Clapping of hands is prohibited to men, not as a very important and fundamental injunction, just by way of additional education or, let me say, it is something which if you don’t do, for example, that I’ll have to explain to you the terminology used by the various schools of thought before you understand what I want to tell you, because there is no equal in English language for that.
There are many injunctions of the Holy Quran, some are called fardh. Fardh means an injunction which is of the highest order. If you defy that, then you commit the greatest of sins. Then there is wajib. Wajib is also very important, you must follow it, but lesser in order to that of the fardh. Then there is sunnah, which means it has not been mentioned in the Holy Quran, but Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, of course, interpreting some verse of the Holy Quran, basing his order on some explanation of the Holy Quran, has ordered it. And if you don’t do it, then you will be committing a sin, though minor in comparison to the first two. Then in the end comes mustahab, which means if you don’t do it, you’re not committing a sin punishable, but it is for your own benefit that you should do it, because it would be better for you, a sort of adornment to your character.
So this order of not clapping belongs to this category. If somebody is watching a game and claps in appreciation, he does not commit a sin of the order which I have explained. It is not liked, it is not promoted. Why? Because Islam wants people to express their joys in meaningful terms, express their joys in such terms as would benefit them in so many ways. Now I’ll compare and make it more clear to you why saying something as Islam promotes is much better than clapping. Islam tells us that if you see something which impresses you deeply, instead of clapping you say Allahu Akbar.
Now you would know the significance of this. Allahu Akbar means Allah is the greatest. Now when you see somebody perform a very great feat which has impressed you, you immediately fall under his influence and it may create a sense of hero worship in you and you may also suffer from some complexes as well. For example, you may think that he is great and I am so small and you may begin to suffer from some complexes which may take root in your personality. But when you say Allahu Akbar, it immediately relieves you of all stresses and also his greatness becomes very small in your eyes. It doesn’t require anything real and solid and substantial.
You immediately know that Allah is the greatest. Whomever he has gifted with some qualities, Allah’s greatness is manifest in those qualities. He has gifted somebody with greater qualities and some others with lesser qualities. So it is not a personal gift but a gift from Allah and it is the greatness of Allah which is manifest in all these Excellencies. So this is why Allah has asked you or desires you to, instead of clapping meaninglessly, to express yourself in these terms. You understand the meaning?
