Muslim Workers Denied Right to Pray ‘Eed Al-Adh-ha

27-5-2001 | IslamWeb

Question:

What do you say about the Muslim workers not being allowed to pray for Eid-ul Adha in Golf Club. However, they resisted their manager for one hour to pray the Eid-ul Adha, even then he did not allow them to pray. Lastly they, i.e. workers, decided themselves to go for prayer of Eid-ul Adha by taking the firm decision that if the golf club authority will finish them they would go back their own country but will not leave the Eid-ul Adha prayer. However they were not terminated from their jobs but the authority, i.e. British manager is taking strict action against them. The poor labourers are helpless to complain against him because they do not want to lose their jobs.The question arises that in a Muslim country where the Muslims are not allowed to pray, what will the Muslim rulers answer to Allah on the Day of Judgement. I hope that you will think over it and will take strict action against this type of people and mentality.Allah will give you the best reward on the Day of Judgement if you take action against them with the intention for the betterment of Islam .

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

First of all, we would like to apologize for not replying to you at the right time. In fact, we did give your question a great importance and we sent it to the Islamic authorities concerned by the issue. We sent a copy to the ministry of Awqaf (Endowments) and another one to the director of Awqaf. We thought the issue was given what it deserved as it needed acts not words.

Now, this is our answer. The jurists are all agreed that Muslims should perform all the Islamic rituals overtly and not hide while performing them.

Allah Says (what means): {That [is so]. And whoever honors the symbols of Allah - indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.} [Quran 22:32]

The jurists state that if “the dwellers of a given Muslim county, region, or village agree to leave any Islamic open ritual, be it obligatory or Sunnah, they should be fought until they start performing it again. Among these rituals and rites are praying in congregation, calling the Athaan, praying ‘Eed prayers… etc.

The jurists state that the reason for this ruling is that giving up a commandment of Allah is synonymous to neglecting His Obedience and failing to abide by His Orders. This is the ruling about Muslims preventing the performance of an Islamic ritual. The ruling on non-Muslims preventing Muslims from performing their religious duties should be stronger and more firmly established. So, what these Muslim workers have done is the right thing; i.e., performing their religious duties regardless of the consequences. Allah Says (what means): {Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed.} [Quran 22:38]

On the other hand, this country is a Muslim country. The laws in this country call for the performance of all religious duties. It is also evident that the authorities in this country do not accept that any of the Islamic rituals are suspended for any reason.
So, this event should be brought before the authorities to punish this person for what he has done.

In fact, he is only a worker. So, he has no power to order and reprimand as he likes without taking the opinion of the competent authorities. So, we believe that this problem could be solved by the authorities which will definitely solve it in an Islamic way, as the laws in this country stem from the Islamic Sharee’ah.

Allah knows best.

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