Library Islam What is Islam? The Limits To Freedom
The Limits To Freedom
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THE LIMITS TO FREEDOM
As for the pure sunna, the famous rule in the books of jurisprudence, extracted from the Qur’an and the hadith is: “People are given charge over themselves and what they own”[51]. Therefore anyone can do as he wishes with regard to his own body or his own possessions but on the condition that what he does is not forbidden by the Islamic Shari‘a.
Question:
Give examples of actions which are forbidden in the Shari‘a.
Answer:
Forbidden actions regarding one’s own body include killing oneself (that is to commit suicide), cutting off a limb like one’s own arm, or destroying a faculty like blinding oneself or making oneself deaf.
Forbidden action with regard to one’s possessions is as if someone destroys his wealth by throwing it into the sea or burning the banknotes he has, and so on. It is also forbidden to spend one’s money on something unlawful such as alcoholic drinks or on unlawful sex or gambling. Since the actions which are forbidden by the Shari‘a are very few indeed, each one of them having been made unlawful for the good of the individual or society, the things that one is permitted to do with one’s own body or one’s wealth and possessions are consequently numerous, to an extent never found in any other religious system or code of laws.
