Regarding the popular ḥadīth:
عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ النُّعْمَانِ بْنِ بَشِيرٍ رضي الله عنهما قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ:
«إِنَّ الْحَلَالَ بَيِّنٌ، وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ، وَبَيْنَهُمَا أُمُورٌ مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ لَا يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، فَمَنِ اتَّقَى الشُّبُهَاتِ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ، وَمَنْ وَقَعَ فِي الشُّبُهَاتِ وَقَعَ فِي الْحَرَامِ، كَالرَّاعِي يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَرْتَعَ فِيهِ…»
“Indeed, the lawful is clear, and the unlawful is clear, and between them are doubtful matters which many people do not know. Whoever avoids the doubtful matters has protected his religion and his honour, while whoever falls into the doubtful matters falls into what is unlawful, like a shepherd who grazes around a sanctuary, being on the verge of grazing therein…”
But what exactly does this mean?
Al-Imām an-Nawawī رحمه الله explained that it has two possible meanings:
First: It may mean that a person eventually falls into something that is actually ḥarām while thinking that it is not ḥarām.
Second: It may mean that a person who repeatedly engages in doubtful matters gradually comes close to falling into clear ḥarām. When a person becomes accustomed to being lax concerning doubtful matters, he may gradually move from one transgression to another until he eventually falls into something clearly forbidden.
This is why the Prophet ﷺ gave the example of a shepherd who grazes his flock around a protected sanctuary:
كَالرَّاعِي يَرْعَى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُوشِكُ أَنْ يَرْتَعَ فِيهِ
“Like a shepherd who grazes around a sanctuary, being on the verge of grazing therein.”
The lesson is clear: the wise believer does not merely avoid the forbidden; he also keeps a safe distance from doubtful matters that may lead him towards it.
Al-Imām an-Nawawī رحمه الله, Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 11/31.
The ḥadīth is from an-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr رضي الله عنهما and is recorded by Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (52) and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (1599). It is also the sixth ḥadīth of Imām an-Nawawī's al-Arbaʿūn.
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