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Giving the Road its Due
Author : Dr. Mufti Sa`eid Farhan
Date Added : 08-10-2024

 

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Afterwards:

Islamic law has meticulously organized the life of a Muslim, encompassing all aspects of their life. It has clarified the rights and duties, boundaries, and relationships between people.

One of the matters addressed is the rights related to the road. These rights were given significant attention due to their central role in people's lives. The road is a public utility, not owned by anyone nor monopolized by any individual. Because of this, Islamic law established rules and principles that organize the rulings of the road, which are evident through the following manifestations:

The First Manifestation: Preserving the cleanliness of the road, maintaining it, and repairing it:

This is evident through the following:

First: Maintaining the road is considered a branch of faith. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Faith has over seventy—or sixty—branches, the best of which is the declaration that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah, and the least of which is removing harm from the road, and modesty is a branch of faith." [Moslim]. Imam Al-Nawawi, in explaining the meaning of "removing harm" said: "It means clearing it away and removing it. Harm refers to anything harmful, such as stones, dirt, or thorns, or anything else." [Sharh Al-Nawawi Ala Moslim: Vol.2/P.6].

The Second manifestation: The Porhibition of violating road:

Islamic law has promised great reward for removing harm from the road. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "While a man was going along the path he found a thorny branch upon it. He pushed it to a side and Allah approved (this action) of his and (as a mark of appreciation) granted him pardon." [Al-Bukhari] He also said: "I have seen a man going about in paradise as a reward for cutting down a tree which was overhanging a road and annoying people." [Moslim]. The word "going about in Paradise" means taking pleasure. Thus, the outcome of removing harm from the path of Muslims was that Allah admitted him into Paradise. And what does a Muslim seek from their actions more than getting admitted into Paradise?

Abu Barzah Al-Aslami said: I asked: "O Prophet of Allah, teach me something that will benefit me." He said: "Remove harm from the path of Muslims." [Moslim].

These noble hadiths and others highlight the great virtue and immense reward for this branch of faith.

The Second Manifestation: Prohibition of harming the road:

This is illustrated by the following:

First: Prohibition of anything that harms the road. Scholars, when explaining the hadith "The Rights of the Road," emphasized that a Muslim must refrain from harming the road. Just as removing harm from the road is a charity for which a Muslim is rewarded, harming the road is a sin for which a person is accountable. Warning against harming others, Imam Muhammad Al-Khuli said: "Pouring water on the road until feet slip, placing obstacles in the path where pedestrians may stumble, or throwing garbage or thorns that could harm passersby, or narrowing the road with one's seating where neighbors are bothered, exposing their women, and restricting their freedom—all of this is harm that must be stopped, and efforts made to keep it away from pedestrians." [Al-Adab Al-Nabawi/Vol.1/P.71].

Scholars have derived from texts encouraging care for the road that anything harmful to the road is prohibited. In his explanation of the hadiths about the virtue of removing harm from the road, Imam Al-Ayni, said: "It indicates that placing thorns, stones, waste, or harmful water in the road, or anything that harms people, may lead to punishment in this world and the hereafter." [Umdat Al-Qari/Vol. 13/P. 23].

Second: The prohibition of encroaching on the road. Anything that constitutes an encroachment on the road is prohibited by Islamic law and considered among the evil acts. Imam Al-Ghazali listed some examples of road encroachments under the chapter "Evils of Streets" saying: "Among the common evils is placing columns or building raised platforms connected to private properties, planting trees, extending balconies, placing wood or grain loads on the roads. All of this is wrong if it leads to narrowing the road or harming pedestrians, even if it causes no harm at all." [Ihya Ulum Al-Din/Vol.2/P.339].

The Third Manifestation: Organizing road regulations in the books of Islamic jurisprudence:

The jurists have extensively organized road regulations, leaving nothing unaddressed. They provided detailed explanations to resolve disputes among people and prevent conflicts. Anyone who studies their detailed rulings and jurisprudential foundations—especially in the chapter of reconciliation—will notice the significant attention given to the subject by the jurists. The hadith scholars also categorized sections in their compilations related to the rights of the road, as Imam Muslim did in his "Sahih" where he titled a section: "Chapter on the Right of Sitting on the Road is to Return the Greeting."

One of the reasons for their emphasis was the warning of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said: "Beware of sitting on the roads." They said: "We have no choice, they are our gathering places where we talk." He said: "If you must sit there, then give the road its rights." They asked: "What are the rights of the road?" He said: "Lowering the gaze, refraining from harm, returning the greeting, enjoining good, and forbidding evil." [Agreed upon].

We ask Allah, The Almighty, The Lord of The Mighty Throne, to make us among those who listen to good words and follow the best of them.

And all praise is due to Allah The Lord of The Worlds.

 

The published article reflects the opinion of its author

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible for a woman to observe voluntary fast without her husband's permission?

A woman is not permitted to observe a voluntary fast (nafl) while her husband is present without his permission.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on compensating the patient in case of medical error on the part of the treating physician?

 
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The foundational principle is that every mistake issued by a physician that causes harm to another due to his negligence or lack of expertise obligates him to guarantee liability and compensate the harmed party. The Sharia maxim, in this regard, states: "The direct actor is liable."
 
Ibn Qudamah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "As for if he was skilled but his hand committed an error—such as exceeding the proper limit of incision, cutting in an incorrect site, cutting with an instrument that inflicts excessive pain, or cutting at an unsuitable time—he is liable, because it is destruction (Itlaf) whose liability does not differ between intent and mistake, thus resembling the destruction of property; and because it is a prohibited act, so he guarantees liability for its secondary effects." [Al-Mughni].
 
However, if the physician performed what was necessary in the most complete manner and took all measures of care and caution, but complications occurred that could not be avoided according to specialists, then no liability rests upon him.
 
Shaykh al-Islam Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "The cupper and the circumciser bear no liability if they have not been negligent, and likewise the veterinarian if he bleeds an animal and it perishes." [Rawdat al-Talibin].
 
Al-Khattabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "I know of no disagreement that if the practitioner transgresses and the patient perishes, he is liable. Anyone who undertakes knowledge or practice he does not know is a transgressor; so if perishing arises from his action, he is liable for the blood-money (Diyah) while capital retaliation (Qisas) is dropped from him, because he did not act independently without the patient's permission. And the physician’s offense in the view of the generality of jurists is borne by his agnates ('Aqilah*)."* [Ma'alim al-Sunan].
 
If negligence or transgression is established against the physician, it is necessary to compensate the patient or seek forgiveness from him. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on a woman who learns of her divorce or her husband's death after her *ʿiddah* has ended? And does the *ʿiddah* of a woman who abandoned mourning (*iḥdād*) for the whole period of the *ʿiddah*, or part of it, still end, even though she knew that abandoning it is forbidden?**

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The waiting period of a widow who is not pregnant is four months and ten days, based on the saying of Allah Almighty (which means): “And those of you who die and leave wives behind, they shall wait concerning themselves for four months and ten days” [al-Baqarah/234]. If she is pregnant, her ʿiddah ends with the delivery of her child. The ʿiddah is calculated by lunar months and begins from the date of death.
If her ʿiddah ends before she learns of her husband’s death, or of his divorcing her, she does not observe the ʿiddah upon learning of it, because her ʿiddah has already ended.
It is stated in al-Bayān fī Madhhab al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī (Vol.11/p.41), one of the books of the Shāfiʿī school: “If a man divorces his wife, or dies while he is absent from her, her ʿiddah is from the time of the divorce or from the time of death. If she does not know of the divorce or the death until her ʿiddah period has ended, then her ʿiddah has ended. If she learns of it before the end of the ʿiddah period, she completes her ʿiddah counting from the time of the divorce or death.”
As for a woman who abandoned mourning throughout the ʿiddah while knowing that it is forbidden, she is sinful, although her ʿiddah has nonetheless ended. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on someone who wakes up in a state of janābah (major ritual impurity) near the very end of the prayer's designated time, during cold weather — should he heat water in order to perform ghusl, even though the prayer's time will expire as a result, or should he perform tayammum instead?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
If the water is cold, and cannot be used due to fear of harm that is not ordinarily tolerable, or that would result in illness, then in this case it becomes obligatory to heat the water — even if heating it causes the time for Fajr to expire — and no sin is incurred in doing so, due to his valid excuse. He may not resort to tayammum (dry ablution) instead, since water remains available [and merely needs to be heated].
Imam Shihāb ad-Dīn Aḥmad ar-Ramlī (raḥimahullāh) said: "He was asked regarding a person who, if he were to use cold water, would experience harm that permits tayammum, and who has access to something with which he could heat the water — but if he heats it, the prayer's time will expire. Is it obligatory for him to heat it even if the time expires, or should he pray with tayammum within the prescribed time? He answered that it is obligatory for him to heat the water, even if the time for that particular obligatory prayer expires." [Fatāwā ar-Ramlī, Vol.1/P.98]
Imam al-Bājūrī (raḥimahullāh) said in his Ḥāshiyah on Sharḥ Ibn Qāsim (Vol.1/P.173): "And if he fears [harm] from using cold water, and is currently unable to heat it, but knows of a place where firewood is available, such that if he were to go there he would not return until after the prescribed time has expired — what appears [to be the correct position] is that it is obligatory for him to go and seek the firewood, even if the time expires as a result, as this is the position ultimately settled upon by ar-Ramlī, and as related from him by Ibn Qāsim." And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

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