06_Halal & Haram

Hadith

On the authority ofAnNumanIbnBasheer (ra), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear, and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters [eventually] falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it be whole, all the body is whole, and which, if it is diseased, all of [the body] is diseased. Truly, it is the heart.” [Bukhari & Muslim]

The prophet divided the matters into 2 :

1. Matters that are clear (Bayyin)

1. Halal Examples:
   • To drink water is halal
   • To sleep is halal
2. Haram Examples:
   • To drink khamr is haram
   • Riba is haram
   • Killing another soul is haram.

2. Matters that are unclear/ambiguous (#Musytabihatun / Syubhat)

These matters lies between the halal & haram. Within this, there are 2 categories of people :

1. Those who know rulings → These people go back to the initial bayyin rulings
2. Those who don’t know → Most of the people fall into this category From among those who don’t know, they are divided into another 2 categories of people:
   1. Those who fear it and thus stay away from it The prophet said those who stay away from syubhat, he has protected his honor & his religion. What does it mean to protect one’s honor & religion? It means that the person has protected their honor in front of the people by staying away from the unclear, since they will not fall into anything, further their deen in fron’t of Allah is safe as they have stayed away from the unclear, meaning they will not get punished for not doing it.
   2. Those who enter it The prophet said those who proceeds with syubhat, they will end up (sooner or later) falling into the haram. The prophet gave an example of the shepherd :

Note

Why is it that the prophet mentions about the heart after talking about the halal & haram? What does the heart have to do with everything that was mentioned previously? With a clean & good heart, it becomes the driving force within us to make us stay away from the unknown. Because, these ambiguous things will corrupt your heart, and if you keep doing so, it will affect your heart.