Argument from Islamic Jurisprudence

INTERPRETATION OF THE ISLAMIC MISSION then acquiring the conditions necessary for that government is obligatory, as it is a wellestablished principle of Islamic law that the fulfillment of obligations and duties depends on the conditions required to achieve them. For example, along with the obligation of performing ablution (wudu), making an effort to obtain water is also obligatory to the extent of one’s ability. Ala tara anna tahseel asbaab al-wajib wajibun wa tahseel asbaab al-haram haramun. (Musallam alSubut, Vol. 1, p. 94) That is, do you not see that acquiring the means to fulfill an obligation is itself obligatory, and acquiring the means to commit a forbidden act is itself forbidden, by consensus. (Monthly Zindagi, December 1962) In my opinion, there is a fallacy underlying this argument. The principle concerning the acquisition of the means to fulfill an obligation is presented as if it were an absolute rule that applies to everything labeled as “obligatory” or “mandatory” in the Quran and Hadith. This suggests that for every action mandated by Islamic law, believers must endeavor to provide the means for its fulfillment, and if they do not currently have them, they should work to obtain those means. However, this is not accurate.