In our daily lives, we are often faced with situations that confuse us about the ruling between halal and haram. Syubhat, or doubt about the ruling of something between halal and haram, is a test for every individual who wants to live according to the teachings of Islam. However, the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has provided clear guidance in his hadith on how to deal with syubhat. This hadith provides us with valuable guidance in determining the right attitude and action in dealing with confusing situations.
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The hadith in question is:
إِنَّ الْحَلاَلَ بَيِّنٌ وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ وَيْنَهُمَا مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ لاَ يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ فَمَنِ اتَّقَى الشُّبُهَاتِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ وَمَنْ وَقَعَ فِى الشُّبُهَاتِ وَقَعَ فِى الْحَرَامِ كَالرَّاعِى يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَرْتَعَ فِيهِ أَلاَ وَإِنَّ لِكُلّ مَلِكٍ حِمًى أَلاَ وَإِنَّ حِمَى اللَّهِ مَحَارِمُهُ
“Verily, what is lawful is clear, just as what is unlawful is clear. Between the two there is a syubhat (doubtful) matter which is not known to most people. Whoever avoids the doubtful matters has saved his religion and honour. Whoever falls into doubtful matters may fall into haraam matters. Just as there is a shepherd who grazes his cattle in the vicinity of a forbidden land that is about to fall to him. Be aware that every king has a forbidden land, and Allah’s forbidden lands on this earth are things that He has forbidden.” (HR: Bukhari no. 2051 and Muslim no. 1599)
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From this hadith, we can extract some very useful rules in dealing with shubhat:
1. Understanding what is Halal and Haram
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) clearly stated that halal and haram have clear boundaries. We, as Muslims, should endeavour to learn what is clearly halal and haram before entering the realm of doubt.
2. Increasing religious knowledge is the first step in dealing with syubhat:
One of the important passages in this hadith is:
لاَ يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ
not known by most people
The hadith passage explains that something becomes a syubhat for those who do not know about it. The deeper we understand the religious knowledge about halal and haram, the more things that were previously syubhat (doubtful) to us become clear. So the first thing to do in dealing with syubhat is to continue to learn religious knowledge about halal and haram to change things that were previously syubhat for us into clear laws.
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3. Beware of Syubhat
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) then gave instructions on the second step in dealing with syubhat, which is to avoid it. So the right attitude of a Muslim in dealing with syubhat whether in matters of work, food, household, and others is to stay away from the syubhat. By avoiding syubhat, we not only purify our religion but also maintain our honour and dignity as Muslims. The presence of syubhat in our lives can be a great test, and by choosing to stay away from it, we show the firmness of our faith and our commitment to the teachings of Islam.
In addition, always doing syubhat brings us closer to falling into haram things. This is because when we do some syubhat, it is possible that some of these syubhat are originally haraam, so without knowing this, we have fallen into haraam things because of our behaviour that often does things that are syubhat. This was described by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as being like a person who likes to play in the neighbourhood of a special area of the Kingdom that no one else is allowed to enter, then one day he will cross the boundary of that area. So is the one who likes to do syubhat, when someone likes to “play” in the grey area between halal and haram then he will one day cross the border of the forbidden.
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This hadith gives us valuable guidance in dealing with syubhat. We should always strive to understand the boundaries between halal and haram, increase our religious knowledge, and be cautious of syubhat in order to protect our religion and honour. By following the instructions given in this hadith, we can live our lives in accordance with the teachings of Islam and gain blessings from Allah ﷻ. I hope this article is useful for all growing Muslims. Wallahu a’lam.
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References
1. MSc, M. A. T. (2012, December 7). Meninggalkan Perkara Syubhat. Rumaysho.com. https://rumaysho.com/3022-meninggalkan-perkara-syubhat.html
2. الدرر السنية – الموسوعة الحديثية – شروح الأحاديث. (n.d.). Dorar.net. Retrieved April 1, 2024, from https://dorar.net/hadith/sharh/66462
3. Alukah. (n.d.). Sharh Hadis “Innal-Halaala Bayyinun, Wa Innal-Haraama Bayyinun, Wa Bainahumaa Umurun Mushtabihat” [Explanation of the Hadith “Indeed, Halal is clear, and Haram is clear, and between them are doubtful matters”]. Retrieved from https://www.alukah.net/sharia/0/95130/