Muslims using networking sites are sinners: fatwa in Egypt

[DJKeefy]

Muslims using networking sites are sinners: fatwa in Egypt

Terming the use of networking sites such as Facebook as anti-Islamic, a top Egyptian cleric has issued a fatwa against it saying Muslims using such cyber platforms must be considered "sinners".

And the cleric went to extent of blaming such sites for growing incidents of marital discords in the country.

Noted Sunni scholar Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atras, former head of the fatwa commission at prestigious Al-Azhar University here, issued the fatwa saying such sites have resulted in rise of the marital infidelity.

"It's an instrument that destroys the family because it encourages spouses to have relations with other people who break Islamic Sharia law," he said in the fatwa.

"While one or other of the spouses is at work, the other is chatting online with someone else, wasting their time and flouting the Sharia. This endangers the Muslim family," said al-Atrash.

The fatwa came after a study earlier this week claimed that one in every five cases of divorces in Egypt [ Images ] had been caused after one of the partners started using social networking sites such as Facebook.

Last month, Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Jumah condemned the practice of using Quranic verses as the mobile ringtones terming it as "improper" as it compromises the sacredness of the religious scriptures.

Source: http://news.rediff.com/interview/2010/f ... -sites.htm

[Ebikatsu]

There are two shops near us who play it 24/7 and I have to say the assistants are the most miserable creatures you could be served by.
I can only stand about 5 mins before I have to leave. It's a form of torture having to listen to background noise throughout a whole shift every day non stop.

I would think that a lot of Muslims are against the Quran playing in shops or on ringtones.

What do you think about the Quran playing in shops Keefy?

[Christine]

Dont know about the Quran but if all the Muslims using facebook read that article half the internet cafe's in Luxor will go out of business

[DJKeefy]

What do you think about the Quran playing in shops Keefy?

I dont mind them playing the Quran anywhere as long as its not affecting others who might want to sleep etc. Quite a few shops in Luxor have it blasting out so loud i can hear it when im passing on my motorbike, they overpower it so much that its distorting. I feel sorry for people having to live above and listen to it at them levels 24/7.

When played at the right level its quite soothing to listen to.

Same goes for the Mosques, its so nice when you can hear 1 Mosque in the distance, its quite enchanting, here in Luxor they are all going off at once but maybe they are a few seconds/minute or so behind the other Mosques, in the end it just sounds like a really bad noise, incomprehendable (is that the right word, spelling?) im sure its not supposed to be that way.

[Jayway]

You just made a new word up !!:lol::lol::lol: did you mean incomprehensible - unintelligible or not understandable ??

[DJKeefy]

The Spell Checker allowed it

[Hurghadapat]

Why should any Muslim object to having to listen to the Koran all day long

Yes to us it is annoying but wnen you live in Egypt you have to accept it.

Many times on the bus from Hurghada to Cairo you have the Koran playing and especially during Ramadan.

I used to quite enjoy Fridays just to hear all the mosques calling.......ok may be all a bit out of sinq but at least i knew what day it was, which sometimes is hard to know as one pretty much like the other unless you are working

[DJKeefy]

I dont think the Quran is annoying at all when played at reasonable levels and all in sync.

[Hurghadapat]

Yes buts that's just our opinon about the level of volume as the Egypians seem to like everything blasting out.Can't tell you the number of times my friends and i have had to ask the owners of restaurants and coffee shops in Hurghada to turn the volume down as we could not hear ourselves talk and always the answer was if the music is not loud the tourists will not know we are open................So then why do they think your doors are open and lights on with people sitting on the seats outside another case of Egyptian logic i think

[DJKeefy]

We was talking about the Quran, not music blasting out from shops or weddings, thats another subject.

And it was/is the opinion of many Egyptians about noise levels and synchronization of the Quran at Mosques, thats why in Cairo they was going to synchronize the call to Prayer through some radio system to all Mosques, Dont know if this happened or not...

[Ebikatsu]

I love the sound of the call to prayer. It is very enchanting ( good word Keefy).
I love it at sunset especially. Out here we have 3 mosques within hearing distance and they are co ordinated from what I can hear.
That I don't mind at all.
What I hate though is a really bad tape with a very bad reciter screaming at full volume the Quran in a shop, so much so that you cannot think or concentrate and the assistants can't hear what you are saying.
You are actually not supposed to play Quran anywhere, where the listeners are not sitting giving it full attention, so playing in a shop is actually haram. It means that God's words are being ignored because obviously people are shopping and talking etc. Same with in a taxi. If it's on and the driver is chatting it's haram.
Ton's of people do it though, but they do loads of things they're not supposed to anyway.
We were having a chat with someone recently who didn't know Arabic, was born a Muslim and who could recite the Quran perfectly. All her life she knew the Quran off by heart but only to recite it. No clue to it's meaning. No idea what the words meant.

Can you imagine how many Muslims recite the Quran around the world whose first language is not Arabic, who have no idea what they are saying!


Another thing that is 'enchanting' is when the sun is setting and the buses stop at the side of the road and everyone gets out to pray by the side of the road.
That's a lovely sight here.

[Claire]

[quote="Hurghadapat"]Why should any Muslim object to having to listen to the Koran all day long

Yes to us it is annoying but wnen you live in Egypt you have to accept it.

Many times on the bus from Hurghada to Cairo you have the Koran playing and especially during Ramadan.

Well first of all not all Egyptians are Muslim and I don't think you should have to accept this. This is a recent phenomenon. The loud playing of the Koran in shops, taxis and buses did not used to happen so why has it suddenly become so necessary? As Ebi points out they are not supposed to do anything else while listening to the Koran so it's wrong anyway so why do they do it?
Could I also blast out verses from the Bible? I'm sorry to say that no I could n't, not from a loud speaker in the street. Although some Christian shops do have religoious sermons or hymns playing as well now but it's not on full blast.
I agree the call to prayer is one thing which for me also symbolises Egypt but again when it goes off all unsynchronised I don't find it very relaxing but the playing of the Koran in taxis and shops is really not necessary. I even went in a lift once which had the Koran on a tape as you went up in the building. And guess what at least two families in that building were Copts!

[Hurghadapat]

Yes but Christians are in the minority now in Egypt and yes i know it was their country before the muslims took over but also what right do we have to dictate when they should play the Koran To be honest this sounds very much like we want to come live in your country because climate is better,cost of living is cheaper but.............don't do anything that annoys us Yes have lived there for five years and not everything was as i would have wished but at the end of the day it is their country so it us up to us to adapt and if you don't like it you always have the option to leave

[DJKeefy]

I think your taking this the wrong way Hurghadapat it is actually the Muslims themselves that are complaining about the Quran played too loud.

[cbrbddd]

Yes but Christians are in the minority now in Egypt and yes i know it was their country before the muslims took over but also what right do we have to dictate when they should play the Koran To be honest this sounds very much like we want to come live in your country because climate is better,cost of living is cheaper but.............don't do anything that annoys us Yes have lived there for five years and not everything was as i would have wished but at the end of the day it is their country so it us up to us to adapt and if you don't like it you always have the option to leave

Sometimes I have to think about what the Jewish ppl in the States feel like during Christmas and Easter!! We have similar holidays around the same times . . . but the Christian holiday dominates the stores for months at Christmas!!!

Actually, I am glad that the other holidays get mentioned even if not enough . . . I think we need to remember that we live in a diverse culture here . . . we aren't all red-necks hanging out at the trailer park . . even though some of the Christians do get upset because others want to say "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry Christmas" . . . i think it is a bit mean really . . . almost un-Christian sorry, don't want to offend anyway . . . I was raised Catholic (therefore Christian no matter what some anti-Catholic ppl say ) . . . but I don't mind "Happy Holidays" at all.

[Ebikatsu]

" When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace: that ye may receive Mercy. "

Quran 7:204

Found the verse folks

[PRchick]

Yes but Christians are in the minority now in Egypt and yes i know it was their country before the muslims took over but also what right do we have to dictate when they should play the Koran To be honest this sounds very much like we want to come live in your country because climate is better,cost of living is cheaper but.............don't do anything that annoys us Yes have lived there for five years and not everything was as i would have wished but at the end of the day it is their country so it us up to us to adapt and if you don't like it you always have the option to leave

Sometimes I have to think about what the Jewish ppl in the States feel like during Christmas and Easter!! We have similar holidays around the same times . . . but the Christian holiday dominates the stores for months at Christmas!!!

Actually, I am glad that the other holidays get mentioned even if not enough . . . I think we need to remember that we live in a diverse culture here . . . we aren't all red-necks hanging out at the trailer park . . even though some of the Christians do get upset because others want to say "Happy Holidays" and not "Merry Christmas" . . . i think it is a bit mean really . . . almost un-Christian sorry, don't want to offend anyway . . . I was raised Catholic (therefore Christian no matter what some anti-Catholic ppl say ) . . . but I don't mind "Happy Holidays" at all.

Sorry I'm an anti "Happy Holidays" especially when store clerks are forced to say it and it's forced on us. Basically it means nothing. To your Jewish friends, you would say "Happy Chanukah", to your Christian friends you would say "Merry Christmas". You wouldn't say Happy Holidays to a muslim during Ramadan. To me it's so PC that it means nothing. Both my Jewish and Muslim friends send me Merry Christmas greetings and have no problems doing it and I send the appropriate greetings to them on their holidays. It's a matter of respect.

[Ebikatsu]

UPDATE

Al-Azhar says no fatwa against Facebook
Joseph Mayton
9 February 2010 in Egypt, Islam, Media, News, Religion

facebookCAIRO: Egypt’s top religious academy has denied it issued a fatwa against the social network Facebook. The rumors had spread after al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy allegedly said the site would lead to sexual affairs between unmarried men and women, which had sparked an outrcy from Egyptian activists, rights groups and average citizens who use the network to stay in touch with friends.

“If people think Facebook will lead to sex, then they need to grow up,” said Ahmed Badrawi, a 22-year-old university student. “The Internet has so many things and to say Facebook is the problem is ridiculous.”

“The committee hasn’t issued any decrees regarding Facebook,” said Sheikh Saied Amer, head of the academy’s fatwa, or religious-edict, committee, in a statement published by the Los Angeles Times. “We haven’t even had any inquiries about the religious legitimacy of using it or not.”

The influential Sunni Islam institution, al-Azhar, has come under controversy for a string of fatwas in recent years. First, one scholar said that women should breast-feed their male colleagues in an effort to reduce sexual harassment in the work place. This was revoked shortly after, as the institution said it was in “bad taste.” Last year, al-Azhar came under scrutiny after Grand Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi called for the niqab – the covering that conservative women use to cover their face – to be banned in Egypt.

This most recent alleged fatwa took the Egyptian and Arab media by storm after London’s al-Quds al-Arabi published last Thursday a quote from the former head of the fatwa committee, Sheikh Abdul Hamid Atrash, where he said the website was causing unnecessary harm to Islamic societies as a result of its usefulness in creating illicit relationships between men and women.

The newspaper reported Atrash’s fatwa was based on a survey conducted by the Egyptian National Council for Social and Criminal Research, whose results showed that one in five Egyptian divorces was caused by infidelity with a partner found through Facebook.

According to the survey, Facebook has made it easier for lonely, bored men and women to find a partner and form a relationship outside marriage.

Atrash, however, followed up on his comments a few days later, stressing that he didn’t even know how Facebook operated.

“I didn’t ask people to stop using Facebook. All I said was that new media is a double-edged weapon,” Atrash stressed. “The fatwa I issued was that people can only use the Internet to benefit from it in their work and life, whereas they’re forbidden from using pornography or websites that promote illicit relations.”

One avid Facebook user said that even if al-Azhar was to issue a fatwa, “it is unlikely any of us would think about following it because it doesn’t make sense. Blaming Facebook is an excuse for the lack of opportunities and poor lives we live in Egypt.”

Al-Azhar says no fatwa against Facebook
Joseph Mayton
9 February 2010 in Egypt, Islam, Media, News, Religion

facebookCAIRO: Egypt’s top religious academy has denied it issued a fatwa against the social network Facebook. The rumors had spread after al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Academy allegedly said the site would lead to sexual affairs between unmarried men and women, which had sparked an outrcy from Egyptian activists, rights groups and average citizens who use the network to stay in touch with friends.

“If people think Facebook will lead to sex, then they need to grow up,” said Ahmed Badrawi, a 22-year-old university student. “The Internet has so many things and to say Facebook is the problem is ridiculous.”

“The committee hasn’t issued any decrees regarding Facebook,” said Sheikh Saied Amer, head of the academy’s fatwa, or religious-edict, committee, in a statement published by the Los Angeles Times. “We haven’t even had any inquiries about the religious legitimacy of using it or not.”

The influential Sunni Islam institution, al-Azhar, has come under controversy for a string of fatwas in recent years. First, one scholar said that women should breast-feed their male colleagues in an effort to reduce sexual harassment in the work place. This was revoked shortly after, as the institution said it was in “bad taste.” Last year, al-Azhar came under scrutiny after Grand Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi called for the niqab – the covering that conservative women use to cover their face – to be banned in Egypt.

This most recent alleged fatwa took the Egyptian and Arab media by storm after London’s al-Quds al-Arabi published last Thursday a quote from the former head of the fatwa committee, Sheikh Abdul Hamid Atrash, where he said the website was causing unnecessary harm to Islamic societies as a result of its usefulness in creating illicit relationships between men and women.

The newspaper reported Atrash’s fatwa was based on a survey conducted by the Egyptian National Council for Social and Criminal Research, whose results showed that one in five Egyptian divorces was caused by infidelity with a partner found through Facebook.

According to the survey, Facebook has made it easier for lonely, bored men and women to find a partner and form a relationship outside marriage.

Atrash, however, followed up on his comments a few days later, stressing that he didn’t even know how Facebook operated.

“I didn’t ask people to stop using Facebook. All I said was that new media is a double-edged weapon,” Atrash stressed. “The fatwa I issued was that people can only use the Internet to benefit from it in their work and life, whereas they’re forbidden from using pornography or websites that promote illicit relations.”

One avid Facebook user said that even if al-Azhar was to issue a fatwa, “it is unlikely any of us would think about following it because it doesn’t make sense. Blaming Facebook is an excuse for the lack of opportunities and poor lives we live in Egypt.”

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