Grand Ayatollah Shirazi explains role of ‘Urf’ in distinguishing ‘Tayyib’ from ‘Khabith’

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Sunday, the 20th of Rabi’ul-Thani. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudential issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi cited verse 5 of Surah al-Ma’idah,”All that is Tayyib (pure and of virtues) has become halal for you,” and said: In this noble verse, God Almighty has made all that is Tayyib halal for mankind, but has not defined or given their names. Therefore, everything that is Tayyib and clean according to Urf (custom, or knowledge, of the faithful community) is halal, unless it is has been excluded by the law of Sharia.

His Eminence also cited verse 157 of Surah Al-A’raf, “He decrees as Haram for them all that is Khabith (impure, despisable and of harm)” and said: In this honorable verse, God Almighty has forbidden and made Haram all that is Khabith, and to understand the examples, one must refer to Urf, except for those things that have been specifically mentioned by Shari’a.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi went on to say: If there are authentic hadiths, they can be used in addition to Urf to determine what is Tayyib and what is Khabith.