Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 915 [Read full issue]
Non-instruction
[continued from issue 914]
10. Non-instruction (tajarrud an al-irshad)
It is not concerned with legislation, religiosity, the education of souls, and the sound management of the social order of the community. It rather concerns those actions emanating from innate human nature (jibillah) or the requirements of material life. This is something that cannot be mistaken, for God's Messenger performed actions in relation to his family affairs and the earning of a living, which were not intended as legislation nor as an example to be emulated. Moreover, it is established in the discipline of usul al-fiqh that the Muslim community is not required to emulate those actions of God's Messenger flowing from his innate nature as a human being, but rather each individual should follow the course that suits his condition. Such deeds include the way in which he ate, wore his clothes, lay down, walked, mounted his beast, and so on. This is so regardless of whether these things are unrelated to the Shariah prescriptions, such as walking in the street or riding a beast on a journey, or are related to them, such as riding a she-camel when performing the pilgrimage, and placing the hands on the prayermat before the knees when prostrating in prayer, according to those who - like Abu Hanifah - maintain that God's Messenger did so when he was old and quite stout.
A similar example of actions stemming from this capacity is the report concerning lying down on the right side after performing the Dawn prayer (Fajr) [Muslim]. Similarly, it is mentioned in the report about the battle of Badr that God's Messenger reached the water before the Quraysh. He went to where the water was closer to Badr and camped there with the army. Al Hubab ibn Mundhir asked him: "O Messenger of God, this place where we are now - has God revealed it to you, that we should neither advance nor retreat from it, or is it a matter of opinion and war strategy?" He said: "It is a matter of opinion and war strategy." Thereupon al-Hubab said: "This is not the place to halt, but take us, O Messenger of God, to one of the large wells which is nearest the enemy, whose abundance which I know is full. Then, we fill the other wells with earth, so that we can have access to water, whereas they cannot." God's Messenger said: "Indeed, it is good advice that you have given." [Ibn Hisham]
Compiled From:
"Treatise on Maqasid Al-Shariah" - Ibn Ashur, pp. 47-49