What is your opinion of the one who says that the permissible is among the doubtful matters?
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The questioner : Some scholars say that the permissible...
The Shaykh : Say that, or that?
The questioner : He says: That the permissible is among the doubtful matters?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The permissible is among the doubtful matters? How can it be among the doubtful matters?
The Shaykh : Perhaps the permissibility of this thing is confused for some people. Was not smoking, when it first appeared, confused for people? Some scholars said it is lawful, some said it is forbidden, some said it is disliked, and some said it is obligatory.
Yes, I saw it. He says it is obligatory? How? He said that perhaps a person is dazed from being accustomed to smoking, dazed once, and he cannot pray at all unless he smokes a cigarette.
He said that it is obligatory for him to smoke the cigarette so that he can pray, so that he prays a prayer in which he is at peace.
But in any case, I mention this as a point of interest. That is, when a matter first appears, there is inevitably disagreement. The author of "Ghāyat al-Muntaḥā fī al-Jamʿ bayn al-Iqnāʿ wa al-Muntaḥā", Shaykh Marʿī, one of the later followers of Imam Ahmad, says in his *Ghāyah*: "It is appropriate to permit the drinking of coffee and the smoking of tobacco". It is appropriate, meaning according to the Hanbali school, to permit the drinking of coffee and the smoking of tobacco, and it is better for every person of honor to leave both. Yes.
So he placed smoking with coffee, then said: It is better for the person of honor to leave them both. But now it has settled for us, and there is no doubt for us, that smoking is forbidden because of the physical, financial, social, and religious harms that result from it. This is not the place to elaborate on them.
So the important thing is, I say, that the lawful may be confused for some people. Now, letting the garment hang below the ankles is confused for some people. Some people, scholars, not the common people, said: It is not forbidden to let the garment hang below the ankles except if it is for arrogance. He qualified this hadith with this hadith, even though it is not authentic, because the qualification must match, the qualified and the qualifier. But if they differ, the qualification is not valid.
So the important thing, my brother, is that the confusion of the lawful may be confused.
The questioner : That which is agreed upon as permissible.
The Shaykh : Refer to the Book of Foods in jurisprudence, and the Book of Slaughter, and the Book of Hunting, and the Book of Sale, and the Book of Marriage, and the Book of Endowment, and the Book of Pledge, and the Book of Lease. You will find the lawful and the forbidden. It is not possible to elaborate on these issues. The Messenger gave us things in a general form. The rulings are three: a clear lawful, a clear forbidden, and a doubtful matter. And the doubtful matter is a relative matter; what is confused for one person may be clear for another. Yes.
The Shaykh : Say that, or that?
The questioner : He says: That the permissible is among the doubtful matters?
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : The permissible is among the doubtful matters? How can it be among the doubtful matters?
The Shaykh : Perhaps the permissibility of this thing is confused for some people. Was not smoking, when it first appeared, confused for people? Some scholars said it is lawful, some said it is forbidden, some said it is disliked, and some said it is obligatory.
Yes, I saw it. He says it is obligatory? How? He said that perhaps a person is dazed from being accustomed to smoking, dazed once, and he cannot pray at all unless he smokes a cigarette.
He said that it is obligatory for him to smoke the cigarette so that he can pray, so that he prays a prayer in which he is at peace.
But in any case, I mention this as a point of interest. That is, when a matter first appears, there is inevitably disagreement. The author of "Ghāyat al-Muntaḥā fī al-Jamʿ bayn al-Iqnāʿ wa al-Muntaḥā", Shaykh Marʿī, one of the later followers of Imam Ahmad, says in his *Ghāyah*: "It is appropriate to permit the drinking of coffee and the smoking of tobacco". It is appropriate, meaning according to the Hanbali school, to permit the drinking of coffee and the smoking of tobacco, and it is better for every person of honor to leave both. Yes.
So he placed smoking with coffee, then said: It is better for the person of honor to leave them both. But now it has settled for us, and there is no doubt for us, that smoking is forbidden because of the physical, financial, social, and religious harms that result from it. This is not the place to elaborate on them.
So the important thing is, I say, that the lawful may be confused for some people. Now, letting the garment hang below the ankles is confused for some people. Some people, scholars, not the common people, said: It is not forbidden to let the garment hang below the ankles except if it is for arrogance. He qualified this hadith with this hadith, even though it is not authentic, because the qualification must match, the qualified and the qualifier. But if they differ, the qualification is not valid.
So the important thing, my brother, is that the confusion of the lawful may be confused.
The questioner : That which is agreed upon as permissible.
The Shaykh : Refer to the Book of Foods in jurisprudence, and the Book of Slaughter, and the Book of Hunting, and the Book of Sale, and the Book of Marriage, and the Book of Endowment, and the Book of Pledge, and the Book of Lease. You will find the lawful and the forbidden. It is not possible to elaborate on these issues. The Messenger gave us things in a general form. The rulings are three: a clear lawful, a clear forbidden, and a doubtful matter. And the doubtful matter is a relative matter; what is confused for one person may be clear for another. Yes.