Yasir Qadhi – Ask Shaykh YQ – Episode 23 – Is it Haram To Participate in Protests

			Somebody said, Give me a long fat swab from another chef. And the gist of it was as follows the
chef, you recently participated in a protest against Modi's visit, you all know Modi, the, the Prime
Minister of India. And I commented in a positive manner to in a gathering that I was in that
journey, he praised me for whatever. Then somebody showed me a fatwa from chef so and so I'm not
going to mention the name. And the fatwa was that participating in protests is how long and that it
is an Islamic for a person to participate in protests. So now I'm confused. What is the response to
this on
		

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			the name?
		

			J. So this is the question that there is a very famous chef,
		

			one of the Grand chefs of any another country, very well known in that movement. And he basically
said that Muslims should not participate in protests, it is haram, and therefore he's saying it is a
sin. Now, I took on this question, because they can look, I get bombarded with a lot of questions, I
have to choose questions that I feel are more beneficial than just the question themselves. So the
previous one, I felt it opened up a door of interesting aspects of theology, this one opens up an
interesting aspect of methodology. And this is as follows. One of the positions that I have been
advocating for many, many years, is, Muslims in any community should always take their fatwa from
		

			scholars who live in their own communities. This is something I have been advocating ever since I
have studied overseas, and I saw with my own eyes, how culture plays a role on knowledge, because
we're all human beings, all of us even the greatest even the greatest item is, in the end of the
day, a human who is impacted by his or her culture. And if you just want to see this, I can give you
so many examples from my own life, seeing how various Roma have interpreted various things. This is
not disrespectful to those Roma at all. On the contrary, it is humanizing them. And it is respecting
our local clergy and roadmap. So and there are many examples perhaps the most cliched one perhaps
		

			the most classic one is that of Eben Tamia and the Mongol invaders. So the Mongols, as you know, the
Mongols, as you know, they had nominally accepted Islam, they claim to be Muslim, and even taymiyah
did not view them as being any mainstream Muslims because their beliefs were very bizarre, but they
said we are Muslims. And we you know, the famous story is a very famous story that the Mongols
invaded Damascus and, you know, they they took over aspects of the city, and they were very far from
Islam. And as you know, they were soldiers, so they're gonna be looting and plundering and *
what soldiers do. So even taymiyah and his students passed by a group of Mongol soldiers who were
		

			lying there drinking alcohol semi drunk. They were lying in their couches and whatnot on the street
and wet and they were just drinking Hummer in public in a Muslim land. I mean, this is Moncure
Yanni, of course, people drank alcohol back then, but there's some Hey, go do it quietly. Don't get
drunk in the streets. Here. These soldiers were publicly with bottles and liquor and whatnot and the
drinking in the streets. What if it's a Mia students said, ooh, Bella, let's go and advise them to
fear Allah and give up alcohol.
		

			had been Tamia said, No, let them drink. Let them drink, let them go get more drunk.
		

			The students has suffered a lot. These are Muslims, they claim to be Muslim. How can you allow this
moon car to be public? Now let me pause here. Imagine if anybody had said
		

			chef. So and so in a faraway land we have an alum who publicly allows other Muslims to drink
alcohol. What is the verdict on that item? You see, it's so easy to take a scenario, cut and paste
and go feed it to a Mufti 5000 miles away. The same Mufti who claims to be evident to me as
followers would have said, imitate me as I looked at their ball model calf or whatever you would
have said it would have this is common. That's the way when you feed the chef, half an image, what
do you think is going to happen? Even Tamia said let these people drink and get drunk. And the
famous response that the students had wide had been Tamia said, these people, if they are sober,
		

			they plunder, steal, *, kill other people. Whereas when they're drunk, they're just lying on the
streets, harming nobody but themselves between the two. It is better that they stay drunk and only
harm themselves. See, this is what you call contextual.
		

			This is what you call taking into account
		

			The circumstance and by the way, I'm not teaching anything new This is standard for every family
that is worth his his knowledge of Earth knows this that you need to undress me. Okay you mentioned
giving a fatwa half of giving a fatwa is to know the context of the fatwa half of giving the fatwa
is to know the context of the people who are giving the virtual amongst right. And it is a huge
problem that I have seen firsthand in any any person who studies still sees this, it is a problem.
When you outsource your knowledge to a Mufti on another continent, it is a huge problem, because the
circumstances are different. And so you will import something that is not applicable in the
		

			environment you are in. It is a problem for us to ask. And frankly, it is a problem for the Mufti to
even respond. That's why if anybody comes to me and ask a question about another land, I say, go to
the shifts of your own land don't come to me, I'm not a person who knows your situation that will.
So this great alum of this great land, gave a fatwa that is very famous that he said it is how long?
By the way, Subhanallah How long is such a big word, you know what, how long means how long means
you're going to be punished, potentially, that Allah will punish you. And I have to say, as well,
sometimes it's so common for people to for people to use this word as if it means nothing. How long
		

			itself should come with a warning label, only use in extreme cases, how long means you are saying
that Allah will potentially throw somebody in Jannah and punish somebody? By what evidence do you
say that protest or how long you read his fatwa. And he gives very generic evidences of them is that
the ruler should not be hooroo should not be opposed and this and that very generic fatawa. And here
SubhanAllah. Again, you just wonder of the things he says, By the way, I'm not inventing this. This
is in effect, what he says that protests are a form of chaos, and protests are unbecoming the
dignity of a Muslim is what he says, protests, you are shouting in the streets, it is unbecoming the
		

			dignity of a Muslim to go and participate in protest. So he brings forth a lot of various things
comes together with the fatwa. And he says it is haram in any part of the globe to do a any protest.
And again, with respect to the personality of this of this chef, I say that I'm not speaking about
his culture, even though By the way, we get to the deeper issue of a fatwa that is very politically
convenient for the kingdoms, and the kings and the rulers of those lands. And that's a whole
different topic that we're not going to get into. But see, human beings are human beings, and are
allowed to be loved but never may be careful when a fatwa is given by an authority. And anyway, you
		

			get the point here, there's a self serving issue, one needs to be careful look at the spectrum of
positions, even from that society. Generally speaking, the establishment gives one fatwa. And those
outside the establishment give another fatwa, you gotta scratch your head and wonder what's going on
here. So be a little bit more critical. And this is why it's panela. It is sad, the reality we live
in, but that's one of the reasons why our alumni of the past, they were very careful where their
income came from, is because they didn't want anybody to doubt their fatawa and their knowledge. And
unfortunately, things have changed. And it's a very sad reality. But our classical liberal dogma,
		

			our early Roma, generally speaking, they did not want to work for a government that would impede
their fatawa and that's why the greatest odema Mr. manoli, Abu hanifa was offered the position by
the halifa of a honey refuse I'm not going to be the call the under you, I don't want to be that he
didn't want his money, his his knowledge to be impugned. emammal Buhari was offered a government,
you know, a salary, none of them wanted, they did not like this, because they were worried. And it's
not just a matter of maybe your own knifes gets involved, maybe you don't even know. And it's
subconscious. So my point is just take this with a grain of salt and say that, look, let's just be
		

			fair and say, Okay, this is one opinion with one chef. But that doesn't necessarily apply in any
other context, in this culture that we live in an American culture. Protests means something very
different than this shift in culture. In fact, what a protest does, it draws public attention,
people who are unaware of a problem, they become aware of a problem, people who are unaware of how
severe an issue is that is brought to their attention. And all you need to do is look at some of the
effects that protests have had in recent history of the most important cataclysmic changes that have
taken place is the civil rights movement. The entire country and the laws of the country changed.
		

			The whole country changed and the laws change based on what's beginning with what public protests in
Birmingham, Alabama, right when the dogs were sent out. When fire hoses were used. People saw this
is inhumane people who
		

			We're on the fence, we're no longer on the fence, right? Politicians realize we cannot continue this
way. So protests played a primary role in changing the psyche of a culture. If they had sat home and
said, Oh, whatever protests or how long you think anything would have happened. Meanwhile, I
sometimes you just wonder, not just this so many things, even not necessarily movements, we
necessarily agree with feminism and the feminist movement. All of these changes began with the
protests and the right to whatever they wanted to do. It was protest, other things, other movements
and strands, which we don't necessarily agree with. Again, it was protest that caused that change to
		

			happen, even political changes
		

			India and the British, you know, occupation of India, as we all know, peaceful protests led by
Gandhi and also by Jinnah, because at that time Mr. Jinnah and Gandhi were they did cooperate and
collaborate at some level in these in these protests. And as you know, the whole the whole notion of
free India or free, throwing the yoke of colonialism off right, the the, the the nonviolent protests
of Gandhi, beginning with the salt March, you know, back in what 1928, whatever it was, so my point
is that, it literally changed the course of history. If somebody had told, you know, the Muslims of
India and Hindus, if it was hard to say that let the British do whatever they want. Subhana Allah
		

			you just wonder, that's a cultural fatwa. It's not a factor from Allah and His messenger. It's a
fatwa that, okay, in best case scenario, we say it's culturally relevant. In worst case scenario, we
say there might be other anyway, so let's not be too explicit about that. My point being, there is
nothing explicit in the Quran and Sunnah that Allah says, do not engage in protests. Come on,
there's nothing like this. On the contrary, if you look at Islamic history, and you read Islamic
history, you actually find protests even did occur many times in Islamic history, especially when
things became too difficult for people to bear a number of times in Islamic history when the price
		

			of basic food and drink became too much there were protests on the street. Another famous example,
when Jerusalem was captured by the Crusaders, and the halifa did nothing in Baghdad, the Muslims
went to the streets and the Muslims protested, unfortunately, became violent because they destroyed
some of the property of the halifa. But attention was drawn like how can you sit in your palace? How
can you do this and the Crusaders have taken over Jerusalem? So the point is that even in classical
history, in fact, some odema have even said, and I don't disagree with this, by the way, even though
I don't necessarily agree, but I don't disagree. Some of them have even said that. I should have the
		

			Allahu taala Han Zubaydah the Allahu anhu. What did they do when they gathered people and they
exited from Medina to draw to draw attention to the killers of Earth man, and the fact that they're
still roaming the streets. Because again, the whole issue of the Battle of the Campbell Remember,
the Battle of the camel was not intended to be a battle.
		

			I should not be alone. 100 did not leave with a sword. She left with a crowd. And the point was to
protest that how can you not capture the patella or the the murders of idealo the Aloha and the Oh
sorry, overthrown. And Ali had his own radio lohana had his own views on what was the point of 10s
of 1000s of people coming and gathering more and more momentum and crowd in the beginning, it was
not intended to be a war, it was intended as what it was a type of protest. And I see this to be
something that is very much an acceptable interpretation. So the bottom line is that my dear dear
brothers and sisters, contextualize your dilemma, don't raise me or any item above or any I'm not
		

			calling myself an item. I'm a student of it. But don't raise any of us above our level. We're all
human beings, all of us. And if I share that you respect immensely gives a fatwa zelicah. That's
Asia. Look at other scholars as well. Don't become one, don't do it yourself. But look at the
community of Obama, and especially look at Obama who are living in your lands, understanding your
pros and cons. And honestly, I don't know of any alum who is effective in this land, who is saying
that protests are how long? I mean, honestly, it's nonsensical to say this, and the protests that we
covered, and we did it in Houston, it was covered by international media. A lot of Americans are
		

			clueless, that people are angry at Modi people are angry at Kashmir. You know, there's a lot of
people are clueless. I participated. We participated the Houston Chronicle cnn many mainstream media
they said oh 10,000 people are protesting Modi and look at them. They're Muslim, they're Hindu.
They're sick. They're all coming together. Why interviewing people? Kashmir, Kashmir, Kashmir, what
has happened? non Muslims who have no clue. They're now being made aware. And this is the beginning
of change. Now, to be brutally honest, I'm not saying protests are the end all and Beall. On the
contrary, protests are one small thing that we should
		

			I am not a big fan of making this the main part of Islam. And that's why that's not my forte. That's
not what I really want to do. It's not something I'm so eager about, but at the same time, it is one
thing that we can do. And I did not have any problem going and if need be, I will go again. Now,
what so the bottom line protests are not intrinsically How long? Are they necessarily permissible or
Mr. hub, it's a case by case scenario. And in all likelihood, even in these case, by case scenarios,
you're going to find a spectrum, you're going to find some other who say, in this case is positive.
Some other mothers say Oh, in this case is negative. Listen to the aroma of a local region and see
		

			what they say. In North America. Generally speaking, we have the law on our side, I'm not speaking
about Egypt or Syria in hindsight is 2020. I'm not speaking, I'm talking to North America. When the
founding fathers of this country kicked the British out. They bitterly resented the fact that the
British prohibited them from complaining against the king. Okay. They bitterly protested that, how
come we cannot even petition our grievances? Because the king had said you can't even protest on the
street. That is why in the Constitution, they enshrined the right of the people to protest against
the government context. The founding fathers had a context. Everybody has a context right? The
		

			Founding Fathers felt of this country, they felt this isn't fair. We can't even petition the
government for change. So when they founded the Constitution of this country, in the articles of the
Constitution, as all of us in this audience should know, they have that the government can never can
never ban. The protests in totality, the max the government can do is to regulate where and what not
but the peaceful protest it is enshrined in our Constitution. So for any chef of another land or
country where the king's royal decree says you should not protest and it gives a fatwa protests are
held on please spare me. That's one land in this country. No such photo should ever exist. Now
		

			whether a particular protest is better or not case by case, but the default protests are MOBA.
Neither are they why'd you know? Are they how long and Allah knows best.
		

			Enough in Santa
		

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