Hey, I have a question.
My best friend died last week and her funerals were Monday and I went, It seemed obvious that I had to go, but I was wondering if Muslims were allowed to go in catholic church. Obviously I did not pray to Jesus I prayed to god and I didn't do any of the rituals but I was just wondering... since I live with with alot of catholics this situation is going to happen again sooner or later and maybe by that time I will be a muslim, so I was just wondering.
Thank you
Emerald
Hello Sis,
Its better to avoid going to church but you can go share the sorrow of your dead friend with their family.
There are two views of the scholars.
One is:
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/...nglish-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaEAskTheScholar
Second:“And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave. Certainly they disbelieved in Allaah and His Messenger, and died while they were Faasiqoon (rebellious, — disobedient to Allaah and His Messenger).” [al-Tawbah 9:84]
Question:
What is the ruling of Allaah concerning following the funeral procession of a kaafir – which has become a political practice and tradition followed by everyone?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
If there are people among the kuffaar who can bury their own dead, then the Muslims should not bury them, or join the kuffaar and help them to bury them, or try to please the kuffaar by joining the funeral procession, even if this is a political practice. Such things are not known from the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or the Khulafaa’ al-Raashidoon. In fact, Allaah forbade His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to stand by the grave of ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool, and explained that the reason for this prohibition was that the man was a kaafir. Allaah said (interpretation of the meaning):
“And never (O Muhammad) pray (funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave. Certainly they disbelieved in Allaah and His Messenger, and died while they were Faasiqoon (rebellious, — disobedient to Allaah and His Messenger).” [al-Tawbah 9:84]
If there is nobody among them who can bury their dead, then the Muslims should bury them, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did with those who were killed at Badr, and as he did with his uncle Abu Taalib, when he died, and he [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)] said to ‘Ali: “Go and bury him.”
And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions, and grant them peace.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 9/10
Islam QA.com
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Attending the funeral of a non-Muslim neighbour
Question:
Attending a non-Muslim neighbor's funeral:
According to one hadith of the Prophet(pbuh)ralated by Tabarani regarding the rights neighbors it says: "The rights of the neighbor is that, when he is sick you visit him; when he dies, you go to his funeral;........"
Since this hadith is talking about neighbors and the neighbor can be a non-muslim, so is it permissible for the Muslim to attend a non-Muslim's funeral? Please shed light on this issue in accordance with the Qur'an and the Hadith.
Also this issue is very important for the new Muslims whose parents have not accepted Islam. Is it permissible to attend a funeral for the non-Muslim parents?
May Allah (swt) bless you. Ameen
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
It is permissible for a Muslim to attend a kaafir’s funeral if the kaafir is a relative, such as a mother, father, brother or other relative, but it is not permissible to join in the prayers or any other rites of their religion.
Zakariya al-Ansaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “He may (i.e., it is allowed for the Muslim and is not makrooh) attend the funeral of a kaafir relative, because of the report narrated by Abu Dawood from ‘Ali who said, ‘When Abu Taalib died, I came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, ‘Your uncle, the misguided old man, has died.’ He said, ‘Go and bury him.’” (Reported by al-Nisaa'i, 190). Al-Adhraa’i said: “It is possible that this includes permission to attend the funeral of a wife or slave…”
As for visiting graves, in al-Majmoo’ it says: “The correct view is that this is permissible, and most scholars said this, because of the hadeeth narrated by Muslim in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘I asked my Lord for permission to ask for forgiveness for my mother, and He did not give me permission; I asked Him for permission to visit her grave, and He gave me permission.’ It was reported that he also said: “Visit the graves, for they remind you of death.” (Asnaa al-Mataalib Sharh Rawd al-Taalib, part 1, Fasl: Mashiy al-Mashee’ li’l-Janaazah).
One of the differences between going to a Muslim’s funeral and going to a kaafir’s funeral is what was mentioned by al-Mirdaawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) in his book al-Insaaf, where he says in a footnote: “ ‘Those who are walking should walk in front of it [the coffin]’ means that this is better, and this is the madhhab, and this is the opinion of most of the scholars [of that madhhab]. The author of al-Ri’aayah said: “He may walk wherever he wishes.” Al-Musannif said in al-Kaafi: “Wherever he walks, it is OK… and his saying, ‘The riders [should travel] behind’ means that this is better. So there is no dispute in this matter. If he is riding, it is makrooh for him to ride in front.” This is what al-Majd said. What was meant by “the riders [should travel] behind” is that this is how it should be done in the case of a Muslim’s funeral, but if it is a kaafir’s funeral, then the rider may go in front, as mentioned previously.” (al-Insaaf, part 2, Kitaab al-Janaa’iz).
This is provided that attending the funeral does not involve doing anything haraam, such as listening to musical instruments and so on; in that case attending the funeral is haraam. And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
So, I think it is clear that you can share the sorrow of the dead with the family of dead, but it is not allowed to help bury the nonMuslim when they can do so. And it is not allowed to 'be there' where they are associating someone to the ONE GOD. And associating a partener to One God is a actually association of the 'act of animals' to the God. And Associating an act of animals to The One God, is an abuse. Why whould you stand at a place where they are abusing?
Anyway you can balance your share of sorrow while your stance of not participating within church. Ofcourse you would have to go to church if your close relatives die and you would have to be there, but not in case of general friendship. It is better to find a way to move around when they start their prayer. If they are annoyed that you did not participate the better care about your relation with your creator than caring about the relation with them. After all, they will somehow be annoyed or feel awkward that you converted to Islam.
Bye.