Renewal (tajdīd) and Facilitation (taysīr)

by
Dr. Ḥusām ad-Dīn Khalīl

Islam is a religion of ease, not hardship. Allah All-Mighty says: Allah wants ease for you and
He does not want hardship for you (Qur’ān, 2:185). Based on this the Prophet (peace be upon
him) advised Mu‘ādh b. Jabal and Abū Mūsá al-Ash‘arī when he sent them to Yemen: “facilitate
things, do not make it difficult; give glad tidings, do not make people disperse from you.”1
Jurists affirm that the maxim ‘hardship necessitates ease’ is part and parcel of the general principles
of Islamic jurisprudence just as they also affirm that when an affair becomes discomforting, the
Sharī’ah requires its relaxation.
As part of the rules branching out of this principle, as-Suyūṭī and Ibn Nujaym mention that the
Ṣalāh could be observed with impurity on one’s person if it is within the limits of what can be
tolerated. Impurities like blood from sores, pustules or fleas; street mud; bird droppings when they
are plentiful in mosques and the ṭawāf grounds; (carcasses of) invertebrates; a smudge of Najāsah
if and when it’s difficult to remove are all overlooked. The Sharī’ah also overlooks the sprinklings
of dung and small amounts of smoke emanating from the burning of impurities and other similar
things detailed in the books of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).2
Regrettably, we observe that some of the callers to tajdīd deviate in their consideration of
facilitation for the Mukallaf (one deemed legally liable in the Sharī’ah) to the extent that they
contradict the Nuṣūṣ (religious authoritative texts) and they end up following not only their own
desires but also the base desires of people. Thus, making the Sharī’ah agree with lusts and wants.
Due to this, balance and regulation become compulsory.
As one needs to be cautious of constricting what the Sharī’ah has made easy, so also is caution
needed to prevent slipping into following one’s desires and watering down the Sharī’ah.
Facilitation does not mean watering down religious issues and stripping them of their legislated
rules as stipulated in the Book and the Sunnah.
Regarding this, al-Bukhārī and Muslim transmitted on the authority of ‘Āishah, who said:

* Translator’s note: This piece was originally written in Arabic and could be found in Dr. Ḥusām’s book
Da’wah Tajdīd al-Fiqh al-Islāmī Bayn al-Qabūl wal-Rafḍ, pp. 157-158
1
Al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, no. 2873; Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 1733
2
Kuwait Ministry of Religious Affairs, Al-Mawsū‘ah al-Fiqhīyyah, vol. 7, p. 31
 When the Prophet was faced with two choices he chose the easier one inasmuch as
it is not a sin, if it was a sin he was the furthest of people from it.
Ibn Ḥajar said in Fatḥul-Bārī:

Her statement ‘inasmuch as it’s not a sin’ means as long as the easier of the two
alternatives does not lead to sin; if it does, he chooses the harder option.3
Following the desire of people in seeking concessions and facilitations has no limit, so how do we
deal with one who gets fed up with wearing the hijab or fasting in a hot month of Ramadan and
one who feels stressed with traveling for Ḥajj because of the difficulties of the journey and the
efforts that will be expended?4
There is need then to be moderate when considering facilitation; the best of affairs are the moderate
ones; the two other extremes are always blameworthy.

3
Ibn Ḥajar, Fatḥul-Bārī, vol. 6, p. 575
4
Shaykh ‘Abdullah Duwaysh, Majallat al-Bayān, issue no. 162, p. 45