بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“O you who have believed, do not ask about things which, if they are shown to you, will distress you. But if you ask about them while the Qur’an is being revealed, they will be shown to you. Allah has pardoned that which is past; and Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing.” [5:101]
In our deen, there are two main attitudes or ways that people ask questions. The first of the two is asked by those who are genuinely seeking answers for something about the religion. Someone comes to a scholar or does some research looking to learn whether an action is halal or haram, or whether the deed they are carrying out is done in the correct way and then taking what is given from the credible source, convinced that it is from Islam and applying it.
The second attitude of approaching this is trying to find a loophole. What this means is that the questioner or the person seeking answers, is not looking to figure out the truth, but instead is looking for a way out of their own guilt. What this means is that they understand what the correct answer is to their query but are looking for one scholar or one fatwa or one sheikh that agrees with their presupposed notion. These are the people Allah is talking about when He orders us to not ask about things.
He is also talking about those who in their hearts are not comfortable with an answer they are given about a certain topic. If we really call this deen Islam which means “to submit”, then this is the ultimate test of submission. To get an answer from credible sources and are convinced that the answer is correct and is from Allah, then submit to it, even if the answer is not what we want to hear.
May Allah not make us of those who ask questions with the wrong intentions or the wrong attitude, and make us of the true submitters to Him.
Allah knows best.