Is refuting the statements of scholars that contradict the evidence considered a disparagement of them?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Benefits from the explanation of the book *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim li-Mukhalafat Ahl al-Jahim* by Ibn Taymiyyah.
The Shaykh:
The correct position is that we do not accept anyone's statement until we know his evidence from the Book and the Sunnah. As for mere opinion or mere assertion, that does not permit us to adopt the statement of so-and-so or so-and-so. Yes.
The questioner:
Does refuting their statements, except by conditioning it on evidence, diminish the status of scholars and their respect? Some say: These are scholars we respect, and they are specialists.
The Shaykh:
We respect them, and they may be rewarded for their ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) even if they are mistaken. If a judge exercises ijtihad and is correct, he has two rewards; if he exercises ijtihad and is mistaken, he has one reward. They have their status and knowledge because they did not intend to err, but rather they were seeking the truth, though they did not hit the mark. So they have a reward for their ijtihad. But we do not adopt their error and act upon it merely because of the statement of so-and-so or the statement of so-and-so.
Benefits from the explanation of the book *Iqtida' al-Sirat al-Mustaqim li-Mukhalafat Ahl al-Jahim* by Ibn Taymiyyah.
The Shaykh:
The correct position is that we do not accept anyone's statement until we know his evidence from the Book and the Sunnah. As for mere opinion or mere assertion, that does not permit us to adopt the statement of so-and-so or so-and-so. Yes.
The questioner:
Does refuting their statements, except by conditioning it on evidence, diminish the status of scholars and their respect? Some say: These are scholars we respect, and they are specialists.
The Shaykh:
We respect them, and they may be rewarded for their ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) even if they are mistaken. If a judge exercises ijtihad and is correct, he has two rewards; if he exercises ijtihad and is mistaken, he has one reward. They have their status and knowledge because they did not intend to err, but rather they were seeking the truth, though they did not hit the mark. So they have a reward for their ijtihad. But we do not adopt their error and act upon it merely because of the statement of so-and-so or the statement of so-and-so.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1655] هل رد أقوال أهل العلم المخالفة للدليل يُعد تنقصًا لهم؟ I الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.