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 has asked this question:

Please answer the following questions:

1. Is it acceptable to praise anyone else other than Allah in the mosque?

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Can we Praise anybody in the Mosque?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and who-ever 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.

There is no harm in praising anybody in the mosque or outside if the person has done a deed worthy of praise. But a few things have to be kept in mind in light and guidance of the Quran and traditions of the Prophet (saws) when praising somebody:

·         No lies or exaggeration should be used while praising anybody.

·         The Messenger of Allah advised against praising someone on his face or in his own presence. Praise is best done when the person being praised is not amongst them.

·         No one should be praised, whereby they are raised to the level and attributes that belong to Allah Subhanah. At times these can lead to the heinous sin of ‘shirk’.

·         One must remember that the mosque is a place for the remembrance and dhikr of Allah and not a place for praising man.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 72 Surah Jinn verse 18: And the mosques are for Allah Alone. Therefore, do not call upon anyone else in them along with Allah.

If the mosques are used as a place for remembering the stories of the pious people and the martyrs, then it becomes a place of invocation and worship of man rather than a place for worship of Allah.

Just take a look at the state of our mosques today and you will realize what state our ummah is in today.

·         We gather in the mosques, not to praise Allah, but rather to praise the Syedna and his ancestors.

·         We gather in the mosques, not to praise and remember Allah, but rather praise our pious Imams like Imam Ali, Imam Hasan and Imam Hussain.

·         We gather in the mosques, not to praise and remember Allah, but rather to lament and wail over the historical events which took place in the fields of Karbala.

·         We gather in the mosques, not to praise and remember Allah, but rather to feast on the niyaaz, done in the name of the pious people who have passed away.

Check it out for yourselves the next time you go to the mosque. Are people there to praise, thank and worship Allah or are they there for everything else other than that? Allah is far exalted above all the ‘shirk’ these people commit.

May Allah guide you and us all to read and understand the Holy Quran. May Allah guide you and us to worship Allah Alone and not associate or invoke anybody or anything with Him. May Allah guide you and us all to the Straight Path of Islam.

May Allah guide you and us all to the Straight Path of Islam.

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