Never, ever, EVER say such-and-such is haram/halal/fard/etc. without knowledge. To say so, is to sign on behalf of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). And who dares to do that without knowledge?
This is the job of the mujtahiduwn — those who research fiqh issues and then issue fatawa. Notice, the best of them always say, “this is the final ruling, and Allah knows best.” Why? Because they are signing on behalf of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). They are really saying, “Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), and his Messenger (صلي الله عليه وسلم), want you to perform/avoid this action.
But that’s not all. If they say something is haram, they’re saying: Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) may punish you for doing this action! Same with fard: Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) will reward you for this action (if done sincerely)! Do you dare sign something on Allah’s behalf, when you don’t know?
This is why many scholars, as well, use the makrooh category when they don’t know for sure something is haram. Like smoking–originally, scholars thought “yeah, it gives you bad breath … seems a little fishy but … Allahu ‘alim, it’s makrooh.” And as soon as they learned it causes so many diseases–emphysema, lung cancer, etc. — instant downgrade to haram. Because harming your body is unethical and unislamic. But out of their taqwa of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), they didn’t say so in the first place–not without solid, 110% assurity. So how can we say such things, without even a tenth of their knowledge?
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) protect us from a tongue that carries us into the Hellfire, ameen.
If you didn’t know, then alhamdulillah, now you do. Be careful in the future inshallah. The best thing to say is, “such-and-such a scholar/imam/book/etc. says that x action has y ruling, and Allah knows best.” But don’t sign on behalf of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)!
Subhanallah. Imagine a guy who pretends he’s a surgeon. Fakes his documents, and someone hires him. An emergancy case rushes in–they need him to operate. So the guy hits up Google: “brain surgery 101″. And suppose he actually operated, successfully–saved the patient’s life.
Now, if they found out about his forged credentials after the fact, what do you think they’d do to him? Do you think his employers would say, “good job dude, here’s a nice chunk of salary, and a nice bonus for saving that guy’s life?” No way! They’d probably haul him to jail (and the patient would sue)!
Now imagine the opposite–totally skilled master surgeon has a bad day, and actually kills his patient. (People make mistakes.) What’s going to happen? Are they going to fire him? Maybe. But definitely, he still gets his salary.
Similarly, for ijtihad, the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, the reward for one who makes ijtihad (properly–using all the tools, techniques, and the sciences) and makes a mistake, is one reward (basic salary); and for one who makes ijtihad (properly) and is correct, is two rewards (salary and a bonus!).
So make the smart decision–don’t play with peoples deen. That’s what we do when we sign on behalf of Allah. Keep silent if you don’t know, and quote your sources. Remember, this is their deen you’re messing with–their eternal and un-ending akhira life at stake. Don’t risk it!
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) grant us all perfect knowledge of this perfect and beautiful deen of Islam, ameen!
(1) Muhammad Alshareef. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Rizq Management. University of Toronto, Toronto. June 2006.
(2) AbdulBary Yahya. Lecture. AlMaghrib. The Purification Act. University of Toronto, Toronto. November 2006.