Selling the Bible stand to the Christians
Fatwa No: 134055

Question

Assalamualikum
sir,
Do i sell the bible stand which will use only in church to recite bible. please give solution. this earnings haram or halal. please confirm with hadeeth.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

It is confirmed in the Sunnah that the books of the People of the Book should be respected and carried on something that keeps them above the ground as they contain some texts that are not forged or falsified.  It is confirmed in the Sunnan of Abu Daawood that a group of Jews came and invited the Prophet to Quff – a valley in Madeenah. So he visited them in their Midraas (a place where the Torah used to be recited and all the Jews of the town used to gather). They said: “O, Abul Qaasim, one of our men has committed fornication with a woman; so pronounce judgment upon them. They placed a cushion for the Prophet who sat on it and said: “Bring the Torah.” It was then brought. He then withdrew the cushion from beneath him and placed the Torah on it saying: “I believed in you and in Him Who sent you down….”

Al-Adheem Abaadi said: “It appears that the Prophet put the Torah on the cushion as a way of honoring it, because he said: “…I believed in you and Him Who sent you down.”

Nevertheless, in our view, it is not permissible to sell that (Bible stand) to them, as this is helping them in the falsehood upon which they are and it implies acknowledgement of what they claim to be the true Injeel [Gospel] that was revealed on ‘Eesa (Jesus) . The jurists stated that: “It is forbidden as well to sell the Torah and the Injeel to them (Jews and Christians) as they were forged and this is helping them in their falsehood.”

Since it is not permissible to sell the book itself to them, then the object on which it is carried is also forbidden. Moreover, it is known that the book that the Christians consider as sacred is a book that contains many forged texts and it was tempered with by some priests and it is not the Injeel that was revealed on ‘Eesa, the son of Mary . Besides, Allaah revealed to him one Injeel and not many different Injeels as we clarified in Fatwa 90449.

However, saying that it was changed does not mean that it does not contain texts that are safe from forgery and alterations as we clarified in Fatwa 91773. Hence, in principle, putting their Book on a stand is considered a sign of respect for the true texts that are in it; but it is not permissible to sell it to them as we clarified.

Allaah Knows best.

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