Is abstaining from food and drink considered asceticism, and what is scrupulousness?
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The questioner : His EminenceThe Shaykh : What is asceticism? Is it abstaining from food and drink and reducing them?
The Shaykh : Abstaining from food and drink is not asceticism; rather, it is a great evil. If a person abstained from food and drink in a way that harms his body, he would be sinful, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:29] [Al-Baqarah 2:195] And if Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has waived the obligation of ablution and the full ritual bath for a person who is ill or fears for his life, how can this man go and leave off eating and drinking in a way that harms him? This is not asceticism. There is asceticism and there is scrupulousness. Are they the same meaning?
The scholars say: There is a difference between them. Asceticism is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter. Yes.
Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter.
And asceticism is leaving what is not beneficial in the Hereafter.
I will repeat it a second time. Is it clear? Hmm?
Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter.
And asceticism is leaving what is not beneficial in the Hereafter.
Who can explain that to me? Okay, let's see if anyone understood it. Okay, one, two, three, just say it.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Okay, correct. So asceticism is higher than scrupulousness. Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter, like a man who eats and drinks from what is lawful and also eats and drinks from what is forbidden. If he leaves off eating and drinking from what is forbidden, we say, what is this? Scrupulousness. And another man eats from what is lawful and does not eat from what is forbidden, but he does not eat from what is lawful except what is beneficial to him in the Hereafter, and he leaves what is not beneficial to him in the Hereafter. We say this is an ascetic. So asceticism is more complete than scrupulousness and higher. As for the asceticism where a person leaves off food and drink until it harms his body, or wears a light garment in winter that lets the cold in, or stands in the sun in the heat with his head uncovered, or something similar to that, this is not asceticism. Yes.
The Shaykh : Abstaining from food and drink is not asceticism; rather, it is a great evil. If a person abstained from food and drink in a way that harms his body, he would be sinful, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And do not kill yourselves [or one another]
ولا تقتلوا أنفسكمand do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining]
ولا تلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكةThe scholars say: There is a difference between them. Asceticism is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter. Yes.
Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter.
And asceticism is leaving what is not beneficial in the Hereafter.
I will repeat it a second time. Is it clear? Hmm?
Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter.
And asceticism is leaving what is not beneficial in the Hereafter.
Who can explain that to me? Okay, let's see if anyone understood it. Okay, one, two, three, just say it.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Okay, correct. So asceticism is higher than scrupulousness. Scrupulousness is leaving what is harmful in the Hereafter, like a man who eats and drinks from what is lawful and also eats and drinks from what is forbidden. If he leaves off eating and drinking from what is forbidden, we say, what is this? Scrupulousness. And another man eats from what is lawful and does not eat from what is forbidden, but he does not eat from what is lawful except what is beneficial to him in the Hereafter, and he leaves what is not beneficial to him in the Hereafter. We say this is an ascetic. So asceticism is more complete than scrupulousness and higher. As for the asceticism where a person leaves off food and drink until it harms his body, or wears a light garment in winter that lets the cold in, or stands in the sun in the heat with his head uncovered, or something similar to that, this is not asceticism. Yes.