Why do some people wear kalawas (I think thats what it is called) its like a few red strings, around their neck in muharram?
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:
Assalamu alaikum
Dear brother Burhan, I thank you for answering my previous question so
promptly. I have a few questions regarding muharram, I am what most people
would call a sunni muslim, though I personally do not believe in sects and
don`t like to be addressed in any other way other than a muslim. I am deeply
confused about muharram, it seems that it is not of as much significance to
other muslims as it is to shiite muslims, and I really want to do what is right
as a muslim in muharram. Please can you answer these questions for me:
1) Why do some people wear kalawas (I think thats what it is called) its like a
few red strings, around their neck in muharram? Is this right to do and what
does it represent? Also, people wear stuff around their ankles, wrists?
2) On which days is it good to fast in
muharram?
3) Why do people wear black clothes in
Muharram? Is it right to do that?
4) What is a juloos? Should I take part?
5) How long should a muslim be in mourning
during muharram for what happened during karbalah?
6) Is it ok to attend Majalis during
muharram and leave when people are doing matam as I do not want to take part in
that? Or is it better to not go at all?
I know I have asked a lot of questions, and
believe me I have another million more questions in relation to islam, but I
urgently need to know this. I deeply appreciate all your time and efforts.
Thank you for doing a wonderful job.
Khuda Hafiz
(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:
Muharram issues
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: I personally do not believe in
sects and don`t like to be addressed in any other way other than a muslim.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77-78:
O you who have
believed, do ‘rukooh’ (bow down) and do
‘sajdah’ (prostration), and worship your Lord Allah Alone, and do righteous
deeds: it may be that you attain true success!
Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as one should. He has chosen you for His service, and has
not laid on you any hardship in your religion.
Therefore, be steadfast in the
religion of your father Abraham. Allah
had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you (muslims) in
this Quran also, so that the Messenger
may be a witness in regard to you, and
you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 171 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘There will
befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Isra'il,
so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication
with his mother there will be among my Ummah one who will do that, and if the
people of Isra'il were fragmented into seventy-two sects, my Ummah will be
fragmented into seventy-three sects! All
of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect.
They (the Companions) said: ‘O Allah's Messenger (saws), which one is
that?’ Whereupon he (saws) replied: ‘It
is one to which I and my companions belong.’
Dear and Beloved sister in Islam, never ever did the
Messenger of Allah (saws), or his noble family and companions ever claim to be
recognized by any name other than what the Lord Most High had chosen for the
believing Ummah: ie. ‘muslims’.
Your Question-1: Why do some people wear
kalawas (I think thats what it is called) its like a few red strings, around
their neck in muharram? Is this right to do and what does it represent? Also,
people wear stuff around their ankles, wrists?
Dear and beloved sister in Islam, there is absolutely no
evidence in the authentic and established Sunnah regarding the Messenger of
Allah (saws) or any of his noble companions wearning a ‘kalawa’, or red strings
around their neck, or anything on their ankles or wrists in the month of
Muharram or otherwise.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah
Ahzab verse 21:
There is indeed the best example
for you to follow in the Messenger of Allah, for every such person looks
forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.
And when the Messenger of Allah (saws) neither performed
an act nor endorsed it, then know and believe with absolute conviction that
such rites and acts have absolutely nothing to do with Islam, or with guidance,
or with the Sunnah; thus this ‘kalawa’ strings or whatever it might be called
has to be an innovation…and every single innovation in the pure and perfect
deen of Islam is nothing but an absolute error and a grave sin in the Sight of
Allah Subhanah.
Sahih Muslim Hadith 1885 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah
That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a
sermon: “The best speech is that which
is embodied in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran;
and the best guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the
innovations (bida), and every innovation (bida) is an error.”
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4515 Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib
That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said: “If
anyone introduces an innovation (bida in religion), he will be responsible for it. If anyone introduces an innovation (bida) or
gives shelter to a man who introduces an innovation (bida), he is cursed by
Allah, by His Angels, and by all the people!”
Your Question-2: On which days is it good to
fast in muharram?
Abu Hurairah reported: "I asked the
Prophet (saws): 'Which prayer is the best after the obligatory prayers?' He
(saws) said: 'Prayer during the middle of the night.' I asked: 'Which fast is
the best after the fast of Rarnadan?' He (saws) said, 'The month of Allah that
you call Muharram.' "
Related by Ahmad, Muslim, and Abu Dawud.
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 5.172 Narrated by Aisha
Ashura' (i.e. the tenth of Muharram) was a
day on which the tribe of Quraish used to fast in the pre-Islamic period of
ignorance. The Prophet (saws) also used to fast on this day. So when he (saws)
migrated to
Ibn 'Abbas reported: "The Prophet (saws)
came to Madinah and found the Jews fasting on the day of 'Ashurah. He (saws)
said to them: 'What is this fast?' They said: 'A great day. Allah saved Moses
and the tribes of
Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
According to al-Bukhari and Muslim, Musa
al-Ash'ari reported: "The Jews would honor the day of 'Ashurah as an 'id.
The Prophet (saws) said: 'You [Muslims] are to fast on it.'"
Ibn 'Abbas reported: "The Messenger of Allah (saws) fasted
on the day of 'Ashurah and ordered the people to fast on it. The people said:
'O Messenger of Allah (saws) , it is a day that the Jews and Christians honor.'
The Prophet (saws) said, 'When the following year comes--Allah willing--we
shall fast (also) on the ninth.' The death of the Prophet (saws) came before
the following year."
Related by Muslim and Abu Dawud.
The tenth day of the Islamic month of Muharram holds a
very significant place as it is recorded in history that not only did Allah
Subhanah save the Noble Prophet Moses and the believers from the clutches of
the Pharaoh, but it was on this day of Muharram that Allah Subhanah saved
Prophet Noah (a.s.) and the believers from the flood, accepted the repentance
and saved the Noble Prophet Yunus (a.s.) from the stomach of the fish, and
cured the illness of the Noble Prophet Ayyub (a.s.).
The tenth of Muharram was a day which not only the pagans
of Quraish, but also the Jews and the Christians of the time held in honor
before the advent of Islam; and they commemorated this day by fasting. The Messenger of Allah (saws) declared that
the believers, because of their true belief upon the Prophets of Allah, had
more right to honor this day and he (saws) encouraged the believers to differ
from the pagans and fast two days, either the 9th and the 10th
or the 10th and the 11th, in commemoration of this great
day.
Other than the supererogatory fasting on the two days
corresponding to the 10th of Muharram (9&10 or 10&11), if
one wishes to observe more supererogatory fasts one should follow the Sunnah of
the Prophet (saws) and fast the Mondays and Thursdays of the week, or the 13th,
14th, and 15th of the month….as was the practice of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) for voluntary fasting on these days of every month.
Your Question-3: Why do people wear black
clothes in Muharram? Is it right to do that?
Some misguided sects in Islam wear black clothes as a sign
of mourning the brutal murder and martyrdom of the noble grandson of the
Prophet (saws), Hadrat Hussain ibn Ali (r.a.) in
There is absolutely no evidence in the authentic and
established Sunnah whereby it is indicated that the Messenger of Allah (saws)
wore black clothes as a sign of mourning, or endorsed the wearing of black
clothes as a sign of mourning the deceased or martyrs; thus this wearing of
black clothes as a sign of mourning has absolutely nothing to do with Islam, or
guidance or with the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws).
The wearing of black clothes as a sign of mourning a
deceased is a customary practice of the pagans, especially the Christians….and
it does not behove and befit one who believes in Allah and the Last Day to copy
or imitate any practice of the pagans.
Your Question-4: What is a juloos? Should I
take part?
Sahih Muslim Hadith 2033 Narrated by AbuMalik al-Ash'ari
Allah's Messenger (saws) said: “Among my people there are four
characteristics belonging to pre-Islamic period of ignorance which they do not
abandon: 1. boasting of high rank,
2. reviling other peoples'
genealogies, 3. seeking rain by stars,
and 4. wailing. And he
(further) said: If the wailing woman does not repent before she dies, she
will be made to stand on the Day of Resurrection wearing a garment of pitch and
a chemise of mange.
The Messenger of Allah (saws) said in an
authentic narration “He is not a believer, who beats his face, or tears his clothes, or wails,
when afflicted by a misfortune.”
Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2829 Narrated by Hadrat Ali ibn AbuTalib
(r.a.)
Hadrat Ali (r.a.) heard Allah's Messenger
(saws) curse those who took usury, those who paid it, those who recorded it,
and those who refused to give sadaqah. And
he (saws) used to prohibit wailing.
Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 3122 Narrated
by AbuSa'id al-Khudri
The Messenger of Allah (saws) cursed the
wailing woman and the woman who listens to her.
Umm 'Atiyyah reports: "The
Messenger of Allah (saws) made us pledge that we will not wail over (the
dead)" (Bukhari and
Muslim).
Al-Bazzar has transmitted, that the Prophet,
peace be upon him, said: "Two sounds are accursed in this world and in the
hereafter: the sound of wind instruments
(to celebrate) good fortune, and of moaning aloud when afflicted with a
misfortune."
The ‘juloos’ or the procession some ignorant sects take
out on the streets in the month of Muharram to vent their grief, express their
mourning, and to wail and beat their chests, etc. is absolutely against the
guidance of Allah and His Messenger (saws); and one who sincerely fears Allah
and the Last Day must absolutely abstain from participating in such processions
in the name of Islam.
Your Question-5: How long should a muslim be
in mourning during muharram for what happened during karbalah?
Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 2.371 Narrated by Zainab bint Abi Salama
I went to Um Habiba, the wife of Prophet
(saws), who said, "I heard the Prophet (saws) saying, 'It is not lawful
for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for any dead person
for more than three days, except for her husband, (for whom she should mourn)
for four months and ten days'."
In light of the above guidance of the Messenger of Allah
(saws), it is not lawful in Islam for a believer who believes in Allah and the
Last Day to mourn for any deceased person for more than three days, except a
widow who is to mourn the death of her husband for four months and ten
days.
The unfortunate incidents that transpired with the family
and companions of the noble grandson of the Messenger of Allah (saws), Hadrat
Hussain ibn Ali (r.a.) is without an iota of a doubt, amongst the darkest and
most painful events in the annuls of muslim history; but under no circumstances
does Islam allow the believers to mourn the death of any deceased, not even of
the Noble Prophets of Allah for more than three days!
The unfortunate incident in
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah
Baqarah verse 134:
134 That was a People that have passed away. They shall reap the reward of what they did,
and you shall have the reward of what you do; and Allah will not question you
regarding what they did.
Every true believer feels sadness and pain whenever the
incidents which transpired on that eventful day in Karbala 1400 years ago are
brought to mind; but under no circumstances would it be lawful for a believer
to mark or commemorate a day for those blessed martyrs, or gather, wail, or
beat themselves in mourning, or invent or innovate any rite or ritual for their
mourning almost 1400 years after their martyrdom; for that then would be
manifest misguidance.
Your Question-6: Is it ok to attend Majalis
during muharram and leave when people are doing matam as I do not want to take
part in that? Or is it better to not go at all?
Attending or participating in these unlawful gatherings of
mourning would be to share in what has been clearly forbidden by Allah and His
Messenger (saws). It would be best,
purest, and safest for the believers who sincerely believe in Allah and the
Last Day to abstain and stay away from such unlawful and innovated rites,
rituals and commemorations which have absolutely nothing to do with Islam and
guidance.
If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and
commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws),
one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any
other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be
assured of being led astray.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan
Wister