Reading sources of information by western writers

17-12-2000 | IslamWeb

Question:

Dear Brother,I would like to know if my readings about the history of the world, archaeology and the general knowledge from Western sources and magazines, Is Halal or Haram according to Islam? I cannot thank you enough for providing this service.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and  Messenger.

There is no harm in learning about other people, their history, culture, customs in order to see examples and warnings in their ways of living. If someone does this to do a good service to Muslims, he will be rewarded for that. But anyone who works in these fields should have a good faith and be well trained to do so, as to protect himself from being too over whelmed by the western civilization as this could lead him to being tempted by what he saw or knew.

Know also that the person's aim should be to learn the Qur'an and the good knowledge first of all. If there is more time, one way read about other civilizations (culture, history, ---). So, priorities should be established, starting with the most important and going in a step by step progression to less important matters.

Allah knows best.