Ruling on buying and using Dead Sea products
Question

                Is it permissible to use products such as face and body wash etc, which contain salts from the Dead Sea or other substances from the Dead Sea?
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.