The Halal is clear and the Haram is clear
On the authority of Abu ‘Abdullah al-Nu’man bin Bashir, radiyallahu ‘anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, say:
“The halal is clear and the haram is clear. Between the two there are doubtful matters concerning which people do not know whether they are halal or haram. One who avoids them in order to safeguard his religion and his honor is safe, while if someone engages in a part of them he may be doing something haram, like one who grazes his animals near the hima (the grounds reserved for animals belonging to the King which are out of bounds for others’ animals); it is thus quite likely that some of his animals will stray into it. Truly, every king has a hima, and the hima of Allah is what He has prohibited. So Beware, in the body there is a flesh; if it is good, the whole body is good, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart.” [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]
Important Ahadith
Ahmad b. Hanbal said that the principles of Islam, in terms of hadith, are three: the hadith of ‘Umar that “deeds are judged only by intention,” the hadith of ‘A`isha, “Whoever introduces into our affairs that which does not belong, it is rejected,” and the hadith of al-Nu’man b. Bashir, “The Halal is clear and the Haram is clear.”
Abu Dawud, the collector of the Sunan, is reported to have said that of the 4,800 hadiths in his book, it is sufficient if a person knows four. He said: “From this book of mine, four (4) hadith are sufficient for an intelligent and insightful person. They are:
· Deeds are to be judged only by intentions.
· Part of a man’s good observance of Islam is that he leaves alone that which does not concern him.
· None of you can be a believer unless you love for your brother that which you love for yourself.
· The permitted (halal) is clear, and the forbidden (haram) is clear, between these two are doubtful matters. Whosoever abstains from these doubtful matters has saved his religion.”
The first thing to note is that Imam al-Bukhari recorded this hadith in the beginning of the Book of Trading (Kitab al-Buyu’), i.e. the book started off with this hadith.
But why did Imam al-Bukhari start Kitab al-Buyu’ with this hadith? What does this imply?
There are many implications. One of them is that these doubtful matters are also strongly related to the things that we buy and sell, that we trade in. In addition, it is strongly related to all actions in the life of a Muslim where doubt may arise, and these are transactions between all human beings.
It was narrated that the companions said “We used to leave 90% of the allowed matters out of fear of falling into haram”.
The prophet (saw) also said “Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt” [Tirmidhi]
The Scholars are of the view that the vast majority of acts fall into one of the first two categories: either it is clearly lawful (halal) or unlawful (haram). Only a small minority number of acts fall into the third category, that which is doubtful or that built on a doubtful evidence. In this case, it is better in piety & Taqwa for a Muslim to refrain from these acts.
It can be noted here that the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, is using an analogy (example), twice in this hadith. From the analogy and the way it is worded (”just as a shepherd who pastures his flock round a preserve will soon pasture them in it”), we can say that the doubtful things are closer to the unlawful things. Because sometimes you can’t help but fall into the haram if you are so close to it. Another example is if you walk close to a mountains edge. While it may be permissible to walk, it brings you very close to harm, and if you fell into it, you may not be able to stop the harm. You place yourself at risk.
Finally, it is the action of heart (through true Taqwa – convinced of Islam & Allahs promise of Jannah) when we refrain from the unlawful. If the heart is strong, sound, without weaknesses, and is full of iman (faith), then this would lead us to refrain ourselves from muharramat (forbidden) and makruhah (undesirable acts). So those with a strong and sound heart, i.e. the heart that is full of love for Allah, fear of Allah and glorification of Allah, will refrain from the doubtful matters. But those whose hearts are diseased and whose iman is weak, may go around the doubtful matters. Little by little they will indulge in the makruhah, delaying things and eventually getting into themuharram or delaying or even negating the Compulsory/Fard actions.
In another related hadith the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, mentioned that: “The heart will be exposed to fitan (trials) again and again. The heart which is influenced byfitnah will have a black spot placed on it. And if the heart avoids the fitnah, there will be a white spot on it.”
Conclusion
There are doubtful matters that a Muslim might face in his/her everyday dealings and activities. This hadith helps the Muslim in dealing with such matters. There is an early ongoing preparation which is needed in such a case – to learn about the halal & haram as well as strengthen ones heart with Taqwa (piety). There are some actions that can help us achieve this task, like: ‘Ilm (attaining knowledge), hayya’ (modesty), zikr(remembrance of Allah). These are things that can help us to identify and avoid the doubtful matters – this is the main point, the key, the principle of the hadith.
“Beware; in the body there is a flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart
