RE: A MUSLIM ENTERING THE CHURCH: THE

Praise be to Allaah and may His perfect blessing be upon the soul of His last messenger, his household his companions, the scholars upon the truth as well as those who follow them on the path.

As regards the write up ” A MUSLIM ENTERING THE CHURCH….”, may Allah bless the writer and increase him in knowledge. It is a wonderful effort he made to gather what the scholars have said regarding entering of church. However, he did not addressed what really went wrong with the event.

Firstly, it should be noted that the criticism that greeted the viral clip of Buhari’s appearance in the celestial church was not basically due to his entering the church as purported. The matter is much further beyond that. Although his going to the church wasn’t appropriate as shall be shown soon insha Allah, the evil blunder he committed was the main cause of reprehension. This however was just passed over by the writer as he only commented on it in two lines. He rather expounded on the fiqh of “entering” the church. At the end he only identified one statement amidst many statements which constitue disbelief in the clip.

The core of the event which I think should be crushed is the various terrible utterances he made during the shameless display. He battered and shattered the marrow of tawheed – monotheism. He made utterances which take one out of the fold of al-Islam, if rooted in the heart. This is so important because of many innocent eyes and hearts who have watched and received the messages he passed either directly or inferentially. More especially in a society where people know not right from wrong in matters of tawheed!

To be brief, here are some of his statements of kufr he said:

1. He affirmed that both Islam and Christianity are the same because they both agree to the existence of God. He said: “egba fun olohun. E gba pe olohun lo’olohun nje. Ki lowa seku ta’ni jo se waasi….” – *you submitted to Allah and believe He is God*. So why won’t we have admonition together.

2. After he greeted Mr Abdulkareem owoduni he said: “Eku igbe ti Olohun dani” – you are well done for doing God’s work. What was clear from the clip is that the man is a christian and a leader in the church. In the 10:49 clip, he mentioned that the man was once a Muslim before he converted to Christianity.

3. He said: “jesu o se iyanu ni ile aye yin o. In the*mighty name of jesus* you’ll be blessed”.

4. Awa musulumi ati Christian Nigeria. E yo kan ni wa, a o le ja laye laye. A won ti e bari ti won ba unja, won si ere ni, won le ri Eni wo wan san lailai – We Nigerian Muslims and Christians are one, we cannot disagree (fight), anyone you see that fights (disagree on religious issue) is MAD and can never get remedy!

On the first point, it is wrong to hold that since the Christians believe there’s God almighty then we are one and hence we should do things together. A lot of Muslims so much belive in this that they celebrate with them their various festivals under the guise that we call upon and worship same God. This is an erroneous belief.

To believe in the existence of Allah isn’t enough to take one out of disbelief to having faith in Allah. The idolators of Makkah believed in the existence of Allah. They believed He alone created the heavens and the earth; possesses the Mighty Throne, controls all affairs, sends rain from heaven and provides for them. They even believed that it’s only Allah who must be called upon at time of distress, unlike present day Christians who calls upon Christ both at ease and at time of distress. Despite this belief of the Quraysh, it neither made them believers nor saved them from Allah’s punishment. This Allah mentioned in many places in the Qur’an. He said in suratul Mu’minoon, 24: 84 -87

“Say: “Whose is the earth and whosoever is therein? If you know!”.
They will say: “It is Allah’s!” Say: “Will you not then remember?”
Say: “Who is (the) Lord of the seven heavens, and (the) Lord of the Great Throne?”
They will say: “Allah.” Say: “Will you not then fear Allah (believe in His Oneness, obey Him, believe in the Resurrection and Recompense for each and every good or bad deed).” 84-87

This point is also the message he passed through the poem he read ie believing in oneness of God in His essence.

He further buttressed his claim and said “you submitted to Allah and believe He is God”. Perhaps, he knew not that true submission is in tawheed – submitting to Him in His worship alone in the way He has commanded and without calling along Him anyone. The celestial church calls upon Angels for assistance beside Allah. They call upon holy Micheal, Holy Gabriel, etc. This is a major kufr!

To cap his error and affirm his stand that the Christians are upon the right path, he dropped the bomb and said *”in the might name of Jesus, you will be blessed”*! SubhanaLlah! This is the evil the scholars mentioned when they said it’s not appropriate to attend such gathering, rather it is haram as mentioned in the initial write up. I pray Allah does not hold him for such utterance – how many a time Allah punishes a slave because of a single statement which he might consider insignificant as authentically reported in many hadith!

A lot of people fall victim of this. How many a time Muslims in mixed gatherings comprising of both religions say “Amen” to similar statements while the Christians are praying! It is not proper for a Muslim, rather it is haram, to say “Amen” when other than Allah is being called – “Call not upon any one alongside Allah” – we call upon Allah alone!

Had Buhari gone to the place to explain in detail the elements of monotheism and called them to Islaam which we have been enjoined, no one would raise an eyebrow against his going. Rather, he would receive national accolade for such bravery and heroism. However, how apt is the Arabic poem: “faaqidu shayin laa yu’tee – one who lacks something can’t give it out”. That wasn’t his first blunder regarding tawheed anyway.

In short, the complete tawheed which brings sound belief and saves from the punishment of Allah is to belief in oneness of Allah in His essence, names, attributes and worship. He alone we must worship without associating partners with Him. This is the core of faith, submission and servitude without which there’s no salvation.

Lest I forget to mention is the repeated usage of “sheikh” by the writer in reference to Buhari. The word was unnecessarily used, carrying some degree of reverence. Nay! He’s not a sheikh neither is he close to one, unless it was a linguistic usage for an adult. Though that’s another issue entirely.

Back to the issue of entering a church for occasions of the Christians; for conference, ceremonies, lectures and the likes. Succinctly, the ruling regarding that is different from ruling regarding mere entering of the church or synagogue. There are conditions guiding the permissibility of that. It was asked on islamweb.net about entering of church for wedding. After stating the permissibility of entering the church, it says:
“If detestable acts and sins are present, then it is not allowed….”. It continues: “based on this, it is not permissible for you to enter the church because from what is known is that it is not free of sinful and detestable acts like tabarruj (waton display of ornaments), mixing of opposite sexes, musical instruments and songs, etc. The prohibition of entering is more pronounced if it involves recitation of things comprising of their disbelief (such as “in the mighty name of jesus, you’ll be blessed”), distortion and falsehood, because of the statement of Allah:

“And it has already been revealed to you in the Book (this Quran) that when you hear the Verses of Allah being denied and mocked at, then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other than that; (but if you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be like them. Surely, Allah will collect the hypocrites and disbelievers all together in Hell,” 4:140.” End of quote. (http://fatwa.islamweb.net/fatwa/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=112151)

Also, a similar question was put forward to sheikh al-Munaajid through is Web, Islamqa.com on going to church to deliver a lecture. He said:

“We put this question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve him, who answered as follows:

This matter needs further examination, because the place is not appropriate, except in the unlikely event that it might be said that the Muslims are so powerful that they can proclaim their religion in the places of worship of the Christians. If this is the case, then it is good. But I am worried that it may be the opposite, i.e., that the Muslims are compelled to speak of their religion in the church. Hence I think that he should not do that, in order to avoid falling into this category (of being weak). And Allaah knows best.”. End of quote. (https://islamqa.info/en/11232).

In summary, tawheed – monotheism- is the pillar of our deen and must be protected jealously by whoever wishes to meet his Lord in safety. We must learn it, preach it and defend it even if we are threatened with incineration or death. I pray Allah forgive my excesses in this as well as the initial writer. May He count this solely for His sake and make us die upon tawheed. Wa salaLlahu ‘ala Muhammad wasallim.

Aboo ‘AbdirRahmaan Al-Luthee.

This article is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect knowislam.com.ng policy.