We have some videotapes in the Islamic centre, and as part of our cultural program in the mosque we want to show a video tape which shows a play about the history of al-Quds (Jerusalem). It is free of music, and it shows the history from an Islamic point of view. But one of the actors wears a cross because he is playing the part of a priest. Is there anything wrong with showing this tape to the Muslims only, for it will inform the young people here, and the children and adults, about an important matter which is of concern to Muslims nowadays?
Praise be to Allah.Mosques
are built to be filled with the remembrance of Allaah and for the establishment
of salaah, and for the teaching of Islamic knowledge. Allaah has ordered
the mosques to be raised, i.e., venerated. Part of that veneration is
to protect them from everything that will compromise their sanctity,
such as vain talk and idle entertainment, and other kinds of falsehood
in word and deed. Showing plays in the mosque, even though it is for
an Islamic purpose, does not befit the sanctity of the mosque, because
these films are based on acting and image-making; these are the two
main features of all kinds of entertainment, no matter what kind they
are or what their aims are. The Muslims should do without them by teaching
instead; it is possible and is easy to teach instead without them. And
hardly any plays are free of some kind of munkar (evil; reprehensible
action), to a greater or lesser extent.
Acting
is more obviously doubtful. If these films have to be shown, then it
should be done somewhere other than the mosque, out of respect for its
sanctity, and so as to avoid making any kind of connection between the
mosque and entertainment.