The Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Whatever I have prohibited, leave it completely, and whatever I command you, do of it as much as you are able" [Sahih Muslim]. The hadith commentators and jurists explain that this and other texts establish that avoiding the haram (unlawful) is even more important than doing that which is obligatory and has a greater spiritual impact. Allah Most High also tells us that the most powerful means of drawing closer to Him is through doing the obligatory and avoiding the unlawful when He says in the Hadith Qudsi "My servant draws close to Me with nothing more beloved to Me than that which I have made incumbent upon them" [Sahih Bukhari].
This course aims to present the limits of the Shariah that relate to life and conduct according to the Shafi’i school of law. You will understand how to deal with common issues that come up in your daily lives in a nuanced, knowledge-based manner in accordance with the example of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. You will also appreciate the wisdom underlying the rulings of the Shariah and understand the relevance and applicability of the Shariah in changing times and circumstances.
The chapter on the lawful and unlawful is a chapter in Islamic Law that is a feature of the Hanafi school. The other schools do not have such a chapter in their books of fiqh, but rather, this information is dispersed throughout other chapters. The topics covered within this chapter are generally practical everyday life situations that people often wonder about. Admiring the Hanafi fiqh books and realizing the benefits of such a chapter, Shaykh Amjad Rasheed has compiled a book on this topic according to the Shafi`i school by gathering these discussions from classical Shafi’i fiqh books into a single book that follows the arrangement of the Hanafis. This course will be based upon Shaykh Amjad’s work.
Ibn Abidin mentions that many Hanafis called the chapter related to the lawful and unlawful the "Chapter of Abstinence (zuhd) and Scrupulousness (wara`)." This indicates why this chapter is so important to learn. In order to embody the important qualities of zuhd and war’a, a Muslim needs to learn about the lawful and unlawful.