Indeed all praise and glory is due to Allah the Almighty, Lord of the Alamin, Creator of the heavens and earth. Whoever Allah guides none can lead astray, and whoever Allah leads astray none can guide. And peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), his household, and his companions. I testify that there is none worthy of worship but Him and that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is his Messenger.
I am not a Shaykh, a Scholar, an Imam or the like. I am just a Muslim who has noticed a problem in our Ummah, and it is the duty of every Muslim when he sees a wrong to try to change it. May Allah accept this as an act of Ibadah from me and may He in his Eternal Mercy forgive our shortcomings.
Most Muslims these days do not know the rulings concerning the most basic aspects of their religion. It is either that or they know them but choose to ignore the prohibitions of Allah. As Muslims, it is our obligatory duty to enjoin al-Ma’ruf and stay away and forbid al-Munkar. So with that said, me staying away from something evil is not enough; I also have to try to stop people from indulging in that evil.
It is rather unfortunate that many Muslims today have fallen into the traps of Shaytan and followed the ignorant masses. I shall only write about the attendance of such events and leave you to use your reasoning for the rest. Lately, we see events like concerts, fashion shows, dinner balls and the like being organised. We also see Muslims attending these evil programmes or in worse cases, Muslims being the organisers and promoters of such events. And it has become so normal that many parents gladly give their children consent to attend such evil gatherings.
Allah says in The Quran: [1]
The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing).
If Muslims weren’t blinded by Shaytan, it would have been as obvious as the sun on a sunny day that fashion shows (and indeed all similar programs) are haram. Watching women and men expose their awrah in the name of advertising outfits for the public to see! Where is our Deen, O brothers and sisters? Have we taken some parts of Islam and rejected the other parts? Have we taken our religion as play?
Allah says in The Quran: [2]
… who took their religion as an amusement and play, and the life of the world deceived them. So this day We shall forget them as they forgot their meeting of this Day, and as they used to reject Our Ayah.
Some people argue that there is nothing wrong with such events. Others claim that they go to appreciate the art or support other people. The more honest ones confess that they attend such events to meet members of the opposite sex. Have they forgotten Allah’s words in The Quran? [3]
… But their hearts hardened, and Shaytan made fair-seeming to them that which they used to do.
Lastly, I will once again state that attending, sponsoring, promoting and organising such events is haram in all entirety. Most specifically, a large majority of these events are held across the times for salat, and anything that makes you miss your salat at the prescribed time is definitely evil.
Narrated Ibn Umar (RA) that Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) said: [4]
Whoever misses the Asr prayer (intentionally), then it is as if he lost his family and property.
References
- The Quran 03:182 (Surah al-Imran)
- The Quran 07:51 (Surah al-A’raf)
- The Quran 06:43 (Surah al-An’am)
- Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 10, Number 527
