I was in Hamidia Masjid, Newtown, Johannesburg on the 27th Night of Ramadhaan.

Answer

Firstly, there is nothing special or extraordinary to recite on the 27th Night. It is a Night like all Nights of Ramadhaan. However, one should endeavour to spend as much time during the last ten Nights in individual, silent ibaadat at home. There are no congregational acts of ibaadat for observation on the 27th Night besides the usual 20 raka'ts Taraaweeh Salaat.

The rule that 'everything is halaal, unless proven haraam, is not a binding Mansoos Alayh law of the Shariah. Mansoos refers to a rule substantiated on the basis of the Qur'aan and Hadith. It is a circumstantial principle. Circumstances will determine the applicability of the principle. The Reverend gentleman had tried to bamboozle the laymen with terms of Fiqh. But the fact is that he himself is ignorant of Fiqh and its principles. He portrayed his jahaalat and puerility with his endeavour to impress the unwary and the ignorant by citing a principle of Fiqh of which the ordinary people understand neither head or tail.

There are different views pertaining to the view which the Reverend character has mentioned. The other principle of Fiqh is that everything is haraam unless proven to be halaal. In our era this opposite rule, also formulated by the Fuqaha, prevails. That view is: "Everything is haraam unless proven halaal." Prevailing circumstances determine which one of these two principles will apply. According to many Fuqaha and also according to Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (rahmatullah alayh), the second principle (mentioned above) applies in our age on account of the preponderance of haraam. With mountains of rotten, stinking, diseased carrion meat and chickens being marketed as 'halaal' by the Maitah hawkers such as SANHA, MJC. and ICSA, it is illogic and crass jahaalat to aver that everything is halaal unless proven to be haraam. Furthermore, even should the first principle be accepted, then too, it has to be emphasized that the meat and chickens have not been proclaimed haraam without proof. Conspicuous evidence and proofs glittering like the rays of the sun and as huge as mountains have been established. Only after the deluge of irrefutable facts of evidence has the rot been proclaimed haraam carrion. Thus, from whichever angle the issue of the carrion is viewed, whether in terms of the first principle or the second, the hurmat of the rotten carrion has been established beyond the slightest shred of doubt.

The hurmat has been confirmed on the basis of the deluge of evidence and operates independently of the two aforementioned principles.

The Reverend fellow should rather explain to the community which principle he has applied for the permissibility of worshipping under 12 crosses in a Christian church alongside Christian reverends and priests? Which Fiqhi principle has he applied to extract permissibility for his moronic fussaaq and fujjaar colleagues for wining and dining in the company of semi-nude faajiraat/kaafiraat in an environment bedevilled with several kabeerah sins such as music, photography zina, etc.? In terms of which Fiqhi principle did he and his evil NNB Jamiat legalize haraam television (ITV) which is an embodiment of shaitaaniyat, fisq and fujoor?

Your silence on the occasion was correct. If you had objected, the sanctity of the Musjid may have been violated by the hooligan cronies of the Reverend in their attempt to silence you.