How Do You Find Out The Haram & Halal in Islam

sak01 · #1 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 07:20 PM

So you want to be a good Muslim. How do you personally go about finding out what is right, wrong, forbidden, obligatory, recommended, disliked, permissable etc etc in Islam?

Please specify in your post and mention anything I missed.

TariqBinSleepin · #2 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 07:29 PM

Go to your local mosque and ask around. If it is basic information such as food, hygiene, mannerism, basic understanding and the fundamental principles of Islamic ways, I think you can look online for that, but I would look around on different places and you have to be careful the sites your visiting =\. There are difference of opinion from the scholars on a lot of stuff, so what I was suggested from a close friend who is also a imam, that you try to first straighten your deen and the basics, then choose a specific direction you want to go with, madhab wise, solely so you don't get confused and...lost. It sounds weird I know, so thats why I try to look around my self and see the differences and then try to go with what makes the most sense and well doesn't contradict the sunnah. Then again you're simply asking about HARAM and HALAL which are straight to the point answers...most of the times...

MuslimZ · #3 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 07:32 PM

fitra
.

sak01 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TariqBinSleepin

Then again you're simply asking about HARAM and HALAL which are straight to the point answers.

No, I mean any fiqh and aqeedah type questions

exMember · #5 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 07:48 PM

salaam

Quote:

Originally Posted by TariqBinSleepin

Go to your local mosque and ask around.

You cannot go around and ask people at the mosque and decide for yourself the differences of opinion. If you really want to know all the differences of opinion, you can go to a scholar and ask him, even if he favors a certain stance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuslimZ

fitra
.

The fitra gets lost within oneself after spending years in an environment where practicing Islam is not only hard but also discouraged and at times, amongst Muslims, corrupted/changed.

Can't go with fitra.

sally · #6 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 07:57 PM

fitrah on its own cant help you with much.. fitrah is an aid, that when paired with proper understanding of right and wrong (as revealed via Quran & Hadith) has the potential of working in your very best interests. you have to be the one to get past your lazy nafs, fight it and put the fitrah to work nicely for you

and sometimes your fitrah might seem crooked, but that's actually your nafs.

TariqBinSleepin · #7 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exMember

salaam

You cannot go around and ask people at the mosque and decide for yourself the differences of opinion. If you really want to know all the differences of opinion, you can go to a scholar and ask him, even if he favors a certain stance.

no no what i meant was like, you can sort of start with your local imam, I know he might not be a scholor but he can maybe put you on the right direction to one? He must have some connections

Besides what do you do if you can't access the internet or are computer illiterate, go to your community.

Revert · #8 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 09:47 PM

Personally I bypass Local Imams unless its a communal issue or I know the Hoca well.

I go right to the sources and go from there, if i'm unclear i ask a learned person, especially if its a major issue.

MuslimZ · #9 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sally

fitrah on its own cant help you with much.. fitrah is an aid, that when paired with proper understanding of right and wrong (as revealed via Quran & Hadith) has the potential of working in your very best interests. you have to be the one to get past your lazy nafs, fight it and put the fitrah to work nicely for you

word. this is what I meant.
.

MuslimZ · #10 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exMember

The fitra gets lost within oneself after spending years in an environment where practicing Islam is not only hard but also discouraged and at times, amongst Muslims, corrupted/changed.

That's why it's all the more incumbent upon you to dig yourself out. You don't do that by asking a scholar to tell you everything you should follow. You purify your intentions and explore God's majesties through your own lens. This is how you come to have an innate sense of right and wrong. Obviously there are absolutes, but for the gray areas you trust the natural instinct God has blessed you with.

the_only_one · #11 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 10:13 PM

READ THE INGREDIENT LIST duh

and also there are bunch of books on "haram ingredient list" aka gelatin/mono glyceride and di glyceride from what im told are found in teh ice-cream and are not halal?

exMember · #12 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 10:18 PM

salaam

If you actually did mean what sally said, then right on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuslimZ

That's why it's all the more incumbent upon you to dig yourself out. You don't do that by asking a scholar to tell you everything you should follow. You purify your intentions and explore God's majesties through your own lens. This is how you come to have an innate sense of right and wrong. Obviously there are absolutes, but for the gray areas you trust the natural instinct God has blessed you with.

How do you dig yourself out? How do you purify your intentions? How do you fight your nafs? It's not just by observing the bounties and magnificence of Allah (SWT), which is a part of it but not all of it.

Islam is so great that everything we do has mention in the books of deen, from something as common as sleeping, using the bathroom, sitting while eating, walking, to as complicated as running a government. The path to Allah (SWT) is the coupling of fiqh and tazkiyah, the combination of legal rulings and practices of purifying the soul (such as dhikr of the heart, dhikr of the tongue, identifying everything around you as the power and might of Allah). How are you to find out the legal rulings? Do you just stare at the sky and figure out the intricate details of salaah, wudu, tajweed, marriage, interaction, etc? No, you dont. You go to those who are properly trained in these aspects, or you read the books written by them for the common people. The basic innate sense of right and wrong is there at fitrah, but the details are not. Even then, the fitrah is corrupted due to the environment we are raised and our actions throughout the years, to the point that we become desensitized to the truths.

the_only_one · #13 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 10:21 PM

(im constantly thinking abt food, didnt realize this thread is refering to all the other matters too) I guess, the answer is quite simplier than we think. the key issue is gaining as much as knowledge as we can by reading authentic islamic boooks on variety of subjects by different scholars and asking questions your local scholars when confused.
is that specific enuf?

the_only_one · #14 (**permalink**) 12-19-2007, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exMember

salaam

You cannot go around and ask people at the mosque and decide for yourself the differences of opinion. If you really want to know all the differences of opinion, you can go to a scholar and ask him, even if he favors a certain stance.

.

disagree..If he is a proper imam, then he'll tell you the opinions of different scholars(from dif madhabs) and help you see which opinion is most applicable to your personal situation.