Prohibition and Permissibility

(According to the Qur'an and Sunnah, as extracted and inferred by scholars of the Hanafi school.)

From "Mukhtasar al-Quduri", a matn of Hanafi fiqh

Silk
Gold and Silver
Jewellery and Decorations
Vessels
Looking and Touching
Looking at women
Looking at men
Credibility
Trade

1.0 SILK

  1. It is not permissible for men to wear silk, but it is permissible for women.
    There is no harm in reclining on it according to Abu Hanifah. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad said : It is repugnant to recline on it.
  2. There is no harm in wearing pure silk in war according to the two of them, but it is repugnant according to Abu Hanifah.
  3. There is no harm in wearing brocade if its warp is silk and its weft is cotton.

2.0 GOLD AND SILVER

2.1 Jewellery and Decorations

  1. It is not permissible for men to use jewellery of gold,
  2. Nor [may they wear jewellery of] silver except:
    a ring
    [decorations of] a belt
    the decoration of a sword from silver.
  3. It is permissible for women to use jewellery or gold and silver.
  4. It is repugnant to make a boy wear gold and silk.
  5. It is disliked to mark verses in tens in the mushaf, and [also] to add diacritical dots [when not needed for correct reading].
  6. There is no harm in decorating the mushaf, engraving mosques and decorating them [on the outside] with gold-water.

2.2 Vessels

  1. It is not permissible to eat, drink, use oil or perfume from vessels of gold or silver, for men and women.
    It is permissible to drink from a silver-decorated vessel according to Abu Hanifah, and [similarly] to ride on a silver-decorated saddle and to sit on a silver-decorated bed.
  2. There is no harm in using vessels of glass, crystal or cornelian.

3.0 LOOKING AND TOUCHING

3.1 Looking at Women

  1. 1. It is not permissible for a man to look at a stranger-woman, except at her face and hands. But, if he did not consider himself safe from lust, he may not look at her face except out of need.

    [But] it is permissible for

    the judge, when he wishes to pass judgement over her
    the witness, when he wishes to testify concerning her
    [the suitor, when he is considering proposing marriage to her]

    to look at her face, even if he fears he may experience lust.

    It is permissible for the doctor to look at the place of affliction on her.

    The [regulation] of a eunuch regarding looking at a stranger-woman is like [the regulation for] a non-eunuch.

    A slave may not look at his mistress, except at that [part] of her which it is permissible for a stranger-man to look at.

  2. A man may look at his mahram female relatives' face, head, chest, shins and arms, but he may not look at their back or belly. There is no harm in touching what it is permissible to look at [of the mahrams].
    A man may look at that [much] the slave-girl of someone else as he may look at of his mahrams. There is no harm in him touching that if he intends to buy, even if he fears he may experience lust.
  3. A man may look at his slave-girl who is lawful to him, and at his wife, [entirely, even] upto her genitals.
    One may practise coitus interruptus with his slave-girl without her permission, but he may not practise it with his wife except with her permission.
  4. A woman may look at that [much] of another woman that a man may look at of another man.

3.2 Looking at Men

  1. A man may look at all of the body of another man except for what is between his navel to his knee.
  2. It is permissible for a woman to look at that [part] of a man which another man may look at.
  3. It is disliked to employ the service of eunuchs.
    There is no harm in castrating cattle, nor in mating a donkey with a horse.

4.0 CREDIBILITY

  1. It is permissible to accept, in [the matter of] a gift or permission, the word of a child or slave.
  2. The word of a transgressor is accepted in transactions.
  3. Only the word of a reliable person is accepted in religious matters.

5.0 TRADE

  1. Hoarding is repugnant in staple-foods of humans and cattle, if that is in a land in which hoarding harms the inhabitants.
  2. One who hoards the produce of his [own] estate, or what he has imported from another land, is not [termed] a hoarder.
  3. It is not appropriate for the authority to regulate prices for people.
  4. It is repugnant to sell weapons in times of sedition.
  5. There is no [judicial] objection to selling juice to someone whom it is known will produce wine from it.