HARRY POTTER CRAZE

I'm 23, married with a boy and can't wait for the 7th book to come out! Nor can my wife!

I see it as a good read and I think everyone reading it, including under 10 year olds, know it is not based on any fact. In fact, the I personally think children reading books as such have little, if any, regard for black magic and the like whereas it has a place in Islam.

I think there are plenty of things to moan about-including how so many families seem to be so practicing yet are overtaken by black magic and the like.

If one is going to speak out against books as such then where is the line drawn?

Does everything fictional become a total waste of time?

Wassalam,

Zakir

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

source

The book was set to break many old records. Online bookseller Amazon had already received one million pre-orders of the new book, its largest pre-order ever. Scholastic, the American publisher had ordered 8.5 million copies as the largest first printing ever. Worldwide, 13 million copies of the book had rolled off the presses in a massive print run.

The other books in the Harry Potter series have been translated into more than 55 languages, including Urdu, Persian, and Turkish. Nearly 200 million copies of the first four books have been sold in 200 countries.

What is all this craze about?

The series chronicles the growing up of a young orphan wizard named Harry Potter who attends a secret magic boarding school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry is a very unique wizard. His parents are killed while he is a baby by a wicked powerful wizard named Voldemort, but generally called "you-know-who" or "he-who-must-not-be-named". Voldemort fails in his attempt to kill Harry and instead is nearly destroyed when his magic rebounds on him. Harry is left with a lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

Harry is sent to live with his "muggle" (non-magical people) relatives for the next ten years. He lives a miserable life, tormented by his aunt and uncle and his spoiled cousin. They attempt to keep him from knowing that he is a wizard.

Then, suddenly a letter arrives from Hogwarts on his eleventh birthday, changing his life completely. Harry finds out he is a wizard and rather famous for his encounter with the evil lord Voldemort. Despite opposition from his aunt and uncle, Harry goes to the wizard boarding school where he meets new people, including his best friends Ron and Hermione. Harry discovers that he has both admirers and enemies.

Each book details the events of one school year.

While the books are characterized by most people as innocent fantasy and entertainment, they contain many evil messages - not all of which are subtle.

The books glorify magic and sorcery. Harry and his classmates regularly cast spells, brew potions, learn to tell the future, communicate with the spirits of the dead, train magical animals, and ride brooms. They study astrology, crystal gazing, numerology, transfiguration, and divination. Darker things occur as well such as murder, human sacrifice, drinking of unicorn blood, etc. The fight between good and evil in this book is actually a conflict between "good magic" and "evil magic", both of which are evil.

The books are in effect promoters of paganism. They glorify magic and paganism while non-magical people, called Muggles, are despised and portrayed as boring, narrow-minded, and paranoid of magic.

Not surprisingly, the main characters in the story have few noble qualities; they lie with impunity, use profanity, don't respect their elders, break rules regularly, and are unrepentant.

And for all these qualities and more, the books are popular and are having an effect. It is the "in" thing to purchase the book. And not just the book. Children have gone crazy over Harry Potter memorabilia, surrounding themselves with Harry Potter T-shirts, posters, toys, costumes, wands, hats, etc.

Welcome to the world of capitalism and paganism, where superstitions and the occult reign supreme in the hearts and minds of people, and where the twin forces have forged an "alliance of the willing" that is doing its "magic" on a global scale.

Capitalism is all about maximization of profits and if that requires appealing to the lowest instincts and the darkest recesses of human nature, so be it. Millions of dollars have been spent on advertising the latest craze on billboards, buttons, bumper stickers, and posters etc. U.S. publisher Scholastic alone has planned a $4 million marketing budget for this single book - among the largest advertising budgets ever for a book.

The media machine --- equally adept at political, cultural, and commercial propaganda --- has been doing its part faithfully, paying a great deal of attention to the smallest events relating to the coming of the fifth book. It has been glorifying the book that glorifies sorcery.

Even if it were innocent entertainment (which it is not) the extreme devotion would be unjustified. But this culture is given to extremes and incidents of mass craziness are nothing new in it. The cabbage patch dolls craze in the 1980s was similar to current craze over the Harry Potter books. The Cabbage Patch Dolls were the fad of the 1980s. The most distinctive feature about them was that each doll looked a bit different from others and came with its own unique name and birthday, "adoption papers," and a "birth certificate." Marketing gimmick and television coverage combined to make sales explode starting in 1983. Chartered planes were used to bring the dolls from the overseas manufacturing plants to meet the ever increasing demand. Fist fights among eager customers often broke out in retail stores when a shipment of dolls arrived. In 1985, Coleco posted record sales of $600 million, thanks to their Cabbage Patch Kids.

When life has no higher purpose, entertainment and fun become the over-riding goal in life. When there is no belief in or clear concept of God as Creator and Master of the universe, superstition, sorcery, and the occult become fascinating.

It is a reflection on the state of the society that there has been scarce opposition to this series that promises to become darker with each new release.

The Role of Muslims

In this current state of hysteria, Muslims should have played an important role in opposing this book and exposing the flaws of this culture. It is the duty of Muslims to guide the world, rather than blindly follow the ignorant masses. The Qur'an commands us in Surah Al-Kahf, "And don't obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds." [Al-Kahf 18:28]

Yet, unfortunately, we find very little opposition or reflection from Muslims, many of whom have chosen to blindly follow the pop culture. Many Muslims have assured themselves that the books are harmless fiction. Others even claim them to be beneficial because they encourage reading. Reading what? It does not occur to them to ask that question.

Islam prohibits both pointless entertainment (lahw) and sorcery. But countless Muslims seem to be unaware of that. And they are the ones fascinated by Harry Potter

Jazakallah Khairun for the article Daywalk3r; I'll second shining light's comment.

There really is little left to say after that, but that we must sincerely beg Allah to give us the ability to use our time in beneficial pursuits which please Him and wil lbenefit us in both worlds.

Whether it's fictional books, the TV, films, computer games, superfluous shopping, excessive socialising, or any other indulgence, we must identify it as being of no value and thus try to minimise the amount of time we waste in such pursuits, instead spending that time in the service of Allah and his slaves for His pleasure alone.

Fee amaanillah

Wassalaam

Shukran for your messages.

So where does one draw the line? If books such as Harry Potter are haraam, does that also make everythign the like thereof also haram? So do we then take our kids away from Roald Dahl or perhaps any other fantasy?

And I think the line "The books are in effect promoters of paganism" is incorrect. Talking about something isn't promoting it. I doubt there are many people in the world looking for wands, potions and spells.

Just some thoughts.

Wassalaam,

Zakir

PS- do you have a link for Mufti Desai's fatwa?

another example, top gear. the only people who watch that programme are the ones who are interested in the latest fast cars. after you watch the programme, you feel inclined to drive one or even buy one. or you want the feel of driving fast on open roads. however, as adults we can control this desire. but children cannot!

Shukran for your replies and apologies for not seeng the link earlier.

It would have been nice if Mufti Desai had explained his stance a little. I think it's all well and good to give a stance and as much as I understand lay people as myself can not appreciate what ersearch he will have to do to come to such a decision, but I'm sure there are some things which he could give as indicators as to why he concluded what he did. This is part of the reason I prefer to not use askimam.org as though I adhere to the hanafi fiqh I do prefer to have either detailed answers or at least a living refernce point, namely my fiqh teacher. Sorry for going off on a tangent.

It has never been claimed that anything from HP is factual or even bsed on fact and I think most people would laugh at the thought of it. My point here is that it is pure fiction and if we are tehn to say that fiction is haram then what do our kids have to read? We will then be forced to take anything fictional out of the equation, as if it's not something islamic, it's somethign false is it not? I mean do you really think humpty dumpty sat on a wall and subsequently had a big fall? Fair enough it's not unislamic-but it's still not true, right?

On the point of a kid killing himself due to Lion King- you can't really blame Lion King for it. If a child dies trying to cross the road you don't blame the pedestrians for crossing. And you certainly don't blame scripture for the death of others as the person has derived his thinking from scripture-which most on this forum accept as divine.

Opinions and thought much appreciated..

Wassalaam,

Zakir

as beliefs are concerned we are told to believe that black magic exist, BUT not to believe in it. Where can any person draw the line when reading such books, better to abstain.