Ruling on standing for the national anthem or flag All praise and adoration is due to Allah, I praise Him, seek His assistance and His forgiveness. I then seek refuge with Allah from the evils of our souls and from the mischief of our deeds; whomsoever Allah guides no one can mislead him and whomsoever He misleads no one can guide him. I then testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone, He has no partner and associate. I also testify that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger; “O you who believe, fear Allah as he should be feared, and die not except as Muslims.” “O mankind fear your Lord who has created you from a single soul and created from it its spouse and created from the two, men and women, and fear Allah through from whom you demand your mutual rights and be heedful of the family ties, verily Allah ever watches over you.” “O you who believe fear Allah and say righteous words, He would rectify your affairs and forgive you your sins and whoever obeys Allah and his Messenger has profited greatly.” In short: “The truthful Book is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (salla llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and the worst of issues is that which is innovated (in the religion), and every single innovation (in the religion) is bid’ah, and every single bid’ah is a going astray and all going astray is in fire.” As for what follows: Standing by way of humility and veneration is not befitting and it is a form of shirk (ascribing partners with Allah) unless it is done for Allah alone. Allah says: وقوموا لله قانطين “And stand before Allah with obedience” [al-Baqarah 2:238]. Allah has said that because of His greatness and majesty, the greatest of creation (the angels) will stand for Him on the Day of Resurrection and no one will speak until after Allah has given him permission. He says: يوم “The Day that Ar‑Rooh [Jibreel (Gabriel) or another angel] and the angels will stand forth in rows, they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious (Allah) allows, and he will speak what is right” [al-Naba’ 78:38]. The one who claims that there is any created being for whom one should stand out of respect have given that created being one of the rights of Allah. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever likes men to stand up for him, let him take his place in Hell.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (2755); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. That is because this is part of the might and pride that belongs only to Allah. See: Tafseer al-Tahreer wa’l-Tanweer by al-Taahir ibn ‘Ashoor (15/51). The caliph al-Mahdi entered the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the people all stood up for him except Imam Ibn Abi Dhi’b. It was said to him: Stand up; this is the Ameer al-Mu’mineen. He said: The people should only stand up for the Lord of the Worlds. Al-Mahdi said: Let him be, for all the hairs of my head have stood on end. [Siyar A’laam al-Nubala’ (7/144)] Shaykh Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah rahimahullâh said in At-Tibb An-Nabawi chapter: Fasl fii hadyihi salla llahu alayhi wa sallam fii ilaaj Al-Qaml after explaining how Tawâgheet are given the three acts worship done on salaat (i.e. the standing, bowing and prostration): وصح عنه النبي عن القيام وهو جالس ؛ كما تعظم الأعاجم بعضهم بعضا ؛ حتى منع ذلك في الصلاة ، وأمرهم إذا صلى جالسا : أن يصلوا جلوسا وهم أصحاء لا عذر لهم ، لئلا يقوموا على رأسه وهو جالس . مع أن قيامهم لله . فكيف إذا كان القيام تعظيما وعبودية لغيره سبحانه !. والمقصود: أن النفوس الجاهلية الضالة أسقطت عبودية الله سبحانه ، وأشركت فيها من يعظمه من الخلق ؛ فسجدت لغير الله ، وركعت له وقامت بين يديه قيام الصلاة ، وحلفت بغيره ، ونذرت لغيره ، وحلقت لغيره ، وذبحت لغيره ، وطافت لغير بيته ، وعظمته بالحب والخوف والرجاء والطاعة كما يعظم الخالق بل أشد ، وسوت من تعبده من المخلوقين ، برب العالمين. وهؤلاء المضادون لدعوة الرسل ، وهم الذين بربهم يعدلون ، وهم الذين يقولون وهم في النار مع آلهتهم يختصمون - : ﴾تالله إن كنا لفي ضلال مبين إذ نسويكم برب العالمين﴿ وهم الذين قال فيهم : ﴾ومن الناس من يتخذ من دون الله أندادا يحبونهم كحب الله والذين آمنوا أشد حبا لله﴿ وهذا كله من الشرك والله لا يغفر أن يشرك به . And it has been authenticatically reported from the prophet that he (the prophet salla llaahu alayhi wa sallam) prohibited standing while he is sitting just as the non-Arab respect each other such that he also prohibited it during salaat. And he commanded them that if he is praying while sitting they should also pray while sitting even though they were healthy and had no excuse so that they do not stand over him while he is sitting even though their standing is for Allâh; what is now the case if the standing is for respect and ibaadah (worship) for other than Allah! And what is intended is that the ignorant and misguided fellows abandoned worshipping Allah and instead associated partner with Allah by venerating some of the creatures of Allāh, making sujûd (prostration) to other than Allah, making rukû (bowing) to other than Allah, standing like the standing in salaat for other than Allah, swearing by other than Allāh, vowing by other than Allah, shaving the head for other than Allah, slaughtering for other than Allah, making tawâf (ritual circumbulation) around other than Allahs house (kabah), having extreme love, fear, hope, obedience for other than Allah or equating one of the creatures with the Lord of the worlds. These people (the ignorant and misguided fellows) are the antagonizers of the message of the prophets; they are the ones who contest with their lord; they are the ones who will say - while they are in hellfire- quarrelling with their idols: By Allâh, we were truly in a manifest error, when we held you (idols - false deities) as equals (in worship) with the Lord of the Alamîn (mankind, jinns and all that exists). [Suurah Shuaraa 26:97-98] And they are the ones about whom Allah said: And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allâh as rivals (to Allâh). They love them as they love Allâh. But those who believe, love Allâh more (than anything else). If only, those who do wrong could see, when they will see the torment, that all power belongs to Allâh and that Allâh is Severe in punishment. [Suurah 2:165] And all these (i.e. these aforementioned acts) are part of shirk and Allah does not forgive associating partner with him. End Quote. I say: if the one who stands by way of humility and veneration for someone other than Allah - being living or dead - is a mushrik, what of the one who stands by way of humility and veneration for something which is abstract? - I mean the national anthem/pledge or flag; he stands for it with full respect and humility to the extent that if he is bitten by a fly he still stands firm without any movement however, if he stands before Allah while one salaat he stands with laziness...is this person not more mushrik than the former? Is this not the major nifâq (hypocrisy) which is kufr billâh? Allah Subhânahu wa taaala says about the Kuffaar among the hypocrites: وإذا قاموا إلى الصلاة قاموا كسالى Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allâh, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for As-Salât (the prayer), they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allâh but little. [An-Nisaa 4:142] The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked: Is it permissible to stand to show respect to any national anthem or flag? They replied: It is not permissible for the Muslim to stand out of respect for any national anthem or flag, rather this is a reprehensible innovation which was not known at the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or at the time of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them), and it is contrary to perfect Tawheed and sincere veneration of Allah alone. It is also a means that leads to shirk and is an imitation of the Kuffaar in their reprehensible customs, and following them in their exaggeration about their presidents and in their ceremonies. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade imitating them. And Allah is the Source of strength; may Allah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions. End quote. Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (1/235). Conclusively, the reader should know that not only standing for the national anthem and pledge or national flag involves shirk, the national anthem/pledge itself constitute shirk which will be discussed in shaaa llah in another article. I ask Allah that He accept this humble effort from us and make it of benefit to our brothers and sisters in Islam. Subhaanaka allahumma wabihamdik ashhadu an laa ilaaha illa anta astaghfiruka wa atuubu ilayk.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 06:10:18 +0000
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