USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Muslims And Entering A Church

Wikipedia states :

636–7: Siege of Jerusalem (637) – Caliph Umar the Great conquers
Jerusalem and enters the city on foot, following the decisive defeat
of the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Yarmouk a few months earlier.
[3] Patriarch Sophronius and Umar are reported to have agreed the
Covenant of Umar I, which guaranteed Christians freedom of religion
but prohibited Jews from living in the city according to Muhammad ibn
Jarir al-Tabari. Jerusalem becomes part of the Jund Filastin province
of the Arab Caliphate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jerusalem
From the Arab conquest to the First Crusade (636-1099)
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08355a.htm

As to the history of Umar not praying in that church, well, just
listen to Sheikh Yasser Habib who has other ideas

" Their (Sunni) historians say that Omar arrived, entered the church,
and prayed in it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox1oUjsnFRI&feature=relmfu

To believe Omar or his detractors?

Reminds me of this Mulla Nasruddin joke:

"A neighbor who Nasruddin didn't like very much came over to his
compound one day. The neighbor asked Nasruddin if he could borrow his
donkey. Nasruddin not wanting to lend his donkey to the neighbor he
didn't like told him, "I would love to loan you my donkey but only
yesterday my brother came from the next town to use it to carry his
wheat to the mill to be grounded. The donkey sadly is not here." The
neighbor was disappointed. But he thanked Nasruddin and began to walk
away. Just as he got a few steps away, Mullah Nasruddin's donkey,
which was in the back of his compound all the time, let out a big
bray. The neighbor turned to Nasruddin and said, "Mullah Sahib, I
thought you told me that your donkey was not here. Mullah Nasruddin
turned to the neighbor and said, "My friend, who are you going to
believe? Me or the donkey?"

http://ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/nasruddin-and-his-donkey-tales-holy-fool







On 15 Aug, 18:29, "Abdul Bangura" <th...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Mine is not a sermon, just the empirical facts:
>
> Not so fast, Agba Behmankhan, as I demonstrate in my book titled Introduction to Islam:  A Sociological Perspective,  even the Torah and the Bible abhor graven images as idolatry. We must not conflate crosses, paintings, prayer beads, etc. with idols of worship if the people do not worship them. It is akin to some Christians and Jews who say that Muslims worship the Kaaba and the tasbir, a claim that is patently false.
>
> As I have also stated in some of my many other books on Islam, especially Keyboard Jihad:  An Attempt to Rectify Misperceptions and Misrepresentations of Islam,  the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem is located across from the southern courtyard of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, they keys of which are in the custody of two Muslim families---the Nashashibis and the Nusaibehs---in the Muristan. After the siege of Jerusalem by Rashidun's army under the command of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, Patriarch Sophronius refused to surrender except to the Caliph Omar himself. Omar traveled to Jerusalem to accept the surrender. He then visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Sophronius invited him to pray inside the Church, but Omar declined to pray in there so that he does not set a precedent and thereby endanger the Church's status as a Christian site. He also opined that he does not want Muslims to one day claim the church as an Islamic holy site and replace it with a mosque. Instead, he prayed outside in the courtyard, in a place where David was believed to have prayed, and the site is where the Mosque of Omar stands today.
>
> Besides, don't Islam adamantly define the sacred as being �Allah (SWT) The Almighty, His prophets (PBUT), the sacred books---the Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an, the Sunna of his last Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Kaaba, mosques, churches and synagogues"? In essence, the competing schools of thought on the issue are not based on the revelations or the Hadith.
>
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>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Behmankhan
> To: leone...@lists.umbc.edu;abuba...@gmail.com
> Sent: 8/15/2012 11:32:09 AM
> Subject: Re: [Leonenet] Muslims And Entering A Church
>
> So Alpha Abu-Bakarr,
> Not to drag you into some religious discourse. You are saying that because Sierra Leone is "Mecca of Religious tolerance"; (I don't know what that means) that we should therefore be tolerant towards that which sound hadiths have forbidden us from doing; particularly the Sanad and Matn of Omar Bn' Khatab's narration about images in churches? One must be very careful as a Muslim in allowing religious tolerance to cloud our judgements; particularly if the Prophet from whom all sacred knowledge emanates; sanctions or forbids us from it. Islam is not rooted in Christianity. However all Religion whose prophets were given Scriptures as guidance, including Christianity (ingeel), Judaism (Tauraat) and Islam (Furkhan) are supposedly rooted in the beliefs and practices of Ibraheem (May Allah be Pleased with him). Each of the other two Religions (Christianity and Judaism) came at particularly prescribed time, and to a particular people but Islam came to the entire human race and the Jinn. To therefore say that Islam is rooted in Christianity are you suggesting also that you are a student of Christianity? I don't know where you read that Islam is rooted in Christianity. Suratul Iqhlas alone is proof positive that the Lordship of Jesus as proclaimed by Christianity unequivocally contravenes Islam (the total submission to nothing but the will of Allah). This is how I see religious tolerance as stated by Allah in Sura tul Kafiroun: To you your religion and to me mine. That's how far tolerance should go without going around condemning other peoples religion but also not allowing yourself to be absorbed into beliefs that would send you to Hell Fire. But when it comes to other tolerances as defined by us; i.e. entering Churches and singing hymns and praising Jesus as the Son of God; you tell me Alpha whether this kind of tolerance is not your tacit support of the gravest sins by associating partnership with Allah. We all went to Christian schools because we had no choices but as we come about the true knowledge of Islam, it would be incumbent upon us to distance ourselves from those actions that displeases Allah. Sierra Leone is not the Mecca of Religious tolerance; it is however where ignorance of the true teachings of Islam has been passed on from generation to generation; with the politically correct label of religious tolerance.
>
> Behmankhan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Abdulai ABU-BAKARR <abuba...@gmail.com>
> To: leonenet <leone...@lists.umbc.edu>; Abdul Bangura <th...@earthlink.net>
> Cc: USAAfricaDialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Tue, Aug 14, 2012 4:10 pm
> Subject: Re: [Leonenet] Muslims And Entering A Church
>
> I found your topic very interesting and decided to look it up. As a student of Sierra Leone Grammar School and a Muslim , I read the bible and sang the hymns and went to thanks giving services. Islam is deeply rooted in Christianity and Christ is one of our prophets.
> But the Nigerian case is more politics thank religion. Sierra Leone is indeed the Mecca of religious tolerance. See link below.
>
> http://islamqa.info/en/ref/111832
>
> Praise be to Allaah.
> Entering churches for meetings and to listen to lectures is not free of a number of haraam things, some of which have been discussed in the answer to question no. 82836.
> The scholars differed concerning the ruling on a Muslim entering a church in the first place. There are a number of opinions:
> 1-
> That it is haraam. This is the view of the Hanafis and Shaafa’is, but the Shaafa’is limit the prohibition to churches in which there are images, as it says in Tuhfat al-Muhtaaj (2/424), Nihaayat al-Muhtaaj (2/63) and Haashiyata Qalyoobi wa ‘Umayrah ‘ala Sharh al-Muhalla (4/236).
> The Hanafis regard it as haraam in all cases, and they gave as their reason the fact that they are abodes of the devils, as the Hanafi Ibn Nujaym said in al-Bahr al-Raa’iq (7/364) and in Haashiyat Ibn ‘Aabideen (2/43).
> 2-
> That it is makrooh. This is the view of the Hanbalis, but some of them limited this to churches in which there are images. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Fataawa al-Kubra (5/327): The view which most of our companions hold is that it is makrooh to enter churches in which there are images, and this is the correct view concerning which there can be no doubt. End quote.
> See: al-Furoo’ (5/308), al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (3/415) and al-Insaaf (1/496).
> They quoted the following as evidence:
> (i)
> It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw images in the Ka’bah and he did not enter until he had ordered that they be erased. Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3352).
> (ii)
> It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: Jibreel promised to come to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) but he was late and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) grew concerned. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out and saw him, and he told him of his concern and he said to him: “We [angels] do not enter a house in which there is an image or a dog.† Narrated by al-Bukhaari (5960).
> (iii)
> It was narrated that Aslam the freed slave of ‘Umar said: When ‘Umar went to Syria, one of the leaders of the Christians made food for him and called him. ‘Umar said: We will not enter your churches because of the images that are in them â€" meaning the statues. Narrated by ‘Abd al-Razzaaq in al-Musannaf (1/411 and 10/398).
> 3 â€" The third view is that it is permissible to enter churches in general. This is the view of the Hanbalis, as it says in al-Mughni (8/113) and al-Insaaf (1/496).
> It is also the view of Ibn Hazm al-Zaahiri as it says in al-Muhalla (1/400).
> They quoted the following as evidence:
> (i)
> What was narrated about the conditions stipulated by ‘Umar to the people of the Book to expand their churches and monasteries so that the Muslims could enter them to spend the night or pass through them.
> Al-Mughni (8/113).
> (ii)
> Ibn ‘Aa’idh narrated in Futooh al-Shaam that when ‘Umar came to Syria, the Christians made food for him and called him, and he said: Where is it? They said: In the church, and he refused to go. He said to ‘Ali: Take the people to eat lunch. So ‘Ali took the people and entered the church, and he and the people ate lunch, and ‘Ali looked at the images and said: What would be wrong if the Ameer al-Mu’mineen entered this place?
> Al-Mughni (8/113).
> By studying the evidence quoted above, it does not seem that there is any clear evidence that it is haraam to enter churches. The fact that there are images and statues in them or any other place does not mean that it is haraam to enter it. The sin is on the makers of the images and those who make the statues; the one who enters a place where those statues are should advise and explain, but he does not have to leave that place.
> Ibn Qudaamah (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
> With regard to entering a house in which there is an image, it is not haraam. Rather it is permissible to refuse an invitation because of it as a rebuke to the host and to show that he has lost respect because of his introducing something evil into his house. The one who sees it in the host’s house does not have to leave, according to the apparent meaning of Ahmad’s words. He said, according to the report of al-Fadl: If he sees an image on the curtain that he did not see when he entered, that is less serious than if it was on the wall. It was said: If he did not see it until the food was
>
> ...
>
> läs mer »

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