STOP - FORBIDDEN LIMITS
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Whatever I forbid you, then avoid it, and
whatever I enjoined, then perform of it what you can (Muslim)
The forbidden things are the limits set by Allah, "These
are the limits set by Allah so approach them not." [2:187]
Allah indeed has threatened whoever transgresses these limits
and violates them when He said, "And whosoever disobeys Allah
and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will cast
him into the Fire, to abide therein, and he shall have a
disgraceful torment." [4:14]
"Whatever I forbid you, then avoid it, and whatever I
enjoined, then perform of it what you can." (Muslim)
Avoiding what is forbidden is an obligation because the
Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wasallam, said, "Whatever I forbid
you, then avoid it, and whatever I enjoined, then perform of
it what you can." (Muslim) What is often observed is that when
one of those who follow their temptations and lack knowledge,
hears of the things forbidden being enumerated, he gets upset
and complains, saying: "Everything is forbidden, you did not
leave a thing but made it forbidden, you made our life
impossible, you are oppressing us, you have nothing but what
is forbidden and disliked. The deen is easy and the matter is
widely interpreted, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving,
Oft-Pardoning." To answer these people we say:
Allah judges what He wills, there is none to put back His
judgment and He is the All-Knower, the All-Aware of things,
therefore He makes lawful whatever He wills and He forbids
whatever He wills. It is the essence of our worship to Allah
to accept what He ruled and to submit completely. His laws
originate from His Knowledge, His Wisdom and His Justice, "And
the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in
justice. None can change His Words. And He is the All-Hearer,
the All-Knower." [6:115]
Allah the Almighty has made clear to us the criterion upon
which is decided the lawful and the unlawful, when He says,
"For He commands them what is good and forbids them what is
evil." [7:157] Therefore what is good is lawful and what is
evil is unlawful. Deciding what is permitted and what is
forbidden is Allah's right and His Alone, and whoever claims
it is his right or another person's right beside Allah is a
Kafir (disbeliever) and has committed a major Kufr, such
disbelief that takes him out of the Islamic creed, "Or have
they partners with Allah, who have instituted for them a
religion which Allah has not allowed?" [42:21]
Besides, it is not permitted for anyone to talk about what
is lawful and what is unlawful except for the people of
knowledge who are well acquainted with the Qur'an and the
Sunnah. Those who decide what is lawful and what is not
without any knowledge have been greatly warned by Allah, "And
say not that which your tongues put forth falsely: 'This is
lawful and this is forbidden,' so as to invent lies against
Allah..." [16:116] The unquestionably forbidden things are
mentioned in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah, such as in the
following verse: "Say (O Muhammad): Come, I will recite what
your Lord has prohibited you from: join not anything in
worship with Him; be good and dutiful to your parents; kill
not your children because of poverty..." [6:151] Likewise,
numerous prohibitions were mentioned in the Sunnah, such as
what the Prophet, sallallahu alayhe wasallam, said: "Verily,
Allah has forbidden selling wine, dead animals, the flesh of
swine, and idols' statues." (Abu Dawud) And he also said:
"Verily, when Allah forbids one thing He also forbids its
value [i.e., selling it]" (Ad-Daraqutni)
Some texts may mention the prohibition concerning a certain
type such as what is mentioned in the Qur'an concerning food,
"Forbidden to you are the dead animals (not slaughtered),
blood, the flesh of swine, and the meat of that which has been
slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, or has been
slaughtered for idols etc., or on which Allah's Name has not
been mentioned while slaughtering, and that which has been
killed by strangling or by a violent blow, or by a headlong
fall, or by the goring of horns, and that which has been
partly eaten by a wild animal -unless you are able to
slaughter it before its death, and that which is sacrificed on
stone altars." [5:3] Another example is what Allah mentioned
concerning marriage: "Forbidden to you (for marriage) are your
mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters,
your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's
daughters, your foster mother who gave you suck, your foster
milk-suckling sisters, your wives' mothers..." [4:23] Allah ta
ala also mentioned what is prohibited to earn, saying:
"Whereas Allah has permitted trading and forbidden usury..."
[2:275]
Allah Who is Merciful to His servants, has made lawful to
us innumerable good things, we can not even imagine their
diversity. For this reason He did not mention them in detail
because they are so numerous and can not be counted, however,
He mentioned in details the prohibited things because their
number is limited, and so that we can recognize them and
therefore avoid them, as He said: "He has explained to you in
detail what is forbidden to you, except under compulsion of
necessity..." [6:119]. As for what is allowed, Allah has made
it lawful in general as long as it is good in itself for He
said: "O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and good on the
earth," [2:168] And so it is out of His Mercy that He made
permissible for us all things in general, until they are
proven unlawful, and this is out of Allah's Generosity
subhanahu wa taala. It is therefore our duty to obey and be
thankful.
Some people are unable to observe the correct manners of
speech when they hear what is forbidden being enumerated to
them. This is a sign of their weak faith and their lack of
knowledge of the Shariah. Do these people want what is
permitted to them being enumerated instead, so that they
become convinced that the Deen is in reality easy? And do they
want all the types of good and lawful things be counted to
them, so that they are reassured that the Shariah is really
not making their life miserable?
Do they want it be said that the meat of slaughtered
camels, beef, sheep, rabbits, deer, ibex, chicken, pigeons,
ducks, geese, and ostriches is lawful, and also the dead, not
slaughtered locusts and fish are lawful?
And that the vegetables, the legumes, the fruits, and all
the cereals and all other fruits that are eatable are lawful.
And that water, milk, honey, oil, and vinegar are lawful.
And that salt and spices are lawful.
And that the use of wood, steel, sand, stones, plastic,
glass and rubber is lawful.
And that riding beasts, cars, trains, ships, and airplanes
is lawful.
And that the use of air conditioners, refrigerators,
washing machines, drying machines, mixers, beaters, juicers,
grinders, all the medical, engineering, computing, and
building instruments and machines, and all the instruments
used in meteorology, astronomy, water exploitation, oil and
mineral exploitation, and their refinement, and computers,
printers, and calculators is lawful.
And that wearing cotton, wool, fur, animal hides, nylons,
and polyesters is lawful.
And that in general marriage, trade, bail, exchange,
hiring, professions and crafts including carpentry, iron
working, machine repairing and shepherding are lawful.
Is it possible, I wonder, that we exhaustively account for
all what is lawful? So what has come to these people that they
fail to understand a simple fact?
As for their argument that the Deen is intended to be easy,
it is a truthful statement, which they have misinterpreted and
used for the wrong purpose, for the meaning of easiness in
this Deen is not according the wishes and ideas of people, but
according to what the Shariah came down with, and so there is
a great difference between trespassing what is forbidden under
the false argument that the Deen was intended to be easy -and
no doubt it is- and using certain lawful permissions such as
combining and shortening salahs and breaking the fast during
travel, combining two salahs for the sick person and when it
is raining, eating unslaughtered animals under compulsion of
necessity, and other special permissions the Shariah allowed.
In addition, the Muslim should know that there is a wisdom
behind the prohibitions. That Allah tests His servants with
these prohibitions and so He sees how they behave. What
distinguishes the dwellers of Paradise from the dwellers of
Hell Fire is that the later immersed themselves in the
temptations which were surrounding Hell, and the dwellers of
Paradise were patiently bearing the hardship and calamities
which were surrounding Paradise. Were it not for this test
those who disobeyed would not be discerned from those who
obeyed. Those who believe look at the hardship in anticipation
of the reward and as a way of obeying Allah's order to earn
His pleasure, and so the hardship becomes bearable. The
hypocrites look at the hardship with the fear of pain and
deprivation, and so the burden on them is heavy, and the
obedience is hard.
By abandoning what is forbidden, the obedient believer
tastes a certain sweetness: Whoever abstains from a thing for
the sake of Allah, then Allah will compensate him with what is
better, and he will experience the sweetness of belief in his
heart. This article deals with prohibitions that pertain to
the aqeedah, and worship, some of which might take one out of
the fold of Islam. These prohibitions are widely ignored in
many Muslim societies today and the purpose of mentioning them
here is to give explanation and advice, along with providing
the proofs from the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
Last modified:
July 19, 2007
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