What is the criterion for a command or prohibition being interpreted as a recommendation or a dislike?
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The questioner : ... This is the issue of prohibitions that appear in the hadiths where no text has come to divert them, so they take them at their apparent meaning. They take them at... And the same applies to commands; if one sees a command, he attributes obligation to it on the grounds that no diverting factor has reached him. So I say this is the reality of the issue...
The Shaykh : This is also one of the serious issues. This is a serious issue, whether regarding obligation or prohibition. I have not arrived at a specific criterion by which all commands and all prohibitions are regulated. Because if you say the default is obligation, you oblige people with many things from the commands. If you say the default is prohibition in the case of a prohibition, you similarly prevent them from many things. The jurists, as you know, differ on this. Some say that the default for a command is that it is for recommendation, because the command confirms that it is a required act of worship, and the default is the innocence of the conscience and the absence of sin. The same is said regarding prohibitions. Some distinguished between acts of worship and matters of guidance, direction, and ethics, saying first that the default is obligation, and second that the default is recommendation. In any case, up to this moment, I have not found a criterion by which all commands or all prohibitions are regulated, because many things that are not obligatory by consensus fall under commands, and many things that are not forbidden by consensus fall under prohibitions. Therefore, a person in this issue cannot establish a rule to follow forever. As for what contradicts consensus, there is no doubt, for example, if a command comes and the scholars agree that it is for recommendation, this is clear; the consensus restricts it. The same applies to prohibitions. But if the issue is one of scholarly disagreement, or if it is not known who holds a contrary opinion, what Allah wills.
The Shaykh : This is also one of the serious issues. This is a serious issue, whether regarding obligation or prohibition. I have not arrived at a specific criterion by which all commands and all prohibitions are regulated. Because if you say the default is obligation, you oblige people with many things from the commands. If you say the default is prohibition in the case of a prohibition, you similarly prevent them from many things. The jurists, as you know, differ on this. Some say that the default for a command is that it is for recommendation, because the command confirms that it is a required act of worship, and the default is the innocence of the conscience and the absence of sin. The same is said regarding prohibitions. Some distinguished between acts of worship and matters of guidance, direction, and ethics, saying first that the default is obligation, and second that the default is recommendation. In any case, up to this moment, I have not found a criterion by which all commands or all prohibitions are regulated, because many things that are not obligatory by consensus fall under commands, and many things that are not forbidden by consensus fall under prohibitions. Therefore, a person in this issue cannot establish a rule to follow forever. As for what contradicts consensus, there is no doubt, for example, if a command comes and the scholars agree that it is for recommendation, this is clear; the consensus restricts it. The same applies to prohibitions. But if the issue is one of scholarly disagreement, or if it is not known who holds a contrary opinion, what Allah wills.