general articles | - Permissibility of haraamthings in the case of necessity and the conditions governing that

I know that haraam things may be permissible if it becomesnecessary to
do them. Are there conditions governing this ruling so that it may be
applied correctly?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Among the basic principles of Islamic sharee'ah, on which the scholars
are agreed, is that cases of necessity make forbidden things
permissible.
There is a great deal of evidence to support this principle in the
Holy Qur'aan and the Prophet's Sunnah, for example, the verses in
which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"Forbidden to you (for food) are: Al-Maitah (thedead animals -- cattle
--beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which
Allaah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering (that which
has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allaah, or has
been slaughtered for idols) and that which has beenkilled by
strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by
thegoring of horns -- and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild
animal -- unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death) - and
that which is sacrificed (slaughtered) on An-Nusub
(stone-altars).(Forbidden) also is to usearrows seeking luck or
decision; (all) that is Fisqun (disobedience of Allaah and sin). This
day, those who disbelieved have given up all hope of your religion; so
fear them not, but fear Me. This day, I have perfected your religion
for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam
as your religion. But as for him who is forced by severe hunger,with
no inclination to sin (such can eat these above mentioned meats), then
surely, Allaah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful"
[al-Maa'idah 5:3]
"And why should you not eat of that (meat) onwhich Allaah's Name has
been pronounced (at thetime of slaughtering the animal), while He has
explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you, except under
compulsion of necessity?"
[al-An'am 6:119]
Examples of this principle include the following:
1. Eating dead meat for one who cannot find anything else and
fears that he will die of hunger.
2. Speaking words of kufr when subjected to torture and force.
3. Warding off an aggressor even if that leads to killing him.
See: al-Ashya' wa'l-Nazaa'ir by Ibn Nujaym, p. 85
Necessity means cases in which a person will be harmed if he does not
take the haraam option, in which the harm will effect the five
essentials which are: religion, life, honour, reason and wealth.
With regard to the conditions of a haraam thing becoming permissible
in the case of necessity, Shaykh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah
have mercy on him) mentioned two conditions for that and he explained
them in abundant detail with examples, as well as mentioning some
objections and the response to them. Hence we will limit ourselves
toquoting his words. He (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
This principle is one of the basic fiqhi principles which are
indicated by sharee'ah: Everything that is forbidden becomes
permissible in the case of necessity.
So what is forbidden becomes permissible in the case of necessity,
butthere are two conditions.
The first condition:
We should be compelled to do this specific haraam thing, meaning that
we cannot find anything with which to meet that necessity except this
haraam thing. If we can find something else, then it does not become
permissible, even though it could meet ournecessity.
The second condition:
The necessity should be met by that haraam thing; if that is not the
case, then it remains haraam. If we are not certain whether it will
meet the necessity or not, then it also remains haraam. That is
because doing something haraam is definitely wrong and meeting
necessity by means of it is something concerningwhich there is doubt,
so we should not transgressby doing that which is definitely haraam
for the sake of something concerning which there is doubt.
Hence the ruling varies concerning a starving man who cannot find
anything but dead meat.In this case we say, Eat the dead meat. If he
saysthat this is committing a haraam action, we say that it has become
permissible because of necessity, because you have nothing else to eat
apart from this and because if you eat it you will meet that
necessity.
It was said to a man: If you drink alcohol, you will be cured of
sickness.In this case we say: It is not permissible for you to drink
alcohol even if you are told that it will heal you from sickness. Why
is that?
Firstly, because there is no certainty that he will be healed by it;
he may drink it and not be healed of sickness. We see many sick people
taking beneficial medicines that they do not benefit from.
Secondly, the sick personmay recover without anytreatment, by putting
histrust in Allah and praying to Him, and by means of people's prayer
(du'aa') for him and so on. This is from the point of view of reason.
From the point of view of evidence, it is narrated in a hadeeth from
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) that he said:
"Allaah does not put your healing in that which He has forbidden to
you." The rationale behind this hadeeth is clear, because Allah only
forbade it to us because it is harmful to us, so how can that which is
haraam be a healing anda remedy?
Hence it is haraam to useharaam things as treatment, as the scholars
have stated, andit cannot be said that this is a case of necessity,as
some people think.
If someone were to say that a person is choking and he has nothing
except a cup of wine, so is it permissible for him to drink this cup
to stop him choking?
The answer is yes, because the two conditions are met in this case. He
is compelledto use this exact thing and we are certain that the
necessity will be met by it, so we would say: Drink the wine. But
oncethe choking has stopped, he should stop drinking.
If someone were to say that a man found some meat that had been
slaughtered in the halaalmanner and some meat from an animal that had
died a natural death, canhe eat the dead meat because he is forced to
do so by necessity?
The answer is that he cannot do that, because the necessity can be met
by something else, so it is not permissible because the first
condition is not met.
If a person were to say, I am thirsty and I have nothing but a cup of
wine; can I drink it?
The answer is no, as the scholars said, because this is not a case of
necessity; rather it will only make him more thirsty, so there is no
benefit in transgressing and doing something haraam, because necessity
will not be warded off by it and the second condition is not
fulfilled.
If a person were to say: If a sick person has no choice but to drink
blood as a remedy, is it permissible for him to do that? The answer is
that it is not permissible for him to do that, because the two
conditions are not met. End quote.
Sharh Manzoomah Usool al-Fiqh wa Qawaa'idihi (p. 59-61)

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