Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Novels |
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| proudtobemuslim |
| 11/08/01 at 09:14:08 |
| Assalam-u-Alaikum, I would like to know what is the Islamic ruling on reading fiction and nonfiction novels? Wassalam-u-Alaikum, Uzer |
| Re: Novels |
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| Merimda |
| 11/09/01 at 02:54:04 |
| Salam, I found the following on Islam-online: http://www.islam-online.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=21113 http://www.islam-online.net/fatwa/english/FatwaDisplay.asp?hFatwaID=13469 In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Although some scholars have given Fatwas saying that writing fiction is Haraam, some others hold that it is not, under certain conditions. In the following Fatwa, Sheikh Atiyyah Saqr says, “There is no harm in writing fiction, be it stories or poems, as long as it is written for a good purpose or for pushing away evil like stories where animals speak as if they are humans or take on allegorical roles. The criterion here is that everything that is firmly established is not denied, especially with authenticated matters of the religion. Also, this writing should not be taken as a means to something evil, and there should be no evil consequence as a result from such writing. This is because there should be “no harm inflicted or reciprocated in Islam,” as is mentioned in the Hadith. Perhaps scholars who maintain that it is Haraam look at the “falsities” that these writings contain and that it may be considered a waste of time. Hence, they hold that these falsities are something that leads to evil and should be avoided. They say that one should instead follow the manner of story telling used in the Qur’an. *** Writing a novel or a story is a style of portraying episodes and people. It is a language exactly like figures of speech, metaphors or personification. We don't mean anything realistic in that language, we mean things figuratively. You are not lying nor are you faking in any sort of work of literature. This is why Arab literates used to say that the best poetry is the most false and lying ones. I don't see any Islamic daleel for any opponent idea nor did I hear of any restriction for this kind of job. On the contrary, I call for a new generation to do their best to have excellent novelists and interesting short-story tellers and playwrights. This century should be very convenient for drama and excellent scenarios |
| Re: Novels |
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| proudtobemuslim |
| 11/09/01 at 05:40:59 |
| Assalam-u-Alaikum, What do the majority of scholars believe? According to the above fatwa it seems that it is ok to read novels as long as the basic premise is somewhat realistic (eg. no talking animals) and it doesn't lead you to doing something wrong or haraam. Many novels fit in this category. With regards to the benefit, i think novels do improve your english and give you an opportunity to relax... can that be considered beneficial? More specifically I've been meaning to read Catch-22 for a long time and now that I have found it in my library I'd be interested to know if it's ok to go ahead and read the book. Wassalam-u-Alaikum, Uzer |
| Re: Novels |
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| Merimda |
| 11/09/01 at 22:24:27 |
| salam, Funny... I understood it the other way around.. I read that part about the talking animals as being permissible...Allahu Alam..I'm just brain dead at the moment.. As for what the majority of scholars say..I don't know.. it would be a great sacrfiice for me to give up novels and fiction all together.. I really enjoy reading novels myself.. and I just started writing fiction..(My new hobby).. I agree, you can learn tons from novels..the last novel I read (it was a satire) made me appreciate Islam even more. [quote]Assalam-u-Alaikum, What do the majority of scholars believe? According to the above fatwa it seems that it is ok to read novels as long as the basic premise is somewhat realistic (eg. no talking animals) and it doesn't lead you to doing something wrong or haraam. Many novels fit in this category. With regards to the benefit, i think novels do improve your english and give you an opportunity to relax... can that be considered beneficial? More specifically I've been meaning to read Catch-22 for a long time and now that I have found it in my library I'd be interested to know if it's ok to go ahead and read the book. Wassalam-u-Alaikum, Uzer[/quote] |
| Re: Novels |
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| BroHanif |
| 11/09/01 at 17:49:24 |
| I love reading... man I can't get enough of it, I love the spy and military thirllers. My favorite author on military is Andy Mcnab, man he wirtes some good stuff. I find it pleasing as for relaxing well not really, I just enjoy reading thats all. Some of his stuff is fiction as well. |
| Re: Novels |
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| Anonymous |
| 11/13/01 at 10:45:08 |
| salam aye, i read andy mcnab too. cant remember which one but it was alright. u cant beat the classics though - they're all concerned with finding a husband - typical desi style! :) masalama |
| Re: Novels |
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| Saleema |
| 11/13/01 at 14:33:10 |
| [slm] LOL Anonymous. I think i'd have to agree with that one. I love reading too. That would be harder than giving up watching TV. from what i understood was that it's ok to read too as long as it doesn't lead you to haram stuff etc. etc. One book that really made me appreciate Islam was Volitaire's satire "Candide." [wlm] |
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