Can I get a fatwa that permits me to commit Zina‏

afrarzk

احبك ىارب
The art of youth empowerment
Muhammad Fathi


Imagine a young man coming to the Imam of your neighboring mosque with this strange request: "Can I get a fatwa that permits me to commit Zina (fornication/adultery)?" What kind of response he will receive? I think that shocked and angry reproach is the most likely reaction of the attendees and the Imam; you would hear yells like, "Shame on you! How dare you mention such despicable things in the mosque and, even worse, request to commit it?" Well, let's read this story and see how the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) handled a situation like this:




Abu Umamah Al-Bahily (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a young man came to the Prophet and said: O Mes- senger of Allah, give me a permission of Zina. The Companions turned to him and started rebuking him. The Prophet said: "Come closer." When the young man drew nearer to the Prophet and sat down, the Prophet asked him: "Would you like it for your mother?" The man answered; No, by Allah. May Allah make me a protection for you! The Prophet commented, "People also do not like it for their mothers." The Prophet added, "Would you like it for your daughter?" Again, the young man answered negatively. So, the Prophet said, "People too would not love it for their daughters" Further, the Prophet asked, "Would you like it for your sister?" The Prophet received the same answer and made the same comment. The Prophet went on asking about the man's paternal and maternal aunts. The young man's answer was the same and the Prophet repeated the same comment, "People do not like that for their aunts."

The Prophet then placed his hand on the young man and prayed for him, "O Allah, forgive his sins, purify his heart, and protect his chastity." Abu Umamah, the narrator of the hadith, said that the young man did not pay heed to any temptation thereafter. (Related by Ahmad and authenticated by Al-Albani)

With this gentle, understanding, and convincing approach, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sought to empower the young man rather than destroy him. He aimed to strengthen and fortify him in his battle with temptations rather than alienate or undermine him. Following this Prophetic example is crucial when dealing with the youth as it does not only determine if the youth will commit Zina or not, but most importantly, if they would ever come back to the Mosque to discuss and find answers for their future problems or not.

Listening to the youth, understanding their problems and heartedly embracing and caring for them, whatever the issues they may have, are all elements of the Prophet's art of empowerment. In the above hadith, the Companions themselves were not able to contain their shock. Perhaps this would be the natural reaction of our imams and community leaders if faced with a similar question. The Prophet, however, dealt with the situation as a great educator; he drew the young man nearer to him, discussed the problem rationally, and thus succeeded in convincing the young man to the extent that, as the hadith narrator reported, the man would pay no heed to any temptation after that. Furthermore, the Prophet did not let the incident pass without his unique spiritual touch. Placing his hand on the young man and praying for him must have left an unforgettable effect.
Criticism does no benefit in such situations. It would only alienate the youth and make them think twice before looking for solutions in the Mosque. If we are not friendly enough to embrace our youth and recognize their concerns, they would look for other environments to channel their worries and needs. The young man above dared to address the Prophet with his unspeakable request; do our youth feel home and welcome in our mosques that they can open up and comfortably discuss whatever busies their minds. Unfortunately, the difference between the Prophet's attitude and that of many of us is as great as the difference between building and destroying, empowering and undermining.
 

Aisya al-Humaira

الحمدلله على كل حال
Mashaa Allaah, a beautiful post. BarakaAllaahu feeki.

Indeed, different approach is needed when dealing with the youth especially because they are going through phase changes in their life from a child to an adult. Many times, the youth seek for an advice from an elder (parents, uncles/aunts, teachers) to only get an opposite, harsh, judgmental, unwelcome treatment that in the end only make them distance themselves from the adults. Every parents should become a friend to their teenage daughter/son and so does every imaam/ustadh that they seek support and advice from.

Another issue is how today's marriage has become so difficult due to the nonsense cultural demands especially from the family/relatives/community that made youth prone to fall into zina. Wa naothobillaah. Instead of making the halaal way (marriage) easy for the youth, we make them choose the wrong, haraam way. Yes, both are to be blame for the spread of social illness nowadays. The family/community and the youth themselves.

Let us take heed to practice the sunnah of Muhammad :saw: in dealing with the youth especially those with great temptations but unable to get married yet and make it easy for them to be drawn closer to our deen, in which our art and wisdom of approaching them contribute a great deal to it.

Wa`alaykum as-salaam.
 

IbnAdam77

Travelling towards my grave.
assalam 'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

MashaAllah!

wassalam 'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
 

Wanryoku Sugoi

Need to find my Muslim Queen <3
Pretty impressive masha allah.

Criticism does no benefit in such situations. It would only alien- ate the youth and make them think twice before looking for solu- tions in the Mosque. If we are not friendly enough to embrace our youth and recognize their concerns, they would look for oth- er environments to channel their worries and needs.

Exactly, this is why so many young muslims get invovled with zinah. Parents confuse "culture" with "religion". The former is endorsed and encouraged by the prophet while the latter is the means to get to Allah. Essentially, "culture" teaches us how to succeed in the dunya while "religion" teaches us how to succeed in the akhirah. And for many people, they may have one but lack the other. Two sides to every coin. Yin/Yang and all that stuff.

Islam was sent to all nations and we were split into different tribes so we can recognize one another. To me, this clearly implies that we need to discover ourselves and then meet other people. There is beauty in diversity. And Allah loves beauty and grace.
 

Mabsoot

Amir
Staff member
assalamu alaykum,

I love this hadith thanks for sharing. I must admit the title was a bit alarming !
 

hayat84

I'm not what you believe
salam 'alikum,if I've understood well,with the questions that the prophet SAWS made to the young man,he wasn't forbidding the zina,he was just making him understanding that it isn't liked by other members of the family as it was mentioned above.the young people of nowdays are so "derailed" that they have no consideration of their relatives' opinion,so they are "free" to do anything.as for muslim youngsters,I see their changements of habits.many of them are influenced from occident's habitudes and if they want to be "cool" they have to do what disbelievers do.I have had the occasion to see some of them acting like disbelievers,and I'm not surprised if in that hadith(it's the 1st time I read one of it about the zina) there was a "hidden" truth,not for the past but for the future,tha's to our present time.
correct me if I've misunderstood the thread,but I allow myself to say that I prefere to take the Quranic's guide as first reference point.I'm not sure of the originality of that hadith and f it falls into the wrong hands it can be dangerous for our Ummah(pls forgive me if I'm wrong)
 
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