Does burning candles in funerals exist in Islam? What is the decree about it?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Burning candles in funerals is something that is peculiar to Christians; therefore, it is not permissible in our religion. A person who burns a candle commits a sin.

Islam is different from other religions and it has characteristics peculiar to it; therefore, it wants its followers to live as people having character; it prevents them from imitating and following the members of other religions. As a matter of fact, the Prophet (pbuh) states the following regarding the issue:

"If a person tries to resemble a community, he is one of them." (Abu Dawud, Faydul-Qadir, Hadith No: 8593)

Abdurrauf Munawi, the hadith interpreter, explains this hadith as follows:  

"If a person approves them with his inside and outside, adopts their customs and traditions, is known by the deeds peculiar to them, does them, becomes integrated with them in clothing and similar things and lives with them, he is regarded as one of them. To accept the superiority of their system means to resemble them. A person imitates and follows somebody that he likes and appreciates and tries to follow him."

The religion of Islam refuses to resemble all non-Islamic systems including Judaism and Christianity. The Prophet (pbuh) orders us not to resemble them even related to the issues that are not harmful and evil:

"Oppose the polytheists in all issues and do not resemble them. Grow your beard and shorten your mustache." (Tajrid Sarikh Translation, XII/110-111)

Indeed, it is haram for a Muslim to resemble a non-Muslim. There are hadiths and verses that prohibit resembling them. However, it is necessary to determine this resembling well. Otherwise, it can be thought that it is forbidden to accept useful things, which will cause a religious order to be misunderstood.

When a Muslim is prohibited from resembling non-Muslims in verses and hadiths, the following two things should be remembered:

1. A Muslim does not resemble a non-Muslim in creed, deeds, clothing, ethics and traditions. He disdains to do them.

— Why?

— Because a Muslim is ahead of non-Muslims in them. A non-Muslim is behind Muslims in them. He is so behind that scholars and thinkers of non-Muslims state that the West is collapsing gradually, falling into a quagmire ethically and spiritually and the system that will save them is Islam. Therefore, they gradually accept Islam and run toward salvation.   

They complain about the anarchy in ethics and clothing in them and run toward us to get rid of them; it is not rational and logical for us to run toward them in order to resemble them; it does not fit Islam.

Therefore, a Muslim never needs to resemble non-Muslims who have degenerated in faith, ethics, traditions and especially in clothing; he disdains to do so.

2. It is not haram for a Muslim to resemble non-Muslims related to scientific discoveries, technical inventions, in short, things that are useful for humanity. On the contrary, he is encouraged to do so.

For, such useful discoveries and inventions are in fact the lost property of a Muslim. The Prophet (pbuh) in whom he believed told him about those inventions before they were invented and warned and guided him as follows:  "Science and wisdom are the lost property of the believer. He will take them wherever he finds them."

Thus, a Muslim picks his wallet that he has dropped from his pocket wherever he finds it; similarly, if he finds useful inventions and discoveries, he will take and adopt them no matter in which country he finds them; he will not feel like resembling foreigners when he does so. On the contrary, he will regard it as fulfilling the command of his Prophet, whom he believes.

In that case, it is not wrong to resemble non-Muslims in science, technology and useful things. Besides, these discoveries and inventions are in accordance with the divine laws our Lord created for us in pre-eternity. The Muslims found these laws first in the first centuries of Islam but because they did not own and develop them, non-Muslims developed and owned them. Therefore, we can regard them as the discoveries and inventions that our ancestors initiated.

Questions on Islam