Interfaith Gatherings And Meetings

There is no scope for interfaith gatherings and prayers in Islam. The Deen of Islam is the only way of life that is accepted by Allah Ta’aala  as mentioned in Surah Aale Imraan;

إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ 

Verily the way of life accepted by Allah Allah Ta’aala is Islam (total submission to the will of AllahAllah Ta’aala )
[Aale Imraan, Verse 19]

In another verse Allah Allah Ta’aala states,

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإِسْلاَمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

Whoever seeks a Deen besides Islam, it shall never be accepted from him and he will be among the losers in the Aakhirah.
(Surah Aale Imraan, Verse 85)

By uniting with the Kuffar and engaging in Ibaadat we are indicating (to them) through our actions that we as Muslims are open to their way of Ibaadat and religion whereas we are aware that they are upon Kufr and falsehood. The scholars have written that being happy (by means of our approval) with Kufr is Kufr, hence placing our Imaan in jeopardy.

فَلا تَقْعُدُوا مَعَهُمْ حَتَّى يَخُوضُوا فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرِهِ} أي غير الكفر. {إِنَّكُمْ إِذاً مِثْلُهُمْ} فدل بهذا على وجوب اجتناب أصحاب المعاصي إذا ظهر منهم منكر ؛ لأن من لم يجتنبهم فقد رضي فعلهم ، والرضا بالكفر كفر
(الجامع لاحكام القراٰن ص418 ج5)

Secondly, the Mercy of Allah Ta’aala and tranquility descend upon those engaged in the Ibaadat of Allah Ta’aala whilst the Kuffar and their Kufr draw the displeasure of Allah Allah Ta’aala. By uniting with them, we as Muslim are being deprived of the mercy of Allah Allah Ta’aala, whereas in the Mercy of Allah Allah Ta’aala lies the solutions to our problems.   

Thirdly, the Kuffar of Makkah also negotiated with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam with regard to their Deen. They said that they were prepared to accept Islam if Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam worshipped their idols or even kissed them. Allah Ta’aala revealed the verses of Surah Kaafiroon wherein Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam was instructed to inform the Kuffar of Makkah that he will never worship their deities. In the final verse of this Surah Allah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam says,

لكم دينكم ولي دين

For you is your religion and for me is mine.

We learn from this Surah that interfaith gatherings and compromising in matters of Deen is not something new, rather such negotiations existed from the time of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam. The Quraan Sharif provided a clear cut ruling on the matter that there is no compromise in the matters of Deen. The Kuffar should continue with their Deen and acts of worship and we the Muslims will continue with our Deen and Ibaadaat. After all, they are really not interested in adopting the Deen of Islam, but rather they want to attract us to their Deen.

Obviously, this in no way means that we shouldn’t give them Dawaat toward the oneness of Allah Ta’aala. Our mission of inviting the Kuffar towards the oneness of Allah Ta’aala will continue, but at no stage will we negotiate in matters of Tawheed, Ibaadaat or any other fundamental aspects of Deen.

Fourthly, it seems that we engage in these interfaith dialogues, prayers and gatherings to curry favour with the Kuffar. Perhaps, many Muslims, and even Ulama, are of the opinion that if we are on good terms with the Kuffar, then we will be protected and safe. Our trust should be on Allah Ta’aala  alone as He alone is our Protector. Yes, we have been permitted to be kind and courteous to the Kuffar if it is beneficial to the Muslims at large but this in no way means that we should compromise in our Deen to gain such benefit. The Kuffar will never be loyal and satisfied with the Muslims (irrespective of our kind attitude towards them) until we follow their Deen as stated in the following verse of the Quraan Sharif,

وَلَن تَرْضَى عَنكَ الْيَهُودُ وَلاَ النَّصَارَى حَتَّى تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ

The Jews and the Christians will never be satisfied with you until you follow their religion
(Surah Baqarah, Verse 120) 

When the Quraan Sharif  is informing us that they will never be pleased with us, how can we then place our trust on them and have hope of them coming to our aid and assistance. We should strengthen our connection with Allah Ta’aala and seek assistance from Him as Rasulullah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam and the Sahaaba Radiallahu Anhum had done on the occasion of Badr and various other occasions. This is when the divine aid and assistance of Allah Ta’aala will arrive from the unseen.

By us uniting with these Kuffar we are in reality weakening our connection with Allah Ta’aala and further depriving ourselves of the mercy and help of Allah Ta’aala. We think that we are benefitting and gaining by such activities but in reality we are putting ourselves into destruction. Hadrat Sheikh ul Hadith, Maulana Muhammad Zakariyya Rahimahullah laments that when people regard poison as the cure and the cure as poison, then we can only complain to Allah Ta’aala; unfortunately this is our condition. May AllahTa’aala open our hearts and guide us towards that path in which lies our ultimate success in Dunya and Aakhirah. Ameen!