Ruling on studying psychology and law
Question

                I am currently studying psychology and law, and I am thinking of obtaining my degree in the field of psychology. Is it permissible to study psychology and law, and to get a degree in these subjects? If that is permissible, I hope that you will give me evidence and quote it in your
Praise be to Allah.
    Studying these two subjects (psychology and law) involves studying matters 
    that are explained and discussed in a manner that is contrary to Islamic 
    teachings. This is something clear and makes sense, because the law in the 
    view of non-Muslims is a counterpart to sharee‘ah for the Muslims, and 
    psychology is a counterpart to morals and manners, asceticism, softening the 
    heart with fear of Allah, purification of the soul, good conduct and 
    discipline. Because the people do not follow the religion of Islam, no 
    matter what their religion and view, it is logical to say that they base 
    their laws and morals on something other than the law of Allah, may He be 
    exalted, that He has chosen for His slaves. Rather they base all of that on 
    their experience, reason, feelings or customs, or on other things that they 
    believe in, and they regard it as the system to be followed. 
As 
    that is the case, studying these two subjects, and similar subjects – such 
    as philosophy and non-Islamic economics – is not permissible for the Muslim 
    if the aim is to benefit from all of that without discretion, and to believe 
    what they contain of misguidance and put it into practice, take it as a way 
    of life and derive from it rules to follow. All goodness is in following the 
    guidance and light that the Prophet brought. 

    Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

    “O mankind! 
    Verily, there has come to you a convincing proof (Prophet Muhammad 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)) from your Lord, and We sent down 
    to you a manifest light (this Quran)”

    [an-Nisa’ 4:174]

    “Indeed, 
    there has come to you from Allah a light (Prophet Muhammad (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him)) and a plain Book (this Quran)”

    [al-Maa’idah 5:15]

    “Say: O you 
    mankind! Now truth (i.e. the Quran and Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace 
    of Allah be upon him)), has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever 
    receives guidance, he does so for the good of his own self, and whosoever 
    goes astray, he does so to his own loss, and I am not (set) over you as a 
    Wakeel (disposer of affairs to oblige you for guidance)”

    [Yoonus 10:108]. 

    The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) forbade the Muslims 
    to read the books of the People of the Book and others. He (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him) got angry when he saw in the hand of ‘Umar (may 
    Allah be pleased with him) one of the books of the Jews, as it was narrated 
    in Musnad Ahmad (14623): ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab came to the Prophet 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) with books that he had got from 
    some of the People of the Book. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be 
    upon it) saw it and got angry. He said: “Are you confused about it, O son of 
    al-Khattaab? By the One in Whose hand is my soul, I have brought it (i.e., 
    the message of Islam) to you clean and pure. Do not ask them about anything, 
    lest they tell you something true and you disbelieve in it, or they tell you 
    something false and you believe in it. By the One in Whose hand is my soul, 
    if Moosa (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) were alive, he would 
    have no option but to follow me.”

    [Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Irwa’, 6/34] 

    The prohibition is emphasised when it comes to learning and studying these 
    branches of knowledge, if the Muslim does not have sufficient knowledge to 
    recognise what is evil in these subjects and distinguish between it and what 
    they contain of goodness, for if that is the case he will inevitably be 
    affected by some of their evil. We have seen this in many of the Muslims who 
    studied these subjects in the last two centuries, who were called the 
    “pioneers of enlightenment” in the Arab world; they caused confusion and 
    were the first to call for sharee‘ah to be abolished from Muslim countries 
    and they replaced it with Roman and French law. They tried and worked hard 
    to give Muslim societies a western flavour in all fields of life, and they 
    branded those Muslims who adhered to their religion as backward, stagnant, 
    fundamentalists, lovers of darkness and other such words that stemmed from 
    the European environment. 

    But if a Muslim has strong faith and is mature in his thinking, so that 
    there is no fear of a man of his calibre becoming confused by the specious 
    arguments that are present in these subjects, then it is permissible for him 
    to study them. In fact it may be obligatory in the case of particular 
    individuals, so that they may follow the latest trends in the theories, 
    ideas and philosophies of the non-Muslims, and refute them and explain what 
    they contain of misguidance, if they find their way to the Muslim lands in 
    the guise of literature, art, culture, academic curricula, economics, social 
    studies, and systems of rulings and management. 

    The importance of the matter becomes more urgent if there is an instruction 
    to do so from the Muslim ruler who is sincere to his ummah, as the Prophet 
    (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) instructed Zayd ibn Thaabit to 
    learn the language of the Jews. 

    Al-Bukhaari mentioned that in a chapter in his Saheeh (6/2631) in 
    which he said: Chapter on translating for rulers; is it permissible to have 
    one translator? Khaarijah ibn Zayd ibn Thaabit narrated from Zayd ibn 
    Thaabit that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
    instructed him to learn the language of the Jews, until I wrote letters for 
    the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and I read to him 
    their letters if they wrote to him.

    Narrated and classed as saheeh by at-Tirmidhi (no. 2639); classed as saheeh 
    by al-Albaani in al-Mishkaat (4659) 
A 
    similar question was asked of the Standing committee for Issuing Fatwas and 
    they replied as follows: 
It 
    is not permissible to learn man-made laws in order to apply them, so long as 
    they are contrary to the laws of Allah. But it is permissible to study law 
    and learn it in order to explain its flaws and how it has deviated from the 
    right path, and to highlight the justice and fairness that there is in 
    Islam, how sound it is and how it is sufficient for people’s interests. It 
    is not permissible for a Muslim to study philosophy, man-made laws, and the 
    like, if he is not able to distinguish between what is right and what is 
    wrong in them, lest he become confused and deviate from the straight path. 
    But that is permissible for one who is able to understand it after having 
    studied the Qur’an and Sunnah, so that he is able to distinguish the bad 
    from the good in these subjects, so that he will be able to confirm the 
    truth and nullify falsehood, so long as that will not distract him from more 
    important duties. Thus it is known that it is not permissible to teach these 
    subjects in schools and universities, and it should only be for the elite 
    who are qualified for that, so that they may undertake their Islamic duty of 
    supporting the truth and refuting falsehood.

    Fataawa al-Lajnah ad-Daa’imah 
    (14/232-233) 

    Our advice to our brother is to examine his own situation: does he meet the 
    conditions referred to above, namely knowledge of sound belief (‘aqeedah) 
    and adherence to it, mature thinking that can distinguish between truth and 
    falsehood, the ability to refute specious arguments and misguidance on the 
    basis of sound evidence, and sincerity towards Islam. If, after examining 
    himself, he feels that he meets these conditions, then he may go ahead and 
    study these two subjects, after praying to Allah, may He be exalted, for 
    guidance in making that decision (istikhaarah). Otherwise it is 
    better for him to forget about that and study some other, purely scientific, 
    subject. 

    And he should remember that whoever gives up something for the sake of 
    Allah, Allah will replace it with something better than it. 
We 
    ask Allah to help you and guide you to that which will benefit you in 
    religious and worldly terms. 

    And Allah knows best.