QUESTION
As
for Allaah's Statement [5:3]:
(
Today I have perfected for you your Religion... )
We
affirm the verse and believe in it, we believe that Allaah's
Religion is perfect and that there are no contradictions in
what Allaah revealed. But when one imaam or scholar
prohibited something, and another imaam or scholar
said the same thing was permissible, how do we understand
this, as these two rulings are contradictory to each other?
ANSWER
by Shaykh Muhammad 'Umar Baazmool, instructor at Umm Al-Quraa
University in Makkah
This
answer requires knowledge of a great science known as Mukhtalif
Al-Hadeeth, as well as knowledge of the foundations in
Fiqh with regards to the affair of the reasons why
the scholars differ.
It
is possible that a scholar did not come across all the narrations
of the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam) in
a certain subject, so he comes to the understanding that a
certain action is permissible, based on his principles. Then
another scholar comes along after having studying narrations
that had not reached the first scholar, so he clarifies that
the correct ruling about that action is that it is not permissible
or disliked, based on evidences that he has found but the
first scholar had not. This is only one of the many reasons
why the scholars differ.
In
reality, the scholars are all on different levels in terms
of how much evidence has reached them. So the books and evidences
that one scholar studied are not the same as what another
studied. The scholars are not all equal in their knowledge
of Hadeeth, just as they are not all equal in their understanding
of affairs that are differed over, and they are not all equal
in how much they know about the affairs of consensus, etc.
As
a result of this, we find that one scholar says a certain
thing is permissible and another says it is not. This is a
way that Allaah, the Glorified and Exalted, tests the people,
to see what will they do in these kinds of circumstances,
what will they do when the evidences seem to not work together
or that the scholars have differed about certain things.
Anyway,
the scholars have singled out this subject and written books
about it, clarifying the reasons why the scholars differ,
establishing excuses for those who did not act by certain
evidences or opposed them. I would recommend the questioner
to read an outstanding book in this subject, Raf'ul-Malaam
'an A'immatil-A'laam by Shaykh Al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah,
may Allaah have Mercy on him. Verily he produced a great benefit
with this book, mentioning the excuses for the imaams
in these affairs of differing and the real reasons why they
differed. Reading this book would clarify the issue that the
questioner has asked about, and Allaah knows best.
SOURCE
This
was translated exclusively for www.bakkah.net from a cassette
recording with the knowledge and permission of the shaykh,
file no. AAMB005, dated 1423/6/25.
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