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There is another matter. It is also very important. According to the judgment of the Qur’an, as a result of the demands of vile civilisation, essential needs have risen from four to twenty in this age. Due to addiction, custom and habit, inessential needs became essential. Although they have îmân in the âkhirah, people prefer this world over the âkhirah for the benefit of the world and due to the struggle for livelihood by thinking and supposing that there is dharûrah.

Forty years ago, a commander-in-chief sent some commanders and even some hojas to me in order to accustom me a little to the world. They told me, “At this time, we have no choice. According to the rule: اِنَّ الضَّرُورَاتِ تُبِيحُ الْمَحْظُورَاتِ 1, we are now compelled to imitate some of the methods of Europe and some of the demands of civilisation.” So I said to them, “You are seriously deceived. If dharûrah arises from the misuse of the will, it certainly is not right. It does not make halal what is haram. If it does not arise from the misuse of the will, that is, if dharûrah has not occurred due to haram, it is not harmful. For example, if, through the misuse of the will in a haram way, a man gets himself drunk and commits a crime while he is drunk, the judgment will be made against him. He will not be considered excused and will receive a penalty because this dharûrah has occurred due to the misuse of his will. But if an insane child shoots someone in a state of insanity, he is excused; he will receive no penalty because it was not within his will.”

Thus, I said to that commander and those hojas, “What other dharûrahs are there other than the essential needs like eating bread and living? Actions born of the misuse of the will, illicit inclinations and haram behaviours cannot be a reason to make halal what is haram. If one has become addicted to things like cinema, theatre and dance, it cannot be a reason for making halal what is haram because there is no absolute dharûrah, and such addiction arises from the misuse of the will. Human laws have also taken this point into consideration and differentiated the judgments concerning the actions arising from definite dharûrah that are outside of the will and the actions arising from the misuse of the will. In the laws of Allah, these principles are differentiated in a more firm and fundamental manner.