Is Everything Haram Until Proven Halal?
Hanafi Fiqh
Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Assalam alaykum
Is everything haram until proven halal?
Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,
The basis in most matters is permission (ibaha) as understood from the Qur’anic verse, “He is the One Who created everything in the earth for you.” [2:29]
Something would only subsequently be deemed interdicted in the presence of a revelatory text indicating as such.
There are, of course, exceptions such as meat and the opposite gender, for instance. In both of these, the basis would be prohibition (hurma) unless clearly established otherwise.
[Ibn ‘Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, quoting Ibn al-Humam; ShaykhiZada, Majma‘ al-Anhur Sharh al-Multaqa; Ibn Nujaym, al-Asbah wa al-Naza’ir]
Please also see: A Reader On Gender Interaction and: The Issue of Halal Meat (A Detailed Article)
And Allah Most High knows best.
قال في مجمع الأنهر: واعلم أن الأصل في الأشياء كلها سوى الفروج الإباحة قال الله تعالى {هو الذي خلق لكم ما في الأرض جميعا} [البقرة: ٢٩] وقال {كلوا مما في الأرض حلالا طيبا} [البقرة: ١٦٨] وإنما تثبت الحرمة بعارض نص مطلق أو خبر مروي فما لم يوجد شيء من الدلائل المحرمة فهي على الإباحة
وقال في ردّ المحتار: مطلب المختار أن الأصل في الأشياء الإباحة: أقول: وصرح في التحرير بأن المختار أن الأصل الإباحة عند الجمهور من الحنفية والشافعية اهـ وتبعه تلميذه العلامة قاسم، وجرى عليه في الهداية من فصل الحداد، وفي الخانية من أوائل الحظر والإباحة
wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.
