Understanding Farz, Nafil or Wajib from the Qur'an, e.g. Animal Sacrifice
Question:
I want to know how we know by reading Quran that this order of Allah is “Farz” and this order is “Nafil or Wajib?
For example how we know that ‘Animal Qurbani’ is Nafil. I also want to know the reason of different understandings among people about Qurbani. Most of them treat it ‘Wajib or Sunaat or even Farz’ and Ghamidi sahb treat it as Nafil.
Why this misunderstanding created? can you please clear this? Thanks Jalal
Answer:
First please note that categorisations like Farz, Nafl and Wajib are Feqhi (juristic) terminologies that are made by our jurists in order to communicate Islamic directives better. In the Qur’an and the established Sunnah we only have indication that an act is obligation, or that it is recommended without any intentional references to these Feqhi terminologies.
As for how to understand whether a directive in the Qur’an is an obligation or not, the wording of the Qur’an itself should be enough. To give you an example, the Qur’an says:
إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَ الْمَرْوَةَ مِن شَعَائرِ اللَّهِ فَمَنْ حَجَّ الْبَيْتَ أَوِ اعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا وَ مَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيرْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيم
“The Safa and Marwah are two of God’s symbols. So it shall be no offence for those who come for Hajj or Umrah of this House to walk around them; and he who does a virtue of his own will, God will accept it and is fully aware of it.” (2:158)
The wording of the above verse “it shall be no offence” and “he who does a virtue of his own will” make it clear that Sa’i is not an obligatory part of Hajj. If it was obligatory then the verse would have used a stronger word to denote obligation. For example:
...
فَإِذا أَمِنْتُمْ فَمَنْ تَمَتَّعَ بِالْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى الْحَجِّ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيامُ ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ فِي الْحَجِّ وَ سَبْعَةٍ إِذا رَجَعْتُمْ تِلْكَ عَشَرَةٌ كامِلَةٌ ذلِكَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَهْلُهُ حاضِرِي الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرامِ وَ اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللهَ شَديدُ الْعِقاب
"... then in peacetime anyone among you who benefits from the Umrah till the time of Hajj arrives, he should sacrifice any animal that is available; and if it is not available, he should fast for three days during the Hajj and seven when he has returned. These are ten days in all. This is only for those whose houses are not located near the Sacred Mosque. And have piety for God and know well that God is stern in retribution.” (2:196)
Again, reading the above the wording of the verse makes it very clear that an obligatory directive is given (that is, when doing Umrah at the same journey in which Hajj is being done, an animal sacrifice should be performed). The absence of any wording that indicates voluntarily act (like the verse above), the fact that if animal sacrifice is not possible another act of worship (fasting) is prescribed and the warning at the end of the verse all indicate that this is an obligation.
As you may appreciate, this is not a rocket science, it is based on appreciating the appearance of the verses, although of course practicing and gaining a better knowledge of the style of the Qur’anic language will assist with this and ensures avoiding errors of judgement.
As I wrote above, categorisations like Nafl and Sunnah, etc. only emerged later among the jurists. For all practical purposes I believe it is enough to know what is obligation and what is non-obligatory but recommended. Among those things that are recommended, again based on the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah (as the primary sources) and Hadith (as a secondary source) it will be easy to understand which ones are more rewarding and recommended. Obviously differences of opinion may emerge as to what non-obligatory act is more rewarding or recommended.
If you appreciate what I wrote above then you would hopefully agree that there is not much difference between the view of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and the views of Malikis, Shafe’is and Hanbalies about animal sacrifice for someone who has not gone to Hajj. Basically they all consider this to be a non-obligatory act. Ghamidi does not use the terminologies developed by jurists in categorisation of recommended but non-obligatory acts. So the difference is in presenting the view rather than the view itself.
Only Imam Abu Hanifa seems to believe that for any resident (non-traveller) who is capable, animal sacrifice during the days of Tashreeq (11th, 12th and 13th of Dhu'l-Hijjah) is obligation. His view is based on the following Hadith narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) by Abu Hurayra:
مَنْ كَانَ لَهُ سَعَةٌ، وَلَمْ يُضَحِّ، فَلَا يَقْرَبَنَّ مُصَلَّانَا
“One who can afford yet does not do sacrifice (in the days of Tashreeq) should not come near the place of (the Eid) prayer.” (Ibm Majeh, 3123)
Other jurists do not believe that this Hadith is giving an obligatory directive. They consider it only as a strong encouragement. They refer to other Hadiths where it is very clear that animal sacrifice is optional, like this one narrated by Umm Salama:
إِذَا دَخَلَتِ الْعَشْرُ، وَأَرَادَ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يُضَحِّيَ، فَلَا يَمَسَّ مِنْ شَعَرِهِ وَبَشَرِهِ شَيْئًا
The Messenger (pbuh) said: “When the ten days (of Dhu'l-Hijjah) arrive and one of you wants to perform sacrifice he should not cut his hair and nail” (Muslim, 1977)
It is also interesting to note that two of the famous students of Imam Abu Hanifa, Abi Yusuf and Muhammad did not consider animal sacrifice during the days of Tashreeq to be obligation.
We agree with the view of the jurists who do not consider sacrificing animals during the days of Tashreeq to be obligation. However our primary basis for this agreement is different. We do not consider Hadith to be an independent source of understanding Islam. On the other hand what we do consider to be the primary sources of understanding Islam (that is the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah) do not indicate that this act is obligatory.
May God be satisfied with the family of the Prophet (pbuh) and his pious companions.
--------------
April 2013
I want to know how we know by reading Quran that this order of Allah is “Farz” and this order is “Nafil or Wajib?
For example how we know that ‘Animal Qurbani’ is Nafil. I also want to know the reason of different understandings among people about Qurbani. Most of them treat it ‘Wajib or Sunaat or even Farz’ and Ghamidi sahb treat it as Nafil.
Why this misunderstanding created? can you please clear this? Thanks Jalal
Answer:
First please note that categorisations like Farz, Nafl and Wajib are Feqhi (juristic) terminologies that are made by our jurists in order to communicate Islamic directives better. In the Qur’an and the established Sunnah we only have indication that an act is obligation, or that it is recommended without any intentional references to these Feqhi terminologies.
As for how to understand whether a directive in the Qur’an is an obligation or not, the wording of the Qur’an itself should be enough. To give you an example, the Qur’an says:
إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَ الْمَرْوَةَ مِن شَعَائرِ اللَّهِ فَمَنْ حَجَّ الْبَيْتَ أَوِ اعْتَمَرَ فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِ أَن يَطَّوَّفَ بِهِمَا وَ مَن تَطَوَّعَ خَيرْا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَاكِرٌ عَلِيم
“The Safa and Marwah are two of God’s symbols. So it shall be no offence for those who come for Hajj or Umrah of this House to walk around them; and he who does a virtue of his own will, God will accept it and is fully aware of it.” (2:158)
The wording of the above verse “it shall be no offence” and “he who does a virtue of his own will” make it clear that Sa’i is not an obligatory part of Hajj. If it was obligatory then the verse would have used a stronger word to denote obligation. For example:
...
فَإِذا أَمِنْتُمْ فَمَنْ تَمَتَّعَ بِالْعُمْرَةِ إِلَى الْحَجِّ فَمَا اسْتَيْسَرَ مِنَ الْهَدْيِ فَمَنْ لَمْ يَجِدْ فَصِيامُ ثَلاثَةِ أَيَّامٍ فِي الْحَجِّ وَ سَبْعَةٍ إِذا رَجَعْتُمْ تِلْكَ عَشَرَةٌ كامِلَةٌ ذلِكَ لِمَنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ أَهْلُهُ حاضِرِي الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرامِ وَ اتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللهَ شَديدُ الْعِقاب
"... then in peacetime anyone among you who benefits from the Umrah till the time of Hajj arrives, he should sacrifice any animal that is available; and if it is not available, he should fast for three days during the Hajj and seven when he has returned. These are ten days in all. This is only for those whose houses are not located near the Sacred Mosque. And have piety for God and know well that God is stern in retribution.” (2:196)
Again, reading the above the wording of the verse makes it very clear that an obligatory directive is given (that is, when doing Umrah at the same journey in which Hajj is being done, an animal sacrifice should be performed). The absence of any wording that indicates voluntarily act (like the verse above), the fact that if animal sacrifice is not possible another act of worship (fasting) is prescribed and the warning at the end of the verse all indicate that this is an obligation.
As you may appreciate, this is not a rocket science, it is based on appreciating the appearance of the verses, although of course practicing and gaining a better knowledge of the style of the Qur’anic language will assist with this and ensures avoiding errors of judgement.
As I wrote above, categorisations like Nafl and Sunnah, etc. only emerged later among the jurists. For all practical purposes I believe it is enough to know what is obligation and what is non-obligatory but recommended. Among those things that are recommended, again based on the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah (as the primary sources) and Hadith (as a secondary source) it will be easy to understand which ones are more rewarding and recommended. Obviously differences of opinion may emerge as to what non-obligatory act is more rewarding or recommended.
If you appreciate what I wrote above then you would hopefully agree that there is not much difference between the view of Javed Ahmad Ghamidi and the views of Malikis, Shafe’is and Hanbalies about animal sacrifice for someone who has not gone to Hajj. Basically they all consider this to be a non-obligatory act. Ghamidi does not use the terminologies developed by jurists in categorisation of recommended but non-obligatory acts. So the difference is in presenting the view rather than the view itself.
Only Imam Abu Hanifa seems to believe that for any resident (non-traveller) who is capable, animal sacrifice during the days of Tashreeq (11th, 12th and 13th of Dhu'l-Hijjah) is obligation. His view is based on the following Hadith narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) by Abu Hurayra:
مَنْ كَانَ لَهُ سَعَةٌ، وَلَمْ يُضَحِّ، فَلَا يَقْرَبَنَّ مُصَلَّانَا
“One who can afford yet does not do sacrifice (in the days of Tashreeq) should not come near the place of (the Eid) prayer.” (Ibm Majeh, 3123)
Other jurists do not believe that this Hadith is giving an obligatory directive. They consider it only as a strong encouragement. They refer to other Hadiths where it is very clear that animal sacrifice is optional, like this one narrated by Umm Salama:
إِذَا دَخَلَتِ الْعَشْرُ، وَأَرَادَ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يُضَحِّيَ، فَلَا يَمَسَّ مِنْ شَعَرِهِ وَبَشَرِهِ شَيْئًا
The Messenger (pbuh) said: “When the ten days (of Dhu'l-Hijjah) arrive and one of you wants to perform sacrifice he should not cut his hair and nail” (Muslim, 1977)
It is also interesting to note that two of the famous students of Imam Abu Hanifa, Abi Yusuf and Muhammad did not consider animal sacrifice during the days of Tashreeq to be obligation.
We agree with the view of the jurists who do not consider sacrificing animals during the days of Tashreeq to be obligation. However our primary basis for this agreement is different. We do not consider Hadith to be an independent source of understanding Islam. On the other hand what we do consider to be the primary sources of understanding Islam (that is the Qur’an and the Established Sunnah) do not indicate that this act is obligatory.
May God be satisfied with the family of the Prophet (pbuh) and his pious companions.
--------------
April 2013
