Dubai Souk, Pre-Ramadhan Fairs, Halaal Food Expos, Fashion Extravaganzas-Eid Collections and Eid Shopping Festivals

Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said once to Hadhrat Jibraeel (alayhis salaam): “O Jibraeel! Which land is evil?’ Jibraeel (alayhis salaam) said: ‘I do not know. I shall ask my Rabb Azza Wa Jal.’ Then Jibraeel (alayhis salaam) departed and after some time returned and said: ‘O Muhammad! Verily, you had asked me: ‘Which land is evil?’ I had said that I do not know. I have asked my Rabb Azza Wa Jal: ‘Which land is evil?’ He said: “The souks of the land.” (Musnad Ahmad)

Hadhrat Salmaan (radhiyallahu anhu), narrating a Hadith of Jibraeel (alayhis salaam) said: “If you can, never be the first to enter the souk nor be the last one to leave it, for verily, the souk is the battleground of shaitaan. There he plants his flag.” (Muslim)

Whilst it is permissible to go to a Souk (shop, market etc.) to purchase daily items of necessities, it should be borne in mind, in the light of the above Ahaadith, that one should spend the least amount of time in doing so, due to there being a host of sins and open violation of the Laws of Allah Ta’ala which are common at the Souks of today.

The above Ahaadith and explanation are in the context of general Souks. The matter intensifies when these ‘evil lands’ and ‘battlegrounds of Shaitaan’ (i.e. the Souks) are beautified, fragranced, camouflaged and dressed with Sacred Islamic Words such as Ramadhaan, Eid and Halaal.

Each of the mentioned Islamic Words is a word which is found in the Qur’aan Majeed. However, we as Muslims have erroneous utilized the same pure words of the Qur’aan Majeed and shrouded our events of sin, intermingling of sexes, merrymaking, fashion parade, abaaya shopping, eating, merry grounds, photography, videoing and live broadcasting.

Almost every Muslim participant in any of the above shopping festivals under Islamic banners will be involved in almost all of the abovementioned things. However, Muslims won’t even consider them to be un-Islamic since they are made to believe and are brainwashed that everything is ‘Islamic’ since the event has an Islamic name.  

Nowadays, Souks which are camouflaged in Islamic names have become frequent events which are organized in different parts of the country during or prior to different months. Hence Muslims have made an event for every occasion, a Souk for every Ramadhan and Eid.

Minus the abovementioned sins in which Muslims will involve themselves with, these events make Muslims unmindful of Allah Ta’ala and come directly under the scope of this Aayat of the Qur’aan Majeed:

“The life in this world is nothing but play and amusement (such as Souks, Halaal Expos, Ramadhaan fairs, fashion extravaganzas and Eid shopping festivals.)”