She is concealing her conversion to Islam from her family, and they force her to prostrate to their idols; what should she do?

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Tauhid Lab Assistant · Accepted Answer

> **TL;DR:** She must not perform sujud (prostration) to idols under any circumstance; prostrating to other than Allah is strictly prohibited and can amount to disbelief depending on how it is done [RIS9], [RIS7]. She may conceal her Islam for safety, avoid participation respectfully, and, if possible, relocate to practice freely—all while staying steadfast upon tawhid (affirming Allah’s oneness) and not obeying in anything that is not ma‘ruf (right) [HAD4], [TAF5], [FAT1], [FAT2], [FAT3], [FAT4], [FAT5].

## Core Ruling and Its Rationale

### What is prohibited and why it matters
- Performing sujud—prostration, placing one’s head down in an act of submission—to anyone or anything besides Allah is categorically prohibited. The Ummah has agreed on its prohibition; if intended as worship, it is disbelief (kufr). Even when intended as mere greeting, it remains strictly unlawful; and if it follows the distinctive religious emblem of unbelief (such as idol/cross veneration), it is treated as disbelief by consensus because such “respect rituals” are inseparable from worship symbols [RIS9], [RIS7].  
- The Prophet’s directive is concise and decisive: “Say: I believe in Allah, then remain steadfast.” This obliges committing to tawhid (absolute oneness of Allah) and holding one’s ground when pressured to compromise it [HAD4].  
- The pledge framework for believers includes “not associating partners with God” and obeying the Prophet “in what is right (ma‘ruf).” The corollary is clear: there is no obedience in what is sinful, especially shirk (associating partners with Allah) [TAF5].  
- Protecting faith and the spiritual environment is a duty; reform thrives where the environment supports it. Classical exegesis highlights that safeguarding one’s household from the Fire requires actively shaping an environment conducive to obedience and away from normalized sin [TAF1]. If staying in a place means routine exposure to enforced idol-rituals, seeking a safer environment is justified [TAF1], [FAT2].  
- If her family pressures her to perform sujud to idols or ancestral objects, she must not do it at all; she should not show any form of reverence or symbolic respect. She need not declare her refusal explicitly; she can avoid being present and refrain without confrontation if that reduces harm [FAT1]. When danger is real, keeping one’s Islam discrete is permitted, and practicing quietly is advised while seeking learning and community support prudently [FAT3], [FAT4], [FAT5].

The moral logic: sujud is the body’s ultimate expression of servitude; reserving it for Allah preserves ikhlas (sincerity) and avoids nifaq (hypocrisy). Persisting in outward acts that contradict inner faith hollows the heart; classical commentary warns that hypocrisy and apostasy mirror each other in result unless one repents and reforms [TAF2].

### Divergent Perspectives (classification of the act)
- View 1 (strict): Any sujud to other than Allah that follows the distinctive ritual signs of unbelief (e.g., idol/cross veneration) is disbelief—regardless of a person’s claim of “mere respect”—because such acts are public, unambiguous emblems of worship; a person is judged by the outward in worldly rulings [RIS7].  
- View 2 (nuanced): The Ummah agrees it is forbidden. If it is intended as worship, it is disbelief. If it is a non-worship greeting, some treat it as grave sin (fisq), unless it coincides with the emblematic rituals of unbelievers—then it returns to disbelief due to its public religious meaning [RIS9].

Given these positions, she must categorically avoid the act and any gestures that emulate it.

## Practical Steps, Examples, and Benefits

### What she can do now (field-tested steps)
- Decline the ritual without confrontation: when pressured, step away, excuse oneself to another room, or remain standing/sitting without bowing or lowering the head—do not mimic the ritual or “partial bows” meant as respect [FAT1].  
- Keep Islam discrete if safety is a concern: pray salah (structured five-daily ritual prayer) at low-visibility times, learn quietly, and build a small circle of trustworthy support; discretion is explicitly permitted in such cases [FAT3], [FAT4], [FAT5].  
- Relocate if possible: if the environment makes obedience to Allah consistently unworkable or dangerous, moving to a place where practice is feasible is recommended [FAT2].  
- Scripts for family pressure:  
  - “I love and respect you, but I cannot perform religious bowing. I’ll wait outside.”  
  - “I can help with the logistics, but I cannot join the ritual.”  
  These preserve family ties while protecting tawhid [TAF5].  
- Stay steadfast spiritually: keep the shahada alive on the tongue and heart, and act with patience and dignity; firmness upon iman (faith) under trial has always been the mark of the sincere, as classical counsel reminds from trials narrated around the trench (Ashab al-Ukhdud) to contemporary tests [RIS6].  
- Seek steady learning and community: enroll in reliable courses and discretely connect with a local masjid or mentor as circumstances permit, because faith is nourished by knowledge and good company [FAT3].

- If she has children or dependents: prioritize their religious safety; prophetic judgment in a custody dispute favored keeping a Muslim child under Muslim care to protect religion—showing the primacy of a sound environment for faith [HAD1].

### Benefits for her inner life and relationships
- Integrity and serenity: refusing shirk protects sincerity and keeps worship coherent with belief, guarding from the inner corrosion that classical tafsir links to hypocrisy [TAF2].  
- Healthier family dynamics long-term: politely setting boundaries—“I will be present as a daughter, not as a participant in worship”—keeps kinship intact while upholding obedience to Allah in what is right [TAF5].  
- Focus and resilience: living by the principle “Believe, then be steadfast” builds disciplined consistency that carries over into work, study, and relationships [HAD4].

If family insists on sujud, she should not obey; she can still show them excellent character in worldly matters—kindness in

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She is concealing her conversion to Islam from her family, and they force her to prostrate to their idols; what should she do?

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