The word · The heart
الشُّبُهَات
Shubuhat
Doubtful matters: the grey band between what is clearly lawful and what is clearly forbidden.
Also written · Shubuhaat · Shubha · Shubhat · Mushtabihat · Doubtful matters · Grey area · Unclear matters · Doubtful income · Doubtful food · Is it halal
The meaning
What Shubuhat means in Islam
The Prophet peace be upon him said the lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between them are unclear matters that many people do not know, and whoever guards against them has protected his religion and his honour, in Bukhari and Muslim. The same hadith ends by naming the heart as the organ that settles the body. Leaving the doubtful is wara', and it is personal caution rather than a ruling you impose on other people.
Evidence · Sunnah · Established in the authentic Sunnah
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Wara'Caution that leaves what is unclear, in order to stay safe from what is forbidden.الوَرَع
- TaqwaAn alert, careful awareness of Allah that keeps a person away from what harms them.التَّقْوَى
- Kaba'irMajor sins: the ones the texts single out with a punishment, a curse, or a warning of the Fire.الكَبَائِر
- QalbThe heart: in the Qur'an the seat of understanding and intention, not the organ alone.القَلْب
More from The heart
- 'AfwPardon: dropping a wrong you are owed, without the other person having to earn it.العَفْو
- Ghadd al-BasarLowering the gaze: turning your eyes away from what you are not permitted to look at.غَضُّ البَصَر
- IstighfarAsking Allah for forgiveness, usually in the words astaghfirullah.الاسْتِغْفَار
- MujahadahThe struggle against your own self: making yourself do the right thing when you do not want to.المُجَاهَدَة
- RuqyaReciting Qur'an and prophetic supplications over a sick or afflicted person as treatment.الرُّقْيَة
- TabarrukSeeking blessing through a person, place or object, which scholars permit narrowly and dispute widely.التَّبَرُّك