Is the one who exercises independent legal reasoning in matters of creed rewarded if he errs?
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Question : The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, is the one who exercises independent legal reasoning in matters of creed, by analogy from matters of jurisprudence, rewarded? The one who is correct is rewarded with two rewards, and the one who errs is rewarded with one reward?
Answer : Matters of creed are clear, praise be to Allah, and do not require independent legal reasoning, because for the most part there is no room for the intellect in them; they are restricted to the text.
And the path in them is clear and sound, and it is to apply the texts according to their apparent meaning that befits Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Let us give an example of this: Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:[Taha 20:5] And Allah mentioned His rising above His Throne in several places in His Book. How many places? In seven places.
Rising above the Throne is a special kind of elevation above the Throne. This elevation is to be taken at face value. Say: "Indeed, Allah rose above His Throne with a special elevation befitting His majesty. It is not like our rising above a bed, nor like our rising above the back of a camel, nor like our rising above the deck of a ship, but it is an elevation befitting Him (Mighty and Majestic)[Ash-Shuraa 42:11] and peace be upon Him. It was mentioned in the hadith: What should I do with this hadith? I say: Does Allah descend, or does one of His angels descend? I say: Allah descends, but not like my descent from the roof to the ground below, because Allah the Exalted [Ash-Shuraa 42:11] So doctrinal matters are easy for the one whom Allah guides: take them at face value in a manner befitting Allah, and leave the use of reason in this domain, because there is no place for reason in matters whose path is purely through report, whether concerning the attributes of Allah or the conditions of the Day of Resurrection. Rather, we stand upon the text and carry it out as Allah the Exalted and His Messenger intended.
Answer : Matters of creed are clear, praise be to Allah, and do not require independent legal reasoning, because for the most part there is no room for the intellect in them; they are restricted to the text.
And the path in them is clear and sound, and it is to apply the texts according to their apparent meaning that befits Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Let us give an example of this: Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said:
The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.
الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىٰRising above the Throne is a special kind of elevation above the Throne. This elevation is to be taken at face value. Say: "Indeed, Allah rose above His Throne with a special elevation befitting His majesty. It is not like our rising above a bed, nor like our rising above the back of a camel, nor like our rising above the deck of a ship, but it is an elevation befitting Him (Mighty and Majestic)
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُThe authentic view is that Allah descends to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. Does He descend to the lowest heaven?
الصحيح أن الله ينزل إلى السماء الدنيا حين يبقى ثلث الليل الآخر ينزل إلى السماء الدنيا؟There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[1 من 216] هل يؤجر المجتهد في العقائد إذا أخطأ؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.