When a Muslim Contradicts a Ruling Established by an Explicit Text
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Fatwa No. ( 2175 ):
Q: In our country, Pattani in southern Thailand , there are major problems regarding
The issue of preparing food from the deceased's relatives: I ask your Eminence to inform us of the answer to this issue and the following one: the rulings of obligation (taklif) — obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked, and prohibited. What is the ruling on one who denies the aforementioned rulings by saying: 1. Regarding the obligatory, he calls it recommended, permissible, disliked, or prohibited. 2. Regarding the recommended, he calls it obligatory, permissible, disliked, or prohibited. 3. Regarding the permissible, he calls it obligatory, recommended, disliked, or prohibited. 4. Regarding the disliked, he calls it obligatory, recommended, permissible, or prohibited. 5. Regarding the prohibited, he calls it obligatory, recommended, permissible, or disliked. Some examples of this are that the knowledgeable scholars said: "It is disliked to prepare food from the deceased's relatives; because it is a practice for joy, not for misfortune, and it is a blameworthy religious innovation." And it was said: "It is disliked to prepare food on the day
The first, second, and third days, and after the week. And it was said: "The four Imams agreed on the dislike of the deceased's relatives preparing food for people to gather over," and similar statements from the scholars. And the scholars in our country, Pattani in number, said the opposite of what the previous practicing scholars said; some of them said it is a recommended practice, some said it is permissible, and a few of them said it is obligatory. So we, I and Hajj 'Abd Allah al-Hajj Muhammad Saleh, and Hajj 'Abd al-Rahman Jafakia, say as the previous practicing scholars said. And because of this issue, some of them declared others disbelievers, and some do not eat the slaughter of others, and some do not marry the daughters of others. Therefore, I hope your Eminence will agree and rely on that in a fatwa with a positive answer, and then send it to us so that we may print and distribute it to all people for free, if Allah wills, (Glorified and Exalted is He).
A : First : The authentic Sunnah indicates that it is the deceased's Muslim brothers, other than his relatives, who prepare food and send it to the deceased's relatives; to assist them and comfort their hearts, for they may be occupied with their calamity and with those who come to them, and thus unable to prepare and fix food for themselves. Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan, from 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far who said: When the news of the death of Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) came, when he was killed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was narrated by Ahmad , and Abu Dawud,
al-Tirmidhi , and Ibn Majah, and al-Tirmidhi graded it as good. As for the deceased's relatives preparing food for people and making that a custom for them, it is not known, to our knowledge, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or from his Rightly Guided Caliphs; rather, it is a religious innovation, and it should be abandoned; because of what it entails of occupying the deceased's relatives with their own concerns, and because of what it entails of imitating the practice of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and turning away from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Rightly Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them). Imam Ahmad narrated, from Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajali : that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) considered gathering at the deceased's home and the deceased's relatives preparing food for those who came to them after the burial to be part of wailing. Likewise, it is not permissible to slaughter an animal at the grave, or at the time of death, or when the deceased is taken out of the house; because of what Ahmad , and Abu Dawud narrated, from the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Abi Dawud 3222Sahih (Al-Albani) . Second: If a Muslim contradicts a ruling established by an explicit text from the Book or the Sunnah that admits no figurative interpretation and leaves no room for independent legal reasoning, or contradicts a definitive, established scholarly consensus — and the correct ruling is made clear to him, then if he accepts it, praise be to Allah; but if he refuses after the explanation and the establishment of the proof, and persists in changing the ruling of Allah, he is declared a disbeliever and treated as one who has committed apostasy from the religion of Islam. An example of this is: one who denies the five prayers, or one of them, or the obligatory nature of fasting, or zakah, or Hajj, and offers a figurative interpretation of the texts from the Book and the Sunnah that indicate them, and pays no heed to the scholarly consensus
of the Muslim community. And if he contradicts a ruling established by evidence that is disputed in its authenticity or open to interpretation with different meanings and opposing rulings, then his contradiction is a disagreement on an issue of independent legal reasoning, so he is not declared a disbeliever. Rather, the one who errs in that is excused, and he is rewarded for his independent legal reasoning, and the one who hits the truth is praised and rewarded with two rewards: a reward for his independent legal reasoning and a reward for hitting the truth. An example of this is: one who denies the obligation of reciting al-Fatihah for the ma'mum, and the one who says it is obligatory for him to recite it, and the one who disagrees on the ruling of the deceased's relatives preparing food and gathering people over it, saying: it is recommended, or saying: it is permissible, or: it is disliked but not forbidden. Such a person is not to be declared a disbeliever, nor is it to be denied to pray behind him, nor is his marriage to be forbidden, nor is it forbidden to eat from his slaughter. Rather, it is obligatory to advise him and discuss it with him in light of the Islamic legal evidence; because he is a Muslim brother who has the rights of Muslims. And the disagreement in this issue is a disagreement on a secondary issue of independent legal reasoning, which occurred in the time of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and the Imams of the Salaf, and they did not declare each other disbelievers, nor did they boycott each other. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and his family and his Companions.
Q: In our country, Pattani in southern Thailand , there are major problems regarding
The issue of preparing food from the deceased's relatives: I ask your Eminence to inform us of the answer to this issue and the following one: the rulings of obligation (taklif) — obligatory, recommended, permissible, disliked, and prohibited. What is the ruling on one who denies the aforementioned rulings by saying: 1. Regarding the obligatory, he calls it recommended, permissible, disliked, or prohibited. 2. Regarding the recommended, he calls it obligatory, permissible, disliked, or prohibited. 3. Regarding the permissible, he calls it obligatory, recommended, disliked, or prohibited. 4. Regarding the disliked, he calls it obligatory, recommended, permissible, or prohibited. 5. Regarding the prohibited, he calls it obligatory, recommended, permissible, or disliked. Some examples of this are that the knowledgeable scholars said: "It is disliked to prepare food from the deceased's relatives; because it is a practice for joy, not for misfortune, and it is a blameworthy religious innovation." And it was said: "It is disliked to prepare food on the day
The first, second, and third days, and after the week. And it was said: "The four Imams agreed on the dislike of the deceased's relatives preparing food for people to gather over," and similar statements from the scholars. And the scholars in our country, Pattani in number, said the opposite of what the previous practicing scholars said; some of them said it is a recommended practice, some said it is permissible, and a few of them said it is obligatory. So we, I and Hajj 'Abd Allah al-Hajj Muhammad Saleh, and Hajj 'Abd al-Rahman Jafakia, say as the previous practicing scholars said. And because of this issue, some of them declared others disbelievers, and some do not eat the slaughter of others, and some do not marry the daughters of others. Therefore, I hope your Eminence will agree and rely on that in a fatwa with a positive answer, and then send it to us so that we may print and distribute it to all people for free, if Allah wills, (Glorified and Exalted is He).
A : First : The authentic Sunnah indicates that it is the deceased's Muslim brothers, other than his relatives, who prepare food and send it to the deceased's relatives; to assist them and comfort their hearts, for they may be occupied with their calamity and with those who come to them, and thus unable to prepare and fix food for themselves. Abu Dawud narrated in his Sunan, from 'Abd Allah ibn Ja'far who said: When the news of the death of Ja'far (may Allah be pleased with him) came, when he was killed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Prepare food for the family of Ja'far, for a matter has come to them that has occupied them.
اصنعوا لآل جعفر طعامًا فإنهم قد أتاهم أمر شغلهمal-Tirmidhi , and Ibn Majah, and al-Tirmidhi graded it as good. As for the deceased's relatives preparing food for people and making that a custom for them, it is not known, to our knowledge, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or from his Rightly Guided Caliphs; rather, it is a religious innovation, and it should be abandoned; because of what it entails of occupying the deceased's relatives with their own concerns, and because of what it entails of imitating the practice of the people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, and turning away from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Rightly Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them). Imam Ahmad narrated, from Jarir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Bajali : that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) considered gathering at the deceased's home and the deceased's relatives preparing food for those who came to them after the burial to be part of wailing. Likewise, it is not permissible to slaughter an animal at the grave, or at the time of death, or when the deceased is taken out of the house; because of what Ahmad , and Abu Dawud narrated, from the hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
There is no slaughtering (at the grave) in Islam
لا عقر في الإِسلامof the Muslim community. And if he contradicts a ruling established by evidence that is disputed in its authenticity or open to interpretation with different meanings and opposing rulings, then his contradiction is a disagreement on an issue of independent legal reasoning, so he is not declared a disbeliever. Rather, the one who errs in that is excused, and he is rewarded for his independent legal reasoning, and the one who hits the truth is praised and rewarded with two rewards: a reward for his independent legal reasoning and a reward for hitting the truth. An example of this is: one who denies the obligation of reciting al-Fatihah for the ma'mum, and the one who says it is obligatory for him to recite it, and the one who disagrees on the ruling of the deceased's relatives preparing food and gathering people over it, saying: it is recommended, or saying: it is permissible, or: it is disliked but not forbidden. Such a person is not to be declared a disbeliever, nor is it to be denied to pray behind him, nor is his marriage to be forbidden, nor is it forbidden to eat from his slaughter. Rather, it is obligatory to advise him and discuss it with him in light of the Islamic legal evidence; because he is a Muslim brother who has the rights of Muslims. And the disagreement in this issue is a disagreement on a secondary issue of independent legal reasoning, which occurred in the time of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and the Imams of the Salaf, and they did not declare each other disbelievers, nor did they boycott each other. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.