Is there a difference between saying: "It is not permissible" and saying: "It is forbidden"?

The questioner : Our Shaykh, we have a small question like this. I hope you will clarify the difference between "it is not permissible" and the word "forbidden"? How is it applied to rulings, meaning the difference between "it is not permissible" and "forbidden"? Do they have the same meaning?

The Shaykh : In reality, there is no difference between the two expressions in terms of the result. It is like saying "forbidden" and saying "disliked," except that some scholars are noted for their caution in using the term of prohibition regarding something from a jurisprudential perspective. They are confident that it is forbidden, but they refrain from declaring that thing forbidden as long as they do not find a text that describes this prohibited matter as forbidden. Out of their caution, they do not use the word "forbidden," just as they establish an alternative to it, either the phrase "it is not permissible" or "disliked." Therefore, the expression is a technical term, and it does not mean that the meaning of "it is not permissible" is different from the meaning of "forbidden," or different from the meaning of "disliked." The only thing is that the word "disliked" carries, in the terminology of scholars, a meaning other than "forbidden" and other than "it is not permissible," which is called "disliked by way of disapproval." However, the original usage in the Qur'anic legal terminology regarding dislike is that it equals prohibition, because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: to the end of the verses, then He said: . So the point is that the word "dislike" carries two meanings, whereas "forbidden" and "it is not permissible" carry only one meaning, and this meaning is expressed by one of these two terms: "forbidden" or "it is not permissible." But the phrase "it is not permissible" is used for what has not been explicitly prohibited, just as is the case with the term—yes, please go ahead—"dislike." That is, as the scholars say, it shares and mixes with prohibition, and their saying "it is not permissible" differs from dislike. This is in the terminology of scholars. As for the legal terminology, "disliked," "forbidden," and "it is not permissible" are all one meaning, meaning that its doer commits a sin, just as dislike is what the Lawgiver has prohibited. So the prohibition may be for prohibition, and it may be for disapproval, unlike the word "forbidden" and the phrase "it is not permissible." But the difference I mentioned earlier is that the word "forbidden" is a legal usage, like "disliked" which is a legal usage, whereas the phrase "it is not permissible" is a later jurisprudential usage. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited many matters. This prohibition may be for prohibition, and it may be for disapproval, unlike when he says "such and such is forbidden to you," in which case he settles the matter and cuts it off by stating that it is not permissible to commit it in any way. Therefore, the fruit of this speech, and this detail from this explanation, is that the student of knowledge must distinguish between what is a legal terminology and what is a later jurisprudential terminology, so that he does not get entangled in interpreting the legal texts with modern jurisprudential terms. This is what happened to many of the later scholars when they came to some expressions of the early mujtahids, where they expressed some prohibitions or forbidden matters with the word "disliked." They interpreted "disliked" here as disapproval by way of disapproval, whereas there is no disapproval by way of disapproval in the Shari'ah. As we gave an example earlier with the noble verse, from that, for example, is a jurisprudential branch that, unfortunately, is still adopted by many of the jurists who follow the Shafi'i school. And this issue is that it is permissible for a man to marry his daughter from fornication. That is because Imam al-Shafi'i said it is "disliked," so they interpreted the dislike with the jurisprudential term, meaning it is permissible but with disapproval by way of disapproval. And there is no doubt that there are other schools, like the school of Abu Hanifa, which explicitly states that if she were a daughter from fornication, she is of his blood and his semen. And this semen is indeed forbidden semen, where he placed it in a private part that is not permissible for him, but it resulted from a woman, so it is not permissible for him to marry her, because it is as if he married himself. So this terrible error came about due to applying later or technical jurisprudential concepts to the expression of a Qurayshite Arab Imam, namely Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i. When he came to this issue, he mentioned that it is disliked, so they interpreted the dislike as disapproval by way of disapproval. This is what can be mentioned regarding the difference between saying that something is "forbidden" or saying that it is "not permissible." So one should not interpret the phrase "it is not permissible" except with the meaning by which the word "forbidden" is interpreted, meaning that this is a sin, and it is not permissible for the Muslim, and it is forbidden for him to commit it and to do it. This is all I have.