الحمد لله رب العالمين، والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين، نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين أما بعد
Allaah, The Most High, perfected the religion of Islaam and its legislation, and therefore it is such that it is applicable for mankind regardless of the variations in their eras and locations and circumstances, and all aspects of their lives are encompassed in the religion of Allaah. So He, The Most High, did not make anything lawful for them except for their own welfare and benefit, likewise He did not make anything unlawful for them except in its avoidance is their own good, since He is their Creator and Originator and He Knows Best what is good and bad for them. So the affair of making things lawful and unlawful is an important matter, and must always be referred back to Allaah and His Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), and we have been cautioned against making false assertions regarding that which is lawful and unlawful. He, The Most High, said:
وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ هَٰذَا حَلَالٌ وَهَٰذَا حَرَامٌ لِّتَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ
((And do not say, concerning that which your tongues assert falsely: “This is lawful and this is forbidden” so as to invent lies against Allaah. Indeed; those who invent lies against Allaah will not succeed.)) (An-Nahl: 116)
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “So He, The Glorified, set forth to them the threat of lying upon Him in His rulings, and their saying regarding that which He did not make unlawful that: ‘this is unlawful’ and regarding that which He did not make lawful that: ‘this is lawful’. This is a clarification from Him, The Glorified, that it is impermissible for the servant to say: ‘this is lawful and this is unlawful’ except regarding that which he knows that Allaah, The Glorified, has made to be lawful or has made it unlawful.”[1]
Allaah, The Most High, mentions the success of those that follow the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) in all that he commands with and forbids from, and that they obey him in that which he makes lawful and that which he prohibits them from based upon the command of Allaah, He, The Most High said:
الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالْإِنجِيلِ يَأْمُرُهُم بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُحِلُّ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثَ وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَالْأَغْلَالَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ وَعَزَّرُوهُ وَنَصَرُوهُ وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ ۙ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
((Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Tauraat [Torah] and the Injeel [Gospel], he enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the khabaa-ith [evil and unlawful things] and relieves them of their burdens and the fetters [bindings] which were upon them. So those who believe in him, and honour him, support him and follow the light which has been sent down with him – it is they who will be successful.)) (Al-A’raaf: 157)
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said: “Meaning that he liberates them from the burdens and the fetters, and from entering into the objectionable actions of the people of cunning stratagems.”[2]
Likewise mankind have been warned against attributing lies to Allaah by way of declaring things to be lawful or unlawful without proof in the religion, He, The Most High, said:
قُلْ أَرَأَيْتُم مَّا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ فَجَعَلْتُم مِّنْهُ حَرَامًا وَحَلَالًا قُلْ آللَّهُ أَذِنَ لَكُمْ ۖ أَمْ عَلَى اللَّهِ تَفْتَرُونَ
((Say, “Have you seen what Allaah has sent down to you of provision of which you have made [some] unlawful and lawful.” Say, “Has Allaah permitted you [to do so] or do you forge [a lie] against Allaah?”)) (Yunus: 59)
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said: “It was due to this that Allaah dispraised the polytheists who legislated into the religion that which Allaah did not permit, and they made unlawful that which He did not make unlawful.”[3]
From the methods that are utilized by some of the people when seeking to justify their erroneous positions is to make lawful that which is unlawful or the opposite by devising cunning schemes and stratagems so as to find a way of interpreting and altering regulation from that which they dislike to that which they feel suits them, in order to attain their objective and thus utilize it to justify their position or action. This includes carrying out such forbidden schemes and stratagems with regard to the Tawheed of Allaah, and His Names and Attributes, His Actions, and His Religion and its regulations.
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “If you were to reflect upon the legislation; you will find that it has come with closing off the means to those things that are forbidden; and that is the opposite of opening the door of cunning stratagem to them. So cunning stratagems are mediums and doors to the things that are forbidden, and shutting off the means is the opposite of that. Thus; between the two doors is the greatest contrariety, and The Legislator has forbidden the means – even if it be that that which is forbidden is not intended, due to their leading to it, so how then if the forbidden thing itself is intended by way of them.?!”[4]
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) stated “Allaah, The Glorified, made incumbent the obligations and made forbidden the prohibited things due to that which it embodies from the beneficial interests of His creation and repelling the evils from them, as well as to test them in order to distinguish who it is that obeys Him from the one who disobeys Him.
So if an individual engages in cunning stratagem in seeking to make lawful something that is forbidden or to overturn an obligation; then he would indeed have attempted to spread corruption in the religion of Allaah.”[5]
The Attitude of the Believer Should be to Adhere to the Regulations of the Religion and Not Attempt to Evade or Change Them
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) stated: “It is obligatory to accept the regulations of Allaah with good nature of the soul and to be at ease, and that the believer should be certain that Allaah did not command him except with that which in its implementation is his own welfare, and that He did not prohibit him except from that which in its undertaking is his own misconduct. Whether that be from the devotion of the servant itself with command and prohibition or from the action itself – or from both of them together, and that which he has been commanded with holds the status of nourishment (sustenance) which is the prop of the servant.
Similarly the prohibitions hold the status of toxin (poison) which is the ruination of the body or its sickness, and whoever becomes certain of this does not seek a nature that attempts cunning stratagems in overturning an obligation – in whose implementation is his own welfare nor upon engaging in something forbidden – in whose abandonment is likewise his own welfare.
Cunning stratagem only stems from a weakness in Eemaan, and due to this it is from hypocrisy and becomes hypocrisy in the legislations, just as the greater hypocrisy is hypocrisy in the religion.”[6]
The Islamic Legislation Repels Evils and Closes Off The Means to Them Whilst Seeking to Legitimize Them Through Cunning Schemes is the Opposite
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “So in general; the forbidden things are two types; the evils and the means that lead to them that are sought to be renounced just as the evils themselves are sought to be renounced.
Likewise the things that draw one near (to Allaah) are two types; the beneficial interests of the servants and the means that lead to them.
Therefore opening the door of the means in the first type (i.e. the forbidden things) is like shutting the door of the means in the second type – and both of these (circumstances) are contradictory to that which the legislation has come with. Therefore between the door of cunning stratagem and the door of shutting off the means lies the greatest inconsistency.
How can it be thought with regard to this great complete legislation that has come with repelling the evils and closing off their doors and avenues; that it should allow the opening of the door to cunning stratagem, and the paths of slyness in overturning its obligations and allowing that which it made forbidden as well as being used as a pretext for attaining the evils that it sought to repel?!”[7]
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said: “permitting cunning stratagem is contrary to closing off the means – in obvious contradiction. Indeed The Legislator has closed off the path to the forbidden item with everything possible, whilst the cunning schemer seeks to reach it with everything possible.”[8]
The Reasons Why People Fall into This and the Dispraise of the Salaf Against Forbidden Stratagems
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) mentioned: “Indeed I examined the majority of that which causes the people to fall into cunning stratagem, and so I found it to be one of two things:
- Either sins that they legitimized due to constraint in their affairs, so they were unable to repel this constraint except through cunning stratagem. Yet the cunning stratagem does not increase them except in tribulation, as occurred for the companions of the Sabbath[9] from the Jews, as He, The Most High, said:
فَبِظُلْمٍ مِّنَ الَّذِينَ هَادُوا حَرَّمْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ طَيِّبَاتٍ أُحِلَّتْ لَهُمْ
((For the wrongdoing of the Jews, We made unlawful for them [certain] good foods which had been lawful for them.)) (An-Nisaa: 160)
– This sin is a practically applied sin.[10]
2. Or either due to an exaggeration in the emphasis of that which they hold belief in from the forbiddance of The Legislator, so this belief compels them toward legitimization through cunning stratagem; and this is from the errors of judgment. Otherwise; whoever fears Allaah and takes that which He has made permissible for him, and carries out that which is obligatory upon him, then Allaah does not compel him to innovated cunning stratagem at all. For He, The Glorified has not made any hardship upon us in the religion.”[11]
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “From his (the Devil’s) stratagems with which he seeks to snare Islaam and its people with is: cunning stratagem and deceptive artifice and beguilement that comprises of seeking to make lawful that which Allaah has forbidden and overturning that which He has obligated and falling into contraventions against Him in regard to His commands and His prohibitions, and this is from the false notion which the Salaf were unanimous upon its dispraise.
Indeed the notions are two notions:
A notion that corresponds to the texts (of the Book and the Sunnah) and they bear testimony to it of soundness and consideration, it is that which the Salaf held in consideration and acted in accordance with.
Likewise a notion that is contrary to the texts and they bear testimony to it of invalidation and abandonment, it then is that which they dispraised and renounced.
Likewise cunning stratagems are two types:
A type with which one arrives at carrying out that which Allaah, The Most High, commanded with and leaving off that which He prohibited and escapes from what is haraam (forbidden) and liberating truth from the oppressor who prevents it and liberating the oppressed from the hand of the unjust oppressor. This type is praiseworthy and its perpetrator is rewarded as well as the one who instructs it.
Likewise a type that comprises of overturning the obligations and making permissible the forbidden things and upturns the oppressed to be the oppressor and the oppressor to be the oppressed and the truth to be false and falsehood to be the truth. Then this is the type which the Salaf were unanimous upon over its dispraise.”[12]
The Things That are Forbidden Do Not Become Lawful on Account of Changing Their Names or Appearances
Ibn al- Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said:[13] “The affair of forbidden cunning stratagem; its pivot revolves around calling things by other than their name[14] and upon altering its appearance despite the continuance of its reality. Therefore its pivot revolves around changing the name despite the continuation of the title it is denoted by and altering the appearance despite continuation of the reality.
Accordingly; the immense evil that usury comprises of does not disappear by changing its name from usury to: transaction, nor by altering its appearance from one form to another form.”[15]
Ibn al- Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “So Allaah, The Glorified, forbade the things that are prohibited – and other than them due to that which they encompass from harmful corruptions in relation to worldly life as well as the religion. He did not make them forbidden due to their names and appearances, thus it is known that those corruptions are an accompaniment to their realities, they do not come away due to changing their names and alteration of their appearances.
Therefore altering the appearances of the things that are forbidden; as well as their names, despite the continuation of their designs and their realities are an increase in the very corruption over which they were forbidden. Along with its comprising deceitfulness to Allaah, The Most High, and His Messenger, and an attribution of cunningness and deceit and faithlessness and hypocrisy to His Legislation and His Religion, and that He forbade something due to a cause of corruption whilst he makes it allowable due to what is greater than it.”[16]
The Role of the Intention with Regard to Actions and the Invalidation of Cunning Stratagem on Account of One’s True Intention
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “There is no doubt that whoever ponders over the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, as well as the objectives of the legislation; then he becomes absolutely certain of the forbiddance of cunning stratagem and its fallacy. For indeed the Qur’aan has furnished evidence of the fact that the objectives and intentions are that which are considered in conducts and habits, just as they are that which are considered in that acts that draw one close (to Allaah) and the acts of worship. So they make an action halal (permissible) or haraam (forbidden) and (make it) correct or corrupt and correct from an aspect unsound from an aspect, just as the objective and intention in the acts of worship render them likewise.
The attestations of this principle are a great many in the Book and the Sunnah.”[17]
There is a simple proof which renders such stratagems invalid and is evidence of the fact that it is the intention which is taken into consideration and forms the basis with regard to actions, Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned after stating the famous hadeeth of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) in which he said:
إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
((Actions are but by intentions, and for every person is that which he intended…))[18]
“And it is a fundamental principle for the invalidation of cunning stratagem.”[19]
The Things That are Forbidden Are Prohibited Due to Their Harms and Evils So Attempting to Breach Them Through Cunning Stratagems Intensifies Their Evils and Has Consequences For its Perpetrator
Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said: “The legislation has underlying reasons in closing off corruptions and severing the constituent of evil, due to the knowledge of The Legislator of that which the souls have a propensity for and of that which is hidden from the souls of the stealthiness of their desires in which they do not cease to be held captive – such that it drives them to destruction. So whoever attempts to make a show of cleverness and skill unto The Legislator and holds belief in regard to some of the forbidden things that it was only made forbidden due to such and such a cause, and that cause is nonexistent in it, thus he makes it allowable with this interpretation; then he is unjust to himself – ignorant with regard to the command of his Lord. Likewise he is such that – even if he were to escape from kufr (infidelity); he will not escape in most cases from innovation or sinfulness or scarcity of understanding in the religion and lack of insight.”[20]
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “If the purpose of The Legislator was the allowance of those things that are forbidden, those things upon which He has appointed an array of dispraise and punishments as well as closing off the means that lead to them; then He would not have made them forbidden at the onset; and He would not have appointed punishment over them and would not have shut off the means to them. Therefore; leaving their doors open would have been easier than the amplification in closing and obstructing them. Then they are opened to an array of cunning stratagem – such that the cunning schemer seeks to scrutinize them to breach them from every aspect. This then is from that which the legislations have safeguarded against; let alone their most perfect legislation and the best of them in religiousness!
We have previously stated that the harms and evils which result from those forbidden things do not fall away on account of cunning stratagem and scrutiny of them in attempt to breach them, rather their evils become stronger and gain intensity.”[21]
Cunning Stratagems and Bringing Out Falsehood in the Appearance of Legislated Forms – Some of the People Who Fall Into This
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said when speaking of cunning schemes and stratagems: “That one seeks to make lawful that which The Legislator has forbidden, or that he attempts to annul that which He has obligated, in that he comes with a reason that The Legislator has set as a motive to an affair that is permissible – aspired to, and so the deceitful schemer turns it into motive for an affair which is forbidden; the avoidance of which is (in actuality) aspired to.[22]
This is the forbidden cunning stratagem that the Salaf would dispraise, and would forbid its enactment and its education.
This is forbidden from two aspects: from the aspect of its objective and from the aspect of its reason:
As for its objective; then indeed the intent behind it is to make permissible that which Allaah and His Messenger have forbidden, and to annul what has been made obligatory.[23]
As for the aspect of its reason; then he (the schemer) has treated the verses of Allaah in jest, and intends by way of the reason that; for which objective it was not legislated, nor was that the purpose of the Legislator, rather His purpose was its opposite, so he has opposed the Legislator in the objective and in wisdom[24] and in reason altogether.
Furthermore; this type of cunning stratagem involves ascribing The Legislator to frivolousness, and that He has legislated that in which there is no benefit except for an addition in inconvenience and toil. For indeed the reality of the affair with the proponents of false cunning stratagem is: that the legislated resolutions are rendered as frivolous with no benefit to them, since the cunning schemer has not intended by it its actual purposes for which it was legislated, rather he has no aim in its purposes and its realities at all, his only aim is the attainment by way of it of that which is prohibited. Thus he makes it a covering and a shield that he conceals himself behind in perpetration of that which has been absolutely prohibited; therefore he brings it out in the form (appearance) of legislation.
Just as the Jahmiyyah brought out Ta’teel (denial/negation of the Attributes of Allaah) in the form of eliminating anthropomorphic concepts.
Likewise the hypocrites brought out hypocrisy in the form of philanthropy and harmonization and rationality of the way whereby one lives.
Likewise the oppressive immoral ones brought out oppression and aggression in the form of politics and the punishment of criminals.
Likewise the tax collectors brought out the consuming of custom duty in the form of aiding combatants and closing breaches (in fortifications) and constructing fortresses.
Likewise the Raafidhah brought out infidelity and unbelief as well as disparagement of the pre-eminent ones from the companions and the party of the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and his allies and his helpers in the form of love of the Prophetic household and fanaticism to them and alliance with them.
Likewise the uninhibited divulgers and the nefarious – those who affiliate with destitution and mysticism, brought out their innovations and their roving in the form of poverty and asceticism and (hidden) powers and cognition and the love of Allaah and the like of that.
Likewise the Ittihaddiyah (Unificationists – those who believe in mystical unification) brought out the greatest unbelief and infidelity in the form of Tawheed and that the existence is that of one not two – and it is Allaah alone, so here there are not two existences: that of The Creator and the created, nor Lord and servant, rather the existence; all of it is one, and it is the reality of The Lord.
Likewise the Qadariyyah brought out the rejection of the totality of the power of Allaah, The Most High, over all of the things in existence – their actions and their persons in the form of: justice, and they state that if The Lord was One Who had power/ability over the actions of His servants; it would necessitate that He is oppressive towards them. So they brought out their denial of the pre-decree in the form of justice.
The Jahmiyyah brought out their renunciation of the Attributes of His, The Glorified’s perfection in the form of: Tawheed, and they state that if there was for Him, The Glorified, any hearing and seeing and power/ability and life and will and speech which He does; then He then would not be One; but would be numerous deities.
Likewise the nefarious as well as those who follow desires brought out depravity and sins in the form of: hope and entertaining good thought of Allaah, The Most High, and avoidance of entertaining bad thought towards His Pardon, and they state that avoidance of sins and desires is to hold the Pardon of Allaah, The Most High, in contempt and is entertaining ill thought towards Him, and is an ascription to Him of contrariety in generosity and bountifulness and pardon.
Likewise the Khawaarij brought out the killing of the Rulers and of rebellion against them with the sword in the form of: enjoining the good and forbidding evil.
Likewise the proponents of innovations – all of them brought out their innovations in varying forms in accordance to those innovations.[25]
Likewise the polytheists brought out their shirk in the form of: veneration of Allaah, and that He is greater in sublimity than that He should be drawn closer to without any intermediaries and intercessors and deities that draw them close to Him.
So every associate of falsehood does not have the capability of propagandizing his falsehood except by bringing it out in the form of truth, what is meant is that the people of cunningness and forbidden deceitful stratagems bring out falsehood in the appearance of legislated forms, and they come with illustrations of resolutions – at the exclusion of their realities and their actual purposes.”[26]
The Sunnah of Allaah With Regard to Those Who Engage in Forbidden Cunning Stratagem
Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned when quoting from Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahumullaah) that he said: “This is the Sunnah of Allaah in regard to the proponents of forbidden cunning stratagem; that He does not grant them any blessing in that which they acquire through this cunning stratagem – as is evident.[27] He likewise prepares stratagem designed for them at the hands of whoever He wishes from His creation, so they are recompensed through it on the basis of that which is in conformity to their own deceitful plot and their cunning stratagem.”[28]
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “Indeed His The Glorified’s, universal mode of conduct has been an uninterrupted sequence in regard to His servants in that: whoever makes plots with falsehood – will be plotted against. Whoever devises cunning stratagem – will have cunning stratagem imposed upon him. Whoever is treacherous to others – will himself be betrayed. Allaah, The Most High, said:
إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ
((Indeed the hypocrites seek to beguile Allaah, but it is He Who beguiles them.)) (An-Nisaa: 142)
And He, The Most High, said:
وَلَا يَحِيقُ الْمَكْرُ السَّيِّئُ إِلَّا بِأَهْلِهِ
((And the evil plot does not encompass except its own people.)) (Faatir: 43)
So you will not find a plotter except that due to it he will be plotted against, or a deceitful betrayer except that he is betrayed, or a cunning schemer except that he will have cunning schemes inflicted upon him.”[29]
Cunning Schemes and Stratagems – And The Day That is to Come
Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) stated:[30]
“Therefore; worthy it is of the one who fears Allaah, and is afraid of His exemplary punishment[31] that he should be cautious of making permissible those things which Allaah has forbidden, through utilization of an array of cunning plots and stratagems, and he should know that for Allaah there is a Day in which men shall become faint-hearted
And in which the mountains shall become pulverized
And in which the horrors shall come in succession
And in which the limbs and joints (of the body) shall bear witness
And in which the secrets will be examined
And in which the innermost conscience shall become apparent
And falsehood within it shall become obvious
And the secret – acting openly
The concealed – exposed
And the unknown – known
Obtained and made evident will be that which is in the chests
Just as the contents of the graves will be scattered and brought out
And the rulings of The Lord, Exalted be His Majesty, shall be applied there on the basis of objectives and intentions[32]
Just as His rulings have been applied in this abode on the basis of outward statements and physical motions[33]
A Day wherein faces shall become white due to that which is in the hearts of their companions from sincerity to Allaah and His Messenger and His Book
And that which is in them from righteousness and truthfulness and sincerity to The Most Great, The Most High
And as such; faces shall become black due to that which is in the hearts of their companions from deceit and disloyalty and lies and cunning plots and stratagems
It is there that the deceitful ones shall come to know that they – toward their own selves had been acting deceitfully
And that with their own religion they had been playing
وَمَا يَمْكُرُونَ إِلَّا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ
((But they plot not except against their own selves, and they do not perceive.)) (Al-An‘aam: 123))”
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[1] I’laam al-Muwaqi’een vol 1 p.38
[2] Majmu’ Fataawa vol 33 p.64
[3] Al-Qawaa’id an-Nooraniyyah al-Fiqhiyyah p.134
[4] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.615
[5] Abridged from Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.245-246
[6] Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.156-157
[7] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.632
[8] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.633
[9] Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned: “It is known that they did not make that permissible out of denial of Moosaa (‘alaihis salaam) and disbelief in the Torah, it was only legitimizing interpretation and cunning stratagem. Its outward manifestation was a manifestation of cautious avoidance, whilst its inward essence was an essence of secret transgression.” (Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.589)
[10] Shaikh Muhammad bin Saalih al-‘Uthaimeen (rahimahullaah) said: “Utilizing cunning stratagem in carrying out what is forbidden is a greater sin than committing that which is forbidden in an outright clear manner, because it is a merger between sin and beguilement.” (Tafseer ath-Thameen vol 1 p.199-200)
[11] Majmu’ Fataawa vol 29 p.45
[12] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.582
[13] As occurs in Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.598 – with abridgement.
[14] Ibn al-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) mentioned when speaking of how Iblees plotted against Aadam and his wife by calling the tree which they were prohibited from: the tree of eternity and of its being the first stratagem: “And this was the first cunning plot and stratagem, and from him his followers inherited appointing titles for matters that are forbidden with names – the designation of which the souls love.” (Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.216)
[15] Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “So in general; the believer does not doubt that Allaah did not forbid upon a man to give a Dirham until an appointed time in order to take back two Dirhams except due to wisdom. No doubt; Allaah, The Glorified, indeed forbade usury and magnified it in reprimand to the souls against that which they seek by way of consuming wealth through falsehood. Therefore if along with this cunning stratagem there is procured the objective of the souls by way of usury; it is known – unquestionably that the corruption of usury is present within it, thus it is forbidden.” (Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.251)
He said also when highlighting the absurdity of attempting to legitimize usury transactions by way of cunning stratagems and devious schemes; stating: “O Glorified be Allaah, The Most Great, is usury to revert – despite being that which Allaah has magnified its affair in the Qur’aan and has imposed warfare against the one who deems it lawful and cursed the people of the Book for taking it and cursed its consumer and its authorizer and its witnesses and its writer and there has come regarding it by way of threat that which has not come in regard to other than it – to its being made permissible in its entirety on account of the slightest attempt without any inconvenience in the least other than by appearance of a resolution that is frivolity and dally that is to be laughed at and ridiculed?” (Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.200)
[16] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.604
[17] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.643 – refer to p.643 onwards for the many attestations which the author cites.
[18] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (no.1) and Muslim (no.155)
[19] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.594
[20] Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.255-256
[21] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 2 p.753
[22] Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said: “Cunning stratagem only stems from a man who dislikes carrying out that which Allaah, The Glorified, has commanded with, or to abandon that which Allaah, The Glorified, has prohibited against, and He, The Most High, has indeed said:
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَرِهُوا مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فَأَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالَهُمْ
((That is because they disliked what Allaah revealed, so He rendered their deeds null.))(Muhammad: 9)
Likewise other than that from the places wherein Allaah has dispraised the one who dislikes what He has commanded with from prayer and giving charity and Jihaad, and has made him to be of the hypocrites. Cunning stratagem only stems from a weakness in Eemaan, and due to this it is from hypocrisy and becomes hypocrisy in the legislations, just as the greater hypocrisy is hypocrisy in the religion. If the cunning stratagem necessitates disliking the command of Allaah and His prohibition – and that is forbidden; rather it is hypocrisy, then the ruling of that which has become necessitated is likewise (i.e. forbidden), so the cunning stratagem is forbidden – rather it is hypocrisy, even on the premise that something from cunning stratagem has come forth in the right of some people whilst being free of this element that is necessitated, regardless – such representations are but few, therefore it is necessary to attach the ruling to the predominant portion.” (Abridged from Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.156-157)
[23] Such as formulating cunning stratagem in order to annul that which is an immediate obligation upon him, for instance attempting to annul maintenance costs that are obligatory upon him, and repayment of binding debt by transfer of assets and wealth into the ownership of one’s wife or son in order to declare insolvency so that maintenance costs and repayment of debt no longer becomes necessary upon him. Or like the one who enters the month of Ramadhaan, so he does not desire to fast it and thus he embarks upon a journey; and he has no objective other than to consume food, and the like of that. (Refer to: Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 2 p.768)
[24] Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) mentioned: “So every place in which His wisdom becomes manifest to those that are commissioned (with religious duty) or is hidden from them, then the one who is endowed with perceptive faculties does not doubt that cunning stratagem invalidates that wisdom which The Legislator intended. So the cunning schemer is in contradiction to The Legislator, one who is deceitful in reality to Allaah and His Messenger, and the more that the individual becomes acquainted of the religion and more discerning of its virtues; then his flight from cunning stratagem becomes greater.” (Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.252)
[25] The people of innovation are from the foremost who are guilty of this trait, Allaah, The Most High, said:
وَلَا تَقُولُوا لِمَا تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُكُمُ الْكَذِبَ هَٰذَا حَلَالٌ وَهَٰذَا حَرَامٌ لِّتَفْتَرُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لَا يُفْلِحُونَ
((And do not say, concerning that which your tongues assert falsely: “This is lawful and this is forbidden” so as to invent lies against Allaah. Indeed; those who invent lies against Allaah will not succeed.)) (An-Nahl: 116)
Al-Haafidh Ibn Katheer (rahimahullaah) mentioned in his explanation of this verse: “There enters into this every individual who innovated an innovation for which he does not have any legislated support in regard to it, or that he seeks to make something permissible from that which Allaah has made forbidden, or that he seeks to make forbidden something that Allaah has allowed.” (Tafseer Al-Qur’aan Al-‘Adheem vol 8 p.363)
[26] Abridged from Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 2 p.765-767
[27] Due to the presence of that which eradicates blessing and that is lies or concealment (of the true nature), and this opposes truthfulness and clear manifestation – which we have been commanded with and is that which brings about blessing. Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned: “If truthfulness and clear manifestation are obligatory in conduct and a cause for blessing, and lies and concealment are forbidden and eradicate blessing, then it is known that many of the cunning stratagems or most of them are not concluded except with the occurrence of lies or concealment or with its being permitted.” (Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.222)
[28] I’laam al-Muwaqi’een vol 3 p.232, the origin of the quote is Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.194.
[29] Ighaathatul Lahfaan vol 1 p.614
[30] As occurs in I’laam al-Muwaqi’een vol 3 p.175
[31] Shaikh ul Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said: “Allaah, The Most High, said:
فَجَعَلْنَاهَا نَكَالًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهَا وَمَا خَلْفَهَا وَمَوْعِظَةً لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
((So We made it an exemplary punishment for those who were present and those after them and a lesson for the Muttaqeen [pious and dutiful ones].)) (Al-Baqarah: 66)
They said: from the Ummah of Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) so that they should not do the like of their actions, and they said that exemplary punishment is a punishment for what came before it as well as a lesson for that which comes after it as He has stated regarding the thief:
نَكَالًا مِّنَ اللَّهِ
((An exemplary punishment from Allaah)) (Al-Maa-idah: 38)
What is meant by exemplary punishment is lesson, because He has already said:
جَزَاءً بِمَا كَسَبَا
((A recompense for that which they committed.)) (Al-Maa-idah: 38)
So if Allaah, The Glorified, has made an example of these ones by way of punishment for the remainder of those after them; and has admonished the Muttaqeen (pious and dutiful ones) with a lesson by way of it, then it is worthy of the believer that he should be cautious of making lawful the things that Allaah, The Most High, has made forbidden – even with the slightest cunningness. Likewise he should know that it is from the most potent of reasons for punishment, and that necessitates that it is from the greatest of wrongdoings and sins.” (Bayaan ad-Daleel a’laa Butlaan at-Tahleel p.49)
[32] Ibn a-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “Whoever it becomes apparent from to us of his outward manifestation of good, then we accept his testimony and we entrust his inner thought to Allaah, The Glorified. Indeed; Allaah, The Glorified, did not make the rulings of the life of this world to be on the basis of the inner thoughts/intents; but rather upon the outward manifestations – and the inner thoughts/intents follow in succession to them. As for the rulings of the Hereafter; then (they will be) upon the basis of the inner thoughts/intents – and the outward manifestations follow them in succession.” (I’laam al-Muwaqi’een vol 1 p.129)
[33] Ibn a-Qayyim (rahimahullaah) said: “Indeed ; by this it becomes clear that that which the Messenger came with is the most complete of that which a legislation can come with…and he (the Messenger) did not command with inquiring (of the people) in regard to their hearts nor to tear open their chests. Rather the rulings of Allaah are to be applied upon them in the life of this world if they enter into His religion, and His rulings will be applied in the Hereafter upon their hearts and their intentions. Hence, the rulings of the life of this world are upon the basis of Islaam, and the rulings of the Hereafter are upon the basis of Eemaan.” (Abridged from I’laam al-Muwaqi’een vol 3 p.138)
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