Today’s entry is taken, as will many others be, from “The Reliance of the Traveller”, first published in 1991, written by Imam al-Nawawi, who died in 676/1277.
The topic for today is Sharia regarding containers and utensils. According to the “Reliance”, ritual purification can be accomplished using any container except for those made of gold or silver (the word for this is “haram”, meaning forbidden). Nor is a vessel acceptable for use, if it contains enough of either precious metal that, if the vessel were melted, the gold or silver could be separated from the base metal.
To quote the book, verbatim: “Such containers or utensils are unlawful for men or women to use in purification, eating, drinking, or other use of any type. It is unlawful to acquire such a container or utensil even if one does not use it. Even a small eyeliner stick is unlawful.” These rules apply to cups, bowls, plates, and eating utensils, as well as vessels for purification.
Note the use of the phrase: “for men or women”. Now, I don’t know about you, Reader, but this implies to me that there are different laws for men and women, somewhere down the line… I wouldn’t want to live in a world like that.
“Vessels soldered with gold are absolutely unlawful.” However, the same doesn’t seem to be true of silver. While it is offensive to use a vessel to which only a little silver has been applied for decoration, it is not unlawful.
Another note: It can be dangerous, even lethal, to offend those who subscribe to Sharia, yet there are proponents of this set of laws who would like–nay–intend to replace all law in every land with theirs.
So, silver decoration is bad, and gold is completely prohibited. I went out on the Internet to see whether or not I could find out why.
From http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=13733&ln=eng , I learned that the overuse of precious metals for household items is considered wasteful and a wanton misuse of wealth, which would be better used for charity. Fair enough; even noble. Yet: “It is permissible to use a vessel made of any precious gem, such as ruby or emerald.”
What? Yeah, confusing, isn’t it? I couldn’t find any “whys” for this distinction between the use of certain metals and gemstones, when it comes to vessels. If someone out there knows why, I’d be interested to hear it.
The last quote from “Reliance” on the subject of vessels is as follows: “It is offensive to use the vessels of non-Muslims before washing them (to be certain of the purity of the vessels used, since non-Muslims are not as concerned about purity as Muslims are), or to wear their clothes, for the same reason.
Is it just me, or does this sound bigoted? Nah–it’s not bigotry. It’s Sharia.
