Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (3/508)

thousand. People said to him, “He too is one of the Emigrants, so why did you lessen his share?” He replied, “His father is the one who migrated with him; he did not migrate on his own. The one whose father carries him along is not like the man who makes Hijrah of his own accord.” This is compelling evidence of the profound scrupulousness of the Commander of the Believers, ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab—may Allah be pleased with him.

Accordingly, anyone entrusted with any affair of the Muslims must never favor a relative because of kinship, a wealthy man because of his riches, or a poor man because of his poverty. Rather, each person must be placed where he rightly belongs. Such conduct embodies both scrupulous piety and justice. Nor did ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar protest, saying, “Father, I am an Emigrant; had I wished I could have remained in Mecca.” Instead, he accepted without objection what his father had allotted to him.

As for the final hadith in this chapter, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “A servant will not attain the rank of the God-fearing until he abandons what is harmless out of fear that it may lead to what is harmful.” This applies to situations in which the lawful becomes confused with the forbidden and no clear distinction can be made. Perfect certainty and piety require leaving even the lawful for fear of slipping into the unlawful.

This is an obligation, as the scholars have stated: when the permissible is indistinguishable from the forbidden, both must be avoided, because avoiding the forbidden is mandatory, and that duty cannot be fulfilled without also avoiding the indistinguishable permissible. Whatever is indispensable for carrying out an obligation is itself obligatory.

However, should a person be compelled to choose between the two, he may exercise careful judgment and act on what he predominantly believes to be permissible. Suppose, for example, that someone’s food becomes mixed with another’s while he is in dire need of nourishment. In such a case, he should weigh the matter carefully and eat what he reasonably thinks to be his own food. Allah is the One who grants success.

آلاف، فقيل له: إنه من المهاجرين فلماذا نقصته؟ قال: إنما هاجر به أبوه ولم يهاجر هو بنفسه، وليس من هاجر به أبوه كمن هاجر بنفسه، وهذا يدل دلالة عظيمة على شدة ورع أمير المؤمنين عمر بن الخطاب ﵁. وهكذا يجب على من تولى شيئاً من أمور المسلمين ألا يحابي قريباً لقربه، ولا غنياً لغناه، ولا فقيراً لفقره، بل ينزل كل أحد منزلته، فهذا من الورع والعدل، ولم يقل عبد الله بن عمر: يا أبت، أنا مهاجر ولو شئت لبقيت في مكة؛ بل وافق على ما فرضه له أبوه. وأما الحديث الأخير في هذا الباب فهو أن رسول الله ﷺ قال: ((لا يبلغ العبد أن يكون من المتقين حتى يدع ما لا بأس به حذراً لما به بأس)) ، وهذا فيما أشتبه مباح بمحرم وتعذر التمييز، فإنه من تمام اليقين والتقوى أن تدع الحلال خوفاً من الوقوع في الحرام. وهذا أمر واجب؟ ٌ كما قال أهل العلم: إنه إذا اشتبه مباح بمحرم وجب اجتناب الجميع؛ لأن اجتناب المحرم واجب، ولا يتم إلا باجتناب المباح، وما لا يتم الواجب إلا به فهو واجب. لكن لو اضطر إلى أحدهما فله أن يتحرى في هذه الحال ويأخذ بما غلب على ظنه، ولنفرض أنه اشتبه طعام غيره بطعام نفسه، ولكنه مضطر إلى الطعام، ففي هذه الحال يتحرى ويأكل ما يغلب على ظنه أنه طعامه، والله الموفق.