It seems that the Ummah is yet again divided between two groups: those who take every hadith in a literal sense without studying the context or purpose (e.g, should dress be above ankles for men, or not!) and those who try to understand Ahadith by studying the life of the prophet (SAW) and why he approved or disapproved of things (that is, which interpetation is closer to the spirit of Islam, and the reason why the Quran came to mankind in the first place?) We have many respected shiekhs (old and new) who have passed on their own interpretations of authentic Ahadith, but they are also human and prone to bias and errors. Some might claim that those who look for context are trying to find an “easy” way out or trying to satisfy their “nafs.” I strongly disagree. Islam is for mankind, not just Muslims. It has a universal message, not customized for a specific group (wahabi, salafi, whatever!) The above posts are glaring examples of why the Ummah has declined over the ages. Stopping evil and encouraging good? yes that is what Allah SWT asks from us Muslims, but who’s defining what’s haram and halal? Everyone is familiar with the Ahadith, but I am sorry to say that there are differences in opinion on the issue of ART/TV etc, so it boils down feeling comfortable with a certain school of thought. Islam made everyting Halaal for us, apart from some exceptions which are very clear, but the realm of art/media is anything but Black and White, as some on this thread seem to claim. It has been said that the tongue can lead to hell or heaven, depending on how it will be used, that does not make the medium (tongue) Haram. What is haram in the Quran is “laghw”, that is, indecent talk, nonsense, anything that misleads…it does not mean poetry, TV, Microwave, helicopters, nightly news or whatever! The point is, it is how the message is delivered, and what it is… Every action will be judged based on niyah and method. In the prophet’s time, poetry was the like today’s internet. News and propaganda was done via poetry. The prophet SAW encouraged his companions to write poetry to counter the propaganda of the enemy. There is no disagreement as far as making 3 dimensional figures (sculptures) is concerned, but sketching and painting is not a black and white issue. Books and comics are popular mediums among the youth. Instead of complaining, why not provide our youth with a real alternative, use technology and creativity. Not every kid would want to read text only books. We need to invigorate our imaginations (like our brothers in Islam’s Golden and scientific age). Very few people can draw, and it is a gift from Allah SWT. Jihad is also to use your skills to spread the message in beautiful and creative ways….not just text books or speeches…..

Once Lady Aisha (May Allah SWT be pleased with her) was playing with a toy horse with wings, and the prophet of Allah smiled, he did not say “Astagfurilah! This is HARAM!”, similarly, there was a wedding in one of the nearby tribes, and the Prophet had inquired why the people of Medina hadn’t sent a singer to the ceremony, as they were fond of songs.

When Islam came, Arabia was engulfed in the worship of idols and images, and it was necessary to prohibit image making (especially scultping) to end this practice. But today, idol worshipping has been replaced by self- worshipping (one’s nafs), obsession with money and luxury. Atheists are pushing their agenda (Darwinism, Feminism, Capitalism) in every corner of the world, thanks to mass media, comics and so on….the solution is not to hide in a cave and turn everything off! No sir, the way of the prophet was to counter these attacks! In the battle of Khandaq, a trench was dug to repel the enemy, a persian strategy (some people today would have said, Astagfirullah! What? copy the Kufar?). The Muslim world should focus on media and the ARTS and take our youth back. Remember, we have to spread the message to any beautiful way possible…This is technology,available to who ever wants to use it. If we won’t they certainly will….

I refrained from cutting and pasting any fatwas or ahadith, because we are all very familiar with them. No matter which school of thought you agree with, we should respect each other’s opinion and not label anyone “kufar” or anything “Haram”, for that in itself is a major sin before Allah SWT. The companions were instructed to respect differing opinions.

Once the prophet SAW had instructed his army to wait for him at a destination and not to pray Asr until his arrival. When the prophet could not reach in time, and ASR time was running out, a group decided to pray, and the other decided to wait. At the end the prophet said that both groups were correct.

Please think about this, the companions had the Prophet SAW himself to clarify matters and end differences.
What about us?? Yes, we have the sunnah and Ahadith, but who’s interpretation do we say is the absolute truth?? Each group boldely claims “We are following the Sunnah!”
In the end it’s between you and Allah SWT. As an Ummah, we should stay focused on the main goal and not quibble over such differences, and refrain from labeling people and things, even if you “think” you know Ahadith and Shiekhs….May Allah SWT forgive me if I have said anything wrong. We should always ask guidance from Allah SWT and not depend on any sheikh or one interpretation….

Secondly, I am surprised none of the resident Shuyookhs who appear to be provide MM with legitimacy/patronage and fan-base etc have not commented or given advice on the issue here.

The questions are (it would be masha’Allah great have the answers to these from the MM Shuyooks with dalee and/or the author and those that support this posting):

1) Permissibility of reading comics. Is it permissible/halal?

a) If answer is no - then the whole basis of the post is not supported by Islam and should never have been posted/promoted in its present form on this site (author proclaiming to be a fan/follower on the look out for good graphic novels with awesome pictures etc and promoting the arrival of character that occasionally appears in tight fitting abaya and niqab). – The author should remove it and apologise and make tawbah for it and write a retraction and publicise that so that other Muslim and non-Muslim who have visited and less knowledgadble do not go away believing this to be a halal action. [Just because Muslims do things that are sinful and they are done generally e.g. watch movies etc – doesn’t i make it OK to publicise individually ones sins

b) If the answer is yes - then there are a number of follow up questions:

2) Is it permissible to read and promote comics that have characters that dress inappropriately, drawn to extentuate their masculinity/feminity, who engage in non-halal relations and interactions (even if it is as ‘innocent’ as free-mixing or bf/gf relations), characters that have ‘magical’ powers, characters that can do things and who know the unseen etc?

a) If the answer is no – then this article should not have been posted or promoted – the author should remove it and apologise and make tawbah for it and write a retraction and publicise that so that other Muslim and non-Muslim who have visited and less knowledgadble do not go away believing this to be a halal action. [Just because Muslims do things that are sinful and they are done generally e.g. watch movies etc – doesn’t i make it OK to publicise individually ones sins

b) If the answer is yes - then there are a number of follow up questions (these question are perhaps more trivial)

3) Is it permissible or a lets just say a ‘good thing’ to support and condone a muslimah comic book character that free-mixes, travels around without a mahram (though be it she claims to be a victim of slave-trading (most of whom are sold for sexual service), has magical powers, wears scanty abaya and niqab (some of the time) etc etc….. this is perhaps where there is room for difference of opinions – assuming answers to previous 2 questions were positive.

a) if the answer is no - then perhaps this post needs to be re-written as critique rather than as one that promotes (though to be fair, the author is aware of the dangers of the character being further sexualised in the story and questions this).

b) if the answer to 2 or 3 is yes - then I don’t know where or whom you take your Islamic knowledge from and what you base what is halal and what is haram upon. I would be truly shocked and really learn something if the MM shuyooks were to respond positively to 1,2 or 3.

Or do they, like many others here, consider this as a whining comment and I should instead focus on bigger issues and let the question of halal or haram etc to not feature when it comes to matters of light entertainment like reading comics or MM for that matter?

Also I wonder whether MM editorial policy is to allow any and all to post what they like as authors or is there a an editorial check on whether articles posted here are Islamically sound? (If so who does the Islamic checking? I don’t think the Islamic check has been done for this particular article)

And Allah Knows best.

I remember a story of our previous scholar who’s father had refused him to go study maths or something. His dad said to him: “Go memorize Qur’an then come ask me”. He memorized the entire Qur’an and went to ask his dad again. He dad asked him to go lead the prayer in Taraweeh and he did. Then, he got to study what he wanted.