To Err on the Side of Caution

People find themselves confronted with a lot of divergent opinions. Someone says it is an Islamic duty. Someone else says it is preferable but not obligatory. A third says it is merely an optional matter.

There are even cases where one scholar says it is a religious obligation while another says it is a prohibited sin. In such an extreme case, there is no way to play it safe. Otherwise, it is possible for a person to adopt a cautious attitude and adopt in his or her personal religious life a practice that avoids the scholarly disagreement.

For instance, where there are people saying something is a religious obligation and others saying it is merely preferable or optional, the safe thing to do is adopt it in one’s personal practice without declaring to others anything about whether or not it is an obligation. Likewise, if some scholars say committing a certain thing is a sin while others say that it is merely disliked, the safest thing to do is simply to abstain from it. This is according to the Prophet’s guidance. He said: “Whoever is cautious to avoid dubious matters has safeguarded his faith and his honour.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī (52) and Sahīh Muslim (1599)]

A lot of people do not understand caution except in avoiding things. They do not realize that it also sometimes entails action. It is just as bad to neglect one’s duties as it is to commit a misdeed.

A number of things must be taken into consideration when it comes to erring on the side of caution. First, it s a personal matter that pertains only to someone’s own life decisions. It is not something to be imposed on anyone else, even one’s spouse or one’s nearest relatives and friends. To call others to it is to put unnecessary burdens on them and to impose on people more than what Islam requires of them.

Secondly, there are some matters wherein it is not possible to play it safe, like where scholarly opinion is divided whether something is obligatory or forbidden in Islam. To follow one opinion means to commit a sin according to the other. An example of this is whether one must recite Sūrah al-Fātihah in congregation prayer while following an imam who is reciting out loud. Some scholars argue that it is obligatory to do so since the Prophet said: “There is no prayer for one who does not recite the Fātihah.” [Sahīh al-Bukhārī (756) and Sahīh Muslim (394)]

Other scholars assert that it is sinful to recite the Fātihah while the imam is reading the Qur’an out loud, because Allah says in the Qur’an: “When the Qur’an is being recited, listen to it and be silent, so perhaps you can receive mercy.” [Sūrah al-A`rāf: 204]

In this case, a person has to come to a decision. This decision may be arrived at through research or through consulting with people of knowledge about the evidence and arguments of the different points of view. It may also take the form of simply finding someone whose piety pleases you expert opinion you trust and following their opinion on the matter,. This is the only option available to a person who has no background in Islamic Law.

Finally, the approach of erring on the side of caution is not a legal argument in its own right. This is because there is scholarly disagreement in many matters of Islamic Law. It is not a sound policy for someone to abandon everything which a few scholars have declared undesirable. There are many cases where the evidence supports permissibility, and there is no reason why a person cannot treat as something permissible.

Whenever a person truly determines that one opinion is the strongest, it is within their rights to adopt that opinion. No one is burdened to eschew everything that some scholars have declared disliked or unlawful in Islam, even when such claims are weak compared to the opposing view. It would not be possible to live that way. However, when both views are backed by compelling arguments and it is difficult to determine which one is right, this is when it becomes a viable option to adopt the more cautious approach.

Source: IslamToday