Understanding Hadith 9: Avoiding Prohibitions and Performing Commands

He (RH) said:

The ninth Hadith: On the authority of Abu Hurayrah Abd al-Rahman bin Sakhr al-Dusi (RA),

who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

"What I have forbidden you, avoid; and what I have commanded you, do of it as much as you can,"

"for what destroyed those before you was their excessive questioning and disagreement with their prophets."

Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.

Yes, this Hadith is among the comprehensive sayings.

I will mention three universal rules related to it.

The first of these rules is what Ibn al-Qayyim (RH) pointed out,

that this Hadith encompasses all rulings of the Sharia.

Ibn al-Qayyim (RH) mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ

made the commands in this Hadith three types, with no fourth,

It is an exhaustive classification: either it is something commanded.

The Prophet ﷺ clarified in this hadith that

the obligation is to do it according to ability.

The second matter is that it is forbidden,

so the obligation upon Muslims is to avoid it entirely.

And the third matter is that it is left unmentioned,

so it is not approached with questions or organization, and is left unmentioned.

And this ruling presented by the Prophet ﷺ

is not specific to him, nor to his lifetime, nor specific to his companions,

but it is general for Muslims until the Day of Judgment.

So whatever a Muslim has no need for, it is left unmentioned.

Therefore, questioning was forbidden during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ.

And the jurists of the Salaf forbade hypothesizing issues after him.

And they mentioned that whoever hypothesizes an issue before it occurs...

For his ijtihad might be deficient due to not conceiving the need for it,

and not conceiving its ruling in full.

So whoever needed it might follow him blindly and fall into hardship.

Therefore, the scholars' prohibition of "what-if" questions multiplied.

By "what if," they meant either generating hypotheticals, incapacitating, or...

...what I mentioned to you earlier: asking about an issue that has not occurred.

For that is likely to lead to deficient ijtihad and failing to reach the correct ruling.

Many issues are only understood when one is actually tested with them.

Al-Shatibi (RH) dedicated a section in "Al-Muwafaqat"...

...on the difference between one tested with an issue and one who is not, and how their ijtihad differs.

This is one issue. The second issue related to this great hadith...

...is that a rule is derived from this hadith, which Ibn Rajab (RH) discussed individually in his "Qawa'id", expanding on its examples.

The text of this rule is that whatever the Lawgiver has prohibited,

the prohibition applies to it as a whole and to its parts,

so it is prohibited entirely, and its parts are prohibited,

and doing a part of it is prohibited, even doing its means is likewise prohibited.

And whatever the Lawgiver has commanded,

indeed, compliance is not achieved except by performing it in its entirety,

it must be performed completely,

so it is not valid to perform one rak'ah and omit the remaining rak'ahs,

nor to perform only some pillars of Hajj, or fast half a day; rather, you must fast the entire day.

This is a rule for which Ibn Rajab (RH) cited many examples.

Yes, there are matters where some parts can be performed if those parts are divisible, such as wudu,

for they mentioned that the limbs of wudu are divisible,

so whoever finds only enough water for some of his limbs, he washes some of his limbs,

based on their principle that wudu's parts can be divided.

The last issue in this hadith is his saying:

"What destroyed those before you was their excessive questioning and disagreement with their prophets."

And this has a long discussion.

The best who spoke and explained this statement

is Ibn al-Qayyim (RH) in I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in.

Yes. I ask Allah ﷻ for myself and for you.