The Difference Between Zuhd and Wara'
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the difference between zuhd and wara'? Wara'? Yes. And is it true that true zuhd is leaving forbidden things?
Answer:
Zuhd is leaving the excesses that a person does not need. A person takes what he needs of money, clothing, and housing, and leaves the surplus. This allows him to occupy himself with worship. This is zuhd: leaving the excess, the excess of wealth, meaning what is more than his need. Zuhd is not that a person leaves something he needs; that is not permissible. A person takes what he needs of food, clothing, housing, and a vehicle. Zuhd is in the hearts; zuhd is the mindfulness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the hearts, not in outward appearances. As for wara', wara' means that a person leaves a doubtful matter. There is a doubtful matter: is it lawful or forbidden? He does not know if it is lawful or forbidden, or the evidence regarding it is conflicting. This is wara': leaving it. If he is confused about whether it is lawful or forbidden, he exercises wara' and leaves it. This is wara'. Yes. Some people come.
Honorable Shaykh, what is the difference between zuhd and wara'? Wara'? Yes. And is it true that true zuhd is leaving forbidden things?
Answer:
Zuhd is leaving the excesses that a person does not need. A person takes what he needs of money, clothing, and housing, and leaves the surplus. This allows him to occupy himself with worship. This is zuhd: leaving the excess, the excess of wealth, meaning what is more than his need. Zuhd is not that a person leaves something he needs; that is not permissible. A person takes what he needs of food, clothing, housing, and a vehicle. Zuhd is in the hearts; zuhd is the mindfulness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the hearts, not in outward appearances. As for wara', wara' means that a person leaves a doubtful matter. There is a doubtful matter: is it lawful or forbidden? He does not know if it is lawful or forbidden, or the evidence regarding it is conflicting. This is wara': leaving it. If he is confused about whether it is lawful or forbidden, he exercises wara' and leaves it. This is wara'. Yes. Some people come.
Source
الفوزان -أشرطة- أسئلة وأجوبة من دروس التوحيد - أسئلة وأجوبة - الفوزان - ٥ — archive.org (1:27:59)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.