Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family.
We put the following question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-Uthaymeen:
A non-Muslim woman is saying, I want to become Muslim but on the condition that I do not have to do the five prayers until the end of the day, because I cannot do them at work. And also I cannot accept the idea of polygamy.
He answered as follows:
I think that she should adhere to the rulings of Islam if she wants to become Muslim and be saved from the Fire. But as for her choosing what she wants and saying I cannot accept the idea of polygamy as if she is saying that she cannot accept it as a ruling from Allah or saying I cannot pray until I finish my work, this is not acceptable.
Question:
In the book Muntaqa al-Akhbaar, the author says, Chapter on the soundness of a persons Islam when he lays down invalid conditions, and he mentions the hadeeth of Waheeb, who said:
I asked Jaabir about the tribe of Thaqeef, when they gave their Bayah (oath of allegiance) to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allâh be upon him), with the condition that they would not have to pay Sadaqah (charity) or engage in Jihaad. After that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allâh be upon him) say, They will give sadaqah and they will engage in jihaad.
Can we understand from this that if a non-Muslim comes and says I want to become Muslim on the condition that I can do all the prayers together at the end of the day this is OK, or is this an entirely different case?
Shaykh:
This is an entirely different case, because when that was said to the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), he said, If they become Muslim, they will pray. This has to do with matters of the Unseen, which we cannot know. (in other words, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) accepted that from them because he knew, from what Allah taught him of the Unseen, that these people would become good Muslims and would give charity and engage in jihaad, whereas we cannot know the Unseen and how this non-Muslim will be in the future). If we accepted the conditions laid down by the kuffaar, Islam would disintegrate. One may stipulate the condition that we let him engage in zinaa (unlawful sexual activity), another may demand that we let him drink wine, and so on and so forth. The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allâh be upon him) told Ali, when he sent him to the people of Khaybar: Tell them what their duties are towards Allah in Islam. The condition of Islam is that it must be accepted in totality, as it is. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allâh be upon him) told Muaadh, Teach them that Allah has enjoined five prayers upon them, and if they accept that, then tell them about Zakaah. So the obligations of Islam have to be accepted.
Question:
Can we not say that this persons entering Islam serves a great interest, and that their stipulating that they should be excused a few acts of worship is less harmful?
Shaykh: Not at all! Whose interests are being served here? The interests of the person himself? But this is damaging to Islam, because then lazy Muslims will say, We will only pray when we have finished work, like this person does. So the harm this would do to Islam is serious. If he really wants to save himself, let him accept Islam in totality. And whomsoever Allah leads astray, no-one can guide.
So what we say to you is this: become Muslim and accept Islam in totality. Submit to Allah in all that He has prescribed, and Allah will help you and give you the strength to follow His laws, if you are sincere in your intention towards Him. Then if you are faced with something that you cannot do for a genuine reason, or are forced to do something, then if you are sincere, Allah will not punish you for that. May Allah help us and you to accept the truth and adhere to it. May Allah bless our Prophet Muhammad.
