The Islamic history was secular, not clerical or ecclesiastical. Even though there is no clergymen in Islam, rather there are scholars who do not have any authority. Their role is just consultative. So, there is no intermediary between God and His worshipers.
What if we cannot understand the
Quran or the prophet’s traditions? Cannot we depend on the scholars’
explanations? Of course we need their opinions to understand our religion. But
we do not accept any opinion of any scholar without a proof from the Quran or
the prophet’s traditions. But we need to be careful; because some people says their opinion, and then say a Quranic verse as a proof to their opinion.
But when you think, to find the connection between this opinion and this verse,
you find this verse does not actually prove this opinion.
For example, the former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia,
Chairman
of the Council of Senior Scholars, and Chairman of Department of Scholarly
Research and Ifta' Shaykh Abdul Aziz bin Baz issued an advisory opinion “Fatwa” about clapping as it is impermissible
“Haram” in Islam. He said:
التصفيق في الحفلات من أعمال
الجاهلية ، وأقل ما يقال فيه الكراهة ، والأظهر في الدليل تحريمه ؛ لأن المسلمين
منهيون عن التشبه بالكفرة . "مجموع فتاوى الشيخ ابن باز" (4/151)
“Clapping
during parties is one of the actions of pre-Islamic Arabian sense and prior to
the Quranic revelation condition (Jahiliyyah). The least that can be said about
it is that it is disliked (makrooh), but the evidence suggests rather
that it is a sin (haram), because the Muslims are not allowed to resemble the
disbelievers.” (Fatawa Islamiyah – Islamic Verdicts, volume 8, page 267)
Yes, Muslims should not resemble the
disbelievers. So, cannot we breathe because they do it? Cannot we drink water
because they do it? Should we share no common with the disbelievers even though
when they do a good thing?
God said in his Quran:
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُوا زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍ
وَكُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا ۚ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ . قُلْ
مَنْ حَرَّمَ زِينَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي أَخْرَجَ لِعِبَادِهِ وَالطَّيِّبَاتِ مِنَ
الرِّزْقِ ۚ قُلْ هِيَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا خَالِصَةً
يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ
O children of
Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but do not be
excessive. Indeed, He does not like the excessive people. Say, "Who has
forbidden the adornment of God which He has produced for His servants and the
good [lawful] things of provision?" Say, "They are for those who
believe during the worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of
Resurrection." Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know.
(7:31-32)
Why did God say "They are for those who believe during the worldly
life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection."? God said
that because the believers and the disbelievers share the adornment of God and
the good things of provision in the worldly life, but not in the hereafter. In
hereafter, these adornment and good things will be exclusively for the
believers only.
In explanation of these verses, Ibn
‘Abbâs said:
(Say)
O Muhammad: (Such) the good things, (on the Day of Resurrection, will be only
for those who believed during the life of the world) in Muhammad (pbuh) and the
Qur'an, while both believer and sinner will enjoy them during the life of this
world.
Also, Ibn Kathir said:
(Who
has forbidden the adornment with clothes given by Allah, which He has produced
for His servants) meaning, these things were created for those who believe in
Allah and worship Him in this life, even though the disbelievers share in these
bounties in this life. In the Hereafter, the believers will have all this to
themselves and none of the disbelievers will have a share in it, for Paradise
is prohibited for the disbelievers.
To support his opinion, Shaykh bin
Baz used two proofs. The first one is the
following Quranic verse that describes the disbelievers of Mecca:
وَمَا كَانَ صَلَاتُهُمْ عِندَ الْبَيْتِ إِلَّا مُكَاءً
وَتَصْدِيَةً
And their
prayer at the House was not except whistling and handclapping. (8:35)
The second proof is this hadith:
التسبيح للرجال والتصفيق للنساء
But when we look at this Quranic
verse and this hadith we would find that the permissibility and impermissibility
is for the intention behind clapping and its purpose, not for the clapping
itself. So, clapping is impermissible
when it disturbs or interrupts a praying person, like the disbelievers of Mecca
when they tried to disturb and interrupt the prophet when he prayed by the Kaaba. Actually, any action (including
reading the Quran and not only clapping) tries to disturb or interrupt prayer is impermissible.
On the other hand, clapping is permissible for women to clap to alert the imam if he
mistook.
As
our prophet taught us:
إِنَّمَا
الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّةِ
Actions are but by intentions
So, who can tell us that we are sinning when we clap to encourage
our students? I would like to remind these people with these
advices of God in Quran:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُحَرِّمُوا طَيِّبَاتِ
مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ
الْمُعْتَدِينَ . وَكُلُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا ۚ
وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي أَنتُم بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ
And
فَكُلُوا مِمَّا
رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَاشْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ
إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ
. إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ
الْمَيْتَةَ وَالدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ الْخِنزِيرِ وَمَا أُهِلَّ لِغَيْرِ اللَّهِ بِهِ
ۖ فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ . وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ
هَٰذَا حَلَالٌ وَهَٰذَا حَرَامٌ لِّتَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ ۚ إِنَّ
الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ
Then eat of
what God has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And be grateful for
the favor of God, if it is [indeed] Him that you worship. He
has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that
which has been dedicated to other than God. But whoever is forced [by
necessity], neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit] - then indeed, God
is Forgiving and Merciful. And do not say about what your
tongues assert of untruth, "This is lawful and this is unlawful," to
invent falsehood about God. Indeed, those who invent falsehood about God will
not succeed. (16:114-116)
