A discussion of the rule that “necessities permit the prohibited,” with an explanation of examples.

The Shaykh : This is our duty, and this is our duty. How could it not be?

The questioner : On the contrary, we are fundamentally bearers of a message, and we must convey it to the whole world. We must utilize all means.

The Shaykh : [Laughter] Do you see? So, do you want to export our da'wah in a lawful manner, Professor, or in an unlawful one?

The questioner : It is prescribed.

The Shaykh : All right, we are only saying that these means are unlawful. Your question is: until it becomes feasible for us to establish an Islamic society and create alternative banks to these banks, what should we do? Otherwise, we will stop and fall behind. Fall behind whom? The disbelievers. May we be happy with that, and that is what we seek... No, allow me.

The questioner : Excuse me, I am giving you an example from my specialty, iron. Can we do without importing iron?

The Shaykh : No problem, take it and give it to me. In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), which nations were the advanced ones and which were the backward ones: the Persians, the Romans, or the Arabs?

The questioner : The Persians and the Romans were the advanced ones.

The Shaykh : And who succeeded after that?

The questioner : The Arabs.

The Shaykh : No, do you want to say that in terms of the same advancement and backwardness, who succeeded: the advanced one or the backward one?

The questioner : The backward one.
- The Shaykh : [Laughter, may Allah have mercy on him].

The questioner : No, excuse me, the reason for the existence of a message led to their opening up to the world...

The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. This is what we want. This is what we want, and this is our current reality. Our current reality is that we are backward compared to the two great powers, the Eastern and the Western. We are backward, but are we backward in religion or in civilization? In civilization, correct?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : All right, what harm does this civilizational backwardness do to us, as long as it was the same in the early period, as everyone admits, and you are with us? What harm did this backwardness do to them when they held fast to their religion? So history repeats itself. This backwardness does not harm us at all as long as we hold fast to the rulings of our religion. This holding fast is what advances us, and as I explained earlier, it is the alternative for solving all the problems that may confront us and surround us today. And those who follow their path among the countries they call what?

The questioner : Developing.

The Shaykh : Developing countries, and what is the second category?

The questioner : Advanced.

The Shaykh : No, no, backward countries. All right, and our country here is of this kind. How is it trying to become independent and live without what? Without seeking help from what other countries have, and instead being self-sufficient in what? Self-sufficiency means that when there is a strong country in its methodology, its system, and its law, it can do without much of what you mentioned earlier regarding imports that are not necessary. Now, you mentioned the example of iron, correct?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : All right, why did you mention the example of iron and not the luxury items?

The questioner : Because it is my field of specialization.

The Shaykh : No problem, just because it is your field of specialization, and you are a specialist in one thing, and another is a specialist in wood, does not dictate the research, because the research is broad and has many aspects. So, it is expected that in such research, we agree on a common word that we can be self-sufficient in necessities, because I said in my previous speech: “Necessities permit the prohibited,” but necessity is measured by its extent. So, if we now say, hypothetically, that iron is necessary and cannot be done without, and wood is necessary and cannot be done without, then we need to be forced to import what cannot be done without. But what do you think now? The war that took place in Afghanistan for about ten years, did they use iron and wood?

The questioner : Weapons, of course, all imported by the rebels.

The Shaykh: You did not answer me.

The questioner : Excuse me, regardless of whether it is iron or wood, weapons are imported because they are necessary.

The Shaykh : Those who ended up in the open, how many millions? Where is the iron? Where is the wood? The problem...?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, necessity is measured, for example, by the lack of need for it. They are not in need of wood; they are in need of weapons, so they imported them from abroad.

The Shaykh : No, my brother, I am not talking about the fighting mujahideen, but about the displaced people. The displaced Afghan Muslim people who were driven from their homes and scattered to the winds. These people are living under tents that do not protect them from heat or cold. These people are not asking now about iron and wood, and so on. They want to save their souls and expel the disbeliever occupying their land, the communists, so that they can restore the system of governance and the Islamic state, and so on. What I mean to say is that a nation that intends to live is the last to think about the issue of iron and wood. It thinks about weapons, it thinks about being independent in its actions, its system, its law, its country, its state, and so on. The important thing, my brother, is that the problem, as I told you, needs explanation. The problem is in the heart. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) says, but where are we from what the Messenger says? The one who thinks this way and is raised on this, why is the problem difficult? Because we do not have education based on these noble Prophetic guidelines. The one who lives on this basis of guidance becomes a people different from our people today, who are indulgent and can only be comfortable and adopt all progressive means. I am not saying that this is forbidden in Islam, but I am within the limit that we can do without many things so that we are not forced to commit Islamic violations. So, the example you mentioned is undoubtedly different from the many other imports that are luxuries and can easily be done without. If we save from there for these necessities, let us say like iron and wood, and so on, did you say bank operations or did they increase?

The questioner : I said it.

The Shaykh : That is it; and therefore, when this aspect decreases, it may then be easier for us to put in place Islamic solutions and treatments as an alternative to those treatments existing in these banks that deal in riba. In any case, as I said at the beginning of my speech, one person like me or hundreds cannot provide an alternative to these banks, even though they are established purely by the choice of their residents, who do not forbid or permit, yet they have reached this level of organization. How many years did this matter take? A very long time. So, when a group of Muslims wants to agree to think about obtaining an alternative to put in place the theoretical plan, it may take years. As for implementation, it may take more and more. So, what is the solution? The solution is contentment that we do not expand for the sake of what? Dealing with banks, because we are forced. There is no necessity at all. Necessity, and here it is necessary to remind people of a very important matter in which they err: necessity does not permit the haram, and it is when it occurs. Necessity does not permit the haram that has not yet occurred. That is, one who commits a haram until he falls into a hazard, this is not necessity. Rather, necessity is if it occurs, for example, a person in a desert walked for one, two, or three hours, and so on. His provisions ran out, and he had nothing with him. He was patient and patient and patient, and so on. After that, he began to feel that his strength would collapse and he might perish from what? From hunger. He found carrion, he found a pig, he hunted it, killed it, ate it, it was dead, and so on. Here it is said that necessities permit the prohibited, except what you are forced to. But a person who has not reached this level of need and feeling of hunger, let us assume, for the sake of clarification, that he left the town which is his home after the Fajr prayer and walked in the desert for six hours. His provisions ran out, his food ran out. Something happened to him, his money was lost, everything was lost, and so on. He was hungry. So he was patient, patient, patient until the hour of twelve, meaning sunset, meaning Maghrib. At that time, he felt that if he did not eat, he feared he would die of hunger. We say this man enjoyed by the saying of Allah the Exalted: Approximately, this is twelve hours of patience. We get another picture: his provisions ran out at Dhuhr, there was no more provision, but he did not feel what he felt at Maghrib. He found forbidden food and said, “I will eat now for fear of starving at the beginning of the night.” It is not permissible for him to eat. Why? Because he did not fall into necessity. Is the difference between the two examples clear?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Our life now is like this; the second example applies to us, not the first. Even if we are not late, we still have to do this and that, and not do this and that, which means committing violations of the Shari'ah. No, that is not a justification. This is not a dire necessity if it happens to us; in that case, it is permissible for us to commit what Allah has forbidden. I recall an incident that happened to me personally, first because it is an example of what we said, and second as a historical account. The first trip I made to the House of Allah the Sacred was by land, and my vehicle was a car they call a pickup here, roughly a small cargo car.