Is it kufr to study and read non-Islamic poems?
| Fatwa #887 | Category: Aqaaid (Beliefs) | Country: India | Date: 5th September 2023 |
| Fatwa #887 | Date: 5th September 2023 |
| Category: Aqaaid (Beliefs) | |
| Country: India | |
Question
السلام علیک
I am enrolled at a minority institute in India. I chose this place because no one can ask me to cut my beard here, neither will I be coerced to miss namaz due to classes. Also the classes in our course are segregated. However, the syllabus is very problematic. It has poems which deals with Greek mythology etc. (For example The Canterbury Tales). Initially I had decided to leave such kind of prose and poems but a large part of syllabus is comprised of it. I deal with these poems very strategically and meticulously, so that I do not end up writing something which is kufr. I know that still it is impermissible. Our university has ayat ‘Allamal Insana Malam Ya’lam’ written everywhere in it’s logo, on certificates, degrees, classroom, library etc. My question is that as I read these problematic poems in classes and libraries where they have their logo and this ayat written, also the degree they would be giving me will have this ayat, does this fact itself make me a kafir even when I am dealing with the syllabus very adroitly? I am very much perplexed, please do not ignore the question.
Answer
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Respected Brother,
The mere fact that this situation is troubling your conscious is a sign of your Iman.
One must make a distinction between ‘reading’ and ‘professing’. Iman is to ‘profess’ that there is no deity worthy of worship besides Allah, and that Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is His final messenger. If a non-Muslim were to read this very statement in a book, that would not make him a Muslim as he does not believe in that which he has read. Similarly, when a Muslim reads about other religions and their phrases for the purpose of study, and he knows full well that there is no truth to them, then his faith is intact.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Bilal Pandor
Concurred by
Mufti Muhammad IV Patel
Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah
Lusaka, Zambia