skills/sistani-guidance/references/books/west/pages-001-012.md

# A Code of Practice for Muslims in the West

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## PDF PAGE 1

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..……………………………………………… ١A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
A Code of Practice
 For Muslims in the West
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## PDF PAGE 2

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## PDF PAGE 3

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..……………………………………………… ٣A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the universe. May
blessings and greetings be on the best of creatures,
Muhammad, and his blessed and pure progeny.
It is permissible to act according to the book “al-Fiqh lil
Mughtaribeen,” and one who acts on it will, God
willing, be rewarded.
 ٥Ramadhan al-Mubarak ٨١٤١
‘Ali al-Husayni as-Sistani
```

## PDF PAGE 4

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## PDF PAGE 5

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..……………………………………………… ٥A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
  Introduction
On the morning of a sunny day in winter of Rajab  ٦١٤١A.H.
(January  ,)٥٩٩١the aircraft took off with me on board towards
London, the capital of Britain.
When the aircraft moved from the east to the west, from the
land of sunshine to the capital of fog, I could feel the warmth
of the sun from the plane's windows, the warmth that I bade
farewell to as I left my homeland.
When the plane levelled off at the centre of the sky and its
flight become smooth and calm, as if it were firmly fixed on a
central poll, I decided to use the time by reciting some chapters
of the pocket-size holy Qur'an that was with me. This has been
my habit from my childhood since I set my eyes on my
grandfather in our vast home in Najaf and heard him recite the
Qur'an every morning, afternoon, and at night, during his
travels and at other times. And I also have retained in my
memory the fact that my father used to carry a copy of the
Holy Qur'an in his pocket so that he is not far removed from it
at home as well as away from home.
I opened the Holy Book and started reciting in a lowered voice
the verses so as to purify my soul, to perfume my mouth from
the dirt of matter and its temptation, and to seek the Almighty
Allah's help in protecting this flying object from the calamities
of time.
It was midday, the time for noon prayer came close. I got up
from my seat, went to the toilet, renewed my wudhu (minor
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## PDF PAGE 6

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..……………………………………………… ٦A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
ablution), and then I took out a comb from my pocket and
combed my hair after the wudhu. Then I took out a small
perfume bottle that I always carry in my pocket so that I may
use it, for it is related that it is mustahab to use perfume, in that
the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) used to love it, and that a salat
with perfume is equal to seventy salats.
After the wudhu, combing, and perfuming, I returned to my
seat while I was still reciting some Qur'anic verses that I had
memorized from childhood.
Then I started thinking: Where will I say the salat? How will I
know the direction of the qiblah? Is it obligatory to say the
salat in a standing position or can I do so while I am seated?
When these thoughts were going through my mind, I reclined
on my religious knowledge and remembered that Islamic
Jurists say: it is obligatory to say the salat in a standing
position as long as I can do so; if I am unable to perform it
thus, I should pray in a sitting position. The format of prayer
would move from one level to a lesser level based on my
ability and the given circumstances; but the obligation of salat
would not be waived from a Muslim under any circumstance.
So when I reached this conclusion, I looked around the plane to
find a place in which I could say the salat in a standing
position. My eyes settled on a small area in one part of the
plane that was sufficient for saying the salat. I said to myself
that the problem of the place has been resolved but now I have
to find the direction of the qiblah as long as the plane is flying
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## PDF PAGE 7

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..……………………………………………… ٧A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
in one direction. I decided to seek the help of the airline crew
to determine the direction of qiblah.
An air steward passed for gathering the tea cups from the
tables, I seized the opportunity and asked him in broken
English as follows:
Can I ask you a question?
"Yes, go ahead."
Can you help me in showing me the direction of the qiblah?
"I am sorry, I didn't understand your question."
The direction of qiblah…the direction towards Holy Mecca?
"Are you a Muslim?"
Yes, and I would like to say my noon prayer.
"Let me ask in the cockpit and I will be back."
I realized that I should also have asked for something to put on
the floor of the aircraft to pray on it.
When he came back with the answer on the qiblah, I requested
him to bring me something like a blanket or a newspaper that I
could place on the floor of the aircraft.
He brought a blanket which I spread on the floor and prayed
noon and afternoon salat, two (rak'at) each as qasr, facing the
qiblah. Then I recited the tasbih of az-Zahra' (a.s.) by saying
"Allahu abkar"  ٤٣times, "al-hamdu lil lah"  ٣٣times, and
"subhan Allah"  ٣٣times. After the tasbih, I thanked Allah and
returned to my seat while I was in a different and more content
state of mind because I was afraid that saying the salat in the
plane would be difficult and I might be drawing unnecessary
attention from the other passengers. But my fears were
unfounded. It became clear to me that the salat earned me a
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## PDF PAGE 8

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..……………………………………………… ٨A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
special respect and added esteem for me in the eyes of the non-
Muslims, including the steward, who were on board the plane.
My thoughts were interrupted by the announcement that food
will be served soon. The airhostesses started asking the
passengers about their preference from the menu. One of them
asked me if I would prefer fish or chicken. I asked for the fish
not because fish is preferable to me than chicken but because I
was not allowed to eat that chicken since I was not sure that it
has been slaughtered in accordance with Islamic laws. This is a
problem that I have faced many times in foreign countries.
Since I was born and brought up in a Muslim country, I have
no lingering doubts regarding chicken, or fish bought in a
Muslim market. But in a Western country, the situation is
completely different. And that is because I am not allowed to
eat any meat until I am sure that it was slaughtered according
to the laws of Islam. This normally creates hardship.
The meal was served to us and the tray that was placed in front
of me contained the following: fish fried in sunflower oil
garnished with fried potatoes, a little bit of rice, salad, a couple
of green olives, grapes, black fig, dessert, water in a small
container, and small packets of salt, sugar, pepper, two pieces
of bread, a fork, two spoons, a knife, and a napkin.
I was really hungry.
I thanked Allah first, then picked the fork and knife, and cut
the fish into small pieces that could be eaten easily. Then, I
stopped and the following thought passed through my mind: It
is true that if the fish is of the type that has scales, and that it
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## PDF PAGE 9

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has come out of the water alive or died after being caught in
the net, then it is permissible for me to eat it irrespective of the
fact that the fisherman is a Muslim or a non-Muslim, and no
matter whether the name of Allah was invoked on it or not.
This is correct. But the problem may be in the oil in which the
fish was fried. Was that oil ritually pure (tahir). And was the
cook a Muslim?
These were the disturbing thoughts passing through my mind at
that moment. So I stopped eating that fried piece of the fish,
despite the fact that I was hungry! I put down the fork on the
side of the plate and tried to recall the rules of these issues that
I had read about in the Manual of Islamic Laws of my marja'
when I was getting ready for the journey.
First I asked myself about the sunflower oil: is it ritually pure?
I immediately responded positively because the religious law
says, "everything is pure for you until you come to know about
its impurity." And since I did not know about the impurity of
the sunflower oil, I assumed it was pure.
Now since the oil used in frying the fish was pure, the whole
fish is pure, and thus I am allowed to eat it.
As for the cook who prepared the fish, was he a Muslim or
from the Ahlul Kitab (so he would be considered as tahir) or
was he a non-Muslim from the non-Ahlul Kitab? This question
is not important as long as I do not know that the person who
fried it has touched it with his hand. And again the general rule
of the shari'a, "everything is pure for you until you come to
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## PDF PAGE 10

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..……………………………………………… ٠١A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
know that it is impure", gave me a clear decision: the fish is
pure, and I am allowed to eat it.
When I reached this conclusion, I breathed a sighed of relief.
Then I picked up the fork and ate the fish. I looked at the fries
for the same reasons and concluded that they were pure and ate
them.
I did the same with the bread, salad, fruit and the dessert. I ate
them all since they were pure. Then I drank the water and also
the tea because they are also pure. This is what the religious
laws tell me.
The plane was flying at  ٠٠٠،٠٣feet from sea level, and we still
had two and a half hours before we reach London Heathrow
International airport .
Inside the plane, some passengers were busy reading the
morning papers, while others were in deep sleep. I stretched
my arm and picked up a paper and started browsing through it.
My memory went back to the question that kept lingering in
my mind for the last few days: "How will I preserve my
religious identity from being destroyed in the foreign country?"
This has worried me for a long time since I thought of
travelling to Europe, and it intensified the day I made that
decision; at times I think about it and at other times it comes
without thinking, leaving me only when I go to sleep at night.
I decided to meet a friend of mine who had been to London.
My friend pointed out certain issues to me, and also took me to
the bookstore and showed me a book that contained various
issues that gave me a general idea of what I should do.
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## PDF PAGE 11

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..……………………………………………… ١١A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
Both, the friend and the book, pointed out that I should place
great importance on the following issue: "The negative
elements of migration are not limited to the fact that it would
not be possible to fulfill the Islamic laws by the immigrants or
that they will not study the religion. The reality is even worse
than that in the sense that migration would significantly affect
the outlook of the Muslim, his habits, traditions, and also the
state of his intellectual, moral and social aspects of life."  ١
The author of that book continues, "It is necessary for the
Muslim who is compelled to migrate to a non-Muslim country
to create by himself the religious climate that does not exist in
those countries. Of course, he will not be able to create the
general Islamic environment but he surely can bring about that
atmosphere in a certain measure so that he may be able to arm
himself with the religious spirit that is suitable for him.
"Creating a suitable Islamic atmosphere is to some extent like
inoculating against a disease from whose clutches one cannot
escape-so he tries to deal with its danger by building a safety
net around himself.
"Although we do not claim that this task is easy by any means,
at the same time we cannot underestimate the great danger
faced by a Muslim in his commitment to the religion which is
the main foundation of his identity. So it is important to
safeguard it even at the cost of loss in other aspects of life. Just
as we emphasize the significance of these pitfalls, we must also
emphasize safeguarding and protecting the Muslims from
falling into them.
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## PDF PAGE 12

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..……………………………………………… ٢١A Code of Practice For Muslims in the West
"A Muslim who struggles in those countries to secure his
worldly future -in education or finance or other aspects- he is
not supposed to lose his future in the Hereafter for the sake of
this world. Just as a merchant is not allowed to lose his honour
or life for the sake of material wealth, irrespective of its
quantity, because it is worthless compared to his life and
honour. Similarly, the sick person patiently bears the bitterness
of medicine or the pain inflicted by the scalpel so that the
disease may not spread and lead to death.
"So it is obligatory on a Muslim who resides in alien societies
to protect himself against their adverse effects and dangers; and
he must create an appropriate religious environment for
himself that will compensate the loss of the environment that
he had in his own country." ٢In this way, he, his wife and
children, and even his brethren will be following the words of
the Almighty: "O you who believe! Save yourselves and your
families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones; over it are
angels stern and strong, they do not disobey Allah in what He
commands them, and do as they are commanded." ( )٦:٦٦They
would also be acting in accordance with the statement of the
Most Praised Lord "And the believing men and the believing
women, they are helpers of one another: they enjoin the good
and forbid the evil." ( )١٧:٩And also in accordance with what
the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, "All of you are 'shepherds' and all of
you are answerable in regard to your 'flock'."
Thus would also be implementing the requirement of enjoining
good and forbidding evil. The spiritual immunization
mentioned above can be achieved by the following:
```