What is your opinion on watching Islamic films, such as *The Message*, because they increase enthusiasm? If the answer is prohibition, we request that the reasons for the prohibition be explained.
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The questioner : What is your esteemed opinion on watching Islamic films, especially those that inspire religious enthusiasm in some Muslims, and specifically the film "The Message", which depicts the events of the early victory of Islam and the call? If your answer is that it is not permissible, I request that you explain the reason and the reactions.
The Shaykh : The questioner hit the mark when he said, "If your answer is..." What did he say?
The questioner : If your answer is that it is not permissible, if your answer is that it is not permissible.
The Shaykh : Yes, we say it is not permissible. Acting is not prescribed in Islam for many reasons. First, this is the way of the disbelievers, and the way of the disbelievers is fitting for them, not for Muslims. This is because the disbelievers feel they need incentives and motivators to drive them to good. They do not find in their religion what we have, and praise be to Allah, of good. As you heard just now, his saying (peace be upon him) A single verse, let alone a surah, is sufficient to replace many, many, and very many acting productions if it were spread among Muslims and explained to them. So Muslims do not need such modern means, especially since they originated from the lands of disbelief, about whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said [At-Tawbah 9:29] So how can we take the methodologies, cultures, and ways of a nation that does not prohibit or permit, and then apply them to ourselves? I was once impressed by a lecturer who said that the likeness of Muslims and their imitation of the Westerners is like a fat man who takes a garment tailored for another thin man and wants to wear it. The result will be that he cannot live in it, and the outcome will be that the garment tears because it was not tailored for his body. And the reverse is the reverse. So those means are suitable for them and not for us, because we have something better than that, as came in the hadith. The hadith of Jabir ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a scroll in the hand of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab one day and said to him, "What is this?" He said, "This is a scroll from the Torah that a man from the Jews wrote for me, Salam." And he said And he is the one who spoke to Allah following the Messenger (peace be upon him). So what is the matter with you today that we are followers, rather we are tails, of everything that comes to us from the adornment of those people who do not respect what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden? This is the reason I do not see the permissibility of these acting productions.
The second matter is that it is necessary that lies occur in these acting productions that have no truth in Islamic history or in the early biography. And when that is the case, this is another reason that prevents us from following the Europeans in what they are doing in their acting productions, because they live by a known principle, and unfortunately some Muslims also follow it. Their principle is "The end justifies the means". The means is, for example, to earn money, while the path is not important, whether it is lawful or forbidden. This is contrary to Islam, which clarified for us the path of the lawful and the forbidden and said, "Take what is lawful and leave what is forbidden." So those people include in their acting productions what has no truth at all, and we follow in their footsteps, in accordance with his saying (peace be upon him) to the end of the hadith.
Thirdly and finally, another violation may enter into the acting productions, which is likening women to men, or likening women to men, or the mixing of men and women. And as they say, the sweetest of them is bitter. How can we permit such acting productions? For example, a clear, good, and completely evident image: the man, glory be to Allah, is bearded as Allah created him, but following the customs of the disbelievers, he shaves his beard. So when he is placed in a role he plays, for example, a man from the Companions, he puts on a fake beard in the style of the English lords. So he deceives people first; he is created with a beard, so he disobeys Allah and shaves it. Then when the time for acting comes, he pretends to people that he has a full beard. Is this not lying?
And from that is that there may be a young man who has no beard, and a fake beard is put on him, and so on. And so, if these acting productions are studied, we come to the conclusion that they are not prescribed in the religion of Islam, especially if they are related to the message of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). There, the lying will be such that this represents 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and this represents the sister of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and so on. All of this is falsehood upon falsehood, and what is built upon a defective foundation is defective... Okay, as you wish.
The Shaykh : The questioner hit the mark when he said, "If your answer is..." What did he say?
The questioner : If your answer is that it is not permissible, if your answer is that it is not permissible.
The Shaykh : Yes, we say it is not permissible. Acting is not prescribed in Islam for many reasons. First, this is the way of the disbelievers, and the way of the disbelievers is fitting for them, not for Muslims. This is because the disbelievers feel they need incentives and motivators to drive them to good. They do not find in their religion what we have, and praise be to Allah, of good. As you heard just now, his saying (peace be upon him)
I have not left anything that brings you closer to Allah
ما تركت شيئا يقربكم إلى اللهFight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled.
قاتلوا الذين لا يؤمنون بالله ولا باليوم الآخر ولا يحرمون ما حرم الله ورسوله ولا يدينون دين الحق من الذين أوتوا الكتاب حتى يعطوا الجزية عن يد وهم صاغرونWill you follow them as the Jews and the Christians followed? And by Him in whose hand is my soul, if Musa were alive, he would have had no choice but to follow me.
أمتهوكون أنتم كما تهوكت اليهود والنصارى ؟ والذي نفس محمد بيده لو كان موسى حيا لما وسعه إلا اتباعيIf Musa
لو كان موسىwere alive, he would have had no choice but
حيا لما وسعه إلاThe second matter is that it is necessary that lies occur in these acting productions that have no truth in Islamic history or in the early biography. And when that is the case, this is another reason that prevents us from following the Europeans in what they are doing in their acting productions, because they live by a known principle, and unfortunately some Muslims also follow it. Their principle is "The end justifies the means". The means is, for example, to earn money, while the path is not important, whether it is lawful or forbidden. This is contrary to Islam, which clarified for us the path of the lawful and the forbidden and said, "Take what is lawful and leave what is forbidden." So those people include in their acting productions what has no truth at all, and we follow in their footsteps, in accordance with his saying (peace be upon him)
You will surely follow the ways of those who were before you, span by span
لتتبعن سنن الذين من كان قبكم شبرا بشبرThirdly and finally, another violation may enter into the acting productions, which is likening women to men, or likening women to men, or the mixing of men and women. And as they say, the sweetest of them is bitter. How can we permit such acting productions? For example, a clear, good, and completely evident image: the man, glory be to Allah, is bearded as Allah created him, but following the customs of the disbelievers, he shaves his beard. So when he is placed in a role he plays, for example, a man from the Companions, he puts on a fake beard in the style of the English lords. So he deceives people first; he is created with a beard, so he disobeys Allah and shaves it. Then when the time for acting comes, he pretends to people that he has a full beard. Is this not lying?
And from that is that there may be a young man who has no beard, and a fake beard is put on him, and so on. And so, if these acting productions are studied, we come to the conclusion that they are not prescribed in the religion of Islam, especially if they are related to the message of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). There, the lying will be such that this represents 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and this represents the sister of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, and so on. All of this is falsehood upon falsehood, and what is built upon a defective foundation is defective... Okay, as you wish.