Mu` meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah`s Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

U   R   G   E   N   T

Dear Burhan bhai,

At one point you say mushriks are unclean and they should not approach the KA'ABA, and on the other hand you can marry (jews & christian) People of the Book which Allah has comanded as legal.  To my knowledge even these two tribes are not allowed in Ka'aba.  Pls clarify.

Allah Hafiz.

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Answer:

Can Jews and Christians come to Makkah

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Statement: At one point you say mushriks are unclean and they should not approach the KA'ABA, and on the other hand you can marry (jews & christian) People of the Book which Allah has comanded as legal. 

Beloved brother in Islam, it is not ‘us’ who has said that the mushriks are unclean and they should not approach the Kaabah, or that it is permissible for the believers to marry a woman from the People of the Book! Allah Subhanah is the One Who has declared the mushriks unclean; and He it is Who has forbidden them to approach the Kaabah; and He is it is Who has given permission to the believers to marry the women of the People of the Book. We only repeated, what the All Mighty Lord has declared in His Glorious Quran.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 28:

O ye who believe! Truly the mushriks are unclean; so let them not after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque. And if ye fear poverty ,soon will Allah enrich you if He wills out of his bounty, for Allah is All-Knowing All-Wise.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah Maidah verse 5:

This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you, and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book revealed before your time; when ye give them their due dowers and desire chastity, not lewdness nor secret intrigues. If anyone rejects faith, fruitless is his work and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).

Thus brother, it is Allah Subhanah who has declared the mushriks unclean and forbidden them to approach the Sacred Mosque in Makkah; and it is Allah Who has given the believers the permission to marry chaste women from among the People of the Book, if they wish to do so.

Your Question: To my knowledge even these two tribes are not allowed in Ka'aba.  Pls clarify.

When the aayah of Surah Taubah was revealed in 9^th Hijri, the Messenger of Allah (saws) implemented the command of Allah Subhanah, and forbade the mushriks to enter the Holy City of Makkah. The People of the Book were still permitted to enter the Sacred Mosque. The mushriks and the People of the Book were still permitted to visit the Prophet’s mosque in Medina, but after the murder of the second Khalifa, Hadrat Umar al Khattab (r.a.); the believers prohibited both, the mushriks and the People of the Book, to enter the precincts of the Holy Cities of Makkah and Medina; and that prohibition is carried on until this very day.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan