All praise is for Allah, Lord of all that exists. O Allah, send prayers and salutations on our Prophet, Muhammad.

Without a doubt, the government (the Shaykh here is referring to the Saudi government) – may Allah guide it to what is good –should be commended for establishing summer programs for the youth, programs that help prevent much evil. Imagine what would happen if the youth were left free to roam the malls or the streets.

How much evil would result from that? I believe that any intelligent person who is in touch with reality knows that that would be very destructive for the youth, who would then become misguided, developing base manners and coarse thoughts.

But summer programs for the youth – and all praise is for Allah – help preserve the religion of many youths; mind you, I am not saying most of the youth or all of the youth. In summer camps, for example, the people of knowledge are invited to deliver lectures

through which the youth gain knowledge and through which a bond

is established between the youth and scholars. And of course,

there is much good in this.

During summer camps, it is from wisdom to allow the youth to

play soccer, to act out plays that are lawful, and to engage in other

lawful leisure activities. If people are forced to be serious in all

situations and at all times, they will become bored and tired. The

Companions – may Allah have mercy on them – said:

“O Messenger of Allah, when we are with you, you mention

Paradise and the Hellfire, so that it is as if we see them with our

very eyes. But when we go to our families and children, we forget.”

The Messenger of Allah (Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) said:

“An hour and an hour.”[ Related by Muslim] .

This means that it is normal for a person to be upon the former

state at times and upon the latter at other times.

On one occasion, ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘As (Radiallahu ‘anhu)

said:

“I will stand at night (to pray) as long as I live, and I will fast during

the day as long as I live.”

When news of this reached the Prophet (Salallahu ‘alayhi

wassallam), he (Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) said to ‘Abdullah

(Radiallahu ‘anhu):

“Did you make this [statement]?”

He said:

“Yes, O Messenger of Allah.”

The Prophet (Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) said:

“Verily, your Lord has a right over you, your soul has a right over

you, your body has a right over you, and your guest has a right

over you, so give to each owner of a right his due right.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhaari and Muslim]

Some people were informed of the good deeds that the Prophet

(Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) performed in private, i.e., the deeds

he performed in his home. They seemed almost to disparage the

worth of those deeds, saying:

“The Messenger (Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) was forgiven for his

previous and later sins, and we are not like him,”

so one of them said:

“I will not sleep during the night.”

By this he meant that he would stand to pray in the night, without

sleeping. The second one said,

“I will fast without breaking it (i.e., fast every single day).”

The third one said:

“I will not eat meat.”

And the fourth one said:

“I will not marry women.”

When the Prophet (Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam) heard that, he said:

“What is the matter with people who say such and such. As for

me, I fast, and I break my fast. I pray, and I sleep. And I marry

women, so whoever turns away from my Sunnah, then he is not

from me.”

For one to take his share of lawful pleasure is, no doubt, sound

wisdom. Furthermore, playing soccer not only provides pleasure

that might help alleviate one’s mental stress, but it is also

beneficial to one’s body, making it stronger and more active...........

One who disagrees with the concept of summer camps and the

lawful entertainment that takes place during them might say that it

is compulsory for religious lectures to take place in Mosques. But

this is not true, for lectures can take place in Mosques, in schools,

in institutes, in houses, or in other places as well.

One must have foresight, seeing matters as they truly are, and not

as they are seen on a surface level only. One should have a deep

understanding of matters, taking into consideration all benefits and

harms that might result from actions, for there is an important and

comprehensive rule in the Shari’ah: [we must] bring about benefits

as much as we are able to and [we must] ward off harm,

minimizing it as much as we are able to. This principle is

comprehensive for all aspects of the Shari’ah. Were we to say that

summer camps are henceforward to take place in Mosques only,

the people would not be able to tolerate that.

I say to one who disagrees; “Know that the Religion is more

spacious in its legislations than you think. It brings forth benefits,

no matter where they come from, as long as they do not bring with

them an equal or greater harm, in which case they become

forbidden.”

If one were to say that the means of da’wah are confined to those

means that were used during the Prophet’s time, we must make

him understand that the word ‘means’ indicates the opposite of

restriction or limitation, i.e., as long as something is a means and

is not Haram (forbidden), we follow it. This is because the means

take on the ruling of the goals that are sought through them. Do

we not convey the message of Islam to people by means of a

microphone? Did this means exist during the lifetime of the

Messenger (Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam)?

When we read Islamic books, do not some of us wear glasses to

make letters clearer of larger? Glasses, then, are a means of

reading books and gaining knowledge, and we use them even

though they did not exist during the lifetime of the Messenger

(Salallahu ‘alayhi wassallam)? And do not some of us use a

hearing aid device to hear good words? Yes, but did such devices

exist during the lifetime of the Messenger (Salallahu ‘alayhi

wassallam) Of course the answer is no. Therefore, as long as we

acknowledge something to be a means, and not an end, it is lawful

in Islam as long as it is not forbidden in and of itself. Suppose

someone said, “This group of people will not be inclined to accept

your message until you play music that they can dance to.” We

answer, “We will not play music, because, though music is a

means in this situation, it is itself forbidden.”

Overall, I am a proponent of summer camps for the youth; the

organization of such camps is a praiseworthy effort on the part of

the government, and so I encourage parents to enrol their children

in them. However, I would like to warn them about an issue, and

that is that, in summer camps, young children should not mix

freely with teenagers or those older than them, for it is feared that

some trial will result for some of them. Furthermore, those that are

responsible for such camps should be known for their knowledge,

trustworthiness, righteousness, and honour.

They should possess these qualities in the highest degree

possible; to be sure, complete perfection is for Allah (Subhanahu

wa ta’ala) alone, but we should give duties of responsibility to the

best available people. When the scholars spoke about the requisite

qualities of a judge, they said that he should be just. But then they

also said, “If no just judge can be found, then we appoint the best

of the evildoers, the one from them who is closest to

trustworthiness, for Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) said:

“So keep your duty to Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala) and fear Him as

much as you can.” (Qur’an 64:16)

So the responsibility falls upon the guardian – father, brother, etc.

– to ensure that he is sending his young trust to an appropriate

camp. He should go himself to the camp facilities to see who is

running it and how it is being run. And we ask Allah to grant

success to all.

Coming back to the original point, I repeat the need for students of

knowledge to be deep in their thinking, to not judge matters by

their outer appearances. They should always keep their eyes

focused on the purposes of the Shari’ah and on the good the

Shari’ah intends for the creation. They should not forbid a

beneficial thing or one that prevents a greater evil, unless the

Shari’ah itself forbids that thing. When the Shari’ah mentions

something to be forbidden, we automatically know there is no

benefit in it or at least that its harm is greater than its benefit.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-‘Uthaymeen