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:

Assalam Aleikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatu.

I would be grateful if you could answer my question in regard to Traditional rituals. I have come across alot of people who tell me that if you do not do this traditional rituals when you are born it will affect you in the long run meaning that all that you do in life will not go well. Is this true? .

According to me I know that the only important thing that a muslim should do when a child is born is Aqeeqah. The reason why am asking this question is because I have a sister according to maalim she is repossessed with evil spirits and they say this is because some traditional rituals were not performed when she was born and that she has to do this rituals so that she becomes okay. Please advise.

Thanking you in advance.

Masalam.

(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:

Rituals

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.

Firstly, every believer who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day, should know for sure that no good or evil can ever befall him except by the Permission and Will of His Merciful Lord; thus he should always trust and fear his Lord Alone and absolutely no one else.

Indeed it is the Sunnah of the noble Messenger of Allah (saws) to perform an ‘Aqeeqah’ for a new born child, and every believer should strive do so. The rite of ‘Aqeeqah’ is a part of the worship and obedience of the believers, who sacrifice a part of their wealth in the name of their Merciful Lord, to show their gratitude to Allah Subhanah at the birth of their child.

The rite of ‘Aqeeqah’ is a Sunnah, and if for any reason, one does not perform the ‘Aqeeqah’ there is no sin upon him. There is absolutely no truth in the superstition that if one does not do a particular rite of Islam, evil will befall the new born, or some jinn or evil spirit will possess him, etc. These are absolutely false fears, and should be discarded and rejected immediately by the believers. Allah Subhanah Alone has the power over all things, and one should be content and satisfied with the belief that nothing, absolutely nothing, in the heavens and the earth can harm him without the Will and Permission of Allah Subhanah.

Most of such fears and superstitions are put into the hearts and minds of mankind by the priests and moulvis, which have absolutely no basis or evidence from the Quran and Sunnah. If anyone ever tries to scare the believers with such self-invented superstitions, the believers should immediately demand these priests to bring their evidence from the Quran and Sunnah for what they say!

Don’t ever care for such unfounded fears that if the Aqeeqah was not performed, some evil will befall a person; for these fears are absolutely baseless and the imagination of some unscrupulous people whose only interest is fleecing the ignorant believers of their hard-earned wealth! Allah Subhanah has warned the believers about such priests and holy men who devour the wealth of others through illegal means in the Glorious Quran.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 34-35 :O you who believe! There are indeed many among the priests and the holy men who devour the wealth of others by evil means, and debar the people from the Way of Allah. Give them the good news of a painful torment, who hoard up gold and silver and do not expend these in the Way of Allah. The Day shall surely come when the same gold and silver shall be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will be branded their foreheads, their bodies and their backs. (And it will be said): “Here is that treasure you had hoarded up for yourselves! Taste now the evil of your hoarded treasure!”

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