The Home

Cleanliness - Decorations - Pets - Home Entertainments - Alcohol in the Home - Your Money

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness...

...as the old English saying goes. It's especially appropriate as far as the Islamic home is concerned because, as well as being a place for living in, it's also a place of prayer for you, your family and any guests.

Decorations

It's good to have a nicely decorated house, but there are certain decorations which are forbidden (haram), especially images of living creatures.

This is supported by various hadiths, such as: Volume 7, Book 72, Number 833: Narrated Abu Talha

The Prophet said, "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures."

Allah's Apostle said, "Those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them. 'Make alive what you have created.'"

The 'images' and 'pictures' that are referred to here are statues, engraved images, paintings and pictures of living creatures. I'm not sure as to whether photographs fall into this category - strictly speaking they are not man-made images, but rather a 'snapshot' of a moment in time developed using a series of chemical processes. Ask your imam if you are unsure about this.

It is also best to avoid excessive decorations - they can distract you during your prayers, as well as being a waste of space and money.

Pets

Most people love animals - I'm no exception (I'm the loving owner of 3 goldfish and 3 gouramis - we also seem to have acquired a nest of hornets in our attic!). However, as Muslims we are slightly restricted in our choice of pet.

You will have probably noticed the hadith quoted above - "Angels do not enter a house in which there is a dog or there are pictures". Many peoples interpretation of this is that it is forbidden to keep a dog as a pet. However, this hadith only specifies that they shouldn't be kept in the house. Even though, keeping a dog as a pet is likely to cause offence amongst your fellow muslims so it's probably better that you don't. If you do need to keep a dog for security or work purposes, then it should be kept in a warm and clean out-house, kennel or barn - as with each and every one of Allah's creations, dogs should be treated with love, care and respect.

There are no other restrictions with regards to other pets that can be kept - pigs, snakes, scorpions, pirahnas... they're all halal as pets. If you have children though, common sense should tell you that dangerous animals such as scorpions and piranhas don't make ideal family pets.

Home Entertainments

A lot of coverage was given in the press recently about how the Taliban banned music, television, cinema, radio and the internet, claiming that they were all unislamic. This is in no way true.

If music was unislamic, how do they explain the works of artists such as Yusef Islam, Raihan and the many Islamic rap and R'n'B acts emerging from Afro-American communities, who preach Islam through music? If television was unislamic, how could they explain the many educational programmes and videos available?

Obviously, abuse of these media, for example watching / downloading pornography or listening to music with a dubious theme, would render them haram. Discretion is strongly advised, to say the least. You must also ensure that enjoying any of these activities does not intrude on your Islamic obligations such as prayer.

Alcohol In The Home

Any decent Muslim wouldn't have alcoholic drinks in the home, but alcohol does have other uses, such as in perfumes, mouthwashes and medicines. Using it in these circumstances would be considered halal, but you should use a non-alcoholic alternative if one is available.

Your Money

With regards to your money, there are two important things you need to consider:

• Does your money come from a halal source? In other words, are you earning your money in a way that doesn't involve haram activities, such as gambling or selling alcohol?
• Riba (interest) - it is haram for a Muslim to either pay or receive interest. If your bank account does pay or charge interest, try writing a letter to your bank asking them not to pay or charge you interest, explaining your religious position. They'll probably be more than happy to stop paying interest into your account (after all, it saves them money!). However, if you have an overdraft, they may be reluctant to stop charging interest on that. If this is the case, you are left with two options - pay off your overdraft as soon as you can, or vote with your feet by finding a bank that will respect your wishes.