السّلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Years ago, three years to be exact, I had read the following fatwa on the website of Darul Ifta (which issues Fatwa’s – a ruling on a point of Islamic law or Shariah given by a recognized authority), the department of Dar al Ulum Deoband (India)  if its okay for a believer to call himself / herself a ‘fan’ of a scholar or a pious person? And would that amount to hero worship? 

And here’s the ruling, here’s the whole Q & A:

Question: 36209

Question: “I wish to know if it is allowed in Islam to call oneself a fan of someone i.e. Maulana A***** M***** or Maulana **** or will it become a form of hero worship?”

Answer: 36209 (Fatwa: 135/L=69/TL=1433)

Answer: There is no harm if someone becomes fan of someone as a result of his knowledge and religiousness or says that he is his fan. It belongs to inner attachment and can happen with anyone. It is proved from salaf and khalaf that many amongst them have been devotees* of some one. It is the result of changing world that now people are fan of film actresses instead of God-fearing people and religious scholars. May Almighty Allah save us!

Allah (Subhana Wa Ta’ala) knows Best.

Darul Ifta,
Darul Uloom Deoband.

 * * *

*Note: Lest the word ‘devotee’ be misconstrued, misinterpreted, misunderstood or ‘quoted out of context’  and you pass a fatwa against…the fatwa, here are the definitions of the same by the following dictionaries:

Oxford: A person who is very interested in and enthusiastic about someone or something.

Cambridge: A ​person who ​strongly ​admires a ​particular ​person or is ​extremely ​interested in a ​subject.

Princeton University: An ardent follower and admirer.

Dictionary.com: An enthusiastic follower.

Macmillan: Someone who is very enthusiastic about something.

Merriam Webster: An ardent follower, supporter, or enthusiast (as of a religion, art form, or sport).

That’s al-right then.

وعليكم السلام و رحمة الله و بركاته