What is the ruling on performing wudu after eating camel meat? And the Shaykh’s advice regarding not habituating oneself to asking about what is called by jurists the wisdom and secrets of legislation.

The questioner : My brothers asked me in the Friday sermon about camels and wudu after eating their meat. I was asked, “Why does eating camel meat invalidate wudu?” I truly did not know the reason. I told them, “I do not know, but there is a text from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that eating camel meat invalidates wudu. As for what the reason is, I…”

The Shaykh : I can tell you that I have no answer, and I can tell you that I have an answer. First, I must answer you regarding what I do not have an answer for. I advise that it is not permissible for a Muslim to habituate himself to asking about what scholars call the wisdoms of legislation, or, in your expression, the secret. What is the secret? That if a man eats camel meat, he must perform wudu. We do not need to ask about the secrets. The name “secret” is sufficient; if it were in the Shari'ah, it would have ceased to be a secret. Do you understand? Because, from my experience in this life, I fell into this as others have, except that my Lord guided me. After I had gone astray and used to philosophize to the youth, saying, “The wisdom of such-and-such a ruling is this and that,” I later realized that I would not be able to give every questioner an answer to every question regarding the wisdom or the secret of a legislative ruling. I noticed that the youth who grew up asking me these questions, and I answered them, no longer accept from me, “This is the ruling of the Shari'ah, this is what Allah said, this is what the Messenger of Allah said.” They want to know what the secret is. So, these people have not been stamped with the mark by which Allah described the believers at the beginning of Surat al-Baqarah: . Part of faith in the unseen is that you pray Fajr with two rak'ahs, then four, four, then three, then four. Why is Fajr two rak'ahs and Maghrib three, and the rest four, four? Why is there something with loud recitation and something with silent recitation, where one text is loud and the other is silent? And they give the salam. This is how we must stamp ourselves, as Muslims. Then, there is no harm if a wisdom occurs to us, as they say, “off the top of one’s head”; there is no objection. Because the truth is that Islam is all wisdom, but only the workers understand it. As for us coming to stamp people who do not understand anything of Islam, saying “the secret is this and that,” the result is that they do not believe in a ruling unless it is accompanied by an explanation of the ruling or the secret. This is part of my saying, “I can answer you, I cannot answer you.” Do you know what this question is like? What should I answer you with regarding the ruling? In some schools of jurisprudence, they say, for example, if a man touches his wife like this, his wudu is invalidated. What is the secret? Here, Abu Ali, you have three schools of jurisprudence. You have now departed from this school. One school says if he touches like this, his wudu is invalidated, done, even if he did this. But if one did this, something nice, his wudu is invalidated because there is desire in the matter. We are talking about the school that says if he took from the woman the price of the cloth, for example, and then touched her, but the act occurred, he touched her, even if it was her hair, his wudu is invalidated. What is the secret? Like this, Abu Ali, it is not mentioned. What do I mean? We do not attribute causes to the rulings of the Shari'ah. If we want to speak a bit deeper, although it is not said, we are going to bring a factor that invalidates wudu by the consensus of scholars. This issue of touching is disputed. What is the secret? If one performed wudu from here, and I said from here, his wudu is invalidated. What is the secret? Is there a “why” in this? There is no “why.” What is the secret? The ruling of the Shari'ah is this, and the matter is ended. So, what is the secret if one eats donkey meat and performs wudu? The answer is the ruling of the Shari'ah, and the problem is ended. But if we want to philosophize, if we want to philosophize, we tell you the words of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him). He says, “When the camel was created with an ugly nature, which is hatred, to the extent that it is used as a simile in Arabic proverbs, it is said, ‘So-and-so is more hateful than a camel.’ He says that the one who eats camel meat is affected by something of the nature of this camel. Therefore, it was among the wisdoms of legislation to pour this water over his body, because water is the opposite of fire, and this fire is an effect of the envy of the camel that one who eats it has. So, the secret of legislation requires extinguishing the heat that enters his stomach. The one who eats donkey meat or camel meat performs this wudu prescribed by the Wise Lawgiver.” He and others say that people who eat various types of animal meat are stamped with their natures. That is, the one who eats lion meat is affected by its nature. The one who eats pork is affected by its nature and becomes a jealous man who does not guard his family or his wife, and so on. This is what Ibn Taymiyyah says. It may be so, and it is sufficient for us that the ruling of the Shari'ah is this. Our brother Abu al-Harith, what does he want to say?
Abu al-HarithThe Shaykh : onAl-Halabi : My teacher, I say that regarding the issue of legislation, there is a simile struck in this matter, which is the issue of semen and urine. The discharge of semen, which is pure, necessitates a ghusl, and the discharge of urine, which is impure, does not necessitate a ghusl, but only a wudu. It is not said, “What is the secret in this?” Rather, it is an act of devotion.

The Shaykh : This is the saying of 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). He said, “If religion were by opinion, I would have seen wiping the bottom of the shoe to be better than wiping the top of it,” because the dirt is from underneath, not from above. But this is the religion, so religion is not by opinion.
Oh Allah, Glorified are You, O Allah, and I praise You. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, the morning is bright, stay.
Abu Layla : The prayer, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : We pray, oh Allah.
Answers to questions via telephone.
The telephone rang.The Shaykh: Yes.