Distributing food from vows made to the awliya (close friends of Allah)
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The third question of Fatwa No. ( 1774 ):
Q3: Is it permissible to distribute food to people from items vowed to the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, and is it permissible to celebrate this, and is it permissible to raise flags for it?
A3: First: A vow is an act of worship because Allah praises those who fulfill it and promises them a good reward for it. He the Exalted said: , and He said: [Al-Baqarah 2:270] . And it was narrated from Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Ibn Majah 2126Sahih (Darussalam) . And if a vow of obedience is an act of worship, it is obligatory to direct it to Allah alone and to be sincere to Him in it. Directing it to other than Allah, whether a prophet, a wali (close friend of Allah), a jinn, an idol, or any other created being, is shirk (associating partners with Allah). Accordingly, sacrificial animals vowed to other than Allah are carrion, and it is forbidden to eat them or distribute them to people, even if the one who slaughtered them mentioned the name of Allah over them at the time of slaughter; because mentioning His name over them does not make the slaughter lawful. It is obligatory to discard them or feed them to animals. As for what is vowed to the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous other than sacrificial animals, such as bread, dates, chickpeas, sweets, and the like, where the permissibility of eating them does not depend on
slaughter or ritual slaughter, it should be left undistributed to people; because of the promotion of bid'ah (religious innovation) and cooperation in its spread, and participation in and approval of the manifestations of shirk (associating partners with Allah). However, they are in the ruling of wealth that their owners have turned away from and left for whoever wishes to take it, so whoever takes something from them has done nothing wrong. Second : It is not permissible to celebrate the deaths of the prophets and the righteous, nor to revive their memories through mawlid celebrations and raising flags, nor to place saddles and candles on their graves, nor to build domes and mosques over their shrines or cover them or do the like of that; because all of what has been mentioned is bid'ah (religious innovation) introduced into the religion, and a means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do this for the prophets and righteous ones who came before him, nor did the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) do it for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor did any of the imams of the Muslims in the three centuries that he (peace and blessings be upon him) testified to as the best of centuries after him do it for any of the awliya (close friends of Allah) or the righteous, or kings or rulers. All good is in following him (peace and blessings be upon him) and following his rightly guided caliphs, and whoever follows their guidance and walks their path. And all evil is in following the innovators and acting upon the bid'ah (religious innovations) they introduced in the affairs of religion. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ahzab 33:21] . And it is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Sahih Muslim 529 agreed upon as authentic . And it is also established from him that he said (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 532 . And it is also established from him that he prohibited plastering graves, sitting on them, and building on them. And it is authentic from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 8:33 narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. And from al-'Arba' ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him) he said: narrated by Abu Dawud , and al-Tirmidhi who said: A good authentic hadith. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q3: Is it permissible to distribute food to people from items vowed to the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous, and is it permissible to celebrate this, and is it permissible to raise flags for it?
A3: First: A vow is an act of worship because Allah praises those who fulfill it and promises them a good reward for it. He the Exalted said:
They fulfill their vows
يُوفُونَ بِالنَّذْرِAnd whatever you spend of expenditures or make of vows - indeed, Allah knows of it
وَمَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ مِنْ نَفَقَةٍ أَوْ نَذَرْتُمْ مِنْ نَذْرٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُهُWhoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him, and whoever vows to disobey Allah, let him not disobey Him.
من نذر أن يطيع الله فليطعه، ومن نذر أن يعصي الله فلا يعصهslaughter or ritual slaughter, it should be left undistributed to people; because of the promotion of bid'ah (religious innovation) and cooperation in its spread, and participation in and approval of the manifestations of shirk (associating partners with Allah). However, they are in the ruling of wealth that their owners have turned away from and left for whoever wishes to take it, so whoever takes something from them has done nothing wrong. Second : It is not permissible to celebrate the deaths of the prophets and the righteous, nor to revive their memories through mawlid celebrations and raising flags, nor to place saddles and candles on their graves, nor to build domes and mosques over their shrines or cover them or do the like of that; because all of what has been mentioned is bid'ah (religious innovation) introduced into the religion, and a means of shirk (associating partners with Allah). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do this for the prophets and righteous ones who came before him, nor did the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) do it for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), nor did any of the imams of the Muslims in the three centuries that he (peace and blessings be upon him) testified to as the best of centuries after him do it for any of the awliya (close friends of Allah) or the righteous, or kings or rulers. All good is in following him (peace and blessings be upon him) and following his rightly guided caliphs, and whoever follows their guidance and walks their path. And all evil is in following the innovators and acting upon the bid'ah (religious innovations) they introduced in the affairs of religion. Allah the Exalted said:
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًاAllah cursed the Jews and the Christians that they took the graves of their prophets as mosques
لعن الله اليهود والنصـارى اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجدBeware of those who preceded you and used to take the graves of their prophets and righteous men as places of worship, but you must not take graves as mosques; I forbid you to do that.
ألا وإن من كان قبلكم كانوا يتخذون قبور أنبيائهم وصالحيهم مساجد، ألا فلا تتخذوا القبور مساجد، فإني أنهاكم عن ذلكThe best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and the worst of matters are their newly invented ones, and every bid'ah (religious innovation) is misguidance
خير الحديث كتاب الله، وخير الهدي هدي محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، وشر الأمور محدثاتها، وكل بدعة ضلالةThe Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us a sermon that was eloquent, and the hearts were moved by it and the eyes shed tears. So we said: O Messenger of Allah, it is as if it is the sermon of one who is taking his leave, so advise us. He said: I advise you to fear Allah, and to listen and obey even if a black slave is appointed over you. And whoever lives among you will see much disagreement. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided caliphs, and grip it with your teeth. And beware of newly invented matters, for every bid'ah (religious innovation) is misguidance
وعظنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم موعظة بليغة وجلت منها القلوب وذرفت منها العيون، فقلنا: يا رسول الله، كأنها موعظة مودع فأوصنا، قال: أوصيكم بتقوى الله، والسمع والطاعة وإن تأمر عليكم عبد حبشي، وإنه من يعش منكم فسيرى اختلافًا كثيرًا، فعليكم بسنتي وسنة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديين عضوا عليها بالنواجذ، وإياكم ومحدثات الأمور، فإن كل بدعة ضلالة
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.