The Case of Hardships & Necessities

Verses that remove hardship in situations of necessity and permit actions that were previously forbidden include:

  1. His statement, Exalted is He: {But whoever is compelled by necessity—neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limits]—there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Al-Baqarah: 173].
  2. And His statement: {But whoever is forced by severe hunger, with no inclination to sin—then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Al-Mā’idah: 3].
  3. And His statement: {But whoever is compelled by necessity—neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limits]—then indeed, your Lord is Forgiving and Merciful.} [Al-An‘ām: 145].
  4. And His statement: {And He has already detailed for you what He has forbidden you, excepting that to which you are compelled by necessity.} [Al-An‘ām: 119].
  5. And His statement: {But whoever is compelled by necessity—neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limits]—then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.} [An-Nahl: 115].

These verses clearly demonstrate that if a legally responsible person (mukallaf) is compelled by necessity to perform a prohibited act, the sin is lifted from him, and that necessities permit prohibited things (al-darūrāt tubīh al-mahzūrāt).

These verses, among others, are the source of the major jurisprudential maxim: “Hardship brings about ease” (al-mashaqqah tajlib al-taysīr), and the subsidiary maxims that branch from it, such as:

  1. Necessities permit prohibited things (al-darūrāt tubīh al-mahzūrāt).
  2. When a matter becomes constricted, it expands; and when it expands, it constricts (idhā dāqa al-amr ittasa‘a wa idhā ittasa‘a dāq).
  3. What is permitted due to necessity is measured by the extent of that necessity (mā ubīha lil-darūrah yuqaddaru bi-qadarihā).
  4. The feasible is not nullified by the unfeasible (al-maysūr lā yasqutu bil-ma‘sūr).
  5. What is permitted due to an excuse becomes void when the excuse ceases (mā jāza li-‘udhrin batala bi-zawālihi).

From the noble Sunnah: This maxim is also based on numerous Hadith, including:

  1. His statement (peace be upon him): “Indeed, the religion is ease, and no one will make the religion overly burdensome except that it will overcome him. So, aim for what is right, keep to the moderate path, be of good cheer, and seek help [in your worship] during the early morning, the late afternoon, and something of the night’s darkness.”1
  2. And his statement (peace be upon him): “Were it not that I would impose hardship on my Ummah (community), I would have commanded them to use the Sīwāk (tooth-stick) with every prayer.”2
  3. And it is narrated from ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was never given a choice between two matters except that he chose the easier of them, as long as it was not sinful.”3
  4. And from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “A Bedouin stood up and urinated in the mosque. The people rushed to deal with him, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to them: ‘Leave him, and pour a bucket of water, or a large container of water, over his urine. For indeed, you have been sent to make things easy and not to make things difficult.’”4
  5. And his statement (peace be upon him) to Abū Mūsā and Mu‘ādh when he sent them to Yemen: “Make things easy and do not make them difficult; give good tidings and do not cause people to be averse.”5
  6. And his statement (peace be upon him): “Were it not that I would impose hardship on my Ummah, I would not have remained behind any military expedition. And I would love to be killed in the cause of Allah, then brought back to life, then killed, then brought back to life, then killed.”6
  7. And from ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would sometimes leave an act of worship, even though he loved to do it, for fear that if people were to do it, it would be made obligatory upon them. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) never regularly performed the Subhah al-Duhā (voluntary forenoon prayer), but I indeed perform it.”7
  8. And also from her (‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her), that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prayed one night in the mosque, and some people prayed with him. Then he prayed on the following night, and the number of people increased. Then they gathered on the third or fourth night, but the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not come out to them. When morning came, he said: “I have seen what you did, and nothing prevented me from coming out to you except that I feared it (the prayer) would be made obligatory upon you. And that was during Ramadān.”8
  9. And his statement (peace be upon him): “Undertake such deeds as you are capable of doing, for Allah does not grow weary [of rewarding] until you grow weary [of doing good deeds]. Indeed, the most beloved deed to Allah is the most consistent one, even if it is little.” And when he (peace be upon him) did an action, he would do it consistently.9
  10. And from ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) sent for ‘Uthmān ibn Maz‘ūn. When he came, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “O ‘Uthmān, have you turned away from my Sunnah (my way)?” He replied: “No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah! Rather, it is your Sunnah that I seek.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, I sleep and I pray, I fast and I break my fast, and I marry women. So, fear Allah, O ‘Uthmān, for your family has a right over you, your guest has a right over you, and your own self has a right over you. So, fast and break your fast, pray and sleep.”10
  11. And his statement (peace be upon him): “Indeed, the best of your religion is the easiest of it. Indeed, the best of your religion is the easiest of it.”11
  12. And from the Hadith of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: Three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) asking about the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) worship. When they were informed, it was as if they considered it to be little. They said: “And where do we stand in comparison to the Prophet (peace be upon him)? Indeed, Allah has forgiven his past and future sins.” One of them said: “As for me, I will pray throughout the night, forever.” Another said: “As for me, I will fast continuously and never break my fast.” And the third said: “As for me, I will keep away from women and never marry.” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came and said: “Are you the ones who said such-and-such? By Allah, indeed I am the most fearful of Allah among you and the most pious of you towards Him. However, I fast and I break my fast, I pray and I sleep, and I marry women. So whoever turns away from my Sunnah (my way) is not of me.”12

menu_book

From Ma‘lamat Zāyid (The Zayed Encyclopedia/Compendium), Volume 1 (p.404-406)

Footnotes

  1. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 1/16 (39) from the Hadith of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). ↩︎
  2. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 2/4 (887), (9/85 (7240)), and Muslim 1/220 (252)/(42) from the Hadith of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). ↩︎
  3. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 4/189 (3560), 8/30, 160 (6126) (6786); and Muslim 4/1813-1814 (2327). ↩︎
  4. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 1/54 (220); 8/30 (6128); and Muslim narrated similarly 1/236 (284) from the Hadith of Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him). ↩︎
  5. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 4/65 (3038) and in other places; and Muslim 3/1359 (1733) from the Hadith of Abū Mūsā Al-Ash‘arī (may Allah be pleased with him). ↩︎
  6. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 1/16 (36) and in other places; and Muslim 3/1496-1497 (1876) from the Hadith of Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). ↩︎
  7. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 2/50 (1128), and Muslim 1/497 (719). ↩︎
  8. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 2/50 (1129), and the wording is his, and Muslim 1/524 (761). ↩︎
  9. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 7/155 (5861) and in other places, and Muslim 1/540-541 (782) from the Hadith of ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). ↩︎
  10. Narrated by Ahmad 43/334-335 (26308), Abū Dāwūd 2/225 (1364); and Ad-Dārimī 2/58 (2175) from the Hadith of ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). ↩︎
  11. Narrated by Ahmad 31/313 (18976), Al-Bukhārī in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 1/125 (341), Abū Dāwūd At-Tayālisī 2/628 (1392), and At-Tabarānī in Al-Kabīr 20/296 (704) from the Hadith of Mihjan ibn Al-Adra‘ (may Allah be pleased with him). It was also narrated by Ahmad 25/284 (15936) from the Hadith of a Bedouin who heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Al-Haythamī said in Al-Majma‘ (3/308) regarding the first narration: ‘Its narrators are those of the Sahih (authentic collections) except for Rajā’, who was deemed trustworthy by Ibn Hibbān.’ And regarding the second (Al-Majma‘ 1/61), he said: ‘Its narrators are those of the Sahih.’ ↩︎
  12. Narrated by Al-Bukhārī 12/534 (5063), and Muslim 2/1020 (1401). ↩︎
# # # # # #