The Harms of Recreational Retreats
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O Shaykh! There are young men who sit in a courtyard, and between them and the mosque is approximately a kilometer or a kilometer minus a quarter, and they pray in that same courtyard,And they say: Is the congregational prayer obligatory upon us? Knowing that some of them go out and pray with the congregation, so they become scattered, some praying in the courtyard and some praying outside the courtyard! Then what do you advise them regarding the fact that much of their time is wasted from after the 'Asr prayer until eleven or twelve at night, while they are sitting in a way that yields no fruit and no benefit?
This phenomenon mentioned by the questioner has led to people opening what are called recreational retreats, so they built courtyards with some trees or plants in them, and they started going out to them from after the 'Asr prayer until midnight, or close to midnight. The general rule is that they do not gain any benefit other than the mere wasting of time, the companionship of one another, and the like. These gatherings may also include something forbidden. We have heard that in some of these retreats there are satellite dishes, which no one today doubts destroy morals and destroy religions; because they pick up what is seen on the television screen through them from what is broadcast in the corrupt lands of disbelief and others.
So they have this dish, and then they continue to watch what they watch in it of harms and wrongs, so they increase in distance from Allah—seeking refuge in Allah—and the wrong things become easy for them; because they practice them and watch them. And it is known that whoever becomes accustomed to something finds it easy,And it is said in the common proverb: (With frequent handling, the feeling diminishes).
So in these retreats, such harms occur,And another harm also occurs in it, which is: leaving the prayer with the congregation. You find this place is close to the mosque, and yet they do not pray in the mosque, but rather they pray in their place, even though they can go to the mosque with complete ease and return to their place with complete ease. They are not like those who are in a work circle; if they went out to the mosque, they would be scattered, distributed, and the work would be disrupted. Or in a school, if the students went out to the mosque, they would be scattered in the mosque, and they would be rude to the people of the mosque, or they would scatter to their homes and not pray.Meaning: If we were to excuse the owners of offices and the owners of schools if they pray in their offices and schools, we would not excuse these people; because these people are a limited number who can all go and all return. So they have no excuse—in our view—in leaving the prayer in the mosques, even if they pray in congregation; for that is not sufficient in place of attending the mosque.By the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (I was about to order the prayer to be established, then order a man to lead the people in prayer, then I would set out with men carrying bundles of firewood to a people who do not witness the prayer, and I would burn their houses with fire).
He said: (To a people), even though these people might establish the congregation in their place; but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted them to attend the mosque.
And he said to a man when he sought permission to leave attending: (Do you hear the call?He said: Yes,He said: Then answer!).
So if you convey to them—may Allah reward you with good—on my behalf that it is obligatory upon them to pray in the mosque and then return to their place.
And likewise, I direct advice to the one who installed the dish in these retreats,And I say to him: Fear Allah in yourself, do not be a cause for the destruction of morals and the corruption of religions by what is watched on these dishes.
Also, I warn—by the way—the owner of every house from installing such a dish in his house; because he will leave it behind after his death.
And I ask the one who installed the dish in his house while he sees these wrongs that are broadcast from it: Is he thereby advising his house and his family, or is he deceiving them?! The answer will surely be: He is deceiving them, unless he is one of those upon whose heart Allah has sealed so he does not feel; that is another matter;But he will say: He is deceiving them,So I say to him: Remember the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): (There is no servant whom Allah has entrusted with a group of people, who dies while he is deceiving them, but Allah will forbid him Paradise).
So if you die now and you have installed for your family this dish that no one doubts is deception in the house, and the house has women in it and foolish young people who do not shy away from the forbidden, meaning that if it were assumed that a sane person has this dish, and there is no one in the house,And he says: I want to look at what is of benefit to me, or look at the news of people; but if the wrong things come, I turn it off. If someone said this,We would say: It might be that there is nothing wrong with it, even though he is in danger that his soul will lure him and he will fall into destruction, and he is in danger that if it remains after his death, it will be inherited by one who will not use it except in a bad way. Then he does not know when he will die! Therefore, my advice to my brothers is to stay away from this dish, and to flee from it as they would flee from a lion. Otherwise, how is it fitting for a person to bring in something that destroys his morals and the morals of his family? We ask Allah for well-being. O Allah, grant us well-being.
The questioner: So how can they benefit from their time?The Shaykh: As for passing the time, you know that the time is long from the 'Asr prayer to close to midnight, especially in the days of summer, for the time of 'Asr is long. So if they had, for example, a swimming pool to pass the time in swimming, or if they had, for example, targets to shoot at, even with the small gun called (the mother of the grain), and likewise if they passed their time in a foot race, all of this is good work that is relaxing for the soul. Then they read what is easy of the beneficial books of knowledge, or beneficial story books. And more important than all of that is that they read the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the biographies of his Rightly Guided Caliphs.
This phenomenon mentioned by the questioner has led to people opening what are called recreational retreats, so they built courtyards with some trees or plants in them, and they started going out to them from after the 'Asr prayer until midnight, or close to midnight. The general rule is that they do not gain any benefit other than the mere wasting of time, the companionship of one another, and the like. These gatherings may also include something forbidden. We have heard that in some of these retreats there are satellite dishes, which no one today doubts destroy morals and destroy religions; because they pick up what is seen on the television screen through them from what is broadcast in the corrupt lands of disbelief and others.
So they have this dish, and then they continue to watch what they watch in it of harms and wrongs, so they increase in distance from Allah—seeking refuge in Allah—and the wrong things become easy for them; because they practice them and watch them. And it is known that whoever becomes accustomed to something finds it easy,And it is said in the common proverb: (With frequent handling, the feeling diminishes).
So in these retreats, such harms occur,And another harm also occurs in it, which is: leaving the prayer with the congregation. You find this place is close to the mosque, and yet they do not pray in the mosque, but rather they pray in their place, even though they can go to the mosque with complete ease and return to their place with complete ease. They are not like those who are in a work circle; if they went out to the mosque, they would be scattered, distributed, and the work would be disrupted. Or in a school, if the students went out to the mosque, they would be scattered in the mosque, and they would be rude to the people of the mosque, or they would scatter to their homes and not pray.Meaning: If we were to excuse the owners of offices and the owners of schools if they pray in their offices and schools, we would not excuse these people; because these people are a limited number who can all go and all return. So they have no excuse—in our view—in leaving the prayer in the mosques, even if they pray in congregation; for that is not sufficient in place of attending the mosque.By the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): (I was about to order the prayer to be established, then order a man to lead the people in prayer, then I would set out with men carrying bundles of firewood to a people who do not witness the prayer, and I would burn their houses with fire).
He said: (To a people), even though these people might establish the congregation in their place; but the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted them to attend the mosque.
And he said to a man when he sought permission to leave attending: (Do you hear the call?He said: Yes,He said: Then answer!).
So if you convey to them—may Allah reward you with good—on my behalf that it is obligatory upon them to pray in the mosque and then return to their place.
And likewise, I direct advice to the one who installed the dish in these retreats,And I say to him: Fear Allah in yourself, do not be a cause for the destruction of morals and the corruption of religions by what is watched on these dishes.
Also, I warn—by the way—the owner of every house from installing such a dish in his house; because he will leave it behind after his death.
And I ask the one who installed the dish in his house while he sees these wrongs that are broadcast from it: Is he thereby advising his house and his family, or is he deceiving them?! The answer will surely be: He is deceiving them, unless he is one of those upon whose heart Allah has sealed so he does not feel; that is another matter;But he will say: He is deceiving them,So I say to him: Remember the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): (There is no servant whom Allah has entrusted with a group of people, who dies while he is deceiving them, but Allah will forbid him Paradise).
So if you die now and you have installed for your family this dish that no one doubts is deception in the house, and the house has women in it and foolish young people who do not shy away from the forbidden, meaning that if it were assumed that a sane person has this dish, and there is no one in the house,And he says: I want to look at what is of benefit to me, or look at the news of people; but if the wrong things come, I turn it off. If someone said this,We would say: It might be that there is nothing wrong with it, even though he is in danger that his soul will lure him and he will fall into destruction, and he is in danger that if it remains after his death, it will be inherited by one who will not use it except in a bad way. Then he does not know when he will die! Therefore, my advice to my brothers is to stay away from this dish, and to flee from it as they would flee from a lion. Otherwise, how is it fitting for a person to bring in something that destroys his morals and the morals of his family? We ask Allah for well-being. O Allah, grant us well-being.
The questioner: So how can they benefit from their time?The Shaykh: As for passing the time, you know that the time is long from the 'Asr prayer to close to midnight, especially in the days of summer, for the time of 'Asr is long. So if they had, for example, a swimming pool to pass the time in swimming, or if they had, for example, targets to shoot at, even with the small gun called (the mother of the grain), and likewise if they passed their time in a foot race, all of this is good work that is relaxing for the soul. Then they read what is easy of the beneficial books of knowledge, or beneficial story books. And more important than all of that is that they read the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the biographies of his Rightly Guided Caliphs.