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Q:) Some of the people who
pray with us in the Masjid bring their children with them, children
who are (too young and) unable to distinguish (between right and
wrong). They are unable to pray correctly and they line up in our
(front) rows, and some of them are fidgeting and playing around and
therefore disturbing those around them…so what is the ruling on all
that?
And what is your advice to
those who are the Guardians of these youngsters?
A:) My opinion concerning these young
children who come to the mosque and disturb those who are praying, is
that it is not permissible, because of the annoyance it causes to the
Muslims who are trying to fulfil their obligation (of salah) from the
obligations of Allah, and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)
once heard some of the companions praying and reciting loudly, so he (sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam) said, “Do not raise your voices over one another in
the recitation.”
And in another hadeeth, “Do not annoy one another”,
and so therefore everything that causes some harm or grievance to
those who are praying, then it is not permissible for those
responsible to do that.
So my advice to these Guardians is to not bring
them (children) to the Masjid and that they should seek guidance by
what the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) has guided us to, when
he said, “Instruct your children to pray when they are seven, and
smack them (if they don’t pray) when they are ten”.
Just as I advise the people who frequent the Masjid
to be easy on those youth for whom it is legislated to come to the
mosque, and to not make things difficult for them and not to stand in
their places (in the row) when they have preceded you to it (in the
row). For whoever precedes the other to that space, is more deserving
of it whether he is from the youth or grown up.
Ejecting these youth from
their places in the row will:
1. Be contravening their rights, for whoever
precedes someone to that which has not been claimed by the Muslims,
then he is most deserving to it
2. Create an aversion to the mosque and keep them
away
3. Create a sense of resentment and hatred to those
who have taken their places
4. Help the youth to gather up into groups (in the
back rows) which will lead them to play around even more and disturb
the people in the mosque more so than if they were standing in-between
grown men (in the front rows)
As for what is mentioned by some of the People of
Knowledge that the youth should take their positions at the end of the
rows or the last row in the masjid, using as evidence the statement of
the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), “Let the wise people of
experience and understanding be close to me”, then this a weak
opinion, contradicting the statement of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam) “When one precedes another to that which has not been
claimed, he (the first one) is more deserving of it.”
Using as evidence the statement of the Prophet (sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam) “Let the wise people of experience and understanding
be close to me”, is not fully correct because the meaning of this
hadeeth is to encourage those people of wisdom, intellect and
experience to be near to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)
because they are more likely to have deep understanding (fiqh) than
those who are young, and they are more accurate in recording what they
see from the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and what they hear
from him. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not say ‘Let
none of you be close to me except the wise people of experience and
understanding’ and if he had said that, it would then have been
fitting to remove the youth from the front rows. But the context of
this hadeeth is to command those who have deep understanding,
intellect and wisdom to come forward and become close to the Messenger
of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
(Fataawa Islamiyyah 2/8)
Answered by Shaykh Al-Uthaymeen (rahimahullah)
Article taken (with Thanks) from Prophetic_Guidance@yahoogroups.com |
