The Benefits of Wara’

Piety is an outcome of being fearful of Allah, and piety in turn results in the person becoming ascetic, and there are many other benefits to being pious, such as:

     *  Protecting oneself from the punishment of Allah and having peace of mind and tranquility.

     *  Preventing one from indulging in prohibitions.

     *  Keeping one away from wasting his time.

     *  Making one worthy of the love of Allah, because Allah loves the pious.

     *  Allah responding to one's supplications.

      *  Pleasing Allah.

     *  Elevating ones ranks in Paradise.

When the Muslim shifts his heart from the concerns of this life to those of the Hereafter and frequently recites the Quran, he is thereby enabled by Allah to be pious.

There are matters which are clearly lawful such as wearing cotton, getting married, inheriting, giving gifts and buying and selling; others are clearly unlawful like eating pork or the flesh of a dead animal, men wearing pure silk, stealing, cheating and taking bribes. There are other matters which are doubtful and are unclear to most people, which one should refrain from out of piety; these are the matters which are controversial, regarding which scholars differ as to their permissibility. An example of such a matter is buying something and paying its price in installments, then selling it to a third party for a lower price than what one paid for it, but whilst still paying the installments, the reason for doing such an act being one's need for immediate money.

Thus, a difference between scholars regarding an issue where each brings evidences to support his opinion may bring doubts to the minds of some. The reason behind the controversy could be that there may be two different texts regarding an issue, one permitting it and the other prohibiting it, but it may be that one of the two narrations or texts is weak or abrogated.

If some scholars rule a certain deed to be recommended, while others rule it obligatory, then Wara’ entails that one performs this deed, and likewise, if some scholars rule a certain deed to be prohibited while others rule it disliked or not recommended, then Wara’ entails that one refrains from this deed. There are issues which the scholars of Islam themselves refrain from passing a judgment on, such as one finding money, which he is positive is not his, in his own house; what should he do? As a general rule, anything which is in one's own house is considered his property but Wara’ entails that one spends it in charity.

In some cases, something might have factors which make it entitled to being ruled as prohibited and also permissible, and in this case Wara’ entails that one gives it up, such as when one hunts an animal, or sets his dog to hunt an animal, and when he goes to collect the game, he finds another dog sitting next to it, and so he does not know which of the two dogs caught it; or the example of a hunter shooting an animal which then fell in water and died; the hunter was therefore not sure whether it died as a result of the arrow or bullet or due to drowning, these issues are generally permissible ones, but then factors arose which could have made a prohibition occur, and therefore Wara’ dictates that one gives up any gains under these circumstances.

Is it considered Wara’ to refrain from praying on a rug which one finds in the house of a person who has small children, when one may think to himself that these children may have urinated on the rug? Such a practice is not considered to be Wara’ without evidence of any wrongdoing, because everything is supposed to be considered as pure and clean unless there is evidence to suggest otherwise, thus such behavior is an exaggeration.

True Wara’ is that one fears Allah in matters as minor as the weight of an ant. Al-Hasan said: "Wara’ continued to restrict the pious from doing certain acts until they gave up lawful things fearing that they would thereby fall into prohibitions."

Ath-Thawri said: "They were called pious because they refrained from things which people usually do not avoid."

Sufyaan ibn ‘Uyaynah said: "The slave will never reach true belief until he establishes between himself and prohibited matters a shield (i.e., acting as a buffer zone) of lawful matters which he never contravenes."

In this regard, the Prophet said: “Sin is what brings doubt to your heart, and what you would hate that people become aware of you doing.” This indicates that a sin is anything that makes one restless and doubtful. On the other hand, one might doubt certain matters due to his ignorance, and in this case he should refer to trustworthy scholars and people of knowledge to inquire about the Islamic ruling regarding it.

All permissible things are good, but some are better than others, and also, all prohibited things are evil, but some are more evil than others. Additionally, one might know that something is permissible, but later doubt may enter his mind regarding it without any evidence or any saying of a trustworthy scholar; in this case he should not pay attention to this doubt.

Moreover, one should not begin doubting matters that are not meant to be doubted, such as if someone invites a person to dinner, who starts thinking to himself when the food is presented to him: where did the money with which this food was bought come from? How did the host earn it? Certainly, this is not Wara’, rather, it is prohibited to harbor suspicions about a fellow Muslim without having any reason or evidence for doing so.

There are certain matters which require a person to act with Wara’, such as having a small portion of legally obtained wealth among a large amount of ill-gotten wealth - Wara’ should make one refrain from all such wealth. Another example is if one knows that one of two animals was slaughtered by a Hindu and the other by a Muslim, in this case he should not eat from or buy either of the two until he is sure which was the one slaughtered by the Muslim.

There are acts of Wara’ that not every person may do, like those who indulge in different prohibitions, then claim that they are refraining from a certain controversial matter due to their Wara’. This is just like the people of Iraq who, when they came to Ibn ‘Umar asking him about the permissibility of killing a mosquito whilst in the state of Ihraam, when some of them had been involved in the killing of the grandson of the Prophet Al-Husayn . So Ibn ‘Umar replied: "They are asking me about the expiation for killing a mosquito while they have killed Al-Husayn - about whom the Prophet said: “They (i.e., him and his brother Al-Hasan) are like the sweet basil of Paradise.”

In conclusion, some types of Wara’ can only be practiced by certain people, and the sinful should not concern themselves with that, but should instead be commanded to refrain from the prohibitions they commit. Moreover, Wara’ is a great act of worship and has an exalted rank in Islam which results in a great reward from Allah, and people should not think that having Wara’ will deprive them from living a pleasant life, because there is plenty to enjoy in what Allah has permitted.