HARAM – حرام

Anything or any act prohibited and proscribed by Allah (jalla jalâluhu). The opposite of haram is halal.

The rule of اِنَّ الضَّرُورَاتِ تُبِيحُ الْمَحْظُورَاتِ , that is “Dharûrah makes halal, what is haram”. Thus, this rule is not universal. So long as dharûrah does not occur by way of haram, it causes to make haram, halal. Otherwise, if something has become dharûrah due to misuse of the will and for haram reasons, it cannot make halal what is haram, this dharûrah cannot be the source of injunctions with rukhsah and cannot constitute an excuse. For example, if through misusing his will, a man makes himself drunk in a haram way, according to ‘ulamâ of the Sharî’ah, his actions act against him and he cannot be accepted as excused. If he divorces his wife, the divorce is valid. And if he commits a crime, he receives the penalty. But if it is not through misusing his will, the divorce is not valid and neither does he receive any penalty. And, for example, an alcohol addict — even his addiction is at the degree of dharûrah —cannot say: "It is a dharûrah and it is halal for me."

Thus, at this time there are many matters which have reached the degree of dharûrah and have taken the form of a general calamity making people addicted to themselves. Since they have emerged from misuse of the will, illicit inclinations and haram acts, they cannot be a reason to make halal what is haram through being the source of injunctions with rukhsah. Whereas, since ahl al-ijtihâd of the present time make those dharûrahs the source of injunctions of the Sharî’ah, their ijtihâd are earthly, they arise from the desires of their nafs, philosophic; they cannot be sâmâwî and are not from the Sharî’ah. Whereas, if ma’nawî permission of Al-Khâliq does not exist, the disposal and intervention concerning the Ilahî injunctions of Al-Khâliq of the samâwât and the earth and interference in the ‘ibâdah of His ‘abds are rejected.

The Twenty-Seventh Word/The Third/The Fifth