Necessity renders prohibited acts permissible (al-daruratu tubihul mahzurat)

Islam always works towards preventing harm by securing public interest. The Arabic
word darurah (necessity) is synonym of the Arabic word darar which is literally defined as
harm, detriment and injuries. It is seen as a situation whereby a person would be under a
difficult condition such as hungry, illness or coercion. However darurah in its literal meaning
does not have any specified limit. On the other hand the Muslims jurists defined darurah as a
pretext by the virtue of which a prohibited act is made permissible. In other word it is a
condition in which an individual cannot discharge an obligation or is compelled to violate a
prohibited act. In addition most of the classical literatures, defined necessity (darura) as a
situation in which one has fear of losing his or her life. Further, securing maslahah refers to
the prevention of necessity which according to Imam al-Gazali is the protection of all the
five necessities namely religion, property, lineage, intellect and property.

While mahzurat means things that are prohibited or banned by the Islamic law. Mahzurat
includes all prohibited things that come from a person, whether in form of words that is
forbidden or from the heart for example maliciousness or also in action such as stealing,
adultery, and drinking khamr

As a conclusion, necessity renders prohibited acts permissible means the things that are
prohibited by syariah can be done only if there is in condition of darurah. Which is in a
situation where if the prohibited this are not been done, its may leads to death or any in
commons. Or in the other hand, a condition of darurah that force someone to do anything that
is forbidden by syariah.
Evidence about this maxim

As we can see shortly, most of the Shariah evidences regarding darurah are about hunger.
However, Muslims jurists maintain that they still apply to other cases of necessities. The
following are the Quranic verses that directly deal with necessity:

He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has
been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it]
nor transgressing [its limit], there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and
Merciful. (Al-baqarah:173)

Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been
dedicated to other than Allah, and [those animals] killed by strangling or by a violent blow or
by a head-long fall or by the goring of horns, and those from which a wild animal has eaten,
except what you [are able to] slaughter [before its death], and those which are sacrificed on
stone altars, and [prohibited is] that you seek decision through divining arrows. That is grave
disobedience. This day those who disbelieve have despaired of [defeating] your religion; so
fear them not, but fear Me. This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My
favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion. But whoever is forced by severe
hunger with no inclination to sin - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Al-
Maidah:3)


He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has
been dedicated to other than Allah . But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring [it]
nor transgressing [its limit] - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (An-Nahl:115)

In addition, some of the Prophetic traditions regarding darurah are presented as follows:

From Jabir bin Samura: A man arrived at Harrah with his wife and children. A man said (to
him): "My camel went astray, if you find it, detain it." The man found it but he could not find
the owner. The camel was sick and the wife said, "Kill it," but the husband refused and
apparently, the camel died. His wife said (to the husband) "Skin it to dry out the fat and flesh
so we can eat them". He said, "Let me ask the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, he went to
him (the Prophet) and asked him. He (the Prophet) said, Do you have something enough to
fulfill your needs? He replied, No. He then said, Then eat it. Then its owner came and
he told him the story. He said, Why did you not slaughter it? He replied, I would have
been embarrassed in front of you. (Abu Dawud.)

Al-fujay al-Amiri said that he came to the Messenger of Allh (and asked), Is carrion
unlawful for us? He said, What are your eating habits? We said, Some food in the
evening and some in the morning. Abu Nuaym said, Uqba explained it (the situation) to
me saying, (only) a cup (of milk) in the morning and a cup in the evening". (The Messenger
replied), "This does not satisfy the hunger". So, he made the carrion lawful for them in this
situation. (Abu Dawud.)

Samurah bin Jundub reported the Prophet of Allah as saying, If any of you come across
cattle, he should seek permission from their master if he is there. If he permits, he can milk
(the animals) and drink. If he is not there, he should call (for the owner) three times. If he
responds, he should seek his permission; otherwise, he may milk and drink, but should not
make provisions [by saving the milk]. (Abu Dawud).
Yabbad bin Shurahbil said: I suffered from hunger so I entered a garden in Medina, and
rubbed an ear-corn. I ate and carried it in my garment. Then its owner came, he beat me and
pulled my garment. He brought me to the
Messenger of Allah who said to him, "You did not teach him when he was ignorant; and you
did not feed him when he was hungry". The Messenger of Allah ordered him, so he released
my garment, and gave me one or half a wasq (sixty or thirty sais) of corn.(Abu Dawud).
(Safian, 2010).

Preconditions for a valid Darurah:

In Islamic law, before a darurah can be recognized as a valid pretext for violating Islamic
rules (in this case prohibition of riba), certain prerequisites have to be met. Muhd in ISRA
Bulletin (2009) and Safian (2010) as cited in Wahbah al-Zuhaili ( 1997, p. 65-68) have
summarized them as follows:

1. The extreme situation or darurah must be certain to the extent that the harm or the damage,
would negatively affect the daruriyyat al-khamsor five necessities which are religion(din),
life(nafs), intellect(aql), progeny(nasb or ird and property(mal).
.
2. That the person under darurah has no any other legitimate alternative to protect the
five daruriyyat mentioned above. For instance, he is allowed to protect his life by eating flesh
of dead animal in the absence of any lawful food or deposit his cash in conventional banks
when and where Islamic banks are either not available or scarce. (Q5:119).

3. That the person is under real coercion commit an illegal act even if other lawful
alternatives are available. For example a Muslim is allowed to eat an unlawful food even if
there is a lawful one at his disposal. Another example is uttering the word of disbelief under
duress. (Q16:106).

4. That the coerced act must not be equal or greater than coercion itself. For instance, some
one cannot be compelled to commit suicide.
5. The violation of the prohibited rules can only be within certain limitations and the harm
caused must be minimized to the hardest possible extent. For example in the absence of
Islamic Banking, riba-based transactions should be resorted to only to satisfy necessities of
life.

8. In matters concerning public needs and safety, the ruler is responsible for the verifying and
determining whether the situation is really a necessity or not. In other word he should
ascertain whether it might cause huge excessive damage to society.
.
9. The prohibited act committed under compulsion must be proportionate to the harm
incurred. For example, a legitimate owner of a property is permitted to reciprocate the same
harm to those that attacked him.

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