove the evil with their own hands, as for the disbelievers, they must be called to abandon their disbelief, this is a condition.

The presenter:
With Anas.

The Shaykh:
The disbelievers have something greater, they have disbelief, so they are called to remove the disbelief, they are called to remove the disbelief. But these are Muslims, why is there evil? No, the judge and the scholar may not be pleased with this evil to attend it, and he may attend but not respond to his call, and smoke is smoked around him right and left, and he may not see the photography, and he sees that the ruler does not find specific restricted needs, he sees that they are photographing him, he recites, he may not see this, and his ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) may be that this is haram (forbidden) as established by the texts, he may not have what allows him to engage in this work with the presence of photographers. People are not on the same level in rulings. So I, for example, and those like me, may be cautious about the presence of photographers, and I do not reject their presence, except in some few cases where a person sees a benefit in it, or there is no harm in spreading knowledge through television and the like. Something of this may occur in some public gatherings where one may be lenient in attending for the public interest. But some matters, one may not be pleased with this, and may not be able to; because he sees that they are general texts prohibiting photography, and that the photographer leads people to punishment, so he fears being among them if he approves of this thing and rejects it, so he is hesitant to attend

The presenter:
But the callers to this thing should remove what prevents the lecturer and say to him, this club is in such and such, and in such and such, we hope for your presence, and you will see what pleases you. And if you do not see that this lecture should be photographed, or you do not see that there should be someone who smokes, or such and such, we will prevent all of this. There.

The Shaykh:
.

The presenter:
Correct, but the etiquette is important that he prohibits the evil, except that they follow it and crowd it, such as hearing a word from his club or some of them mocking him, he does not bind, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mixed with the people and they were patient, but his prohibiting the evil is another matter,

The Shaykh:
He does not prohibit the evil, yes.