Is it permissible to rent halls for wedding parties in hotels in which evils are widespread?

Is it permissible for a Muslim to rent halls for wedding parties in hotels, when these hotels sell alcohol and evils are committed in them, but in the hall there will be no sales of alcohol and none of these evils? Is it permissible for me to go to those weddings which are held in those halls if I am invited to them? May Allah reward you with good.

Praise be to Allaah.
Islam encourages the noblest and most sublime manners and conduct, and warns against those which are base and shameful; it enjoins avoiding corruption and evil by all possible means, and it enjoins keeping away from dubious matters and blocking the means that may lead to any evil or corruption.

Frequenting these places in which alcohol is sold, haraam things are regarded as permissible and evils are widespread is something that must be warned against and not permitted, because of what it leads to of corruption, evil and temptation.

It is not permissible to rent them for weddings or other occasions, because of what that involves of helping their owners in sin and transgression, by paying these huge amounts of money to rent these places, which they use to help them in their evil and corruption.

It was narrated that ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not enter the dwellings of those who wronged themselves unless you are weeping, lest there befall you something like that which befell them.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3381) and Muslim (2980).

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about a man who was regarded as a man of good character by the judges and he went out in the spring time, when the people gathered to watch some celebrations, and he saw evil being committed but was not able to stop it, and his wife also went out with him. Is that permissible and did it affect his good character?

He replied:

A person should not attend places in which he sees evil being committed and he is not able to denounce it, unless that is for a necessary, legitimate shar‘i reason, such as if there is something that he needs for his religious or worldly interests and he has no choice but to be present or he is forced to do so. But as for attending it just to watch and bringing his wife to see that, this is something that does affect his good character and dignity, if he persists in it. And Allah knows best.

Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 28/239

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked:

We go to some Muslim restaurants in kaafir countries during our trips abroad, then we found out that they serve alcohol. What is the ruling on eating in these restaurants?

The Shaykh replied:

Do not stay in these hotels except in case of necessity, so long as alcohol is openly drunk there; and do not eat in these restaurants except in case of necessity. End quote.

Majmoo‘ Fataawa wa Rasaa’il Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/825.

His boss tells him to accept work from contractors that is contrary to the required specifications

I work in a government department as an engineer and I have to accept the work of the contractors. Sometimes there is some shortfall in the specifications, so I tell my boss at work, who in turn tells his boss who is in charge of the department, and he gives instructions to overlook it and accept the work. What should I do from the shar‘i point of view if I obey my boss in this matter?.

Praise be to Allaah.
If an employee is entrusted with some work, then what he must do is fulfil that trust properly, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, Allaah commands that you should render back the trusts to those, to whom they are due”

[al-Nisa’ 4:58].

And the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah loves, when one of you does something, for him to do it well.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth al-Saheehah, 1113.

Based on that, if this overlooking of specifications is something minor that is usually overlooked in contractors’ work, there is nothing wrong with overlooking it.

But if it is very different from what is required, to the extent that it may be regarded as deception or corruption, it is not permissible to accept the work from the contractor unless one writes a report of the shortcomings in which the contractor did not adhere to the specifications.

Even if in this case your boss instructs you to overlook it and accept the work, it is not permissible for you to obey him, because he is instructing you to deceive and lie, and the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There is no obedience to any created being if it involves disobedience to Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.” Narrated by Ahmad (1098); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Silsilah al-Ahaadeeth al-Saheehah, 197

If you can refer the matter to those responsible so that they may take appropriate measures, that will be a good thing. But if you are afraid that one of them may harm you, then it is sufficient to refuse to accept the work unless the faulty specifications are recorded. Then you will have done what is required of you in your work, so that you will not be accused of cheating or making a deal with the contractor later on.

It should be noted that if a person seeks to please Allah by angering people, Allah will be pleased with him and will make the people pleased with him.

So strive to please Allah, may He be exalted, and do not fear the blame of anyone for the sake of Allah.

“And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).

3. And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allaah will accomplish his purpose”

[al-Talaaq 65:2-3]

We ask Allah to help and guide you.

And Allah knows best.

Can he say “Thank you” (as in “No, thank you”) to someone who offers him wine and he does not take it?

Is it appropriate to add the "thank you" to "No, thank you" when offered something haraam? For instance, if someone were to offer me a glass of wine.

Praise be to Allaah.
The believer should not make friends with anyone but another believer, and not mix with anyone but believers, unless he is mixing with others in order to enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, or to call people to Allah, or for some worldly purpose such as buying and selling, working, and so on.

That is because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not keep company with anyone but a believer and do not let anyone eat your food but one who is pious.”

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2395); classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

And he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “A man will follow the way of his close friend, so let one of you look at who he takes as a close friend.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4833; classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood and elsewhere.

It says in ‘Awn al-Ma‘bood:

i.e., think long and hard about the one whom you take as a close friend. If his religious commitment and character are good, then take him as a close friend, otherwise avoid him because one will be influenced by the attitude and behaviour of one’s friends. End quote.

If a person mixes with non-believers because of work, ties of kinship, or unavoidable need, it is not permissible to sit with them when they are committing evil actions.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

It is not permissible for anyone to attend by choice gatherings in which evils are committed except in cases of necessity, as it says in the hadeeth: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not sit at a table where wine is being drunk.” Some people who had drunk wine were brought to ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez and he ordered that they be flogged. It was said to him: Among them is one who was fasting. He said: Start with him; have you not heard that Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “And it has already been revealed to you in the Book (this Qur'ân) that when you hear the Verses of Allâh being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be like them” [al-Nisa’ 4:140]?

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azeez (may Allah be pleased with him) explained that Allah regards the one who is present when evil is committed as being like the one who does it. Hence the scholars said: If a person is invited to a wedding feast in which there are evils such as alcohol and musical instruments, it is not permissible for him to attend it. That is because Allah, may He be exalted, has instructed us to denounce evil as much as possible. If a person attends willingly and does not denounce it, then he has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger by not doing what he was commanded to do of hating the evil and speaking against it. If that is the case, the one who willingly attended the gathering where alcohol was drunk with no necessary reason to do so, and did not denounce the evil as Allah enjoined, is a partner with the evildoers in the evil actions and is regarded as one of them. End quote.

Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 28/221-222

Based on that, your saying to the one who offers you alcohol “Thank you” (as in “No, thank you”)  is contrary to hating and denouncing the evil, because this person will think that he has been kind to you and he will not understand that he has done something wrong by drinking alcohol and offering it to you.

If this is a Muslim, then you have to denounce his drinking alcohol and advise him to give it up. If he is not Muslim, then the least you can do is explain to him that you do not drink alcohol because your religion forbids it.

For more information please see the answer to question no. 96662

And Allah knows best.

His Christian family start the meal with a supplication to Jesus; what should he do?

Firstly may Allah bless all those who aide in helping our Ummah to stay upon the straight path. Ameen. I am a Muslim in a non-believing family. My family often times gets together for dinner so that we all can be together. Before eating food at the dinner table, they all stand and hold hands to bless the food the are going to eat. Sometimes the person who is leading in the supplication will ask for Jesus to bless the food and thank him for the food, and sometimes they make no mention of Jesus at all and give thanks to the Heavenly Father as they say. My family asks me to join in withe, and I am very uncomfortable doing so because I dont know this to be apart of the religion of Islam, firstly because we don't associate partners with Allah, and I don't know of this ritual having any bases in Islam. Would I be committing a sin like shirk , or transgressing if I join in even though I don't believe in what they believe in or what they saying? This is of the utmost importance because this happens frequently in my household and when I don't join in I feel they are upset with me and my religion.

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:

We praise Allah for having guided you to Islam and we ask Him, may He be glorified, to bless the rest of your family with that. And we advise you to treat them kindly and be gentle in calling them, and strive hard to guide them, for that is the greatest thing you can give to them.

Secondly:

Asking Jesus (peace be upon him) to bless the food is a kind of major shirk (associating others with Allah), because it is calling upon someone other than Allah, may He be exalted. So it is not permissible to join in with it or to keep quiet about it when it is possible to object to it. If a person is unable to object to it verbally, he should object to it in his heart and leave the place, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And it has already been revealed to you in the Book (this Qur’aan) that when you hear the Verses of Allaah being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be like them. Surely, Allaah will collect the hypocrites and disbelievers all together in Hell”

[al-Nisa’ 4:140].

Al-Jassaas said in Ahkaam al-Qur’aan (2/407): In this verse there is evidence which indicates that it is obligatory to denounce evil to the one who is doing it. Denouncing it includes expressing dislike, if it is not possible to remove it, and leaving the place where the one who is doing it is, and staying away from him, until he stops doing it and does something else. End quote.

Based on that, what you have to do is either object to their prayer or get up and leave when they start to do that. Perhaps it is better to come a little bit late, after they have started the meal, so that you will not hear their prayer.

If the family will listen to you and accept your call, then it is better for you to explain the reason why you left or why you come late, and tell them that Islam places great emphasis on enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil, and that Islam does not approve of calling upon anyone other than Allah, and it does not approve of its followers listening to wrong words and approving of them.

We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to increase you in knowledge and guidance.

And Allah knows best.

He finds it difficult to collect the papers that are thrown on the ground, on which there is the name of Allah

Often I find on the ground papers which contain announcements and so on, and often these announcements contain one of the names of Allah. There are very many papers which makes me frustrated. Please note that if I want to collect them it would take a lot of time. What should I do?.

Praise be to Allaah.
It is not permissible to throw papers containing mention of Allah, may He be exalted, on the ground because that is showing disrespect towards the name of Allah and not venerating His name.

The duty of the Muslim who feels proud of his religion and who respects the symbols of his Lord with regard to this matter includes a number of things:

Firstly:

He should not handle with disrespect any paper on which there is mention of Allah, by throwing it on the ground or sitting on it or using it to eat food from and so on.

Secondly:

He should advise his Muslim brothers not to throw away any paper that contains mention of Allah.

Thirdly:

He should pick up from the ground any papers that have been dropped on which there is mention of Allah or hadeeths of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then he should burn them or bury them in clean ground far away from where people walk.

He does not have to look at every piece of paper that is on the ground to see what is in it, but he does not have to pick up every piece of paper on the ground on which there is any mention of Allah, because that would cause a great deal of hardship for him. All that is required of him to do in this regard is what he is able to do, without putting himself through hardship and difficulty.

There follow some of the fatwas of the scholars concerning this matter:

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

If it is known that these newspapers contain verses of the Qur’aan or names of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, or hadeeths of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then it is not permissible to use them for food or sitting on them and so on, because that is a kind of disrespect towards the words of Allah and His names and the hadeeths of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). End quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb by Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 13/59

The Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas was asked:

What is the duty of the Muslim towards pieces of paper on which there are Qur’aanic verses and hadeeths of the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that are dropped on streets and sidewalks?

They replied:

If it can be seen that the piece of paper contains a verse from the Book of Allah or a hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) or any mention of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, or the Sunnah of His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, or any of the names and attributes of Allah – then he should pick it up and burn it or bury it in clean ground that is not where people walk. He should not throw it on the ground, because that is regarded as showing disrespect to the Book of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 3/42

The Committee was also asked:

I often see clippings from newspapers and magazines on the streets and sidewalks, and when I examine them I find that they contain the name of Allah and Qur’aanic verses. If I see those newspapers and magazines, do I have to stop whilst I am driving my car and collect these pieces of paper?

They replied: If you see any papers from the streets or elsewhere on which there is any mention of Allah or anything of the Qur’aan, you have to pick it up and move it from a place of disrespect to a place where it will be protected, or burn it.

End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 3/40

The Committee was also asked:

Should I walk through the streets bending over to pick up these verses and soorahs which are often thrown on the ground, when the people make fun of me? What should I do to remove this widespread evil?

They replied:

Firstly, it is not permissible for the Muslim to wrap his goods or merchandise in papers on which soorahs or verses of the Holy Qur’aan, or hadeeths of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) are written, or to throw papers on which such things are written on the streets or in neighbourhoods or unclean places, because that is a kind of disrespect and transgressing against the sanctity of the Qur’aan, Prophetic hadeeths and remembrance of Allah.

Secondly: it is sufficient, in order to avoid sin and blame, to advise people not to use the papers mentioned in ways that are disrespectful, and to advise them not to throw these things into trash cans or on the street and so on. You are not obliged to do that which causes hardship for yourself by making yourself pick up all these things that scattered in the streets and the like. Rather you should pick up whatever you are able to do of such things without causing yourself difficulty or hardship.

End quote from Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 4/74-75

All you have to do with regard to this matter is whatever you are able to do and whatever is easy for you to do without making it difficult for yourself.

And Allah knows best.

He is afraid that if he returns money that he stole before he was guided, he will be found out. What should he do?

By the grace of Allaah, and with all praise to Him, He has guided me to the path of truth and goodness, and I hope that Allaah will complete His blessing upon me and guide every sinner, and bring the Muslims back to their religion, for He is Able to do that.
I learned from the scholars that repentance is not valid unless I give people back what is rightfully theirs.
I worked in a company nearly ten years ago, and I stole a sum of money, the exact amount of which I cannot remember, but it was no more than one hundred dinars. Returning the money now may cause some problems for me and my family, especially since my family and I are still in touch with the owners of the company. What should I do?
Can I send the money to them via mail without mentioning my name, just writing a letter which says that this money was taken from them unlawfully?.

Praise be to Allaah.
We praise Allaah for having enabled you to repent. It is well known that money is the fitnah (trial) of this ummah, so being enabled to repent from having taken people’s money unlawfully is a great blessing for which you must always thank Allaah.

In order to make your repentance complete you have to return the money to its owners. It is good that you are asking this question. We have already discussed this matter in our answer to question no. 31234, in which it stated that the one who wants to return property to its rightful owners does not have to disclose his identity to them, because the purpose is to restore the property to its rightful owner, not to know who the thief is.

Hence you should look for a suitable way by means of which you can preserve your dignity whilst also returning the property to its rightful owners without embarrassing yourself in front of the owners of this company.

And Allaah knows best.

He pilfered some money and does not know how much, and he cannot repay it. What should he do?

During some part of my life I was a sinner, and my problem is that I used to pilfer from the petty cash in the place where I was. After Allaah guided me I became aware of my sin and I started to give back the money I owed. But the problem is that I do not know exactly how much it was. I tried to get the owner of the place to forgive me without mentioning the reason but I could not do it. I do not have any other money that I could use to pay it off. Will Allaah accept my repentance if I cannot return what I owe? If there is anything that I can do, what is it?.

Praise be to Allaah.
What you have to do is to repent to Allaah and return all the money that you took. Your repentance is not complete otherwise. If you do not know the exact amount, then it is sufficient to do what you think is most likely, and be on the safe side [?] when estimating how much you owe. If you are not sure whether the amount is eighty or one hundred, for example, then pay one hundred, so that you will meet your Lord free from the burden of this treachery and wrongdoing. Al-Bukhaari (2449) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever has wronged his brother with regard to his honour or anything else, let him settle the matter now, before there is no dinar and no dirham, and if he has any righteous deeds some will be taken from him according to the wrong he did, and if he has no hasanaat (good deeds), some of the other person’s sayi’aat  (bad deeds) will be taken and given to him.”

Whatever you are unable to repay now is a debt that you owe, and you will not have discharged your duty until you pay it. What you have to do in that case is to make sure that it is mentioned in your will, lest death come upon you suddenly before you can pay it off. Al-Bukhaari (2738) and Muslim (1627) narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that he heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “No Muslim who has anything concerning which a will should be made should spend three nights without making a written will.” ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar said: I never spent one night since I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say that but I had my will with me.

We ask Allaah to help you and give you strength.

And Allaah knows best.