The Edge
While on evening walk, I asked my younger son who was on his bicycle not to go too near to the edge, as he was almost on the edge of the slope which even though was not very steep, but could have harmed him if he would have missed his balance even a bit.
I asked him not to be on the edge anymore as he might slip, and fall into the hole.
The terms like The Edge, Too Close, The Fall, The Slope all reminded me of a beautiful hadith.
The hadith is –
An-Nu`man ibn Bashir (r.a) narrated: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying –
“The halal (lawful) is clear and the haram (prohibited) is clear, and between them are unclear matters that are unknown to most people.
Thus, he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his deen and his honor, and whoever indulges in them, has indulged in the haram (prohibited).
It is like a shepherd who herds his sheep too close to a preserved sanctuary, and they will eventually graze in it.
Every king has a sanctuary, and sanctuary of Allah is what He has made haram (prohibited).
There lies within the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily, this piece is the heart.”
(Bukhari and Muslim)
SubhanAllah! How clearly Allah Al- Haadi – The Best to Guide has highlighted that we should avoid doubtful and ambiguous matters, as it is like being on the edge of the slope which might make us fall into that which is harmful for us.
As believers, we should avoid going too close to the sanctuary, being on the edge which can lead to the fall into the forbidden things, and for this all ambiguous (doubtful) matters should be avoided.
There should be ihtiyat (precautions) to be taken in such ambiguous matters.
Like for example – Entertaining lots of praise and appreciation might lead that person to tolerate zero criticism, even constructive criticism. He/she will self perceive himself/herslef as a larger than life person, and this might result in arrogance which will do much damage.
Another example can be – Giving classes/ halaqas/da’wah to na mahrams thinking it as good, but it is too close to be on the edge to have a fall, as unnecessary interactions can start happening all in the name of so called halaqas/classes/da’wah.
We should avoid going too near to the sanctuary of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى which He سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has made haraam, because even though one has not transgressed the limits, but the chances are quite high to fall for it.
SubhanAllah! if we notice the hadith it further says, “There lies within the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily, this piece is the heart.”
For qalb e saleem (sound heart) we should try our best to completely stay away from haraam and also avoid the doubtful matters. If the heart is sound then the whole body will be sound, but if the heart is corrupted then the limbs and other parts of the body, even eyes will do all that which is khyaanat and corrupted.
May Allah Al-Mateen make us firm on His deen, and may we avoid going too near to His limits, to the edge which might result in our fall.
Ameen.