In The Name Of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatuhu

Walking on the edge of a cliff
By Asma bint Shameem
 
What would you think of a person who insists on walking at the edge of a cliff, although the safe path has been already demarcated for him? He walks on the crumbly, unstable edge trying to maintain his balance while there is a 200 feet drop just over his shoulder.
Utter fool…….you would think, risking his life and limb. Right??
Well, his example is similar to the one who ventures into the doubtful matters of Islaam, although the Sharee’ah has clearly stated what is  Halaal and what is Haraam. Such a person is obviously risking his life and limb too, like the one walking on the edge of the cliff. Only, this time…..the risk involves the life of the Hereafter.
 
The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said,
“What is permitted is clear and what is not prohibited is clear, and between them are doubtful things which many people do not know about. Whoever avoids doubtful things will be on the safe side with regard to his religion and his honor, but whoever falls into doubtful things will fall into haraam things.”’” (Muslim).
 
We see from this Hadeeth that just as the Muslim must strive to avoid what is obviously haraam, he must also be extremely cautious of even the doubtful things, the so-called “gray areas” of Islaam, and be keen to steer clear of anything that might jeopardize his commitment to Allaah.
And this is called Wara’.
Wara' means to be extremely cautious and careful. This carefulness is towards avoiding any and all forms of sin. The desire of abstinence from committing sins is Wara'.

The feeling of Wara’ is even beyond the feeling of taqwa……..it is avoiding the doubtful, ‘gray’ areas all together.
If a person has taqwa, he avoids the unlawful: He does not look at the unlawful, he does not touch the unlawful, he does not eat the unlawful. And when a person has Wara', he stays away from every single thing that may even point to or lead him towards sin, with the fear of committing an offense. He acts very carefully.
He doesn’t say,” Oh, it is only ‘doubtful’ so let me go ahead and do it.”
Or “Tell me, just how Haraam is this…..Is it really HARAAM or is it just Makrooh?”
Subhaan Allaah!!!

The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said, "The slave will never be able to attain the ranks of the Muttaqoon (pious ones) until he leaves those things which do not seem to have any harm in them, fearing that they may indeed be harmful/unlawful." [Ibn Majah, Tirmidhi]
 
A Muslim must have Wara' . If he is not careful, he may slip into sins that would incur the wrath of Allah.

Once, a servant of Abu Bakr's came to him with some food, so he ate from it. The servant then asked him, "Do you know where this came from?" He replied, "From where?" The servant responded, "I practiced astrology once in the times of Jahiliyyah — even though I am not an expert in it. However I managed to trick the other person. So he paid me, and gave me what you ate!" Hearing this, Abu Bakr put his finger in his mouth and forced himself to vomit up the food, until there was nothing left in his stomach.

Now, why would Abu Bakr do that…..you wonder??
Because Abu Bakr had Wara' .

The feeling of Wara' is abstaining from the unlawful and avoiding the doubtful and dangerous……staying away from unclear matters, whether it  is doubtful sources of food, doubtful sources of  income, or anything that makes one feel uneasy.

The Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: “Righteousness is that with which the heart feels at ease, and sin is that which you feel uneasy about, even if the people give you fatwa after fatwa.” (Ahmad--al-Albaani grades it hasan)
Younus ibn Ubaid (RA) said

"True carefulness in religion is to depart from all doubtfulness and to account the soul with every step. So whoever is not like that cannot be said to be cautious."
Ibraaheem ibn Adham said: “Piety means leaving alone all doubtful things.”
 
How is it possible that you say that you are a servant of Allah, who believes in the Qur'an, who loves the Prophet, and you are a good Muslim, and yet, you continue to tread on the doubtful?
How could you risk disobeying Allah?

Why get involved in a business that ‘MAY BE’ questionable, when you can easily find a job that is CLEARLY Halaal??
Why do something or eat something that borders on the ‘doubtful’?!!
Why put yourself in a situation you are not sure about?
Why do you have to walk at the edge? Why do you have to get close to DANGER?
Don’t you see that this is one of the tricks of the Shaytaan??
He slowly lures the Muslim into ‘the gray areas’ until he gradually falls into more serious things because of the less serious things that he had fallen into. Thus the Shaytaan moves step by step until he makes us end up committing major sins.
One of the scholars said, "Do not undermine cautiousness in tiny things since that is a ladder leading to degrading cautiousness in larger things."
 
O Muslim, in matters that are unclear, it is better to fear Allaah and be cautious.
Remember, the Prophet (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said: “Whoever gives up a thing for the sake of Allaah, Allaah will compensate him with something better than it.” (saheeh by al-Albaani)
And “Leave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.” (Tirmidhi--saheeh by al-Albaani)
And he (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) said, "Abstain from the forbidden and you will be the most devout worshippers amongst the people. Be content with what Allaah allocates for you from provision and you will be the richest of people….” (Ahmad, Ibn Maajah and others--al-Albaani grades it Hasan).

The Sincere Advice
You have to ‘walk’ on the safe places and avoid the doubtful. Avoid the borderlines. You can ‘walk’ on the street, in the park, in the square, ‘walk’ anywhere within the boundaries set by Allaah, but avoid the dangerous places and edges.
Because you never know. If you insist on walking near the edge………the rock you are stepping on could move, and then you would……F A L L ………..
 

Allah Knows Best