Question
asalaam u laikum
i would like to ask a question regarding birthdays and muharam
it is my birthday on the 12th September and i had planned a party
but as muharam falls on 10th january.
instead of having a party i was wondering if it would be acceptable for me to invite a few girls round and watch a movie together?
is this ok in muharam?
Answer
Muhtaram / Muhtaramah
In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāh wa-barakātuh.
Islam is a complete way of life. Before carrying out any action we should always weigh it in light of Quraan, Hadith and the actions of our pious predecessors.
When we look through the lives of Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and Sahaba we never find any mention of celerbrating birthdays, inspite of the fact that there was no greater day than the day when Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) came in this world.
In regards to our pious predecessors, they not only refrained from birthday parties, they even discouraged it and regarded it totally alien to Islam. This has been expressed by great scholars, the likes of Faqih ul ummah Mufti Mahmud ul Hasan Gangoi and Ml Yusuf Ludhwani (R.A)
(Fataawa Mahmudiyya (3-179 Jamia Farooqia and Aap ke masaail (8-126) Maktaba Ludhwaniyya)
In the west huge amounts of money is spent on birthdays, and a person is really overtaken by pride when he is self-centered and showered with gifts.
On the contrary, we as Muslims do not follow the customs of the disbelievers for fear of being counted amongst them. It is related in a hadith which is recorded in Abu dawood that whoever emulates a nation, he is from amongst them.
A Muslim uses this time to reflect on how much more closer he is getting to his grave. He realizes that another year has passed in his life and his death is drawing closer. He introspects to see if in the past year of his life, did he carry out the objective for what he has been created i.e. devoting oneself in the worship of Allah. He repents for all his past sins and now makes firm resolutions for the future.
As for the issue of inviting your friends to watch a movie, you should first ponder over the harms of television. The eyes are one of the routes to the mind. Hence, everything which is seen by a person has a direct impact on his mind, and ultimately it affects his behavior.
Also every programme is accompanied with a host of other evils and sins. It is almost impossible to watch a film which does not have music. In light of hadith this causes hypocrisy to grow in the heart. Another evil is that a person will inevitably see the opposite sex, which has been termed in the Ahadith as the fornication of the eyes. The pictures of animate objects are also totally abhorred in shariah. Also keep in mind the time that is wasted in these frivolous pursuits.
Keeping these harms in mind many eminent scholars of the past century passed the ruling of the impermissibility of television. Examples of these great scholars are Mufti Mahmud ul Hasan Gangoi, Mufti Rasheed Ahmad Ludhwani, Mufti Yusuf Ludhwani, Mufti Mahmood Ashraf Uthmani and many others.
(Fataawa Mahmudiyya (19-505) Jamia Farooqia, Ahsanul fatawa (8-287) Saeed, Aap ke masaail (9-334) Maktaba Ludhwaniyya and Ahkam ut tarfeeh (75))
In light of what was mentioned above, we learn that both birthday parties and watching movies are not only prohibited in Muharram, they are prohibited all year long.
From here we can also see the great need to equip ourselves with Islamic knowledge so that we do not fall in the snares of Shaytaan unknowingly. Try to invest some money in Islamic literature which you can purchase under the guidance of your local Alim. By taking out some time to read every day, and listening to the discourses of our Ulama, we will soon learn to practice on Islaam in the exact way sought to us from Allah and his Messenger (sallallahu alayhi wasllam)
And Allah knows best
