Ruling on buying and using Dead Sea products

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

In
al-Mawsoo‘ah al-‘Arabiyyah al-‘Aalamiyyah it says:

The
Dead Sea is a salt lake in occupied Palestine and Jordan, at the mouth of
the River Jordan. Its elevation, which is 399m below sea level is regarded
as the lowest point (on land) on the face of the earth. The Dead Sea is the
saltiest body of water in the world; it is nine times as salty as the ocean.
This sea lies on the border between Palestine and Jordan. This lake is
called the Dead Sea because nothing is found in it apart from a few plants,
and no fish are found in it, apart from some types of crustaceans. In
addition to that, plant life is almost completely non-existent in the saline
land that surrounds it.

The
Dead Sea is located in a deep rift valley; it covers an area of
approximately 1,040 square kilometres; it is 18 km wide at its broadest
point and 80 km long.

In the
Dead Sea there is a peninsula known as al-Lisaan, which extends towards the
middle of the Dead Sea from its eastern shore; this peninsula divides the
lake into the large northern basin and the smaller southern basin. The
northern basin is the deepest part of the lake and reaches a depth between
400m and 799m.

The
Dead Sea is mentioned in the Bible by the name Yam ha-Melah (lit. Sea of
Salt); the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah also existed close to its
shores. End quote.

Secondly:

Using
things that have been produced from the Dead Sea such as salts, minerals,
medicinal clay and other things depends on the answer to a difference of
opinion among historians: is this region the region of the cities of the
people of Loot or not? If it is proven that their cities were there, and the
punishment came upon them there, then it is not permissible to use anything
that comes from this lake. If that is not proven to be the case, then the
ruling on whatever is produced from it is that it is permissible, and it
comes under the same rulings as the rulings on what is in other lakes or
seas.

Has it
really been proven that this place was the location of the dwellings in
which the people of Loot wronged themselves?

There
is a difference of opinion concerning this matter. Most of the historians
and mufassireen (scholars who write commentaries on the Qur’an) affirm that
this is the case; in this matter they differ with some scholars in other
fields.

There
follow quotations from two mufassireen, one of whom is well known in the
fields of tafseer and history, and the other is a contemporary scholar,
confirming that Loot (peace be upon him) was sent to the people of Sodom and
its environs, and that it is the area that is now called the Dead Sea.

-1-

Ibn
Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Loot
was the son of Haraan ibn Aazar; he was the nephew of Ibraaheem al-Khaleel
(peace be upon them both). He believed with Ibraaheem (peace be upon him)
and migrated with him to greater Syria. Allah sent him (as a Prophet) to the
people of Sodom and neighbouring cities, to call them to Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, to enjoin them to do good and to forbid to them the
sins, haraam actions and shameful deeds that they were doing, that they had
invented and that had no precedent among the sons of Adam or anyone else,
namely homosexuality. This is something that was unknown among the sons of
Adam and had never even crossed their minds, until the people of Sodom did
that (may the curses of Allah be upon them).

Tafseer Ibn Katheer,
3/444, 445

-2-

At-Taahir ibn ‘Ashoor (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The
people to whom Loot (peace be upon him) was sent were the people of Sodom
and Gomorrah, in the land of Canaan (Kan‘aan). The names of Sodom and
Gomorrah may refer to their inhabitants, who were the predecessors of the
Phoenicians. They were located on the shores of as-Sadeem (Biblical Siddim),
which is the Salt Sea, as mentioned in the Torah. It is the Dead Sea, which
is also known as the Lake of Loot, near Jerusalem. The people of Sodom and
those who were with them introduced the shameful act of homosexuality, so
Allah commanded Loot (peace be upon him), when he halted in their city of
Sodom, on his journey with his paternal uncle Ibraaheem (peace be upon him),
to forbid them to do that and to address them sternly.

At-Tahreer wa’t-Tanweer,
8/230

Here
we will quote the most famous verses that are quoted as evidence that the
location of the people of Loot was a place that was well-known, through
which caravans passed and which was well-known to travellers during the
Jaahiliyyah and earlier, and after Islam came.

-1-

Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Has not the story reached them of
those before them? – The people of Nooh (Noah), Ad, and Thamood, the people
of Ibraheem (Abraham), the dwellers of Madyan (Midian) and the cities
overthrown (i.e. the people to whom Lout (Lot) preached), to them came their
Messengers with clear proofs. So it was not Allah Who wronged them, but they
used to wrong themselves”

[at-Tawbah 9:70]

“And Firaun (Pharaoh), and those
before him, and the cities overthrown (the towns of the people of (Lout
(Lot)) committed sin”

[al-Haaqqah 69:9]

“And He destroyed the overthrown
cities (of Sodom to which Prophet Lout (Lot) was sent).

So there covered them that which did cover (i.e. torment with stones)”

[an-Najm 53:53, 54].

Overthrown means turned upside down; this refers to the cities that were
turned upside down with the punishment of Allah, may He be exalted, namely
the cities of the people of Loot (peace be upon him).

Shaykh
Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shanqeeti (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The
word mu’tafakah (overthrown) comes from the root ifk, which
means turning upside down???. This refers to the cities of the people of
Loot, based on the fact that Allah says elsewhere “al-mu’tafikaat
(the cities overthrown)”, in the plural. This [in an-Najm 53:53, where the
word translated as “the overthrown cities” appears in the singular in the
original Arabic] is an example of the singular being used when what is meant
is the plural, as we have explained on several occasions.

Rather
it is used in the singular here because Jibreel overturned them, so they
were overturned (in one go). What is meant by their being overturned is that
he lifted them up towards heaven, then he turned them upside down. This is
what is meant by their being overthrown.

Allah,
may He be exalted, clarified this meaning in Soorat Hood and Soorat al-Hijr,
where He said (interpretation of the meaning):

“So when Our Commandment came, We
turned (the towns of Sodom in Palestine) upside down, and rained on them
stones of baked clay, piled up”

[Hood 11:82]

“So As-Sayhah (torment – awful
cry, etc.) overtook them at the time of sunrise,

And We turned (the towns of Sodom in Palestine) upside down and rained down
on them stones of baked clay”

[al-Hijr 15:73, 74].

Adwa’ al-Bayaan,
7/474, 475

-2-

Allah,
may He be exalted, tells us that Shu ‘ayb (peace be upon him) said:

“And O my people! Let not my
enmity cause you to suffer the fate similar to that of the people of Nooh
(Noah) or of Hood or of Salih (Saleh), and the people of Lout (Lot) are not
far off from you!”

[Hood 11:89].

At-Taahir ibn ‘Ashoor (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

What
is meant by being not far-off is in terms of time, place and lineage. The
time of Loot (peace be upon him) was not far removed from the time of
Shu‘ayb (peace be upon him), and their lands were not far away from one
another, because the dwellings of Madyan (Midian) were at ‘Aqabah or Aylah,
in the vicinity of Ma‘aan, which adjoins the Hijaz, and the lands of the
people of Loot were in the region where the Jordan flows into the Dead sea.
Madyan ibn Ibraaheem (Midian son of Abraham), the ancestor of the tribe that
was named after him (known as the Midianites in the Bible) was married to a
daughter of Loot.

At-Tahreer wa’t-Tanweer,
12/147

-3-

Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, you pass by them in the
morning

And at night; will you not then reflect?”

[as-Saaffaat 37:137, 138]
.

Imam
at-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Here
Allah, may He be exalted, says to the mushrikeen of Quraysh: You pass by the
people of Loot, whom We destroyed, in the morning, by day, and by night.

Tafseer at-Tabari,
21/105

-4-

Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And verily! They (the cities)
were right on the highroad (from Makkah to Syria i.e. the place where the
Dead Sea is now).

Surely! Therein is indeed a sign for the believers.

And the dwellers in the wood (i.e. the people of Madyan (Midian) to whom
Prophet Shuaib was sent by Allah), were also Zalimoon (polytheists and
wrong-doers, etc.)

So, We took vengeance on them. They are both on an open highway, plain to
see”

[al-Hijr 15:76-79].

Ibn
Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

“And
verily! They (the cities) were right on the highroad”
means: the city of Sodom, which was overturned, literally and
metaphorically, and pelted with stones until it became a putrid and foul
lake, is on a clear highway that has remained in use until today, as Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, you pass by them in the
morning

And at night; will you not then reflect?”

[as-Saaffaat 37:137, 138]
.

The
“dwellers in the wood” (ashaab al-aykah) are the people of Shu‘ayb.
Ad-Dahhaak, Qataadah and others said that “al-aykah” (translated here
as wood) refers to bushy trees, and that their wrongdoing consisted of their
shirk (ascribing partners to Allah), banditry, and cheating in weights and
measures. Allah wrought vengeance upon them by means of the sayhah (awful
cry) and earthquake, and the day of the canopy (referred to in al-A‘raaf
7:171: “And (remember) when We raised the mountain over them as if it had
been a canopy”); they were near to the people of Loot, coming after them
but living nearby. Hence Allah, may He be exalted, said: “So,
We took vengeance on them. They are both on an open highway, plain to see”

[al-Hijr 15:79],
that is, they are on a major route.

Tafseer Ibn Katheer,
4/544

-5-

Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And indeed We have left thereof
an evident Ayah (a lesson and a warning and a sign the place where the Dead
Sea is now in Palestine) for a folk who understand”

[al-‘Ankaboot 29:35].

Shaykh
‘Abd ar-Rahmaan as-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

That
is, We left clear traces of the people of Loot, for people who understand
lessons in their hearts, so that they might benefit from them.

Tafseer as-Sa‘di,
p. 630

These
verses clearly indicate that the cities of the people of Loot and their
exact locations were known to the people who came after them, and that the
mushrikeen of Quraysh were aware of them. Were it not for that, Allah would
not have told them that they could learn a lesson from them as they passed
by them on their journeys to and from Greater Syria. Allah, may He be
exalted, stated that He had left a clear sign of them, and that could not be
the case if the location was unknown.

Thus
this indicates that the cities of the people of Loot were themselves known,
and there are many opinions that suggest that they were in the area that is
now known as the Dead Sea. There have been recent discoveries which confirm
that, in addition to the fact that this is also known among the People of
the Book. All of this strengthens the idea that they were located in the
area of the Dead Sea.

Thirdly:

If a
person accepts what we have mentioned and clearly sees that this lake is the
location of the landslide and punishment, it is not permissible for him to
use any of these products, or even to visit that place for the purpose of
leisure or tourism. If he passes by, he must hasten to leave it behind and
he should weep.

It was
narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not
enter upon these people who are being punished, unless you are weeping. If
you are not weeping then do not enter upon them, lest there befall you the
like of what befell them.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 423; Muslim, 2980.

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

This
includes the dwellings of Thamood and others who were like them, even though
the hadeeth refers specifically to the dwellings of Thamood.

Fath al-Baari,
6/380

Ibn
al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said, discussing what we learn from
the campaign of Tabook:

We
also learn that whoever passes by the dwellings of those with whom Allah was
angry and who were punished, he should not enter them or stay there; rather
he should hasten to move on and he should cover his head with his garment
until he has passed them, and not enter upon them unless he is weeping and
learning a lesson from what happened to them.

Zad
al-Ma‘aad,
3/560

With
regard to the evidence for not making use of anything from places where
people were subjected to define punishment:

It was
narrated from Naafi‘ that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with
them) told him that the people stopped at al-Hijr, the land of Thamood, with
the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and they
drew water from its wells and made dough with it. The Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) told them to throw away the water
they had drawn from its wells.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3199

Ibn
al-‘Arabi al-Maaliki (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

… The
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed them to throw
away the water from the land of Thamood, and to throw away the dough they
had made with it, because it was water that was subjected to divine wrath,
so it was not permissible to make use of it, so as to avoid the wrath of
Allah. And he said: “Feed it to the camels.” This also indicates that with
regard to food and drink that it is not permissible to use, it is
permissible to feed it to camels and other animals, because they are not
accountable. For that reason, Maalik said concerning impure honey, that it
may be fed to bees. Similarly, it is not permissible to pray in those lands,
because they are lands that were subject to divine wrath and anger. The
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Do not enter them
unless you are weeping.” And it was narrated that he covered his head with
his rida’ (upper garment) and made his mount move faster until he came out
of that place.

Ahkaam al-Qur’an,
5/152

Shaykh
al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade
entering upon the places of those who were subjected to divine punishment,
unless one is weeping, lest there befall the one who enters the same as
befell them. He also forbade making use of their water, to such an extent
that despite their need for it during that campaign –the campaign of
hardship (the campaign to Tabook), which was the hardest campaign for the
Muslims – he instructed them to feed the dough made with that water to their
camels.

Iqtida’ as-Siraat al-Mustaqeem,
p. 80

Based
on that, you should not use any of the Dead Sea products; at the very least
we may say that it is better to keep away from them and look for other,
permissible products that are not harmful.

And
Allah knows best.