Is it permissible to enter places of evil for the purpose of changing the evil?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A questioner asks: Is it permissible to enter places of evil for the purpose of changing the evil? For example, in some Islamic countries where they set up ... tents ... to celebrate the Mawlid.
The Shaykh : What is it?
The questioner : The celebration of the birth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They set up tents and pavilions, and for example, a group of Salafis comes and sets up a tent in order to call people to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), to the Salafi methodology, and to the oneness of Allah ... and to change this evil in its place. Is it permissible for them, on this basis, to participate and enter? Likewise, is it permissible to enter theaters in order to change the evil, and also mourning gatherings? That is, they attend the mourning gathering in order to speak ... about the religious innovations among them, and so on?
The Shaykh : Personally, I see that if what you mentioned is a factual reality, for example, if a Salafi caller attends a mourning gathering and tells them that this gathering is not of the Sunnah in any way, and tells them that playing the recorded machine for the recitation of the Qur'an while people are talking and some are smoking is an evil that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) does not approve of, meaning they speak directly in denying what they are gathered for, or what they are gathered in, and he does not delay in denying it to them by way of ... preparation, as some callers do. If he denies directly to them what they are in, and this, in my belief, is a very necessary matter. Otherwise, what is the difference between the attendance of these callers if they deny the evil that occurs among them, and the attendance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of the gatherings and assemblies of the polytheists, which undoubtedly contained evils, the most serious of which was associating partners with Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)? And yet, our Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) used to attend their gatherings and call them to worship Allah alone, having no partner. So, if a caller attends something of these gatherings, including theaters as mentioned in the question, if he denies and then withdraws, and it is not that he denies and speaks, for example, for a quarter of an hour or half an hour, and they may not allow him to prolong the speech, and then they are immersed in their evils, and then he, in turn, follows them in these evils under the claim that he presented the denial or advice to them. It is not permissible to combine denial on one hand and sitting with those who are committing evils on the other hand. Rather, he denies and then withdraws and does not continue with them, due to what we mentioned of his (peace be upon him) guidance with the polytheists on one hand, and due to His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He)[Al-An'am 6:68] and His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) So, if it were said, as came in the question, that a man sat with those drinking intoxicants to deny to them, and he denied, then his role ended. It is not permissible for him to follow them until the end of their sitting. This is a mixing between the denial of the evil and the participation in sitting with the owners of the evil. This is what I believe, and Allah knows best.
The questioner : ... O Shaykh
The Shaykh : What is it?
The questioner : The celebration of the birth of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They set up tents and pavilions, and for example, a group of Salafis comes and sets up a tent in order to call people to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), to the Salafi methodology, and to the oneness of Allah ... and to change this evil in its place. Is it permissible for them, on this basis, to participate and enter? Likewise, is it permissible to enter theaters in order to change the evil, and also mourning gatherings? That is, they attend the mourning gathering in order to speak ... about the religious innovations among them, and so on?
The Shaykh : Personally, I see that if what you mentioned is a factual reality, for example, if a Salafi caller attends a mourning gathering and tells them that this gathering is not of the Sunnah in any way, and tells them that playing the recorded machine for the recitation of the Qur'an while people are talking and some are smoking is an evil that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) does not approve of, meaning they speak directly in denying what they are gathered for, or what they are gathered in, and he does not delay in denying it to them by way of ... preparation, as some callers do. If he denies directly to them what they are in, and this, in my belief, is a very necessary matter. Otherwise, what is the difference between the attendance of these callers if they deny the evil that occurs among them, and the attendance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of the gatherings and assemblies of the polytheists, which undoubtedly contained evils, the most serious of which was associating partners with Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)? And yet, our Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) used to attend their gatherings and call them to worship Allah alone, having no partner. So, if a caller attends something of these gatherings, including theaters as mentioned in the question, if he denies and then withdraws, and it is not that he denies and speaks, for example, for a quarter of an hour or half an hour, and they may not allow him to prolong the speech, and then they are immersed in their evils, and then he, in turn, follows them in these evils under the claim that he presented the denial or advice to them. It is not permissible to combine denial on one hand and sitting with those who are committing evils on the other hand. Rather, he denies and then withdraws and does not continue with them, due to what we mentioned of his (peace be upon him) guidance with the polytheists on one hand, and due to His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He)
then do not remain after the reminder with the wrongdoing people.
فلا تقعد بعد الذكرى مع القوم الظالمينWhoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter the bathroom except with a waistcloth, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not enter his wife's bathroom, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not sit at a table over which intoxicants are circulated.
من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يدخل الحمام إلا بمأزر، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يدخل حليلته الحمام، ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يقعد على مائدة يدار فيها الخمرThe questioner : ... O Shaykh