Commentary on the verse: “O you who believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble”

Allah, may He be exalted, says
in Soorat al-Maa’idah (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe! Ask not
about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you trouble. But if you
ask about them while the Quran is being revealed, they will be made plain to
you. Allah has forgiven that, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing”

[al-Maa’idah 5:101]. 

This verse forbade the believers
to ask the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about matters
concerning which Allah had not said anything in His Book and had not said
anything concerning them; splitting hairs and asking too many details about
them might lead to them being prohibited, which would cause them hardship.
It also forbade them to ask about things that were hidden from them and if
they came to know about them it would upset them, such as how sound their
attribution to their fathers was. 

That indeed happened. Al-Bukhaari
(540) and Muslim (2359) narrated from Anas ibn Maalik that the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came out when the sun had
passed its zenith and led them in praying Zuhr. Then he stood on the minbar
and spoke of the Hour, and said that momentous events would occur during it.
Then he said: “Whoever would like to ask about anything, let him ask; you
will not ask me about anything but I will tell you about it, so long as I am
standing here.” The people wept a great deal, and he kept saying: “Ask me.”
‘Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah as-Sahmi stood up and said: Who is my father? He
said: “Your father is Hudhaafah.” Then he kept saying, “Ask me.” Then ‘Umar
knelt up and said: We are pleased with Allah as our Lord, Islam as our
religion, and Muhammad as our Messenger. [The Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him)] fell silent, then he said: “Paradise and
Hell were shown to me just now, on this wall, and I have never seen anything
as good (as what I saw in Paradise) or anything as evil (as what I saw in
Hell).” 

Imam Muslim (may Allah have
mercy on him) said, after narrating this hadeeth: Ibn Shihaab said:
‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Utbah told me: Umm ‘Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah
said to ‘Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah: I have never heard of a son more
disrespectful to his parents than you. Could you be certain that your mother
did not commit (immoral deeds) as some of the women of the Jaahiliyyah did,
and thus you would expose her to scandal before the people? ‘Abdullah ibn
Hudhaafah said: By Allah, if he had attributed me to a black slave, I would
have accepted it. 

End quote from Saheeh Muslim
(4/1832). 

Ash-Shawkaani (may Allah have
mercy on him) said in his commentary on the verse in al-Maa’idah – “O you
who believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you
trouble” –: That means: do not ask about things that you do not need to
ask about and that are none of your concern in matters of your religion. The
words “if made plain to you, may cause you trouble” are describing
those things. In other words: do not ask about things of this nature, which
if they were made plain to you and were made obligatory upon you, would
cause you trouble. Allah forbade them to ask the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) a great deal, because asking
about matters that do not concern one or that one does not need to know may
be a cause of it being made obligatory upon the one who asks the question
and others. The words “But if you ask about them while the Qur’an is
being revealed, they will be made plain to you” also describe those
things. What is meant is: do not ask about things, for if you ask about them
whilst the Qur’an is being revealed, which is whilst the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is still among you and the
Revelation is still coming down to him, they will be made plain to you,
i.e., they will be explained to you  by means of the answer that the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) gives you or what is enjoined
upon you by the Revelation. Thus that will be a cause of hardship and of
making obligatory something that was not obligatory, or of the prohibition
of that which was not prohibited. This is unlike asking about things after
the Revelation ceased with the death of the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him), for then no obligations or prohibitions
would come about because of asking.

End quote from Fath al-Qadeer
by ash-Shawkaani (2/92). 

A number of things are known
from this: 

Firstly: 

The prohibition mentioned in the
verse applies specifically to the time of the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him), which was the time when Revelation was still coming
down, unlike times that came after that. Hence this does not mean that we
should not seek Islamic knowledge and learn that which will benefit us or
that we need to know with regard to matters of this life and the hereafter. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah
have mercy on him) said:

it is truly unfortunate that
some people say that you should not ask lest you be told of something that
will cause you hardship, then they misinterpret the verse in which Allah,
may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “O you who
believe! Ask not about things which, if made plain to you, may cause you
trouble” [al-Maa’idah 5:101]. Rather the prohibition on asking was
applicable only at the time when the Revelation was coming down, at which
time it was possible that the rulings could be renewed or changed. But after
the death of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him and his family), it is obligatory for the individual to ask about
everything that he needs to know about matters of his religion.

End quote from Fataawa Noor
‘ala ad-Darb by Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (24/223) 

Secondly: 

The things that they were
forbidden to ask about were: 

1.Things
that had no bearing on their actions and were of no benefit in religious
terms

2.Things
that Islam said nothing about, out of mercy to people, not out of
forgetfulness, because asking too many questions about that could lead to
them being forbidden, which would cause hardship for people. Al-Bukhaari
(6745) and Muslim (4349) narrated that Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said: “One of the worst sins a Muslim could commit is asking
about something that was not prohibited to the Muslims, but it became
prohibited to them because of his asking.”

3.Things
that were unknown to those who asked about them, which if they were made
plain to them would cause them trouble, as we have seen above in the hadeeth
of ‘Abdullah ibn Hudhaafah.

Thirdly: 

With regard to matters that are
connected to the explanation of a shar‘i ruling, Allah has instructed us to
ask about them, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“So ask those who possess
knowledge if you do not know”

[an-Nahl 16:43]. 

Shaykh as-Sa‘di (may Allah have
mercy on him) said in his commentary on the verse in al-Maa’idah:

Allah forbids His believing
slaves to ask about things which, if they are made plain to them, will cause
them trouble and grief, such as when some of the Muslims asked the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) about their fathers, or
about their situation in Paradise or Hell. Perhaps if these matters were
made plain to the one who asked, there would be nothing good for him in it.
Another example is when they asked about things that had not happened, or
they asked about things which would lead to stricter rulings in sharee‘ah
that could cause hardship for the ummah, or they asked about matters that do
not concern them. Asking about these and similar matters is what is
forbidden. As for asking questions that will not result in any such thing,
this is what is enjoined, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation
of the meaning):

“So ask those who possess
knowledge if you do not know”

[an-Nahl 16:43]. 

For more information on matters
concerning which it is makrooh to ask, either in the sense of it being haram
or discouraged, please see fatwa no. 131675.

And Allah knows best.