What is the ruling on playing with guns and entertaining with the *zayr* and poems on the days of the festivals?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, some tribes have customs during the festivals.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : Some tribes have customs, for example, during the festivals, a group of them comes with a poem.
The Shaykh : ... Before, yes.
The questioner : Then a second group comes with a poem, and then a group of them gathers around the *zayr*. They bring the *zayr*, which is a copper pot covered with camel skin.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : They light a fire underneath it until it heats up, and they strike it. Then a group comes carrying guns and circles around it, and then they shoot. Then a second group comes and does the same. So we went to the tribes and advised them. They said: We need a detailed proof from one of the scholars, and we are ready with you to prohibit this thing?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward them with good.
The questioner : We ask for detail, O Shaykh, on this matter.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good, and may He reward them with good.
The questioner : We will take this tape and distribute it to them, if Allah wills, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : As for the matter of the *zayr*, it is not permissible. The *zayr* is not permissible to use because it is one of the instruments of amusement that has not been excepted in the Sunnah.
And as for playing with guns, there is nothing wrong with it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved the Ethiopians when they were playing with their spears in the mosque and said: But what is permitted on the days of the festivals is not permitted on other days. The days of the festivals are days of joy and days of happiness.
So there is nothing wrong with people doing this and displaying strength and vitality. Yes, they play with guns and swords, provided there is no danger. If there is danger, it is not permissible to expose oneself to danger.
The questioner : The poems.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The poems.
The Shaykh : The poems, I do not know what the poems are and what they say?
The questioner : The poems in which they mock each other.
The Shaykh : If they mock each other, then this is not permissible, because this falls under the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): And even if the majority of the time they mock each other in jest, some words may be jest to one person but serious to others. Perhaps this person disparages that person in jest, but this word may be taken, even in future generations, as what? As serious. Therefore...
The questioner : And the jumping, O Shaykh, they jump with the guns? They jump with the guns?
The Shaykh : There is no objection, there is no objection. I mean, if they are jumping, there is no objection, because this indicates strength and vitality. Yes.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : Some tribes have customs, for example, during the festivals, a group of them comes with a poem.
The Shaykh : ... Before, yes.
The questioner : Then a second group comes with a poem, and then a group of them gathers around the *zayr*. They bring the *zayr*, which is a copper pot covered with camel skin.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : They light a fire underneath it until it heats up, and they strike it. Then a group comes carrying guns and circles around it, and then they shoot. Then a second group comes and does the same. So we went to the tribes and advised them. They said: We need a detailed proof from one of the scholars, and we are ready with you to prohibit this thing?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward them with good.
The questioner : We ask for detail, O Shaykh, on this matter.
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you with good, and may He reward them with good.
The questioner : We will take this tape and distribute it to them, if Allah wills, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : As for the matter of the *zayr*, it is not permissible. The *zayr* is not permissible to use because it is one of the instruments of amusement that has not been excepted in the Sunnah.
And as for playing with guns, there is nothing wrong with it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) approved the Ethiopians when they were playing with their spears in the mosque and said:
Let them know that there is spaciousness in our religion
ليعلموا أن في ديننا فسحةSo there is nothing wrong with people doing this and displaying strength and vitality. Yes, they play with guns and swords, provided there is no danger. If there is danger, it is not permissible to expose oneself to danger.
The questioner : The poems.
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The poems.
The Shaykh : The poems, I do not know what the poems are and what they say?
The questioner : The poems in which they mock each other.
The Shaykh : If they mock each other, then this is not permissible, because this falls under the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him):
Cursing a Muslim is open sinfulness
سباب المسلم فسوقThe questioner : And the jumping, O Shaykh, they jump with the guns? They jump with the guns?
The Shaykh : There is no objection, there is no objection. I mean, if they are jumping, there is no objection, because this indicates strength and vitality. Yes.