Reports
Definition of a report:
Linguistically, khabar means “news.”
In the present context it denotes anything attributed to the Prophet ﷺ—whether a statement, an action, a tacit approval, or a description.
We have already discussed the rulings that pertain to many of his statements.
His actions, however, fall into several categories:
-
Actions arising from innate human nature, such as eating, drinking, and sleeping. In themselves they carry no legal ruling, yet they may become commanded or forbidden for an extraneous reason. They may also acquire a praiseworthy quality, like eating with the right hand, or a blameworthy one, like eating with the left.
-
Actions performed in keeping with custom, such as his manner of dress. These are intrinsically permissible, though they too may be commanded or forbidden for a particular reason.
-
Actions undertaken as personal privileges unique to him, like continuous fasting without a break and marrying a woman who offered herself to him without a dowry. Nothing is deemed exclusive to him unless proof establishes it, for the basic rule is to emulate him.
-
Actions carried out as worship. These were obligatory for him until the message had been duly conveyed, for conveying it was incumbent upon him. Thereafter they are recommended for him and for us, according to the soundest opinion, because his performing an act as worship indicates its legitimacy, and the default assumption is the absence of