Answered by: Maulana Moinul Abu Hamza
Question
An old Christian man who I know pretty well was asking me for directions to the nearest Church he attends on a Sunday. He suffers from Dementia. I don’t know why he is allowed to wander around outside with his mental impairment, but there you go. I gave him directions and even guided him halfway.
A Jamaat saathi who was in the vicinity at the time claimed that I had committed kufr. He said the Fuqaha have declared anyone who assists someone to commit Kufr is guilty of assisting kufr and thus I am required to renew my Iman immediately.
Please confirm.
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The matter you speak of should be separated into a number of issues:
1- Entering a church
2- Directing a non-Muslim to a place of non-Muslim worship
1- Entering a church is not impermissible providing it is non-participatory of any kind of worship and is perhaps an opportunity to bring the light of Islam to the places darkened by polytheism and disbelief.
2- As for directing someone to a church, this is indeed assisting someone with something that is impermissible. However, this is still upon the intention of the person to commit the act of worshipping other than Allah (swt) and not the one who directed someone there. Also, non- Muslims are not to be prevented from drinking or worshipping their Gods as there is no compulsion in our Deen. However, in regards to your actions, you should make Tauba for this by asking Allah (swt) to forgive you.
This is because there is a possibility of sin because Allah (swt) says: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty”. (5:2)
Thus, according to this ayah, helping in sin is prohibited also. At the same time, giving directions to a place is not necessarily an endorsement to commit haram in that place since the principle in Islam is that ‘matters are judged by intentions.’ Your aim must have been to help a frail person get to their destination safely and to not be lost on the path.
Only Allah knows best
Written by Maulana Moinul Abu Hamza
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham