Allah, the Exalted, has set some limits we are not allowed to transgress. He has laid down some obligations we are not permitted to neglect and has stated some prohibitions we are not authorised to violate. The things which have been prohibited are the thresholds set by Allah. He has issued a threat to the one who transgresses his set boundaries and violates His prohibitions as He says: “And whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, and transgresses His (set) limits, He will cast him into the Fire, to abide therein; and he shall have a disgraceful torment” {An- Nisaa, 14}. Avoiding that which has been prohibited is a duty on all Muslims as the Prophet Muhammad PBUH says: “Whatever you have been prohibited to do, avoid it and whatever you have been commanded to do, do as much of it as you can.” {Muslim}.
In this piece, we shall discuss some prohibitions we tend to take lightly either because of ignorance or because of arrogance. A Muslim should always act as Allah and His Rasul wants, as He, the Exalted, says: “It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allah and His messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. And whoever disobeys Allah and His messenger, he has indeed strayed into a plain error." {Al-Ahzaab, 36}
Showing off in worship
One of the conditions for a good deed to be accepted is that it should be free of show off and the other is that it should be within the framework of the Sunnah. Someone who performs an act of worship with the intention of being seen by other people is a Mushrik and the deed will not be accepted. These days, we see brothers who use sonorous voices to recite the Qur’an when on Salaah to make people in the mosque notice them or to make people say: “Oh! That brother has a beautiful voice”. Allah says: “Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.” {An-Nisaa, 142}. A person may start to do a deed for the sake of Allah and the urge to show off overwhelms him. If he resists that impulse, his deed will be accepted but if he submits to it, his deed will not be accepted (in the opinion of most scholars).
The matter of showing off is very serious in Islam. Some Muslims in our society engage in ‘Ibaadaat (acts of worship) to be praised. They spend in the cause of Allah and screech their names for the heavens’ ears. They spend for Allah just for people to say ‘that man is generous’. They teach people just to hear them say ‘that man is knowledgeable, he is an ‘Aalim, he has Ijaazah’. They fight on Allah’s cause for men to comment that ‘the man is valiant’. The threat of punishment for people who does this was reported in the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbaas RA where the Prophet PBUH says: “Whoever does things to be seen and heard by others, Allah will cause him to be seen and heard as an example to others.” {Muslim}
Swearing by something other than Allah
Many people swear all kinds of oaths by things other than Allah. Swearing by something is like glorifying it and it is not right to glorify anything or anyone other than Allah. The Prophet says in the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar RA that: “Allah has prohibited that you should swear by your fathers. If anyone swears, let him swear by Allah, or else remain silent” {Bukhari}. It is not permitted to swear by the Ka’bah, by the blessing of Shaykh so-and-so, by the life of so-and-so, by the virtue of the Prophet, by one’s father or mother etc. All of that is haraam and the expiation for doing it is to say La ilaaha illallah, as is stated in the hadith: “Whoever swears and says ‘By al-Laat’ or ‘By al-Uzza’, let him say ‘La ilaaha illallah (there is no god but Allah)” {Bukhari}.
There are some expressions that involve shirk and often used by Muslims such as ‘This is from Allah and from you’, ‘I have Allah in heaven and I have you on earth’, ‘I am depending on Allah and on you’, etc. Every expression which involves cursing time also involves shirk. Such statements like ‘Time is a betrayer’, ‘this is a bad time’, ‘time has let me down’, etc., is not required of a Muslim because causing time is an insult to the Lord Who has created time.
Shaking hands with the opposite sex
This is one of the cases where incorrect social customs have taken precedence over the laws of Allah. It has denigrated to an extent that if you try to talk to people and show them evidence that the act is wrong, they will accuse you of being a fanatic, being backward, doubting their good intentions etc. Shaking hands with female colleagues, female class mates, female cousins etc. is now easier than eating in our society; but if we examine the act properly, we will realise the seriousness of the matter.
Most times, men who indulge in this act say ‘our hearts are pure, there is no problem’. Is there any one more pure in heart than Muhammad PBUH, yet he says “I do not touch the hands of women” {At-Tabaraani}? The mother of the believers, ‘Aaishah RA, said: “No, by Allah, the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) never touched the hand of a (non-mahram) woman. He received bay’ah (pledge of allegiance) from them by word only” {Muslim}. In some societies, people threaten their pious wives with divorce when they do not shake hands with their brothers. Let those men fear Allah. Some self-conceited individuals also place a barrier, like a piece of cloth, on their hands when they want to shake non-mahram women; this is simply deceit; it is still haraam to shake hands with a non-mahram woman.
In shaa’a Allah, we will extend the discourse on Allah’s limits taken too lightly by people in subsequent editions. We pray Allah accept our repentance and cleanse us from sins, for He is the All-Hearing, the One Who answers prayers. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and companions. Ameen.
IMAM, Muhyideen O