Thursday 18 Ramadan 1445 - 28 March 2024
English

He promised a kaafir that he would go to the church with him

Question

Is breaking promise with non-muslim permitted by Allah SWT? I happened to have a conversation with a non-muslim man who is a Christian at my work. He is about 45 years old and I am 20. I always try to keep myself behave politely at this new work environment at which I will be working for the next 5 years at the same place, Insya Allah. Apparently, this man has been trying to influence me with Christianity in several different ways. First, he acts in a nice way and a couple days ago invited me to talk about Al-Qur'an and Bible. He said that in the Bible, Ibrahim was asked by Sarah (his wife) to sleep with their servant to have a baby, Isaac. Astaghfirullah! I responded that it was not true! Second, he asked me to bring Al-Qur'an. He said the reason was because he heard so many stories that are quite similar between Al-Qur'an and Bible. Third, he asked me if I would like to go to church sometimes just to see how it looks like when people pray. At that moment, I was thinking that there was nothing wrong to go to church as long as I do not participate in any ritual ceremony or activity. I said, "Sure..." and he quickly asked when would be the good time for me to go. After I thought for a second, I said, "Why and what is the purpose for me to go to church while I even sometimes cannot go to pray at the mosque or musholla due to my work?" I pray at my workplace because there is no mosque or musholla nearby my office. He said that it is just to know other people religion and not to converting or anything.
On my way home, I was thinking that this man is slick. He seems a friendly guy but behind that tries to get me to his believe to a minor. As a muslim, I believe in Allah and He is the one who can help me. Allah knows best what I think and feel

Answer

Praise be to Allah.

We put this question to Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen (may Allaah preserve him), who answered as follows:

It is not permissible for him to go to the church, because this implies respecting and venerating it, and exposes him to developing a liking for Shirk and its followers. He has to break this promise and explain this ruling to the kaafir so that he will understand why the Muslim broke his promise. And Allaah knows best.

Was this answer helpful?

Source: Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen