One wisdom we can learn from the hadith that deals with the evident nature of the lawful and the unlawful is from the way the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, mentions to us about something: he will discuss a concept and then give us the principle. This principle helps us not only with the concept mentioned in the narration, but it actually helps us, if we use it in the right way with the proper understanding, in other related matters and situations. If we care about our heart, not only will we be able to refrain from the doubtful matters, we can apply the same principle to other related concepts or issues, e.g. in avoiding bad manners for there are also doubtful matters in the concept of akhlaq (values). It was stated earlier that Imam al-Bukhari recorded this hadith in Kitab ul-Buyu’ (Trading).
When it comes to trading there are several matters that are doubtful, matters which existed then
and even now, e.g. where cheating is done in a professional manner. Therfore we have to be careful if the
matter about to trading is obvious and evident, permissible or not permissible, or if it is doubtful, in which case we have to avoid or refrain from it.
Related to the above situation is the issue of al-ma’kulat (food) where there are many doubtful matters related to what we eat. If we check the ingredients that are used in most of the manufactured food today, e.g. biscuits, canned food and preserved food, there are ingredients that might raise the question of doubtfulness of what we consume. For example, lecithin is used in the manufacture of foodstuff especially in the west and Muslim countries are importers of a lot of food from the west. If it is not stated otherwise then there is a high probability that the lecithin is derived from khanzir (pig) since it is cheaper to produce. Otherwise, it should be mentioned whether it is obtained from soya or plants or from halal production.
Another ingredient is emulsifier. Emulsifiers are denoted as the letter ‘E’ followed by a series of numbers. Some emulsifers contain things that are impermissible. There are efforts done by some Muslim scientists where they try to identify such ingredients. This can then be used as a checklist to check against when we purchase food for our family. We should be very vigilant when we read the ingredients of foodstuff if we want to be sure that what we eat is halal. It is stated in a hadith that if what we eat is haram, even our du’a / supplication is not accepted by Allah.
We should take good care of our health. A lot of what we consume today or what is in the market is not fresh. There are so many preservatives, colouring and chemical agents which, if used excessively, might affect our health. We have to be careful in the sense that although it is in general permissible, if it is used excessively it will affect our health – then we are not doing a good service for our health as a Muslim.
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