he has thereby contravened the Sacred Law; for no one is entitled to kill himself, to deprive himself of any of his limbs, or to squander any part of his property. The Exalted says, “Do not kill yourselves” (4:29), and He says, “Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly” (2:188).

The Prophet’s ﷺ silence about adding to what has been prescribed, despite the presence of a motive to add, constitutes a prohibition against such addition.

Silence concerning the legal status of a matter is of two kinds:

1. The Lawgiver is silent because there is no factor calling for legislation and no circumstance requiring it—such as the unprecedented situations that arose only after the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. These did not exist during his lifetime for him to remain silent about them while they were present; they emerged later, obliging the scholars of the Sharia to examine them and apply to them the established universal principles. Everything instituted by the righteous predecessors belongs to this category: the collection of the Qur’an into a single codex, the writing down of knowledge, holding craftsmen financially liable, and similar matters that were never mentioned in the Prophet’s time, were not among the incidents of his age, and for which no operative motive existed while he was alive. The derivative rulings of this category flow naturally from their recognized legal foundations without difficulty, and the legislative purpose in them is well known.

2. The Lawgiver is silent while the motive that would warrant legislation is actually present, yet, when the incident occurs, he lays down no ruling beyond what already existed at the time. In this case the silence functions like an explicit text indicating that the Lawgiver intends no addition and no subtraction. For when the very consideration that would normally call for instituting a practical ruling is present, and nevertheless no new ruling is legislated, this plainly shows that anything added to what already existed is a further innovation and a departure from the Lawgiver’s intent; it is understood from His intent that one must stop where He set the limit—neither going beyond it nor falling short of it.

An example is the prostration of gratitude, according to those—such as Mālik (may Allah have mercy on him)—for whom it is not established.