Vulgar Magazines
By the Noble Shaykh Muhammad bin Salih bin 'Uthaimin, may Allâh have mercy upon him:
Indeed, all praise belongs to Allâh, we praise Him, seek His help, ask His forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of ourselves and of our deeds. Whosoever Allâh guides, none can lead astray; and whosoever Allâh leads astray, none can guide. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allâh Alone, and He has no partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Allah Almighty sent him with guidance and the true religion, and so he conveyed the message and fulfilled his trust. The Messenger of Allah was sincere to his Nation, and he left them upon the straight white way, whose night is like its day. May Allah send peace and blessings upon him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow him until the Day of Judgement.
O people, fear Allah and beware of the allurements of this world, those that are visible and those that are not. Beware of
A category of Shiites whose trait is excessive verbal abuse of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with then everything that will take you away from Allah's worship, for which purpose you were created, and beware of temptations that will lead you away from the morals of your religion, morals that are the backbone of society.
Evil temptations find their way to the heart, and then block it from remembering Allah Almighty and from praying. Rather than remembering Allah Almighty and worshipping Him and venerating His Greatness, a person who follows evil temptations will have a wicked and hard heart. Evil temptations creep into the heart, destroying it just as poison destroys the body. O people, beware of all temptations. Let not one of you say, "I am believer, I am a devout, so these temptations cannot affect me." Don't leave yourself unguarded, for the Messenger of Allah said that Shaytan flows through the son of Adam just as blood does. The Messenger of Allah warned us to stay away from Dajjal and from his allurements:
"Whoever hears of Dajjal should stay far away from him. By Allah, a man goes to him, thinking himself to be a believer, but then ends up following him simply because of the doubts that Dajjal instills in him."
O Muslims who believe in Allâh and His Messenger! This Hadith is a flag that the Messenger of Allah erected for us, so that we may be guided in any situation that involves temptation, so that we may steer clear of that temptation, even though we may think that we may approach and embrace it and yet remain safe. O people, my brothers! We live in a time when evil enticements are many and diverse. Many of the simple- minded are already accepting the falsehood and lies contained in the vulgar and indecent magazines that are sold today. Many have fallen prey to evil messages and are afflicted by a sickness of doubts and misgivings.
O people! It is painful and shameful to see that in our land of Tawhid, faith, and Islam, our children and adults read magazines. that, by the pictures and words found therein, call to abandoning the precepts of our religion and to following the basest of characteristics and morals. I do not wish to mention specific magazines since some people may think that those magazines I do not mention are good and beneficial. Never- theless, some brother did ask me to read, or at least to look through quickly, some of these magazines. When they were sent to me, I found them-by Allâh do I swear, in this place, with you as witnesses and with Him as witness from above to contain messages that are fatally harmful to our morals and to our nation. No one with any sense will doubt how those who publish and distribute these magazines wish to influence a practicing Muslim society. I found, in this instance, that seeing for myself was worse than hearing. I found statements that any person of sound character would automatically reject. I found that these magazines contained pictures of women in lewd clothing and poses, poses that even move the man who had no desires to begin with. Praise of music, advertising of cigarettes, and many other detestable deeds are glorified.
O people! I say what any other person who loves righteousness would say and I ask Allâh Almighty to make us from those who not only love righteousness but who are righteous. But whom do I address concerning these magazines? Do I address those who are in authority in this country while I speak from this pulpit, an act which is not sensible, nor can it bring about any good. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak well or remain silent."
Should I address those who are responsible for these magazines? I cannot address them for they are not present before me, but perhaps my message may reach them by the permission of Allâh Almighty.
I say to them this: You are responsible for your actions and you will stand before Allah Almighty on a day when neither wealth nor children are of any benefit, except for he who comes to his Lord with a sound heart. You are responsible for what results from printing and selling your magazines; a society that becomes animal-like in nature cannot approve what is right and condemn what is wrong; it cannot submit itself to Allah's commands in such a society, chaos abounds.
O people! If I cannot direct my message to the latter or to the former, then at least I can direct my message to you, the people. I call you O believers, lovers of your religion, fathers, honorable men, guardians to protect your religion and your morals. Stay away from evil, both open and secret. I warn you against allowing these magazines, which are filled with licentiousness, from entering into your homes, from falling into the hands of your family, who will lose their moral values and thus be destroyed.
O believers! The presence of these magazines in your homes prevents the angels from entering, for the angels do not enter homes wherein pictures are found; what is your thoughts on a home in which no angel enters. Obtaining, buying, selling, or even aiding in the distribution of these magazines is unlawful, for Allah Almighty says:
"Help you one another in virtue, righteousness, and piety; but do not help one another in sin and transgression."
If you do have these magazines in your homes, burn them, for now that you know, you have no excuse. Do not waste your money by purchasing these magazines, for doing includes many evils some of which are wasting money and wasting time, the former being a means of fulfilling our needs, and the latter being even of greater value, at least for those who have sense. Were you to spend your time reading the Qur'an, Hadiths, Tafsir, the Prophet's biography, the biography of the rightly guided Khalifahs, you would have reaped much good. By reading these magazines, you fall prey to fantasizing about love, a love that like a mirage has no reality.
O believers! Do not help those who print and sell these magazines in their sinning; by buying the magazines, you are aiding them in their mission, making them rich, and giving them further motive to continue printing and distributing new magazines. O believers, remember Allah's saying:
"O you who believe! Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who disobey not the Commands they receive from Allah, but do that which they are commanded".
O Allah, have I conveyed; O Allah, have I conveyed; O Allah, have I conveyed. O Allah, be witness to what I say and to what they hear.
I repeat, you must stay away from these magazines and burn the copies you have in your homes, so that you may be protected from sinning. O Allah, guide us to the best of manners and deeds, for none can guide to the best of them except You. O Allah, keep us far away from evil manners and deeds, for none can do so except You, O Lord of all that exists! O Allah, prevent the plots of the wrongdoers from succeeding. O Allâh, humiliate and crush them. O Allah, bring financial ruin to them, so that they may repent and return to their senses. O Allâh, place over them an authority that will prevent them from their evil, evil that has led to the misguidance of many people. You Almighty are over all things capable. O Allah, accept from us; O Allah, accept from us. May Allah send peace and blessings upon Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source:
Ibn 'Uthaimin
Fatawa Islamiyah, Vol. 8 Pages 182-183-184-185-186-187
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