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Allah (swt) reveals a rule and provides a legal reason or
cause(Illah). In this case, when a new situation arises that carries
the same Illah, then the original rule can be extended to the new
issue.
Why is it said that Ibadats (rituals) are not reasoned?
Firstly let us provide
a context for this discussion. When we talk about the reason for
something we mean the Shar'ii Illah (divine reason). That is the
reason Allah (Subhanahu wa ta'aala) gave for why He (subhanahu wa
ta'aala) legislated the rule. The short of it is the matters
pertaining to the Ibdaat (worships), Morals, Clothing and foodstuffs
have not been accompanied by an Illah for us. So for example Rasool
Allah (sallAllahu alaihi wasallam) said: ''Khamr
(intoxicants/alcohol) has been forbidden for itself.'' Therefore
someone cannot argue that Khamr intoxicates and that is the Illah,
otherwise it would be allowed to drink drinks which contain 5%
alcohol content as long as you didn't drink enough to intoxicate,
this is incorrect as even one drop of alcohol intentionally
consumed is a sin. In the absence of the Illah in these areas many
began to concoct them in order to justify why Allah allowed women to
wear silk but forbade man, or why men are not allowed to wear gold
why women can adorn it. This is a dangerous mentality to possess
because the absence of the illah (reason) leads to the absence of
the rule. So some say that man cannot wear silk because it is
contrary to the reason for the rule, which they determine is
modesty. But if in a society everyone wears silk, and therefore
wearing silk is no longer seen to be immodest, then the rule could
be deemed to no longer exist, but this is completely incorrect. Some
also say that the Illah for fasting is to remove the toxins from the
body and therefore the Illah is its benefit to the health of the
person. But what if eminent doctors agree that it is harmful to the
body, would we stop fasting? No because we fast for Allah's sake
alone as an act of worship. If we try to concoct an Illah (reason) we
are trying to comprehend the intentions of Allah na'uzubilla, may
Allah save us from this mentality, how can human beings determine
the intentions of the legislator unless he (subhanhu wa ta'aala)
informed us of this in the Qur'an or through His Rasool. For example
Rasool Allahsaid in a Hadith ''Muslims are
partners (associates) in three things: in water, pastures and fire''. This
Hadith did not include Illah (reason), and this could imply that
these three things are the only ones which represent public property
with no consideration given to their depiction for the community's
need for them. However, if one scrutinised the issue he would find
that the Prophet allowed the possession of water in At-Taif and
Khaybar by individuals, and they actually possessed it for the
purpose of irrigating their plants and farms. Had the sharing
(association) of water been just because it is water and not because
of the consideration of the community's need for it, then he would
not have allowed individuals to possess it. So from the saying of
the Prophet , ''Muslims are partners
(associates) in three things: in water, pastures and fire''
and from his permission to individuals to possess the water, it can
be deduced that the Illah (reason) of partnership in the water,
pastures and fire, is their being of the community utilities that
are indispensable to the community. So the Hadith mentioned the
three (things) but they are reasoned as being community utilities.
Therefore this Illah (reason) goes along with the reasoned (rule) in
existence and in absence. So anything that qualifies as being of the
community utilities (roads, hospitals, parks, universities. .etc) is
considered a public property, whether or not it was water, pasture
or fire i.e. whether it was specifically mentioned in the Hadith or
not. If it ceased to be of the community utilities, even if it was
mentioned in the Hadith like the water it would not be a community
utility, it would rather be of the things which can be possessed
individually. The criteria for determining things to be a public
utility is that it is anything which, if not available to the
community, whether the community was a group of bedouins a village,
city, or a State, would cause them to disperse in search of it, then
it would be considered of the community utilities, like the water
sources, forests of firewood, pastures of livestock and the like.
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