. Y""" (cont.)

Another hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) echoes the meaning of this phrase. In another narration of this hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, Ã ૄ ࢻ t.: Jsf?-1 .;J ŸJf 0ण1 ૆ 0t5цy1 Ã ࢼ ࢽ t.: Ÿ} त ...- {fl ,,, O ; / ૅ , ':QI\ J' ' ' ॴ' '. ' ill\ , · R\' 0lZ..I t.: , "( , 0i S' i T":}\ , Y.. ठ Y डJ.. if , ढण J · C} Y.. J ૉ: ч1;. 0f "If one leaves that concerning which he has only doubt [and not certainty] that it is sinful, then he is [going to be] more avoiding of what is clear to him [as being a sin]. The one who is bold enough to take part in what is doubtful to him as sinful, soon he may fall into what is clearly [a sin to him]. The sinful acts are Allah's private pasture. Whoever grazes around the private pasture is soon to fall into it." "But he who falls into the doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful." This is true for two reasons. First, whoever does not fear Allah and delves into the doubtful matters will eventually fall into the forbidden matters. Actually, it will make it very easy for him to fall into the forbidden matters. Abul Qaasim Qabari once said, The detestable is a check-post between a person and unlawful matters. Whoever indulges frequently in detestable things will become victim to unlawful matters also. Similarly, allowable acts are a check-point between a person and detestable matters. 1 Quoted in ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 1, p. 204. Commentary on the 40 Hadith of al-Nawawi Whoever crosses the check-post often will commit detestable acts as well. 1 Second, if someone delves often into the doubtful matters, his heart will be affected and he will lose the light of guidance and piety. He will then be involved in forbidden acts without even knowing it and he will be blamed for this because he was not cautious in the first place. 2 Furthermore, the hadith also implies that if a Muslim involves himself in the ambiguous matters, he does not really know if he is involving himself in forbidden acts or not. Therefore, if he actually does end up doing something forbidden, he is deserving to be punished because he was not certain if that act was forbidden or not.3 "Like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily every king has a sanctuary and Allah's sanctuary is His prohibitions." The Prophet (peace be upon him) has stated a parable concerning the acts forbidden by Allah. It was the custom of the Arabs that the noble among them would have a specific land for only their animals to graze on, that is, a private grazing land. If another shepherd would bring his sheep too close to this private grazing land, it would be very easy for some of his sheep to cross over the boundary and to start to eat from the private grazing land. Therefore, the shepherd would always set some distance between his sheep and the private grazing land, in order to make sure that his animals did not unintentionally eat from the private grazing land. In this parable, the private grazing land of Allah refers to the acts that Allah has forbidden. The Muslim must be very careful not to tread close to these acts as he may accidentally take part in them. He must set some distance between him and these forbidden acts. In other words, the person must avoid everything that leads to these forbidden acts as, otherwise, he may be caught in a tide and swept into the forbidden acts. This may be one reason why Allah says in the Quran, !I. t ....... 0) J ,.. @ .... :, .... :.. A,JI J J. J :1ૃ .. / . Ú Ú J..__, All *J..l>- र '_J-J.r / / "Those are the limits of Allah and do not come near to them" (al-Baqara 1 87). In the case of fornication or adultery, Allah says, .... z;;yl 1;.fa j / 1 Quoted from Fath al-Baari by Uthmani, vol. 1, p. 551 . 2 Ibn Daqeeq al-Eid, p. 30. 3 What should one do if his parents order him to do an act which is from the doubtful matters? According to Imam Ahmad, he should not obey his parents in that matter. Some of the early scholars said he should obey them. Yet others did not express an opinion one way or the other. Cf., al-Haitami, Fath, p. 1 17. Hadith #6: "The Permissible is Clear. .. " "Do not come near adultery [or fornication]" (al-Israa 32).