Advice of Scholars - TO USE WITH THE OWNER’S PERMISSION

Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî says in the 69th letter of the second volume of his Maktûbât:

One piece of advice is that you should be careful about the morsels you eat. It is not good for a Muslim to eat anything he finds at any place. He should consider if the morsels are coming to him through the halâl or harâm. Man is not so absolute as to do everything he plans, everything which occurs to his mind. We have our Owner, our Creator. There are His commandments and prohibitions. He has informed us of the things He likes and those He dislikes through His Prophets ‘alaihimussalâtu wattaslîmât’, who are His compassion for all classes of beings. So unfortunate and miserable is the person who craves for what his Owner reproves. He wants to use everything without his Owner’s permission.

Shame on such people; they do not use anything without asking its transitory owner in this world if they may use it; they observe the rights of these unreal owners; but, though the real Owner of these things has vehemently and so strictly prohibited the things He reproves and has threatened those who do them with heavy punishments, they take no heed of His word; they just ignore His word. Is this the state of being Muslim, or is it disbelief? One should think seriously! Now the time of death has not come, and the opportunity has not been missed yet. It is possible to rectify, to correct one’s past faults. For the hadîth, “He who performs tawba (asking for Allah’s forgiveness) for his sin  becomes as if he did not sin at all,” is glad tidings for those who have faults. But if a man commits sins on purpose, tells everybody that he does so, and does not feel ashamed, he becomes a munâfiq. His false pretence to be a Muslim will not save him from torment. What is the need of saying more words, more offensive words? A signal would do for a wise person.