7 prohibitions in Islam

May 23, 2021

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Mughira ibn Shu’ba (may Allah be please with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

The Prophet (peace be on him) said, “Allah has forbidden you to be undutiful to your mothers, to withhold (what you should give) or demand (what you do not deserve), and to bury your daughters alive. And Allah has disliked that you talk too much about others, ask too many questions (in religion), or waste your property.” (Bukhari)

In this hadith, Allah Almighty made the following haram:

being disrespectful to mothers
refusing to pay others what is due to them
demanding what you do not deserve
killing baby daughters at birth
gossiping
asking unnecessary questions
wasting wealth.

The Narrator

Mughira (may Allah be pleased with him) one of the very famous and strong companion. He was a big man, and a good warrior. He first he came to Islam after the Battle of the Ditch or Al-Khandaq, and was originally from the vicinity of Taif. Thaqif is the place where he was born (may Allah be pleased with him).

1. Be good to your parents

In this hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him) we see that one of the biggest sins is al uqu from the Arabic aqat meaning to cut, for instance, aqiqah, which is the slaughter. To cut off relations with your mother is prohibited, or your father, or any blood ties. To cut them also means to harm them.

This is why it is classified as the biggest kabair. There are many al kabair (major sins) but in the top 10 is uqu wa lidayn, which means being bad to your parents. In the Quran there are many verses which mention the importance of treating parents with love, kindness and mercy, to the extent you cannot say ‘uff’ to them.

In Surat al Isra, Allah Almighty says:

Wa qada Rabbuka alla ta’budou illa iyyahu wa bil wa lidayni ihsana
Imma yabluganna indakal kibara ahaduhuma aw kila huma fala taqul lahuma uffin
Wa la tanharhuma wa qullahuma qawlan kareema
Wakhfidla huma janahaz ulli minar rahmati
wa qur-Rabbir hamhuma kama rabba yanee sageera
Your Lord has commanded that you worship none but him and that you be good to your parents.
If either of them or both of them reach old age with you, do not say to them a word of disrespect, which is the smallest word of disrespect, which is uff.
And don’t scold them but say to them kind words
And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say
My Lord have mercy on them as they have raised me whilst I was a child. (17:23-24)

This ayah alone is enough to show you how much being good to your parents is emphasised and conversely how punishable it is for you to disobey Allah Almighty.

Scholars have commented on this hadith by wondering why the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned the mother, rather than the father. Does this mean it is permissible for children to be bad to their fathers? No. however because the mother is the less authoritative of the two parents, and it is usually easier to be rude to her that a father, and children are more likely to take advantage of her or manipulate her emotionally .

Allah is saying do not treat your mothers badly. Particularly as mothers put in more effort in raising children, and taking care of their needs. Allah is saying do not repay her mercy and compassion by insulting or abusing her. It is haram.

Typically, the father is the sterner of the couple and less emotional, though there are always exceptions.

It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

A man came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, which of the people is most deserving of my good companionship? He said: “Your mother.” He said: Then who? He said: “Then your mother.” He said: Then who? He said: “Then your mother.” He said: Then who? He said: “Then your father.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

This does not put less importance on being good to your father, but confirms the honoured status of the mother.

In Surat Luqman, Allah Almighty says:

Wa was saynal insana biwalidayh
We have asked man to look after his parents (31:14)
Here He specifies both parents; not just his mother.

Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (peace be on him) asked:

“Shall I not tell you about the biggest of the major sins?” They said: “Of course, O Messenger of Allah!” He said: “To join partners with Allah and to disobey one’s parents.” Abu Bakr said: “He (the Prophet) sat up, and he had been reclining. He said: “And false testimony, or false speech. And the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) would not stop saying it until we said to ourselves: We wish that he would stop.” (Tirmidhi)

The first major sin he mentioned was al ishraq billah – association with Allah Almighty, and the second was uqu walidayni – being disrespectful or causing harm to your parents.

How you treat your parents is how you will be treated by your children one day. If you were good to your parents; your children will be good to you. If you were bad to your parents; your children will be bad to you.

2. To prevent the rights of others

Allah Almighty also prohibited man’an wahad, (to prevent what is the right of others). For instance, if you borrowed some money or bought something and then instead of repaying them, you decide not to, you have not given them their right, and this is haram.

Another example is that you hire somebody but then do not pay them. Again, this is haram. Preventing someone’s right is haram. This is known as man’an in Arabic.

Allah Almighty says in the Quran:

Wa la ta’kulou amwalakum bay nakum bil batili
Do not consume or eat your money amongst you in falsehood. [2:188]

In other words, taking something which is not rightfully yours is falsehood. There are plenty of verses in the Quran talking about the severe punishment in the akhirah for doing this. Here we have the word ‘eat’ to refer to the one who is consuming what is not his. His punishment will be in the dunya as well.

3. Begging is the last resort

Asking for support, like financial support, which is called al masalah, in Arabic is not allowed, unless you are in severe poverty. It is not the first option.

The first option is to make efforts to find a way to earn your living through a job or other initiative. If that fails, then you have the permission to ask for financial support through begging, but it is the last resort.

Sound and active people are not meant to beg. , And we know that some people do have a business, begging business and they have gangs and they have followers and they do a lot of money out of it, which is haram.

Anas bin Malik narrated that a man from among the Ansar came to the Prophet (peace be on him) and begged from him. He said, “Do you have anything in your house?” He said: “Yes, a blanket, part of which we cover ourselves with and part we spread beneath us, and a bowl from which we drink water.” He said: “Give them to me.” So he brought them to him, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) took them in his hand and said, “Who will buy these two things?” A man said: “I will by them for one Dirham.” He said: “Who will offer more than a Dirham?” two or three times. A man said: “I will buy them for two Dirham.” So he gave them to him and took the two Dirham, which he gave to the Ansari and said: “Buy food with one of them and give it to your family, and buy an axe with the other and bring it to me.” So he did that, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) took it and fixed a handle to it, and said: “Go and gather firewood, and I do not want to see you for fifteen days.” So he went and gathered firewood and sold it, then he came back, and he had earned ten Dirham. (The Prophet (peace be on him) said: “Buy food with some of it and clothes with some.” Then he said: “This is better for you than coming with begging (appearing) as a spot on your face on the Day of Resurrection. Begging is only appropriate for one who is extremely poor or who is in severe debt, or one who must pay painful blood money.” (Ibn Majah)

4. The practice of burying daughters

Also prohibited is the practice of wa’du balad banat. This was a practice in the jahaliyah community of burying their baby daughters when they were born. There were two main reasons for this. The Arab community was not a business community, and they had limited resources, so they were always at war with each other, fighting for resources. In such circumstances, they tried to minimise their risks. One of the risks was that if somebody invaded you, and they could take your wife, and your daughters captive. This was a huge insult and very painful to bear, so they preferred to bury their daughters, then for their daughters to become captives later.

Having said this, the practice of burying daughters alive was not a widespread practice in every tribe. It was more common in some tribes.

Allah Almighty mentioned this in Surat At Tawkir:

Wa izal maw’oudatu su’ilat
Bi ayyi zambin quitilat
And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked
For what crime she was killed. (81:8-9)

Allah mentioned this in the Quran, and prohibited it.

Like the other prohibitions, such as alcohol and riba, after it was introduced, people ceased this evil practice.

5. Gossiping

In the hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) also says, that it is prohibited to be engaged in gossip keel wakaal. Keel wakaal literally it means keel means ‘It has been said’, kaal means ‘they said that’. Therefore, the gossip culture which we have now, and which is big business on television channels, on satellite channels, on social media, and in magazines sells. It is haram. Don’t be engaged in forwarding or spreading rumours, bad news, gossip or backbiting.

6. Asking irrelevant questions

The Prophet (peace be on him) said, it was prohibited to ask too many questions. Islam is not against asking, but needless questions are not beneficial. We see this in the stories of Bani Israel. For instance, in the story of the cow, they questioned he story of the cow. Musa (peace be on him) told his people:

Inna Llaha ya’murukum ‘an tazbahou baqarah
Allah commands you to slaughter a cow. [2:67]

Had they responded to this the first time without questioning it, it would have been easy, but their incessant questioning made the situation increasingly difficult for themselves. This is what the Prophet (peace be on him) was afraid of. If the companions asked a question they could end up making life difficult for the ummah. This was in his lifetime, but even today we ask too many unnecessary questions which create hardship.

We see this on the occasion that the Prophet (peace be on him) told believers that Hajj was obligatory. One of the attendees Al Hakra ibn Haq stood up and asked if it was obligatory to perform it every year. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not answer so he repeated his questions three times until the Prophet (peace be upon him) stopped and answered ‘No’.

Had he not said ‘No’ it would have been obligatory on us to perform hajj annually. Out of his mercy, he wanted to make things easy for his ummah.

Scholars commentary on asking questions

Now the scholars commented on this and they said this was in his lifetime, but now we don’t have any revelation coming down. Questions are not prohibited, but we have the etiquettes of how to ask questions and what are the reasons and the intention behind the questions.

Unlike a genuine question, someone might ask a question to embarrass the teacher or to show off their knowledge. This is not a good question.

If someone asks too many questions it means something is not right. It reflects a fussy personality or a troubled mentality. Allah directed us in the Quran, and Allah says

…fas’alou Ahlaz Zikri in kuntum la ta’lamoun
ask the people of knowledge if you don’t know. [16:43]:

So yes, in the first place we have been commanded to ask, but not too many questions and not to ask it with a bad intention. You should ask with the right intention and know why we are asking this.

7. Squandering wealth

And the last thing in the hadith, is that it is haram to squander your wealth. You’ve been given the wealth. Allah Almighty has provided for you in this world. Preserve it, protect it, be grateful and spend it on what is permissible.

Ibn Mas’ud reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

“The son of Adam will not be dismissed from his Lord on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about five issues: his life and how he lived it, his youth and how he used it, his wealth and how he earned it and he spent it, and how he acted on his knowledge.” (ibn Majah)

Thus we see that of the four things you will be asked on the Day of Judgement, one of them is where did you get your money from and how did you spend your money? Sometimes you got the halal money, but you have spent it in haram or not necessarily haram but you squandered your money. If you pay £1000 for something that is worth £10 this is squandering wealth; which Allah has given you.

You could have done many useful things with that money. Spending on a big, fat wedding is a waste. You could have invested that money in a project which is more useful than showing off and getting into debt just to tick the box that you invited 1000 people to your wedding.

It is much better to invest the money in something good, pay a deposit for your flat or house or furniture or car. You are accountable for squandering wealth. Satisfying culture is not a good reason.

Shaykh Haytham Tamim – Transcribed by Rose Roslan from the Sunday Hadith Class on ibn Hajar al Asqalani’s Bulugh al Maram.

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Shaykh Haytham Tamim

Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.