The Shaykh’s remarks on the principle that dire necessities permit the prohibited, and when the prohibited becomes permissible.

The Shaykh: But many people have become accustomed to applying this principle where there is no dire necessity, calling a pressing need a dire necessity, or even calling comfort a dire necessity. This is a very dangerous pitfall. A dire necessity is that which, if neglected, exposes the Muslim to actual harm, potentially leading to the loss of his life. First, "dire necessities permit the prohibited" does not mean that dire necessities are like pressing needs. Second, even if a Muslim expands the scope of what he considers a dire necessity, he may end up in a situation where there is no necessity at all. For this reason, the scholars qualified the first principle by saying, "A dire necessity is estimated according to its extent." I will give you a sensitive example that matches our reality. Many young Muslims, when they entered Syria, for instance, from here or from Lebanon, if Allah granted them success, they would shave their beards. Why, my brother? By Allah, there is a dire necessity. What is the dire necessity? I need to enter Syria. In my opinion, first, there is no dire necessity. Why? Because not every bearded man is subject to being held accountable. They might interrogate him, they might question him, they might imprison him for a day or two, and so on. This is not a dire necessity. The Muslim, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: When did he say this? After he said . So, it is not the case that whenever a Muslim suffers a hardship, he considers it a dire necessity and goes on to disobey Allah under the pretext of what? "Dire necessities permit the prohibited." No. But these people, due to their misfortune and their poor handling of the rulings of their Lord, before they even fall into the alleged dire necessity, they are already disobeying Allah (Mighty and Majestic). I mean, before they enter, they shave their beards in advance. My brother, how do you know that you will encounter a problem? This is a mistake. But that is not what I am focusing on. I am focusing on what comes after. He entered Syria, went to Lebanon, and returned to his country, and he continues to shave. My brother, when we discussed this with you, you said there was a dire necessity. The dire necessity is gone. Why do you not return to letting your beard grow? Because the dire necessity, even though we did not agree with you that it was a dire necessity, but we accommodated you by accepting it as a dire necessity, well, now there is no dire necessity. May Allah guide us and rectify us. So, Satan plays with the children of Adam just as he plays with those who consume usury or interest, but they say, "This is not usury or interest." They consume usury or interest or are made to consume it, and they claim that there is either a dire necessity or no dire necessity. Also, look, one thing brings to mind another. Yesterday at this time, or perhaps not exactly this time, we were on the road, but after the afternoon prayer - also - an occasion arose.