68 – Chapter: Scrupulousness and Avoiding Doubtful Matters

Allah the Exalted says: “You think it insignificant, yet in the sight of Allah it is tremendous.” (al-Nūr 24:15)

He also says: “Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful.” (al-Fajr 89:14)

593 – Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with them both) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between the two lie ambiguous matters that many people do not know. Whoever avoids the ambiguous safeguards his religion and his honour, while whoever falls into the ambiguous falls into the unlawful, like a shepherd who grazes his flock around a sanctuary and is about to let them graze inside it. Indeed, every king has a sanctuary, and the sanctuary of Allah is His prohibitions. Truly, in the body there is a morsel of flesh: if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt; indeed, it is the heart.” (1) Agreed upon; al-Bukhārī and Muslim both transmitted it through several chains with closely similar wording.

594 – Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet ﷺ found a date-fruit lying in the road and said, “Had I not feared that it might be from charity, I would have eaten it.” Agreed upon.

595 – Al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Righteousness is good character, and sin is that which troubles your soul and which you would dislike people to see.” Recorded by Muslim. The word “troubles” (ḥāka), with ḥāʾ and kāf, means: it hesitates and churns within.

596 – Wābiṣah ibn Maʿbad (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he asked, “Have you come to inquire about righteousness?” I answered, “Yes.” He said, “Consult your heart. Righteousness is what the soul feels at ease with and the heart settles upon, whereas sin is that which stirs in the soul and wavers