Fatwa #455995 July 2020Pakistan
The beliefs of Fathullah Gulen - Is he a Muslim & can we go to his Masjid?
Question
Assalamu alaykum wa Rahmatullah wa Barakatuhu
I hope that Mufti Saheb is keeping well Insha Allah
Attached is a book published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Turkey. It details the beliefs of Fathullah Gulen. Fathullah Gulen has been involved in great controversy and has a base in SA, in Midrand.
Can Mufti Saheb kindly study this work and provide the following responses:
1. What is the status of a person who has the beliefs stated in the book?
2. What is the status of performing Salaah behind a person who has these beliefs?
3. Is it permitted to attend Salaah at a Masjid built and run by a person or persons with such beliefs?
4. Is it permitted to host major programmes at a Masjid built and run by a person who has such beliefs?
Jazakallah u Khayran
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Re:Fathullah Gulen
We have studied the book on Fathullah Gulen. We have observed that he has many corrupt views. It is possible that some of his corrupt views could be interpreted in different ways. The following three views seem to be explicit about his corrupt views which are recorded in FETO, a compilation of Fathullah Gulen’s speeches.
- Justification of Trinity;[1]
- Encouraging Christians to stay upon Christianity;[2]
- Legitimising soothsaying and mediumship.[3]
If a person holds the above-mentioned beliefs, he is not a Muslim. It is not permissible to perform Salah behind such a person. When it is known that the founder of the Masjid holds such corrupt beliefs, it is probable that the appointed Imam’s too will have the same or similar beliefs. We ought to exercise extreme precaution in safeguarding our Iman and ensure our Salah is valid. We therefore advise the public against performing Salah in any of the Fathullah Gulen affiliated Masaajid.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mahmood Suliman
Student Darul Iftaa
Gaborone, Botswana
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
_______
[1] “… Now, within such an observation, if they call this “trinity”, it is fair to tell them “لقد كفر الذين قالوا إن الله ثالث ثلاثة” Allah is the third of the three. It is correct to say, ‘he is the third of the trinity’… God becomes one of these three, he becomes the third.”
[2] · “… If a person gets up, comes and says, I’ve dropped, there’s nothing in this Christianity… I would tell him, hey until now you were a Christian, and what bad did you see? …”
[3] “…Here I confess without hesitation as one of the witnesses of the subject matter that what a medium says is definitely present there at the time of soothsaying. This is not about informing about the ghaib, but rather an observation of a clear thing…”
References
- “… Now, within such an observation, if they call this “trinity”, it is fair to tell them “لقد كفر الذين قالوا إن الله ثالث ثلاثة” Allah is the third of the three. It is correct to say, ‘he is the third of the trinity’… God becomes one of these three, he becomes the third.”
- · “… If a person gets up, comes and says, I’ve dropped, there’s nothing in this Christianity… I would tell him, hey until now you were a Christian, and what bad did you see? …”
- “…Here I confess without hesitation as one of the witnesses of the subject matter that what a medium says is definitely present there at the time of soothsaying. This is not about informing about the ghaib, but rather an observation of a clear thing…”