Email Chain Letters - " Please Forward........" By Yusuf Atiff Bin Abdel-Lateef Diab
Bismillah, Alhumdulillah wa Salatu wa Salam 'alaa RasulAllaah wa ba'ad, There occurs today a very detestable practice among our muslims in particular. It is the indulgence and participation in email chain letters. For those of us not familiar with this activity, it is where someone sends an email letter with some sort of story pertaining, in most cases but not always, to something Islamic, and then they put a condition at the end of this story to distribute this email to a certain number of people. The condition usually is a severe warning against not forwarding the email to the certain number of people in which case some calamity or mishap will occur if it is not done. In other cases the condition proposes a special benefit for forwarding the email to the certain number of people. Ordinarily this is a form of shirk that I think most people would be aware of or at least should recognize. Believing that some act not from the Qur'aan or Sunnah, if done, can cause some harm and/or benefit is indeed shirk. In doing so we set up a rival to Allaah, for truly it is only Allaah who can benefit us or harm us, and only Allaah can remove such harm. As Allaah says in Surah Al-An'am ayah 17: "And if Allaah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." One of the things we learn from this ayat is that any harm that afflicts us can only be removed by Allaah, so to specifically believe in bad omens, which includes bad luck and the belief that certain practices, not endorsed by Allaah or The Prophet sallAllahu 'Alayhi wa Salam, can affect the outcome of future events, is in essence the meaning of an omen. So to believe in these omens would be belief that other than Allaah can remove such harm from us, which is setting a rival with Allaah in this removal of harm, which is shirk! And Allaah says in Surah al-Ma'aidah ayah 72 : "Verily, whosoever sets up rivals in worship with Allaah, then Allaah has forbidden Al-Jannah for him, and the Fire will be his abode." Imam Ahmad reports, on the authority of Ibn `Amr radhi Allahu anhumma, that the Prophet sallAllahu 'alayi wa Salam said: "Whoever is turned back from his objective by a bad omen has committed Shirk." They asked: "And what is the expiation for that?" He sallAllahu 'alayhi wa salam replied: "It is to say: "Oh, Allah! There is no good except that which You bestow and there is no evil except that which You bestow and there is none has the right to be worshipped but You." In many circumstances these chain emails threatens the reader that "if" the email is not sent to the certain number of people then "such and such" will occur. As reported in the above hadith this is Shirk! As is reported on the authority of Ibn Mas'ood radhi Allahu 'anhu in a marfoo' form, that he said: "At-tiyarah (belief in omens) is Shirk, at-tiyrah (belief in omens) is Shirk. There is none among us who is not afflicted by it, but Allah, by true dependence on Him removes it from the heart." [1] So this hadeeth / athar is a rejection of belief in omens because such beliefs necessitates negation of belief in Allah's Qadr and because it causes the heart to become attached to other than Allah, which is Shirk. Also it is reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah radhi Allaahu anhu that the Messenger of Allah sallAllahu 'alayhi wa Salam said: "There is no `adwaa [2], no tiyarah (belief in omens) and no haamah[3] and no Safar [4]" (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim) Muslim, in his Saheeh, adds: ".and no naw` [5] and no ghoul [6]." Now what is even more disturbing is that these omens are presented and beautified in the form of "harmless" conditions and mere fun. No doubt a trick for shaytaan ar rajeem, wa iyaadhu billah. The most recent one of these shirk chain emails that I came across, put the condition that "if you love Allaah, then forward this letter to.."!!! This should indeed be a higher degree of disturbing for Ahl Sunnah as it entails speaking about an attribute of Allaah without knowledge, namely Allaah's love. How is it that one can put a condition to Allaah's love based on doing an act that has no precedence in The Book of Allaah or The Sunnah of His Messenger sallAllahu 'alayhi wa Salam?!?! This is indeed a form of ilhad (deviation) regarding the attribute of Allaah, and a form of shirk in this category of Tawheed (Asmaa wa Sifaat). The love of Allaah is attainable through many acts of ibaadah mentioned to us in the Quran and Sunnah, and thus to innovate in this noble venture is a disgusting type of bidah, pursued in most part by those of ahl kalam (The people of false rhetoric). Those people who chose not to be content with the established texts of Al-Islaam, but rather engage in exercising their intellect with regard to the deen. As we should know the Beautiful, Perfect and Lofty Names and Attributes of Allaah are tawqeefiyyah, meaning they are derived from the text of The Qur'aan and The Sunnah. Speaking about Allaah's Names and/or Attributes without knowledge that which was not mentioned by Allaah or His Messenger sallAllahu 'alayhi wa Salam or the righteous predecessors of this Ummah constitutes a great offense against Allaah and His Deen. Allaah Subhana wa Ta'ala says in Surah Al Ar'af ayah 33: "Say: My Lord has forbidden.. and that you say about Allaah that of which you have no knowledge". And Allaah says in Surah al-Isra'a ayah 36: "Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge." So we must be extremely careful not to attribute to Allaah or place a condition on His Ta'ala attributes that was not mentioned in any text of The Qur'aan and Sunnah, even if it appears to agree with our intellect. This is the methodology of the Sahabah concerning the Names and Attributes of Allaah, and it is the methodology that we in turn should adopt. In conclusion I offer this sincere advise, and straightforward warning, if you or anyone you know is in the practice of writing these emails, or forwarding them, please revere Allaah and set not up rivals with him by spreading this fitnah of belief and indulgence in omens and superstious practices. Like so many other types of hidden shirk, it is beautified and marginalized until it enters our home as something that we take to be so minute and insignificant. May Allah Al-Wakeel rectify the affairs of the Ummah. May He, Al-Walee protect us from all forms of Shirk, major and minor, hidden and apparent. Ya Allaah Al-Mawlaa support us against the plots of shaytaan ar rajeem and our nafs and desires. Wa SallAllahu wa Salam wa Barrik 'alaa RasulAllaah wa 'alaa 'Alyhi wa Sahbihi ajma'een. ________________________________ [1] Narrated by Abu Dawood and At-Tirmidhi, who said it is authentic, but considered the last part of it to be Ibn Mas'ood's own statement [2] Infectious or contagious disease. [3] Interpreting omens based on the flight of a nocturnal bird. [4] Some scholars said that it refers to parasites which infest the stomach and intestines of mankind and cattle, while others said that it refers to the pagan belief that the arrival of the month of Safar in the Muslim calendar bodes ill, while the dictionary defines safar as jaundice - and Allah knows best. [5] belief that the positions of the stars affect the climate [6] ghosts and ghouls Courtesy: www.everymuslim.net ====================================================================================================== The Chain Letter Challange ©Judy Vorfeld Have you ever fallen for a clever urban legend or virus hoax? Then immediately passed it on to your best friends and relatives, or even your clients? Have you later discovered it was a hoax? Did you want to go back and erase it ... using virtual White-Out? If you communicate with people regularly via the Internet, you may regularly receive and pass on all kinds of false information. You may also create hardship for people in various parts of the world. "How can I create hardship for people when I'm a good, sincere person?" you ask. It's easy: just believe every chain letter you receive, even those that start with phrases like "Someone sent this, and I'm not sure it's true, but just in case..." Not only believe them, but immediately pass them on. "But I'm a caring person," you say, "and I never pass them on unless they'll help someone else." Perhaps you don't realize that chain letters almost always contain false, misleading, frightening, or foolish messages ... Urban Legends ... Virus Hoaxes. I'm a caring person, too, and I used to pass them on until I discovered most were hoaxes. I also learned that many people throughout the world sacrifice to pay for time spent on the Internet. Receiving chain letters makes their lives much more difficult. Usually they have to pay to download every message. Time equals money. Chain letters almost always end up asking you to forward the information, good thoughts, and/or money immediately. This is supposed to either spread love globally, get or give money, or save the lives of countless innocent people. But some chain letters have to do with "good luck." Here's part of one that pops up frequently: "The origination of this letter is unknown, but it brings good luck to everyone who passes it on. Do not keep this letter. Do not send money. Just forward it to five friends to whom you wish good luck. You will see that something good happens to you four days from now if the chain is not broken." This sounds nice . . . but notice that little warning not to break the chain! It makes you responsible for whether or not good things happen to your five friends (and their five friends, and their five friends, etc.) as well as to yourself. Hmmm. How can you tell if it's a hoax? Almost always, there's a call to action. "Read this, then DO something!" It's usually skillfully written to touch the reader's emotions . . . those feelings that spur compassion, and suggests immediate action, like forwarding to everyone who needs to know. Many urban legends are brilliantly written. I wonder if there's a Ph.D. given for people who write successful urban legends. People pay big bucks to have copywriters create a powerful call to action. Ah, to have just a bit of these writers' skills. One-tenth would be okay. Have you ever wondered about the effect of sending chain letters? It's amazing. Take a look at The Skeptic's Dictionary - (look under "P" for Pyramid Schemes) which shows a diagram of the effect of a pyramid scheme. Chain letters fit in this category. This pyramid effect is verified by the Department of Energy, which says, " . . . a message can be forwarded to hundreds of people at no apparent cost to the sender. If each of the so-called good Samaritans sends the letter on to only ten other people, the ninth resending results in a billion e-mail messages, thereby, clogging the network and interfering with the receiving of legitimate e-mail messages. Factor in the time lost reading and deleting all these messages and you see a real cost to organizations and individuals from these seemingly innocuous messages." How can you help stop this kind of activity that not only clutters cyberspace, but strikes fear into many hearts? Any time you get a call to action, STOP! Think! Verify! Every time you're tempted to click "FORWARD" and send a chain letter to others, think about it first. Create a new file folder for your incoming mail called "Chain-letters." Put suspected chain letters in this folder. Let them sit a while or try some of the links below, using appropriate keywords. If it's not an urban legend, you may want to send it. If it is an urban legend,delete it. I challenge you to join the crusade to keep networks less clogged and your friends, relatives, colleagues, and clients free from frightening and/or foolish information. If you want to be actively involved, link to this article from your site. Spread the word. Educate. Source: ossweb.com Courtesy: www.everymuslim.net ====================================================================================================== Chain Letters Have you ever received an email about someone who had a dream about "Hazrat" Zaynab or Aisha, the Holy Prophet (saaw) or some old man with a white beard - asking you to forward it on to x number of people in order to receive good fortune??? And those that don't pass it on may face some curse or hardship from Allaah (swt)? If you have, and have been unsure what to do with such an email then please read the following article... To put it simply my brothers and sisters, such emails should NOT be forwarded and instead the delete button should be hit without hesitation. Such emails create doubt in one's heart and fall into the category of shirk (associating partners with Allaah). This is the only sin which if we were to die upon; Allaah (swt) has informed us He will never forgive! Thinking that forwarding the email may in some way change our fate, either by benefiting us or warding off some bad luck, is in fact to put faith in other than the Mighty Will of Allaah (swt). Dear brothers and sisters, we should know that not a single event occurs without the knowledge of our Creator, al Alim. Know that EVERY matter that exists was ordained 50,000 years before the creation of the heavens and the earth. And know that every last breath, movement, and occurrence was written down by Allaah (swt) in al-Lauh ul-Mahfudh, the 'Preserved Tablet'. Allaah, Ta'ala tells us in the Qur`aan: "Do you not know that Allaah knows all that is in heaven and on earth? Verily, it is all in the Book. Verily! That is easy for Allaah." (Surah al-Hajj 22: 70) With regards to receiving the email, we should know that sending it or even not sending it, will not change our fate one bit, except for what Allaah has already ordained. In the wise words given to Ibn Abbas, the Prophet (saaw) said, "Remember that if all the people come together to bring you benefit they cannot benefit you except for what Allaah has written. On the other hand if they come together to cause you any harm they will not be able to do it except for what Allaah has written. The pens have been laid aside, and the scrolls have dried." (recorded by al Tirmidhi) You may now ask that what if it was in your fate to receive the email and so your Qadr was decided accordingly. The answer to this lies in the Qur`aan and sunnah of the holy Prophet (saaw) and the simple rule is not to have faith in anything except the will of Allaah. No man or woman can inform you of your future, as we are told, "Say! None in the heavens nor the earth knows the unseen except Allaah" (Surah an-Nahl 27:65). Similar situations existed at the time of our noble Prophet and so the evidences are bountiful. One such example as narrated by Imraan ibn Husayn, that the Prophet (saaw) once saw a brass bangle on a man's upper arm, and he said to him, "Woe be on you! What is this?" The man replied that it was to protect him from a sickness called al-Waahinah. The Prophet (saaw) then said, "Cast it off, for verily it would only increase your weakness. And, if you died with it on, you would never succeed." (collected by Ahmad, Ibn Maajah and Ibn Hibbaan) Also, it has been reported by Abu Hurayrah(r.a.) and al-Hasan that the Prophet (saaw) said, "Whosoever approaches a fortuneteller and believes what he says, has disbelieved in what was revealed to Muhammad." (Collected by Ahmad, Abu Dawud) >From this, I ask dear brothers and sisters, how can it be that an electrically >typed message, no matter how religious the people described were, or how many >people sent or received it, can make the slightest of difference when compared >to what Allaah Ta'ala has willed? >From this it is sincerely advised that you spread this message to anyone who >may have originally sent a chain message to you - not because it will bring >you good fortune or that it may keep away some harm, but in order to inform >others of what is correct. Finally, although we may be saddened at how easily >and quickly doubt can be put in the hearts of the believers, we should always >remember the words of Muhammad (saaw) in his final sermon, "Beware of Satan, for the safety of your religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things, so beware of following him in small things." Taken from modernreligion Courtesy: www.everymuslim.net ======================================================================================================
