Sh.Kamal Elmekki

Al-Wara'a: The Refined Level of Taqwa

O you who believe, fear Allah and say the truth. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. He who obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory. The best speech is the Book of Allah. The best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst of things are its innovations. Every innovation is a bid'ah. Every bid'ah is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today we are talking about Al-Wara'a. And Al-Wara'a, as one of the scholars defined it, he said Al-Wara'a is to avoid every doubtful issue. So not haram — it's an issue that's halal, but you have some suspicion, some doubt that there might be something wrong with it. That you stay away from that, and you hold yourself accountable every time you blink. And he's hyperbolizing — he's saying every time you blink, you're holding yourself accountable.

Or in another definition, it is to leave the halal, the permissible — not the sin, not the haram, but to leave the halal that has doubt in it, out of fear of falling into the haram.

The great companion Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه used to say:

He said: "We used to leave 70 doors, 70 avenues, 70 areas of halal, just out of fear that we might fall into a door of haram." So things that are halal, they're leaving it.

So Al-Wara'a is really a very refined and a very high level of iman. It is not for everyone. It is for those righteous people who stay away from things that are permissible, out of suspicion or out of fear that there's something wrong with them, or something haram. And so Abu Bakr said: we would leave 70 things that were halal, permissible, out of fear that we might fall into one thing that is haram.

The Foundational Hadith of Al-Wara'a

The hadith first — and this hadith is a basis for a lot of fatawa and a lot of rules and basic guidelines in Islam. This was narrated by his grandson, Al-Hasan ibn Ali رضي الله عنه. He says: "I memorized from the Prophet ﷺ" — he was 8 years old when he memorized this. He was born in the third year after the Hijrah, and the Prophet ﷺ passed away in the 11th year after the Hijrah.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2518; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 5711 — narrated by Al-Hasan ibn Ali رضي الله عنه; graded Sahih by al-Tirmidhi)

"Leave that which gives you doubt to that which does not give you doubt." So it's not haram, but you have some doubt in an issue — leave it, and go to something that brings you no doubt whatsoever.

The Attributes of Al-Wara'a

The scholars say the attributes of Al-Wara'a — someone who has this high level of taqwa and a high level of fear of Allah, and wants to stay away not from the haram but even from something halal that might have something haram in it — are as follows:

Number one: They leave the haram itself.
Number two: They stay away from doubtful issues.

Ibn Hajar رحمه الله, the great scholar, used to say:

"Leaving doubtful issues is one of the greatest doors leading to wara'a." So you leave the haram, you leave things that are doubtful, you leave what seems okay out of fear that it may not be okay — and you leave that which you are suspicious of. And the scholars say this is all, of course, mustahab, not wajib.

And whatever it is — if you're dealing in business with someone and you know that his wealth is mixed, he deals with haram things — here, from the gates of wara'a, from this avenue, you would stay away from dealing with someone like this.

From the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ — this is narrated by Al-Tabarani and Al-Hakim, narrated by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman رضي الله عنه — the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Narrated by Al-Tabarani and Al-Hakim, from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman رضي الله عنه)

He is saying that seeking knowledge is more beloved to him — meaning it is more virtuous and better — than worship. Because the scholars say: when you seek knowledge, you learn when to worship Allah, you learn how to worship Allah, you learn the best times to worship Allah. And that knowledge then transfers onto other people, whereas when you worship, the reward just stays with you. So the Prophet ﷺ is saying that the virtues of seeking knowledge are greater than that of just being a devout worshipper.

And then he says: "And the best of your religion is Al-Wara'a." To be aware and careful, even from the halal, out of fear that it might lead you into the haram.

In another hadith narrated by Ibn Majah and Al-Bayhaqi, Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه reports that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah; narrated by Abu Hurayrah رضي الله عنه)

"Be someone who has wara'a, and you will be of the most devout of the worshippers of Allah."

Examples of Al-Wara'a from the Companions

Remember, we're talking about people who leave halal issues — not haram — but halal issues out of fear that there might be some doubt in them. And we have many excellent examples in our Ummah.

Abu Bakr and the Dates

Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه had a servant who would every now and then bring him food — dates from his farms or what have you. So he brought him some dates, and Abu Bakr ate them. And then the servant tells him: "Do you know how I got these dates?" He says: "Before Islam, I used to do soothsaying — pretend to be a clairvoyant, tell the future to someone. And I told him some nonsense before Islam, and one of the things happened to coincide — it happened later, but by coincidence. So the man was happy and he brought me some dates, and I brought them to you."

So Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه immediately recognized this was not halal money — he tricked someone, and the person brought him these dates. So he said: "This is not permissible." He told the servant: "Get me a glass of water."

Now, fiqh-wise, the dates were halal, because he didn't know. If you happen to go to a restaurant and take a bite or two of something that has pork or lard or whatever in it, because you didn't know, what's in your stomach is actually halal for you. Anything else will be haram — the next bite is haram. But what you already ingested is actually halal. The scholars say it's permissible, because you didn't know. If you can ingest something that has alcohol in it by accident — you were choking, you grabbed a drink and there was alcohol in it — it is actually halal. You don't have to vomit it or regurgitate it.

But Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه — he told the boy to bring him water. And then he drank the water and kept putting his finger in his throat, and he kept vomiting and vomiting until he got every last bit out. So the boy tells him: "You don't have to do that. Even I understand the fiqh — I understand that these dates weren't the most halal. But you didn't have to go to this extreme to vomit."

But Abu Bakr tells him: "Wallahi, if the only way to get it out was to take my soul out with it, I would have taken my soul out. If it killed me to take it out, I would die to take it out." Because he heard the Prophet ﷺ say that every body — meaning every jasad — that was nurtured with haram, the fire is more deserving of it:

(Narrated in various collections; cf. Musnad Ahmad and related sources)

"Every body that was raised, nurtured, and fed from the haram — the fire is more deserving of that body." And that's why Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه refused and insisted. Because the dates were halal — he didn't know — but from his wara'a, he refused to keep it in his stomach.

Umar and the Camels of His Son

Umar رضي الله عنه, when he was the khalifa, was sitting in the masjid when he saw a group of camels pass by — fattened and in good health. He asked: "Who do these camels belong to?" They said: "To Abdullah." He said: "Which Abdullah?" They said: "Abdullah ibn Umar, your son." So he called his son and asked: "What's the story behind these camels?"

There was an area called Al-Hima, where all the animals would go and graze and fatten up. His son said: "I brought them from my own wealth. I want them to grow and get bigger, and then I'll sell them for a profit." So Umar رضي الله عنه told him: "Sell your camels, take back your capital, and whatever profit you make, put it in the treasury of the Muslims — the Bayt al-Mal."

His son asked: "Why? This is halal — nothing is done wrong here." So Umar رضي الله عنه explained: "Your camels are fatter than the rest because they got preferential treatment. People would say:"

"Feed the camels of the son of Amir al-Mu'mineen. Make way for the camels of the son of Amir al-Mu'mineen." So your camels got special treatment because of the position of your father. It's not haram — he didn't do anything wrong — but this was from the wara'a of Umar رضي الله عنه.

He used to say:

"We are like meat, and people are like eagles or falcons coming to snatch that meat." What he means is: people are looking for any mistake, any area to criticize, to point the finger — and we're not going to allow that. There is nothing wrong here as far as Islam is concerned, but the fact that your camels got preferential treatment because of the position of your father is not acceptable. And so he made his son sell them and give the profit back to the Bayt al-Mal.

Umar and the Musk

One time a man brought a large container of musk oil from the area of Al-Bahrain to be distributed amongst the Muslims. So Umar رضي الله عنه said: "If I only knew someone who could divide this into smaller vessels or containers, so we can distribute them amongst the believers." And Atika — his wife and also his cousin — said: "I can do it, and I know very well how to do this." So he refused.

When she asked why, he said: "Because you're going to put your hand in the musk — it's inevitable, some of it is going to get on your hands. And then you're going to go like this." And he wiped his chest and his neck. What do you do when you have good oil or cologne on your hands? You don't wash your hands — you rub it on your clothing, you rub it on your body. He said: "It was intended for the believing men and women. The man didn't come and say this is a gift for the wife of Amir al-Mu'mineen." But it's inevitable she would get some of it.

Now, whatever she would have gotten from the musk that spilled accidentally on her fingers — would that have been haram? It wouldn't have been haram. But this is from the wara'a of Umar رضي الله عنه.

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz and the Two Lamps

We have many examples of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رضي الله عنه, who was the 13th khalifa. A man says: "I stayed with Umar ibn Abdul Aziz at night in his home when he was the khalifa, and he had two oil lamps illuminating the room. One lamp — the oil was paid for from his own pocket. The other lamp — the oil was paid for by the treasury of the Muslims, government money."

He said: "Every time he needed to do something for himself, he would put that lamp out and ignite the other one — where the oil is paid for from his money. Then when he wanted to do something related to government work, he would put that light out and turn the other one on. And he went back and forth like that." Because this is from his wara'a — even though he could have just estimated the amount of oil used: a teaspoon or a quarter of a teaspoon. But this was the wara'a of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رضي الله عنه.

And this is, to some degree, a standard we should hold ourselves to. At work — with our time card, with how much we take off for lunch, for breaks, for Jumu'ah — do we work at this level of detail of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, or the righteous that were before us?

So with that, we ask Allah to make us of those who have wara'a.

The Conditions and Limits of Al-Wara'a

Like we said in the beginning, wara'a is something for the righteous. And the scholars say there are some conditions. If someone wants to behave in this way — to be very detailed, to even avoid the halal out of fear that there is haram in it — the first thing is they have to be someone who does not commit sins, or commit major sins. Someone who constantly falls into the haram cannot now say: "I'm going to have wara'a in this area or that area." Because remember, wara'a is when you leave areas that are halal because they might have doubt in them. So how can someone who constantly falls into the haram leave the halal because it might have haram — while he is used to falling into the haram? It doesn't count.

That's like your teenage son who grows his hair long because it's a sunnah — first of all, it's not a sunnah; second thing, pray five times a day and then we'll see about your sunnah. You can't just grab one thing and say: "Here it is." So there are some areas that are not areas of wara'a. The Prophet ﷺ, for example, said that the first thing you'll be asked about on the Day of Judgment from the blessings of this world is cold water. So if someone starts drinking warm water — "I don't want to be asked in front of Allah" — there are bigger things in your life than drinking cold water, which is halal. Get rid of all the sins in your life first before you get into that. So there is, you could say, a hierarchy. You can't just suddenly take one of the aspects of people who have wara'a while the rest of your life doesn't resemble that at all.

Areas Where It Is Makruh to Have Wara'a

There are also some areas of deception where the shaytan might come in. The scholars said there are areas where it's makruh to be wara'a. For example, if someone has waswasa — they always have doubt concerning the correctness of their wudu: is it valid or invalid? Did they break wudu or not? Here it is not wara'a to keep repeating the wudu two, three, four, five, six, seven times because they have doubt. In this case, it is disliked for you to apply wara'a in this area.

Likewise, it is disliked to leave the rukhas — the allowances. For example, you're traveling with a group of brothers and you are now allowed to shorten your salah. Someone says: "I am not going to shorten my salah. I'm going to present the full four rak'at to Allah." This type of wara'a here is makruh, because the scholars said the true wara'a in this case would be to pray the two rak'at — to do what the Prophet ﷺ did. And we know from the hadith that Allah loves that people approach His allowances, His rukhas. So it is not wara'a in this case to ignore them.

Wara'a in Speech

And of course, there is also wara'a in speech. Wara'a in speech is simply avoiding telling lies, backbiting, ghibah, and namimah, and speaking ill about other people. And again, you cannot have this aspect in your life where you are constantly backbiting and then want to be wara'a in a very fine, detailed issue.

Or someone has wara'a only when it comes to his food — checking ingredients, reading every chemical ingredient, googling what each one is — but then constantly falling into other haram that is clearly and definitively known to be haram. What happens is: this is one of the avenues through which the shaytan tricks people. He actually supports you in being righteous or being very detailed in one issue, so that you feel good about yourself and forget more serious issues that you're severely neglecting.

When I lived in Canada, our imam says he was shopping in a store, and a Muslim woman came to him wearing a mini skirt. She pointed to an ingredient in his cart and said: "Brother, this has a haram ingredient in it." He says: "I looked into it — it's not haram." She said: "Yes it is haram." And then she shook her head and walked away.

These are people who don't care about the halal and the haram in major matters, yet they're scrutinizing food ingredients like a scientist — while in very major issues they're committing haram. But they feel satisfied because they feel very religious in this one issue. So these are avenues through which the shaytan can come to an individual, tricking them into thinking they have wara'a.

Conclusion

Like we said, wara'a is for the righteous. And the conditions are: you leave the haram, and then you leave the halal because you have some doubt that maybe there's some haram in it — a business transaction, a trip, a dealing that you even have a bad feeling about. And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2518; Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 5711)

"Leave that which gives you doubt to that which doesn't give you doubt." So even if something makes you uncomfortable, you can leave it — and you have that option. It is not a command from the Prophet ﷺ, but you can leave it, and that would be part of wara'a.

We ask Allah to make us of the people of wara'a and of the people of taqwa. We ask Allah to make us of those who recognize the truth as clear truth and follow the best of it. And to make us of those who recognize falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it.