Explanation of Hadith “The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear…”

Al-Nu’man ibn Bashir reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said

“The lawful is clear and the 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, and he who falls into doubtful matters will fall into the unlawful as the shepherd who pastures near a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Verily, every king has a sanctum and the sanctum of Allah is His prohibitions. Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the entire body is sound, and if corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart.”

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 52, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1599

عَنِ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْحَلَالُ بَيِّنٌ وَالْحَرَامُ بَيِّنٌ وَبَيْنَهُمَا مُشَبَّهَاتٌ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا كَثِيرٌ مِنْ النَّاسِ فَمَنْ اتَّقَى الْمُشَبَّهَاتِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ وَمَنْ وَقَعَ فِي الشُّبُهَاتِ كَرَاعٍ يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُوشِكُ أَنْ يُوَاقِعَهُ أَلَا وَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ مَلِكٍ حِمًى أَلَا إِنَّ حِمَى اللَّهِ فِي أَرْضِهِ مَحَارِمُهُ أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُضْغَةً إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ

52 صحيح البخاري كتاب الإيمان باب فضل من استبرأ لدينه
1599 صحيح مسلم كتاب المساقاة باب أخذ الحلال وترك الشبهات

This is a great hadith in the shari’ah. It shows that the ahkaam (the legal rulings) of any matter are of three categories:

1. That which is lawful and it is clear and unambiguous
2. That which is unlawful or prohibited and it is clear and unambiguous
3. That whose ruling is not clear and many people do not know about the rulings, but some people do know the rulings of those matters

So those who do those things which are halal are clear and those who keep away from haram are ok, but then there are matters which are doubtful: one may not know the ruling of that matter. It is for these doubtful matters that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned this hadith:

That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear, and between the two of them are doubtful matters.

Examples:

• Halal clear: clear marriage, foods that are halal like potatoes, etc.
• Haram clear: alcohol, zina, bribery, etc.
• Between the two of them are doubtful matters: they are between halal and haram and the person may not know the ruling for it; it could be halal or it could be haram. This is for most people, but those grounded in knowledge will know the rulings of these matters.

About which many people do not know.

This shows that there are some people who do know these matters.

Meaning of Doubtful Matters

These doubtful matters (mushtabihaat) have been explained by the scholars in different ways.

Linguistically, if something is mushtabih, then it is mixed; one cannot differentiate between it and something else. As an example, if someone’s voice is mushtabih, then one may not be able to differentiate between that person’s voice and someone else’s voice.

So, just like a person cannot differentiate between these voices due to a weakness in his hearing, in the same way the other mushtabihaat are hard to differentiate due to a weakness in the one who is trying to differentiate.

In the Qur’an, Allah mentions the mushtabihaat (or mutashaabihaat) as those matters which are opposite to the muhkamaat (clear-cut):

هُوَ ٱلَّذِيٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَيۡكَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ مِنۡهُ ءَايَٰتٞ مُّحۡكَمَٰتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَٰبِهَٰتٞۖ فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمۡ زَيۡغٞ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَٰبَهَ مِنۡهُ ٱبۡتِغَآءَ ٱلۡفِتۡنَةِ وَٱبۡتِغَآءَ تَأۡوِيلِهِۦۖ وَمَا يَعۡلَمُ تَأۡوِيلَهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُۗ وَٱلرَّـٰسِخُونَ فِي ٱلۡعِلۡمِ يَقُولُونَ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦ كُلّٞ مِّنۡ عِندِ رَبِّنَاۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُوْلُواْ ٱلۡأَلۡبَٰبِ

Surah Al-Imran Ayat 7 (3:7)

It is He Who has sent down to you (Muhammad) the Book (this Qur’ân). In it are Verses that are entirely clear, they are the foundations of the Book [and those are the Verses of Al-Ahkâm (commandments, etc.), Al-Farâ’id (obligatory duties) and Al-Hudud (legal laws for the punishment of thieves, adulterers, etc.)]; and others not entirely clear. So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth) they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Al-Fitnah (polytheism and trials, etc.), and seeking for its hidden meanings, but none knows its hidden meanings save Allâh. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: “We believe in it; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord.” And none receive admonition except men of understanding.
(Surah Al-Imran Ayat 7 (3:7) – Tafsir At-Tabarî)

So that which is clear from the halal or haram is all from the muhkamaat, whereas those things which are unclear about their rulings are the mushtabihaat. There is some difference among the scholars about the meaning of the mushtabihaat but what we have mentioned above seems to be the strongest opinion.

Dealing with Doubtful Matters

So if a person is not sure about the ruling about a certain matter, then he should avoid that thing until it becomes clear to him — either as halal or haram — perhaps by asking a scholar or the like.

This could be due to one of two reasons: either if the scholars have not reached a verdict for a particular issue (especially like new issues that occur), or if the person is not sure and doesn’t know what the scholars have said on a particular issue. In both cases, he should stay away from those matters until he gets the scholarly ruling.

Thus, he who avoids doubtful matters safeguards himself in regard to his religion and his honor

He safeguards himself in terms of his religion because he has done what is obligatory upon him; he did not fall into these doubtful matters so he cleared himself of falling into haram. Had he fallen into those matters, those matters could have been haram and therefore he would have committed haram. Furthermore, we say that he is not excused due to ignorance because what is obligatory upon him is to keep away from these matters because they are doubtful until he asks the scholars about them and knows the rulings of them.

He also safeguards himself in terms of his honour because if he falls into the doubtful matters, then perhaps he may actually fall into that which is haram and maybe the people will speak about him: that he is a person with little deen and he has fallen into such and such a sin etc.

From this hadith we can also derive that the Muslim should not fall into matters which will make other Muslims speak about him; rather, he should beware of doing things that could be detrimental to his honor.

But he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful

There have been two explanations made for this:

1. Unlawful (haram) meaning one of the two types of matters: i.e. the clear haram. Meaning that he will eventually inevitably fall into haram.
2. Haram meaning that he has committed a haram thing which is to actually fall into the doubtful matters without knowing the ruling of them – even if the actual matter ended up being lawful.

Then the Prophet ﷺ gave an example by saying:

Like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein.

The Arabs had a custom that the nobles among them would have private land for their cattle to graze in. It was not allowed for shepherds to bring their sheep in the private grazing land to graze in. Anyway, if this shepherd were to bring his sheep close to the private grazing land, it would be almost inevitable that some of the sheep would go into the private grazing land and graze in there. Therefore, the shepherd would ensure that his sheep would not go anywhere near this private grazing land.

This example shows that a Muslim should steer well away from the haram and indeed the matters which are close to haram — the doubtful matters — lest he falls into the haram.

Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions.

So this is clear: the one who comes close to the haram, it is likely that he will fall into haram.

In conclusion, the one who doesn’t know the ruling about something, it is obligatory upon him to keep away from that thing until he comes to know of the ruling that it is halal.

A side point is that if the scholars differ about something — some say it is halal and others say it is haram — it is recommended to ‘keep away from the difference’, by not performing that action; or, for example, some say a certain matter is wajib and others say it is simply recommended, then it is recommended to perform that action. This is called ‘khuruj min al-khilaaf’ — not falling into the difference of opinion.

Also, another issue that some scholars included as falling under this hadith is eating the food of one whose wealth comes from both halal and haram sources. The scholars have said it is recommended not to eat at his house. Others said that this issue depends on whether the majority of his wealth comes from halal or haram sources. Yet other scholars said that it is allowed for you to eat from his food and the sin is upon him; this is the opinion of Ibn Mas’ud (RA), because that person’s sin has nothing to do with you accepting his gift of food. Further others said that he can eat from it as long as he doesn’t know for certain that that particular food was bought with haram wealth.

Anyway, this is an example of the difference of opinion among the scholars with regards to this hadith and how it applies in certain issues. The strongest opinion seems to be the opinion of Ibn Mas’ud (RA), as said Ibn ‘Abdil Barr in Al-Tamheed.

Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it be sound, all the body is sound, and which, if it is diseased, all of [the body] is diseased. Truly, it is the heart.

This part of the hadith shows that if the heart is sound, then the whole body is sound and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. This means that piety stems from the heart and that the proof of what is in the heart is on the actions of the person.

The relationship between this part of the hadith and the rest of the hadith is that if a person keeps away from the doubtful matters then his heart will become and remain pure. Conversely, when one falls into sin and the doubtful matters, his heart becomes weak and open to further attack and disease.