Akaabir Who View Everything to be Haraam Unless Proven Halaal

as the Principle in These Times

Q. Can you please mention a few names of Akaabir who say that the principle is prohibition of all things unless proven to be permissible?

A. We distinctly recall the name of Hazrat Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (Rahmatullahi alaih) who said that in these times the principle should be that everything is haraam until proven otherwise, for then only will the masses desist from their uninhibited indulgence in haraam and mushtabah.

Imam Suyooti has attributed this principle to Imam Abu Haneefah, although there is no corroboration of this attribution in the Hanafi Fiqh kutub.

Hazrat Moulana Thanwi (Rahmatullahi alaih) is an accepted authority of the Deen. He is among the most senior Ulama of Deoband. He is widely accepted as the Mujaddid of the thirteenth century. He was well informed about the condition of the Ummah. His title of Hakeemul Ummat – The Physician of the Ummah – is well known.

The Mujlisul Ulama of South Africa also holds the above view.