M6:530 — گفت مفتی ضرورت هم توی / بی‌ضرورت گر خوری مجرم شوی

Translation: The Mufti said: "You yourself are the judge of necessity; / If you consume without necessity, you become a sinner." Meaning: This verse warns against self-serving justifications for illicit actions, stressing that the line between lawful and unlawful must be determined by inner honesty rather than superficial religious stratagems.

This verse is a profound instance of Rumi's method, where he intertwines deep jurisprudential and ethical insights within a narrative. In the story of the bird and the fowler, a bird, overcome by greed for the fowler's wheat—a metaphor for 'people's property' or 'orphan's wealth'—invokes 'necessity' (idhtirār) to justify its actions. It argues: "I am in dire need and wounded in state; / Carrion is now lawful for me." This is a classic religious stratagem (ḥīle-ye sharʿī), known in Islamic jurisprudence as "Necessities make prohibitions permissible" (al-ḍarūrāt tubīḥ al-maḥẓūrāt). The bird, by appealing to this rule, seeks to legitimize its illicit act.

However, the mufti, representing the religious jurist in this tale, delivers a crushing retort that closes the door to all deception: "The Mufti said: 'You yourself are the judge of necessity; / If you consume without necessity, you become a sinner.'" This means that the true discernment of whether one is genuinely compelled by necessity rests solely with the individual. It is no longer a matter of outward appearances or external fatwas, but rather a referral to one's inner honesty and conscience. This is precisely where Rumi exposes hypocrisy and self-deception. An individual might seemingly issue a fatwa for themselves, but before God and their own conscience, they bear the responsibility for that judgment. If there is no genuine necessity, the person is a 'sinner,' regardless of any apparent religious justifications.

Rumi goes even further, putting into the mufti's mouth the advice: "And if there is necessity, it's better to refrain; / But if you consume, at least pay its price." This indicates that even in conditions of necessity, moral responsibility does not vanish, and the act should not occur without compensation or caution. This approach by Rumi unveils the ugliness of 'consuming people's property' under the guise of religion and jurisprudence. This phenomenon has recurred throughout history and continues to do so. The late Dehkhoda, in his satires, vividly depicted this issue, such as the tale of the cleric who declares a cat lawful to eat under the pretext of necessity. Rumi here tells us that the root of these justifications lies in the greed and desire that must be controlled before any action: "When greed and lust stirred, that was the time to cry for help." Not that after committing the sin, one should turn to reciting Yasin and Anʿam and lamenting with sighs and regret. This verse, in essence, is a call to an inner jurisprudence, one founded not on outward form, but on the sincerity of the inner self.

Key takeaways

• Inner honesty is the true measure of necessity, not external or religious justifications.
• Through this tale, Rumi exposes religious deception and stratagems used to legitimize sin.
• Humans are ultimately the arbiters of their own compulsion and bear the responsibility for that judgment.
• Greed and lust must be controlled before the act; regret after committing the sin is futile.
• This verse serves as a warning against the ill of consuming others' property under religious pretexts.