Tafsir of Surah Al-Ma'idah - Verse 87

There is No Monasticism in Islam

`Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said, "This Ayah 5:87 was revealed about some of the Companions of the Prophet who said, `We should cut off our male organs, abandon the desires of this life and travel in the land, just as the Ruhban (monks) do.' When the Prophet heard of this statement, he summoned them and asked them if they made this statement and they answered `Yes.' The Prophet said,

«لكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأُصَلِّي، وَأَنَامُ، وَأَنْكِحُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ أَخَذَ بِسُنَّتِي فَهُوَ مِنِّي، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَأْخُذْ بِسُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي»

(I fast and break my fast, pray and sleep, and marry women. Whoever follows my Sunnah is of me, and whoever abandons my Sunnah is not of me.)" Ibn Abi Hatim also collected this Hadith. Ibn Marduwyah recorded that Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas narrated a similar Hadith. It is recorded in the Two Sahihs that `A'ishah said that some of the Companions asked the wives of the Prophet about the acts of worship that he performed in private. One of them said, "I will not eat meat," another said, "I will not marry women," while the third said, "I will not sleep on the bed." When the Prophet heard this statement, he said,

«مَا بَالُ أَقْوَامٍ يَقُولُ أَحَدُهُمْ كَذَا وَكَذَا، لكِنِّي أَصُومُ وَأُفْطِرُ، وَأَنَامُ وَأَقُومُ، وَآكُلُ اللَّحْمَ، وَأَتَزَوَّجُ النِّسَاءَ، فَمَنْ رَغِبَ عَنْ سُنَّتِي فَلَيْسَ مِنِّي»

(What is the matter with some people who said such and such I fast and break the fast, sleep and wake to stand to pray, eat meat, and marry women. He who is not pleased with my Sunnah is not of me.) Allah's statement,

وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ

(and transgress not.) means, do not exaggerate and make it hard for yourselves by prohibiting the permissible things. Do not transgress the limits by excessively indulging in the permissible matters; only use of it what satisfies your need; and do not fall into extravagance. Allah said in other Ayat,

وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ

(And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance.)7:31, and,

وَالَّذِينَ إِذَآ أَنفَقُواْ لَمْ يُسْرِفُواْ وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُواْ وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَاماً

(And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but hold a medium (way) between those (extremes).)25:67 So Allah legislated a medium way between those who are extreme and those who fall into shortcomings, and it does not allow excessive application, nor lack of application. This is why Allah said here,

لاَ تُحَرِّمُواْ طَيِّبَـتِ مَآ أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَلاَ تَعْتَدُواْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ

(Make not unlawful the good things which Allah has made lawful to you, and transgress not. Verily, Allah does not like the transgressors.) then He said,

وَكُلُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ حَلَـلاً طَيِّباً

(And eat of the things which Allah has provided for you, lawful and good,)5:88, eat of those items that are pure and lawful for you,

وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ

(and have Taqwa of Allah,) in all your affairs, obey Him and seek His pleasure, all the while staying away from defiance and disobedience of Allah,

وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ الَّذِى أَنتُم بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ

(and have Taqwa of Allah in Whom you believe.)

Sequence of Verses

Upto this point, the subject revolved around the people of the Book. Onwards, there is a return to subsidiary injunctions some of which were taken up early in the Sarah, and some others also in between. Also reported is a particular link as relevant to -the occasion - that monasticism has been mentioned in a complimentary sense a little earlier (82), though it is there in terms of a particular feature in it, which is the abandonment of worldly desires. But, since there was a probability that someone may take the whole concept of monasticism as praiseworthy, it was considered appropriate at this point that the making unlawful of what Allah has made lawful be forbidden. (As abridged from Bayan a1-Qur'an by Mau1na Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi)

Commentary

Leaving the worldly pleasures, when permissible

The verses appearing above tell us that the renunciation of worldly life and the abstinence from appetites and passions is favourable within a certain limit, but any transgression of the Divinely-ordained limits in this matter too shall be blameworthy حَرَام and haram (unlawful, for-bidden). Details are being given below.

How Halal is turned into حَرَام haram : The Three Forms

There are three forms in which something made Halal (lawful and good) by Allah could be declared as حَرَام haram (unlawful and evil): (1) BELIEFWISE, that is, something is taken to be حَرَام haram by believing it to be so. (2) VERBALLY, that is, something is taken to be حَرَام haram for oneself by saying so - for instance, someone swears that he will not drink cold water, or would not eat such and such Halal food, or would not do something which is permissible. (3) PRACTICALLY, that is, someone who neither believes nor says anything, yet decides in practice that he or she would abandon something Halal forever.

1\. Under the first situation, if that thing being Halal stands confirmed by absolute proofs, then, the person who takes it to be حَرَام haram shall become a disbeliever (kafir) because of that open contravention of the Divinely-ordained law.

2\. And under the second situation, if someone has made something حَرَام haram for oneself by declaring it with words of oath, the oath will become effective. There are many words of oath details of which appear in Fiqh books - for example, someone clearly says: ` I swear by Allah, I will never eat that' or ` by Allah, I will not do that' or one might say, ` I make taking this or doing that حَرَام haram for me.' The rule which governs such actions is that taking such oaths unnecessarily is a sin. If taken, one must break the oath and make amends by paying the Kaffarah (expiation) of that oath, the detail about which will appear later.

3\. The third will be a situation in which no Halal has been made حَرَام haram either by belief or word of mouth, but practically what one does is similar to what is done with something حَرَام haram, that is, takes it as obligatory to abandon it forever. The rule in this case is: If one takes the abandonment of the Halal to be an act of Thawab (merit, reward), then, it is Bid'ah (innovation in established religion) and Rahbaniyah (monasticism) - which is a grave sin as categorically laid down (Mansus) in the Qur'an and Sunnah; and acting against it is Wajib (necessary as an obligation); and adhering to such a restriction is an act of sin. Of course, if such a restriction is not there with the intention of Thawab, instead, it is there for some other reason, such as, some physical or spiritual sickness because of which one abandons something permanently, then, there will be no sin in doing so. Reports about some noble Sufis and other pious elders that they had abandoned some Halal things are all included under this third kind as they had found them to be harmful for their desiring self, or were advised by a pious elder to abstain from it as harmful in their case which they abandoned as a treatment and remedy. If so, it does not matter.

The Correct Attitude towards Halal Things

At the end of the first verse (87), it was said: وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ that is, ` and do not transgress the limits set by Allah because Allah does not like such transgressors.' Here, transgressing means that one abandons something Halal, without any valid excuse, as an act of Thawab. This is something an ignorant person takes to be Taqwa, fear of Allah, while, in the sight of Allah, that is transgression, which is impermissible. Therefore, it was said in the next verse (88): وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَ الَّذِي أَنتُم بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ that is, `(eat from the good and pure sustenance Allah has blessed you with) and keep fearing Allah whose believers you are.' Stated clearly in this verse is that leaving off good and pure things as a source of Thawab (reward) is no Taqwa. Rather, quite contrary to that, Taqwa lies in using them as the blessings of Allah and showing one's gratitude for them. However, if something is abandoned as a curative measure against a physical or spiritual disease, that does not count here.

The connection between man and God is a live relationship which is established on a psychological level. It is internal in nature. But when religion is on the decline, and this internal relationship becomes weakened, then the mentality develops that one must try to build up such a relationship from external sources. One of these is giving up worldly pleasures—in effect, renunciation or monasticism. It is assumed that staying away from material things will cause a man to come nearer to God. Some of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions were influenced by such monastic thoughts. They intended to give up eating meats and sleeping at nights, to castrate themselves and leave their homes to lead the life of hermits. Some of them went to the extent of taking a vow or oath to this effect. But people were prohibited from doing this and were told that one could not attain nearness to God just by treating permitted things (halal) as forbidden things (haram). Whatever a man achieves, is done by his remaining within natural limits, and not by his inventing stricter limits.