Q102 :In my country, people are classified as either
sayed or sheikh or pathan. There are restrictions on intermarriages
between these groups which would prevent, for example, the marriage of
a sayed girl to a pathan man. It is also said that sayeds are not
allowed to receive zakah. Could you please netment on these
classifications.
A102 : In all societies, you find sections of
people claiming privileges for themselves. They may base this on
wealth, birth, race, etc. If the netmunity is willing to concede such
privileges to them, they will try to consolidate their position and
claim more privileges. What happened in Europe before the French
Revolution was the clearest example of what evils may spread in a
society or class as a result. This, however, was not limited to Europe.
We have only to remember the caste system in India which made the
minority of the people subservient to the elite. The best society is
that which refuses altogether the notion of classifying people into
masters and slaves, aristocracy and masses, feudal lords and peasants,
etc. It was not long ago that democratic societies tried to establish
the principle of equality of all people in practice after it had been
preached in theory for a long time. Nevertheless, the wealthy and the
powerful continue to exercise influence which is disproportionate to
their number. Under netmunism on the other hand, the party members
enjoyed great privileges and made themselves into a class of their own.
What does Islam say to all that? In the Qur’an we read: “Mankind, we
have created you out of one male and one female and made you into
peoples and tribes so that you may get to know each other. The most
noble among you in Allah’s view is the most God-fearing.” (49;13) This
verse establishes the basic Islamic principle that all human beings are
equal, since they descend from the same man and woman. Over the
centuries, they have formed different nations and numerous tribes. When
they get to know each other, they stand to enrich human life. The only
recognized field of excellence in which it is possible to distinguish
any one person or group of them over the rest is fearing Allah, a
quality which does not fail to bring out the best in every human being.
The division you have mentioned in your country is alien to the basic
principles of Islam. You speak of an automatic blockage of the marriage
of a man from one group with a woman from another. How could this be
justified when Allah says in the Qur’an: “Believers are but brothers”
(49;10) The possibility of objecting to a marriage is limited to such
a situation as when a woman feels that marrying a particular person
will not give her the sort of life to which she is used to. In other
words, the marriage will mean a downgrading of her. Otherwise, the
guiding principle in sanctioning a marriage is the Hadith which tells
all Muslim parents and guardians: “If a man whose strength of faith and
honesty are of acceptable standard, netes to you with a proposal of
marriage, then accept his proposal. If you do not, you will cause
friction and a great deal of corruption in the land.” Let us look
briefly at the class known as ‘sayed’. A ‘sayed’ has nete to refer in
many parts of the Islamic world to a person who claims to be a
descendant of the Prophet. I can tell you that many who claim to be
‘sayed’ cannot substantiate their claims. However, even if the claim is
correct, it does not confer any particular status to the person
concerned. He is still required to do his Islamic duties as everyone
else. He will be rewarded in the same manner and his sins will be taken
against him in the same way. He will either be forgiven or punished by
Allah as He, in his sole discretion, determines. His descent does not
give him any immunity. Nor does it give him any special status in
society. Let us remember what the Prophet said to his own daughter:
“Fatimah, work for your future life because I shall avail you nothing
(if Allah is not pleased with you).” This is a clear instruction by the
Prophet to his own daughter that her own actions are the only factor
which determine her standing in the life to nete. If this applies to
Fatimah, who can say that his [being] descendent gives him any
privileges whatsoever. It is true that the Prophet has made it clear
that zakah is not to be paid to him, his household and descendants.
They have, however, different sources of innete from the Islamic state,
such as a share of what the Muslim state may gain in the fighting.
However, many scholars are of the view that it is permissible to give
zakah to descendants of the Prophet if they are poor, particularly
because the other sources from which they would have benefited are
largely unavailable.
Our Dialogue ( Source : Arab News – Jeddah )