The halal is clear and the haram is clear

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Hell is full of good meanings and desire, but heaven is full of good works and deeds. One must not simply intend to behave well but we must also act according to our good intentions.

The Prophet(pbuh) warned us:
“Beware; in the body there is a flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart.”

From Abu 'Abdullah al-Nu'man bin Bashir (ra) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah(pbuh) say:

"The halal is clear and the haram is clear, and between them are matters unclear that are unknown to most people. Whoever is wary of these unclear matters has absolved his religion and honor. And whoever indulges in them has indulged in the haram. It is like a shepherd who herds his sheep too close to preserved sanctuary, and they will eventually graze in it. Every king has a sanctuary, and the sanctuary of Allah is what He has made haram. There lies within the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily this piece is the heart."(Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim)

This hadith is actually a corroborating evidence for a concept in Usul Al-Fiqh called “Sadd al-Dhara’i” (Blocking of the Means). This means that you have to block any action which might lead to haram. The Prophet (pbuh) gives the example of a person who has a flock, and the flock is going towards some land that is off-limits. That person keeps getting closer and closer to that land, eventually the sheep are going to stray into the prohibited property.

Just as a King has a sanctuary, which the shepherds must keep their sheep away from, so too has Allah SWT specified certain things as forbidden for his slaves. We should avoid the disliked, and sometimes even refrain from the permissible in order to avoid falling into the prohibited.

Halal is what we seek when dealing with our relationship with Allah SWT, when we are dealing with understanding Islam and when we are dealing with how to build and improve our community. The halal is clear. It is what is clearly allowed, and there is no doubt about it. Whatever Allah has established to be permissible in a text, then it is the 'clear' Halal:

"This day [all] good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them." (QS 5:5)

The clear haram is what is clearly prohibited and everybody knows that it is prohibited; there is no difference in opinion. zina, riba', alcohol, oppression, killing, stealing etc are haram. Every matter that Allah SWT associated with a punishment or a threat are included amongst the 'clear' haram:

"Prohibited to you (for marriage) are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters... "(QS 4:23)

The Prophet(pbuh) says in another hadith:
"A person’s iman will not be upright until their heart is upright and strong. The heart will not be upright and strong until the tongue is upright and strong."

One wisdom learnt from this hadith is the way the Prophet(pbuh), tells us about something: he will discuss a concept and then give us the principle. The principle tells us not only with the concept mentioned in the hadith, but it actually tells us, if we use it in the right way with the right understanding in relation with our action(spoken words).

If we manage our heart through our tongue, not only will we be able to avoid the bad actions and intentions, we can always apply the same principle to other similar concepts or issues, e.g. in avoiding bad manners in order to achieve good akhlaq (values). Therefore, it's utmost important for us to behave and act accordingly to what we have intended.

Wallahu'alam