Is It Haram to Raise One’s Hand during the Pledge of Allegiance Assembly at School?

Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch

Question

Is raising my right hand and making an oath/pledge during school assemblies permissible?

The right hand is held parallel to the ground and at shoulder level. And we make the pledge/oath while keeping our right hands raised.

(To view the hand’s position, search for Indian or Bangladeshi school assembly commitment).

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

It is not strictly prohibited (haram) to partake in the pledge of allegiance during school assemblies.

As a citizen of a country or a student of a school, there is already a type of allegiance that is assumed. There is nothing wrong with this allegiance, as it is akin to a mutual covenant of rights and responsibilities.

Such a covenant aligns with the Islamic tradition as long as one does not obey anything that circumvents the teaching of Islam.

See this link for more details.

Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he completed four years at the Darul Uloom Seminary in New York, where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences.

He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he studied for three years in Dar al-Mustafa under some of the most outstanding scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib.

In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Quran and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Quranic exegesis, Islamic history, and several texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.