Priorities of Obligations

Categories of obligations in Islam:

All actions in Islam can be divided in two major categories; Obligatory and Optional. It is obligatory for every Muslim to know all the sharia obligations, which are required of him. The objective is not to find the optional things and neglect those rather to make sure we are not neglecting any of the obligations for which we will be asked in the day of judgement. Doesn't matter how many optional things we do unless we fulfill all the obligations we remain sinful.

All obligatory actions in Islam are divided into two categories ; Fard al-Ayn (Personal Obligation) and Fard al-Kifaya (Collective obligation). Examples of fard al-Ayn is Salah, Jakah, Hajj and so on for which an individual is obliged to perform (if he is able) and he will be sinful if he neglects. And also it is obligatory to stay away from those actions which are Haram, like dealing with riba (interest), Zina etc. Fard al-Kifaya (collective obligations) are those for which all the Muslims are collectively responsible. If some of them performs it then others are relieved from their obligations. It doesn't matter how many people are engaged in such actions as long as these obligations are accomplished. If it's not accomplished then all Muslims will remain sinful until they are enacted. But if some Muslims engaged to enact the obligation but were not successful then they will be removed from the sin but others will remain sinful. So from this perspective there is no difference between Fard al-Ayn and Fard al-Kifaya, cause everyone remain responsible/sinful until the obligation is fulfilled. For an example, preparing funeral for a deceased Muslim is collective obligation. Until the deceased funeral is complete all the Muslims in the society remain responsible and if it is not done then all the muslims are sinful. In a situation where some Muslims tried their best to do the funeral but couldn't do so, then those muslims who took the effort will be removed from the sin but the rest of the community will remain sinful.

Priorities of obligations:

When a muslim is able to perform all individual and collective obligations then that is required of him and he has no excuse of neglecting his duties. However if any clash occurs where he needs to choose between two obligations then Sharia decides the priority not the mind or interest. If clash occurs between individual and collective obligations then individual obligations takes precedence. If clash occurs within individual obligations or within collective obligations then it has to be referred to sharia which will decide which obligations can be done at the expense of the other. For an example in a situation where a man has some money and he needs to choose between maintaining family and payment of debt then he is obliged to spend the money on the family cause family maintenance has higher precedence over the payment of debt according to Sharia. A Muslim (who is able) is not allowed to neglect any obligation at the expense of the other unless there is clash between those as explained above.

The mother of all obligations:

There are many collective obligations in Islam. These are to be enacted in a collective manner. Running all the affairs of a society according to Islam is obligatory, for example affairs related to Economy (distribution of wealth, business rules, taxes, work ..), Education system (education curriculum,schools, Masjids..), Judiciary (solving social/business disputes, punishing criminals..), Social welfare (taking care of the poor and needy, sick and orphans..), Jihad (preparing forces for the protection and propagation of the Deen..) etc. Enactment of all these collective obligations is necessary for building an Islamic society. Sharia has given us the manner by which all these obligations are to be enacted. Rasulullah (SAW) established these in Medina after being appointed as the ruler of Medina. From the life of Rasulullah (SAW) we know that these obligations are to be enacted through an institution known as Khilafah (Islamic State). Ummah appoints a Khaleefah/Leader for them to implement Sharia upon them comprehensively. Some scholars of Islam referred to the Khilafah as the 'mother of all obligations' since so many Islamic obligations can't be implemented without it. Our Deen also cannot be protected from the enemy of Islam in the absence of it. Present world situation is the burning example of the absence of the Khilafah.

(Please read "The Re-establishment of the Khilafah is an obligation upon all Muslims" for more details)