Allah is the One Who forgives sins, relieves distress and knows what is in people’s hearts. People should not seek these things, forgiveness of sins, relief from distress and other things, from anyone other than Him, for He is the Only One Who is able to do that.
Some Naat singers falsely claim that the holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) visits the Naat gatherings and the houses of the audiences. Such singers also shout slogans such as nare takbir and nare risalat. Asking the holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) for help in the Naat (or otherwise) violates the Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah. If the Naat singer or the listener believes that the holy Prophet visits the gathering then, he will violate the Tawheed al-Asma’ was-Sifaat. At the same time they will indulge in the taghut. It is contradictory that persons expect barakat (blessings) from such gatherings. Moreover, there is the practice of food in the name of tabarruk in such gatherings. To convince oneself, it is not difficult to carry out the scrutiny of the Naat wordings, in the light of the Shari’ah. Most of them are a clear bundle of shirk.
When these persons indulging in the Naat are told an Ayat from the Qur’ān, they ask who the scholar is? When told a Hadīth, they question if it is authentic. But when it comes to the Naat, they accept it completely and blindly, never even wondering who wrote the Naat or what its wordings imply. It is to be realised that Naat is just a poem written by Muslims and non-Muslims alike and its wordings tend to have element of shirk in it. Many of the Naat writers/singers are also serving the film and media industries. Both of these industries operate outside the muqarrara hudood (prescribed bounds) of the Shari’ah.
Many people attending the Naat gatherings believe that the holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) actually attends the Naat gatherings, so they stand up to greet and welcome him. Some even come dressed nicely as if it is some invented Eid. This is serious falsehood and a form of gross ignorance. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) will not come out of his grave, or contact anybody, or attend any gathering. He will remain in his grave until the Day of Resurrection, and his soul is in the highest Illiyoon (in Paradise), with his Lord in the abode of honour:
• And then, behold! after all this, you are destined to die; and then, behold! you shall be raised from the dead on Resurrection Day. [Surah Al-Mu’minun (The Believers), 23:15-16]
Naat is not prescribed in the Shari’ah (either in the Quran or Hadith); under what banner is it being done? Any act in the name of the religion needs the sanction of the Shari’ah. We have to refrain from such gatherings of Naat which are full of risks. The risks are manifold and run into Shirk.
• Narrated An-Nu’man bin Bashir: The Prophet said, “Both legal and illegal things are obvious, and in between them are (suspicious) doubtful matters. So whoever forsakes those doubtful things lest he may commit a sin, will definitely avoid what is clearly illegal; and whoever indulges in these (suspicious) doubtful things bravely, is likely to commit what is clearly illegal. Sins are Allah’s Hima (i.e. private pasture) and whoever pastures (his sheep) near it, is likely to get in it at any moment.” [Sahih Bukhari, Book #34 (Sales and Trade), Hadith #267)
• Verily, as for those who [knowingly] affront Allah and His Apostle – Allah will reject them in this world and in the life to come; and shameful suffering will He ready for them. [Surah Al-Ahzab (The Confederates), 33:57]
The holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) came with a Divine mission to guide the world. What can be more annoying than to follow, what he did not prescribe? So, let us try to follow his teachings, in the manner in which the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and the Sahaba ‘understood and followed’. On the Day of Judgment, each one of us has to account for the way we have spent our resources (including time; wealth; and abilities). How does one justify the spending on the Naat programmes? We ask Allah to help us and all the Muslims to understand His religion and adhere to it, to bless us all by making us follow the Sunnah, and to protect us from shirk, taghut and bidah, for He is the Most Kind and Generous. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad, and his family and his companions, Amen.
[concluded. The writer teaches at Engineering Department, Salalah College of Technology (SCT), Salalah, Sultanate of Oman. [email protected];]