Fatwa: “It’s Haram for Women to Use Internet Without a Mahram”
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Recently, a brother commented on my recent post about “Bad Marriage Proposals.” He concluded by stating, “Girls should not be allowed to post on the internet without their Mahrams supervising them.” I went to the brother’s website to see him post this:
This basically says:
New Fatwa:
No Internet for women except with a Mahram
Riyad – Aylaf
Two Saudi Sheiookh, Uthman AlKhamees and Saad Al Ghamdy, decreed a fatwa making the Internet haram for the woman because of the “Evil Vileness of her Turned Page”. The Fatwa added that, “The woman is not allowed to open the Internet except in the presence of a mahram knowledgeable about the woman’s whoredom and wileyness”
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This quite frankly came as a shock to me because I’m a huge “fan” of Sheikh Uthman AlKhamees.
Now, as anyone who works in journalism would do, one would at least try to see if this was fabricated or not. After all, Uthman AlKhamees is mostly known for his debates with Shia scholars. Shia scholars always lie.
So as it turned out this is actually a FABRICATED fatwah. Because on Sheikh Uthman’s offical website was found this:
Which basically after the questioner described what he saw, he asked the sheikh if he really wrote the fatwah, to which sheikh Uthmaan replied:
“(Subhanak) this is a great slander (buhtaan), this is a lie I didn’t say, and, I haven’t come across the fatwa of Shaykh Saad al-Ghamdi”"
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On top of that, this fatwah is all over the internet and is found on ( surprise, surprise) mostly Shia and Coptic websites.
Don’t believe everything you see. Brothers and sisters please verify information before you go spreading it around everywhere.
Does not Allah ‘az wa jal say in surat Al-Hujuraat:
“O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done.”
While I do agree that there should be certain etiquette and rules to be followed, but we shouldn’t go to extremes on either end.
WAllahu alem.
shirien Says: 18.09.08 at 10:19 pm
correction, it wasnt the brother’s website, just a site he wrote on.
themanoffewwords Says: 19.09.08 at 12:18 am
While we are at it, i think we should include newspapers, television, magazines, books, telephone, looking out of windows, climbing stairs, eating chocolate and of course brushing one’s teeth.
wild7ouma Says: 19.09.08 at 6:48 am
I add that in the fatwa was written that sheikh othmen el khmeis is a saudian but he’s a kuwiti,they not even know how to lie
Alima Says: 19.09.08 at 7:19 am
Subhan’Allah.
Shirien would it be possible for you to write a post on this topic?
‘etiquettes and rules to be followed on the net’
It would benefit a lot of people. Also, people can post up their tried and tested methods, whilst maintaining islamic etiquettes insha’Allah.
Just a suggestion.
WAllahu alem.
Firas Says: 19.09.08 at 3:09 pm
“Shia scholars always lie.”
hahah nice.
shirien Says: 19.09.08 at 4:40 pm
I was waiting for someone to comment on my shia scholars statement. Can’t hide the truth, man…
Alima, That would definitely be a good article to write. However, I don’t know if I’m the most qualified to do so. So I tell you what, why don’t I do a little research, see the reality of different situations and then take my shot at it. Or even better, if I come across a good article that goes over that InshaAllah I’ll post it.
I make a lot of mistakes also. And I’m only learning. But one of the big issues I see is facebook.
A sister putting her photo up for the world to see. And she might be fooled in thinking “I’ve only got girls as friends on my friends list” and thus thinking that her photo is safe from distribution, ohh no my friends… it’s not.
People may criticize me for my stance on certain issues such as the fact that I don’t necessarily feel comfortable putting sisters in videos unless they are either 1. niqaabis 2. they are young (before the age of accountability) or 3. old.
And then sometimes it’s difficult, because say on a blog for instance a brother leaves a comment that was kind of humorous in nature. and someone wants to reply to his statement, not directly AT him but to the public in general and puts things like smiley faces or “lol’s” to some it might seem like that’s crossing gender lines, but to others it’s just a general statement to the public not directed at one person or gender. And all the person responding wanted to do was to make a point but show they were not “uptight” about whatever it was they were talking about.
I know that was a mess of confused (what i just wrote) but that’s the issue I face sometimes.
So yeah, it’s a topic that might require me to first do my research, impliment, then write about.
But if you want to write about it, inshaAllah i’ll post it up. Take a shot at it my “media writer
”
Wallahu ta’ala alem.
HK Says: 19.09.08 at 10:24 pm
don’t fb privacy settings prevent non-friends from viewing a person’s photos?
shirien Says: 19.09.08 at 10:32 pm
yeah i believe so. But in general, sometimes you just cant be too safe. For instance, a sister can be on the computer looking at her friend’s pictures when her brother/father walks in the room.
better safe than sorry
manoffewwords Says: 19.09.08 at 11:37 pm
You know, a little while back FB had a security issue where private pics could be viewed by anyone. They resolved that issue but no guarantee that it couldnt happen again.
MR Says: 20.09.08 at 2:12 am
May God guide those who fabricate fatwas!
shirien Says: 20.09.08 at 3:50 am
ameen! it’s kind of sick the level people would stoop to discredit our scholars. It’s like american politics but worse. They’ll say anything so the layman would discredit them and call them crazy and not listen to them. Shia hate the fact that Sheikh Uthmaan shuts them down every week on AlMustaqillah (a channel on the dish). for those who know arabic here’s a clip of his
my favorite!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXzivCEKS18
Basically on this show they always get two people from Ahlus-sunnah and two shia to debate on various topics.
haha after you watch that clip you can see why Shia would hate him so much as to make up this fatwah.
WAllahu alem.
Alima Says: 20.09.08 at 5:15 am
Wa ‘alaykum salaam wa rahmatullah,
‘So if you really are serious…and I’m sure you are InshAllah…go to the Scholars and ask them, take notes and then post your notes for all of us not so knowledgeable people to benefit from’
Jazak Allahu khayrun brother.
Subhan’Allah I’m just about an hour from Abu Usaamah and the main masajid they are from. Insha’Allah I will do, and yes there are many, many benefits in doing so.
Wallahu alem.
Haytham Says: 20.09.08 at 6:16 am
Not that I agree with this fatwah at all… but what about those who go in to private chat rooms and share their videos and photos while their fathers (and mehrems) are in the very next room?!!
I mean.. of course its illogical for us to say women cant go online without a mehrem (that is retarded i would say) but in the same time… dont you think that we have a problem that needs to be addressed?!!
I would say, for every parent who is buying a new computer for their children (guys and girls) they need to have a mandatory 2 hr course on how to avoid and help protect their children from the things that can happen online…
If the admin allows me .. i will share a link to the audio of Texas Dawah Convention of last year… one of the sessions was conducted by an FBI Agent who specialize in Online Safety.
Go to http://www.texasdawah.org and click on download
shirien Says: 20.09.08 at 6:26 am
I think the problem is two-fold.
1. Parent
2. The Sister or Brother
There are several issues to be addressed with each.
With parents, sometimes parent are oblivious to what the internet offers, because they are immigrants and older and so they aren’t really good with computers in the first place. Some parents know what can happen, but simply think their children are “not like that”, some parents just don’t care!
I would say the first two are more common.
With the brother or sister, it’s simply avoiding the steps of shaytaan. sometimes it’s hard to recognize it from the beginning and then once they’re in it, they get in it too deep.
There is many different levels to combating this problem from my perspective.
The brother or sister should be mindful of Allah, fear Him, take the advice, and try to prevent anything wrong from happening. Wallahu alem.
Sometimes informing or giving people naseeha about the issue isnt enough, sometimes it’s going back to the root of the problem, which is their relationship with Allah, and the knowledge they may or may not have of what’s permissible and what isnt.
Wallahu alem, just my two dinars. And again, I’m not the most qualified person or knowledgeable person to be giving advice about this subject.
Alima Says: 20.09.08 at 11:25 am
Shirien, subhan’Allah neither am I most qualified person or knowledgeable person to be giving advice about this subject.
Insha’Allah I can make this my project. Email me a date after October the 15th (big exam!) and I’ll get it done by then. Insha’Allah it will benefit me as well as those around me.
I only have one condition, you also do some research and we combine it, do shurah, you take a look through it and then we post it.
How does that sound?
Also, lets think about this, there are issues that face the kinda non-practicing folk and then there are those which face the practicing muslims (it’s a paradox within itself). If we can differentiate between the two and address the issues involved in both parties and give practical solutions, it would be beneficial, and there has to be a balance in it… and as Shirien said it goes down to the brother and sister being mindful of Allah SWT.
BTW. I agree with Facebook though, it’s scary as you have no idea who’s looking at you… Gives me the shivers just thinking about it.
Wallahu ta’ala alem.
Alima Says: 20.09.08 at 11:33 am
Shirien I’m serious, lets do this… Bi’idhnillahi ta’ala.
If you have any articles send them my way and i’ll read them.
Brother TA, I have to be honest I haven’t heard those talks, if you have a link, please do share. I’ll also look for some insha’Allah.
Jazakum Allahu khayrun.
Amatullah Says: 21.09.08 at 4:09 pm
That would be a really awesome post inshaAllah.
I think everyone has seen it get bad on facebook (i’ve seen pics posted of sisters without their hijaab/niqaab etc), which is why I don’t even have an account on there.
It’s a huge fitnah and shaytaan attacks us in so many ways, we shouldn’t give him another opportunity…adding a person of the opposite gender can be ‘for the sake of da’wah’, and then it might progress into chatting and then whatever else follows, Allahul Musta’aan. I think a person has to have some serious taqwa to stop themselves from talking, esp ‘flirting’ to the opposite gender, bc it’s just normal in this society.
I guess it’s all about balance. I think we need some shuyookh who are here witnessing this situation to speak or write about it because well scholars from overseas may not understand what’s really going on.
Allahu alam. Jazaki Allahu khayran Shirien.
Amatullah Says: 21.09.08 at 6:37 pm
wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah
Brother, you have gravely misunderstood my comment. The ‘ulema overseas are not aware of the situation of Muslims in non Muslim countries, but I didn’t say we do not seek their advice subhanAllah. This is what both shaykh Yasir Qadhi and Yaser Birjas have said, to seek advice of local knowledgeable people. Like i’d seek advice from my own imam versus one in another state. For example, when I was in Saudi, some men told my friend that she’s doing haraam (ie, not wearing niqaab) or men didn’t want the sister sitting in the halaqaat. This is unheard of here, because we were raised with a different culture. Culture is important because if you happen to study fiqh, you learn that when the shari’ah is silent on a matter, then the cultural norm is accepted and the legislative weight will be given to culture. (what is understood by custom is accepted as law)
Also what I meant by talking about is maybe having a whole conference dedicated to this, get parents involved etc, because talking is one thing and working to change it is another.
This is all I was implying, and Allah knows best.
shirien Says: 21.09.08 at 7:52 pm
Alima, inshaAllah i’ll get back to you soon.. check your email.
I would have to agree with Amatullah on this one.I believe sheiookh here in america would generally know the conditions and the situation better than scholars overseas for several reasons:
1. our society is very much all online. we have sheiookh on facebook itself here and use it to their advantage. I feel like they would be more aware of the fitnah of these things since they can see it first hand.
2. Sure a lot of people overseas are on facebook (egypt i think everyone 5 -45 years of age has one) but still, it’s hard to find scholars or sheiookh using these things over there. again, because computers are not ESSENTIAL to their daily lives as it is for us here in the west– therefore we see a lot of the older generation and even sheiookh in their 30s still are not very well aware about computers and the social networking sites.
wallahu alem. of course it’s a generalization… but i think this kind of makes her point.
Taufique Says: 21.09.08 at 8:05 pm
Assalamualaikum,
Yeah it’s true when you see something first hand you are more aware about that specific issue than someone who hasn’t seen it.
And besides I’m an ignorant layman…so I don’t have knowledge about all this. I simply thought the ‘Ulemah should be the one issuing Fataawa and not Students of Knowledge/Callers and also the Students/Callers should always check back and forth with the ‘Ulemah to make sure what they are doing/saying is the most correct thing to do/say…
But, barak Allahu feeki for the clarification…
Tasnim Says: 22.09.08 at 12:44 am
Well…I askd a lil green scholar of da westside,Shake Yoda.
This is wat he had 2 say bro:
a ban, i 4shadow…
bedoiuns, da ppl of da east r
shirien Says: 22.09.08 at 3:58 am
Tasnim,
lol that made no sense AT ALL.
Taufique Says: 22.09.08 at 7:08 pm
Assalamualaikum,
What she meant is all this talking will get me banned. Anyways she told me to clarify my point further…
What you guys are talking about is Fiqh al-Waqi and we all agree with that…in fact we “have” to agree with that. E.g. Sheikh Hasan ibn Abdul Wahhab al-Banna came here couple of months ago, he was asked something related specifically to this country…and for those who never heard of him he is 84yrs old and one of the biggest Scholars of Egypt…he asked Sh.Majdy (and i’m sure you know his knowledge) who was also sitting there first about the situation here since he lives here and then he gave the verdict.
The ‘Ulemah are not illiterate that they will not understand things once they’re explained.
There are two sides to everything sister. I’m not talking about you guys but I have met people who because of this “they don’t know our situation” completely block out Scholars and only listen to da’ees/students of knowledge living here…and that is the thing that I feel is very wrong. I’m sure you will agree with it. Honestly tell me, who in America is of the same level as let’s say Sh. Hasan al-Banna? And I couldn’t even get some youth to go there because they said “he doesn’t live here he won’t be able to answer our questions”.
And as for going to your local Imam…many times you have no choice but to call up Imam from another community because the Imam in your community could be some Sufi or Muqallid of some Madhab and therefore won’t give you answer based on pure Sunnah. What are you supposed to do then? Obviously you need to call up the Imam upon the Truth no matter how far he might be from you.
Being Muslim is all about balanace. We shouldn’t go to either extreme…wallahi some people are so crazy – hey i have to use the bathroom in walmart, but first let me call up Sh.Abdul Muhsin al’Abbaad and check with him…and then you have some people who won’t even care about Sh.Abdul Muhsin simply because he doesn’t live in the West.
And again, don’t take my word for it because all of you here are more knowledgeable than me, MashAllah laa quwwata illaa billah. Go do your research…Sh.Albani has lecture on Fiqh al-Waqi and so does Sh.Fawzaan.
Have I been able to get my point across? And please don’t think I’m attacking you guys because wallahi I’m not…
Dawud Israel Says: 06.10.08 at 11:34 pm
This was a funny post…I was like damn and then laughed when it turned out to be fake.
Anyways, don’t say Shia scholars always lie, because not only is that not true (they preach la illaha illa lah- which is not a lie!) and you are calling someone a Muslim, a liar- but that is exactly what fuels their anger.
And I thought I would ask what do you think about the scholars at Saudis Madinah university denouncing Yasir Qadhi?
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