Abstaining From Doubtful Matters: Protecting Your Faith And Honor

Summarizing the Deen Through Hadith

I mentioned that if you were to summarize Deen with the Ahadith of Nabi ﷺ, then you can summarize it with three Ahadith. Some Muhadithoon have mentioned that you can summarize it with four Ahadith. And that is why someone wrote in a poem:

That the summary of our Deen can be summarized with a few Ahadith from the best of creation.

اتْرُكِ الشُّبُهَاتِ — which is referring to one Hadith. وَازْهَدْ — referring to another Hadith. دَعْ مَا لَيْسَ يَعْنِيكَ — that's another Hadith. مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلَامِ الْمَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ — and وَأَمِلَنَّ بِنِيَّةٍ — referring to إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ. Some more Hadith — that you can summarize our Deen with five Ahadith.

The Hadith of Nu'man ibn Bashir: Halal, Haram, and the Doubtful

One of the Ahadith — Nabi ﷺ mentioned — we hear the latter part of the Hadith but we don't hear the beginning part, and we don't tie it together. A narration of Nu'man ibn Bashir رضي الله عنه, who was a young Sahabi hearing this Hadith from Nabi ﷺ directly:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

So we hear the latter part of the Hadith but we don't realize the beginning part. The Nabi ﷺ in this Hadith mentioned: إِنَّ الْحَلَالَ بَيِّنٌ وَالْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ — the halal and haram are clear. And muhaddithun and sharihun have mentioned that when it comes to things that are halal in our Deen and haram in our Deen, there is a consensus on that — that all the scholars have agreed on that. There is an ijma', what we call. And Nabi ﷺ has mentioned explicitly certain things to be halal, certain things to be haram. It could also be from Quranic ayat — we will understand something to be completely halal or completely haram, and there is no doubt about that.

But then Nabi ﷺ mentioned: وَبَيْنَهُمَا مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ لَا يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ — between the halal and haram there are matters and affairs which are doubtful, and many people do not know about this. لَا يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ — many do not know about this.

So Nabi ﷺ mentioned that many do not know about this because it is possible that some of the mujtahidun and some of the fuqaha are able to derive the exact ruling, even though there might be a difference of opinion amongst the fuqaha themselves. But for those that are muqallidoon — those that just follow the scholars, which are all of us — we are not able to derive the rulings ourselves. These are considered doubtful matters, and these are mutashabihat. Ibn Hajar رحمه الله has given different opinions of what mutashabihat refers to. But one is when there is ta'arud al-dalail — that there are proofs which are contradictory, or contradictory to us. One thing might be saying it's halal, another thing might be saying it's haram — one hadith or one or two ayat which might seem contradictory to us. So many people do not know the actual ruling behind that.

Abstaining from Doubtful Matters Protects Deen and Honor

So Nabi ﷺ then mentioned the principle: وَمَنِ اتَّقَى الشُّبُهَاتِ فَقَدِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ — whoever abstains and refrains from these doubtful matters has absolved their religion, their Deen, and their dignity, their honor, from any accusations.

So in our Deen there might be certain things and contemporary issues that come about that we may not have a definitive answer for — let alone someone who is a muqallid, let alone for us regular people. We may not know the exact ruling behind this. So in that scenario, what is it best for us to do? Nabi ﷺ told us that it's best for you to refrain from that. By refraining from that doubtful matter, you are keeping your Deen intact, you're keeping your religion safe from any accusations, and you're keeping your own dignity safe from accusations.

So what is it showing? Nabi ﷺ mentioned 'ird and Deen — your dignity and your Deen are something to keep intact. If you are accused of something, it's not something that you accept the accusation — it is something that you try to absolve yourself from. As we know the story of Yusuf عليه السلام — he was not willing to leave the sijn and the jail until what? He was absolved from the accusation which was pointed against him. He would not leave until they said: no, tell the king that I did not commit this sin, and to set me free afterwards. So 'ird is something — a person's dignity — it's something that a person takes care of. And we don't want to be accused for the wrong things.

And Nabi ﷺ mentioned how to save oneself from accusations: don't be engaged, and don't become habitual in doing these actions which are considered in the doubtful area — the grey area. In this day and age, we may find different scholars giving fatwa for the permissibility of something, or another scholar might give the impermissibility of something. Well, on the Day of Judgment for these contemporary issues that come about — are you going to be asked on the Day of Judgment: why didn't you engage in this? Why did you not eat this food? When there might be two contradictory fatwas, or texts saying one is halal and one is haram. If you abstain from it, you freed yourself from any accusations. Let alone, you absolved your own Deen from any questions — from even Allah on the Day of Judgment. If you don't eat from it, is Allah going to ask you why did you not eat from it? No. When Allah has given you many other avenues and many other halal options — many other things which are considered to be halal from our Deen — why do you have to engage in it when it's a doubtful matter?

The Example of the Shepherd and the Restricted Pasture

And Nabi ﷺ gave an example: كَالرَّاعِي يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى — that in the time of Jahiliyyah, the kings, or those that were deemed as owners of different properties and lands, had a specific area that only their animals were allowed to graze in, which is called a Hima. And there were boundaries there. So if a shepherd were to graze his animal, his cattle, close to that boundary, Nabi ﷺ mentioned: كَالرَّاعِي يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَرْتَعَ فِيهِ — it is very close that eventually the animals themselves will start to graze in that restricted area and restricted zone. Why? Because the animal just sees the grass — the grass is green there, the grass is green here — it doesn't make a distinction. So it thinks, okay, I can eat over here, the grass is finished here, let me just go over there.

So Nabi ﷺ gave this tamthil — an example for us to understand: just as how the animal, a shepherd is grazing their animal, all of us have our own animals in our own selves, and that is our nafs. Your nafs is very tricky. Your nafs won't tell you to do this or do that. No matter — you can be 60 years old, you can be 70, you can be 80, you can be 20 — you are never safe from your nafs.

The Trickery of the Nafs — A Story

Mawlana Shaykh Faitani رحمه الله mentioned a story in his khutbah: one time a great scholar, a great sheikh, would always make a lot of mujahada and try to suppress his nafs — doing different types of 'ibadat, fasting, and these different things. And one day his nafs was telling him: we have to go out and fight in the path of Allah. And it was such an urge that he never felt that before. So he started to think and contemplate: why is my nafs telling me this? It never has told me before to go out and fight in the path of Allah. Why all of a sudden is it telling me now?

So he thought, he contemplated, and Allah put in his heart the reason why his nafs is telling him this — it's because his nafs can't handle the years of mujahada that he's been putting on his body. His nafs can't handle the amount of fasting that he's been doing, the amount of 'ibada that he's been doing, the lack of food, the lack of sleep. He would rather just go out and fight and die in the path of Allah — so it's done, the nafs is finished, the body is done, and he doesn't have to go through that difficulty. So he said that he addressed his own self, he addressed his nafs, he said: because of that, I'm not going to go out and fight — and rather I'm still going to make mujahada against you.

That's how tricky the nafs is. No one is safe from their nafs — it doesn't matter, until you die. You can be 60, 70, 80 years old — you're not safe from your nafs. And that's actually something Allah mentioned — that when you're older, that's actually a time when you have to be more cautious about your nafs, because you tend to slip at that moment. You don't realize and perceive a sin at that moment. Because when a person is young, they realize: my nafs has all these different desires — it wants to commit zina, it wants to look at the opposite gender in a haram way, it wants to eat haram food, it wants to waste its time, it wants to do all these different things. So you realize the dangerous aspect of the nafs when you're young. But when you're old, you become lax, because you think that the nafs is in control, that you have control of your nafs. But you don't. You actually have to be more careful when you're older to control your nafs.

So nafs is something that sticks with us and remains with us the entire life, and you can never be safe from your nafs. This is why you find Ali رضي الله عنه — at the time when he was fighting, when the mushrik had him on the ground, the mushrik spat on his face. What did he do immediately? He stopped. Because before he was fighting for the sake of Allah. But when he spat on his face, his nafs immediately came in — because he became angry and he wanted to kill him because of his nafs, not because of the sake of Allah. Nafs is with the Sahabah, nafs is with everyone. So a person has to be very careful when you are dealing with your own nafs — that this is something tricky.

The Nafs Cannot Distinguish — Like the Animal

So going back to the example that Nabi ﷺ gave: كَالرَّاعِي يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَرْتَعَ فِيهِ — just as how the animals can't distinguish between which grass is permissible for them to eat, which grass is in their area and domain, and which grass is not and doesn't belong to the owner — similarly, the nafs cannot distinguish: well, this is actually a sin, and this is a doubtful matter, and this is halal also.

So Nabi ﷺ gave an example to explain to us: أَلَا وَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ مَلِكٍ حِمًى — that every king has this restricted area. أَلَا وَإِنَّ حِمَى اللَّهِ مَحَارِمُهُ — and the restricted zone and the restricted area of Allah is what? His prohibited actions — those prohibitions which He has mentioned to us. And a person now is close to those prohibitions? Then what happens? There will be a time that the person will eventually fall into those prohibitions.

Sadd al-Dhara'i' — Closing Off Paths That Lead to Sin

This is why in an aspect there is a usool — a principle — called sadd al-dhara'i': that you want to sever and close off any possible paths that can lead to sin. It's not the sin itself, but those things which lead to sin — we are supposed to abstain from those also. We find that in the Quran — many times Allah has not told us to not do the sin, but rather, don't even come close to the sin:

Don't come close to zina. Don't come close to the wealth of the orphan. Why? Because those things — if you come close — what does it mean by coming close to zina? Engaging with the opposite gender, intermingling with them, or talking with them without an actual darura — without an actual need. Then eventually what will happen is that you will start to engage in the different forms of zina. You might start touching them, you might start hugging them, and eventually it leads to the ultimate zina — fornication.

A person coming close to the wealth of the yateem — the wealth of an orphan — the orphan is young, they're not able to control their entire wealth. They don't go out and say: this is all my needs, I need to buy a car, or anything like that. They're young. So what happens is when you see the wealth and you see the amount of wealth that they have, you're tempted to use it. And when you use it more — well, why use your own wealth? You can use their wealth instead. So Allah said: وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا مَالَ الْيَتِيمِ — don't even come close to their wealth.

And you find many aspects in our Deen where Allah and Nabi ﷺ mentioned that don't even come close to these actions, because they'll eventually lead to those prohibited actions. And this is the concept of this Hadith.

Nabi ﷺ Practically Implementing This Hadith

And you'll find that Nabi ﷺ himself practically implemented this Hadith also. When it comes to this Hadith, we know that Nabi ﷺ — people would give sadaqa to Nabi ﷺ, zakah, and he would distribute that. And what was the zakah that was given? Dates, sha'ir — barley — and sometimes money, dinars, dirhams were given to him. So dates were excessively given to Nabi ﷺ and he would distribute them amongst the fuqara.

One time it so happened that he found a date in his house, and Nabi ﷺ mentioned: I don't know whether this date is from the dates of the sadaqa — meaning the zakah that was given to me to distribute — or whether it's from my own dates, from my own possession. So he didn't eat from it. Even if you were to look at it, however — this is the food which is in someone's house — you would generally think that it's completely halal for you to eat, because it's in your house. You didn't steal it, you must have bought it, your family must have bought it, your children must have bought it. It was in your house, it's halal. But because Nabi ﷺ said: it's possible that maybe a date fell out when I was carrying it outside to the fuqara — to the poor — to distribute it, and that this date actually landed here in my house. I don't know whether it's permissible for me to eat, because Nabi ﷺ was not permitted to take sadaqat — meaning zakah — nor were the ahlul bayt. So he left it. What was this? This is leaving out that which is doubtful, because there isn't a clear-cut proof — it could be his, it could belong to the fuqara. So he left it out.

One time a Sahabi came to Nabi ﷺ and said: ya Rasulullah, a woman came to me and my wife and said that she nursed both of us when both of us were young. That would make them technically foster brother and sister, so it wouldn't be halal for them to marry. So he came to Nabi ﷺ and told him what happened. So Nabi ﷺ turned away. Then the Sahabi came the other way and told the same thing to Nabi ﷺ, and he turned away. So the Sahabi came from the other direction and told him, and he said: فَأَنَّى لِذَٰلِكَ — what can I do about that? Perhaps she is telling the truth. Nabi ﷺ didn't tell him directly to separate, but he was saying what is basically taqwa — that it's possible she's telling the truth. So again Nabi ﷺ was making amal — practically demonstrating the practicality behind this Hadith: when something is doubtful, you abstain from it.

The Heart — The King of the Body

And then Nabi ﷺ concluded the Hadith:

That the last part of the Hadith — the heart — that there is a small flesh, a small portion of flesh in the body, that if this is rectified then the entire body will be rectified. If it is corrupt and if it is spoiled, the entire body will be corrupt and spoiled. And what is that? That's the heart.

So what is Nabi ﷺ saying? The doubtful matters have an effect upon your heart. If you're constantly engaging in doubtful matters, what will happen is your heart will eventually become corrupt also. And your heart is like the king inside the body — it controls the limbs. The intentions come in the heart first, and then the heart gives those intentions out to the limbs: do this, do that. But if you're always engaging in halal, you're abstaining from the haram, and not only from that but from the doubtful matters, then the heart is going to be rectified. And if your heart is rectified, you will be doing good actions and good a'mal.

Practical Lessons and Building Barriers Around the Deen

So shubuhat fall not only in, for example, the food that we eat — but when we find something where some people are saying it is haram and some people are saying it is halal, especially in contemporary issues that are coming about, what is best to do? Refrain from it. You don't need to attack any mufti, you don't need to attack any scholar — just refrain from it. You'll be safe in your Deen, and you'll be safe in your dignity also.

Because understand one thing — in this day and age, many accusations are coming about, be it regarding high-profile figures or just about regular people, ourselves also. You find it within the world of the kuffar, you find it within the world of the Muslims. One thing is for sure: if you are always engaging in doubtful things and if they accuse you of actually doing something impermissible, everyone will believe them. Why? It's because you are already engaged in the doubtful matters, so it's not far-fetched that you are engaged in the impermissible things.

You want an example of this? If a person always has a habit of intermingling with the opposite gender — and they may be saying that we are doing it out of necessity — then if some female raises their finger against that person and says that this person harassed me, it's more likely for everyone to believe that. Why? It's because you are in the grey zone already. Even though it's not a grey zone — a person is not supposed to be engaging and intermingling without necessity — but you are in the grey zone. So people will accuse you immediately.

Whereas when a person is not even known for that — they are very strict with their own Deen — and someone were to accuse them randomly, immediately people will come to the defense of that person and say: this person is not like that. They themselves are so protective of their Deen, they abstain from even the doubtful matters — how can they get involved in something haram? So this is how we build barriers around our Deen.

And this is for example what we find in our salah also — Allah and Nabi ﷺ has given us fardh salah and there is the sunnah. If shaitan is trying to attack the sunnah — trying to make you forget about the sunnah, trying to let you forsake the sunnah — now if you don't even pray your sunnah at all and you are just praying your fardh, what happens? There is no barrier around the fardh. Shaitan has a direct target. He is going to eventually attack your fardh salah. He is going to say: give it up somehow, sleep through it, you are tired, make qadha of it. In our Deen, you are supposed to build barriers — especially with doubtful matters — those are the barriers. Stay away from that, and you will be safe with your own dignity and your Deen.

So may Allah give us the tawfeeq and the ability to refrain from doubtful matters. وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

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