Part of Concepts of Ahl as-Sunnah (series completed)
· Lesson 411 of 1251
Summary of Sunni concepts | Concept (409) | Restrictions of necessity that permit what is prohibited
0:000:00
Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
0:00
A Summary of the Concepts of Ahl al-Sunnah
0:08
Conditions Governing the State of Necessity That Permits the Forbidden
0:13
The state of necessity that permits a forbidden action is subject to specific criteria and conditions.
0:17
First, the necessity must be actual and presently existing, not merely anticipated or expected.
0:24
Second, there must be no other permissible or even disliked means to avert the necessity other than committing the forbidden act.
0:33
Third, the commission of the forbidden act must be restricted to the absolute minimum required to avert the necessity,
0:39
in accordance with the saying of Allah Almighty: ◁neither desiring [it] nor transgressing [its limit]▷.
0:44
For instance, when consuming something forbidden out of necessity, one must not exceed the bare amount required to sustain life and keep oneself going.
0:51
Fourth, committing the forbidden act must not cause harm to others.
0:55
Thus, it is not permissible, for example, to comply with coercion to murder another person,
1:00
because preserving the life of the person being coerced and preserving the life of the target are two necessities of equal standing,
1:08
both falling under the higher objective of preserving human life.
1:11
The life of the coerced person is no more deserving of preservation than the life of the person ordered to be killed.
1:19
Fifth, the necessity must be compelling and unavoidable,
1:21
such as a person being coerced into consuming something forbidden through threats of execution or severe torture if they refuse to comply—
1:28
even if permissible food is present alongside it.
1:31
Sixth, if the person in dire need is a leading figure in knowledge and religious authority, they must not fall into something that would mislead people in their faith.
1:39
All these conditions must be fully met in any claimed necessity for it to legally permit a forbidden act.
1:47
If some conditions are fulfilled while others are lacking, it does not constitute a valid legal necessity.