Clarification of the issue of constants and variables in the Shari'ah
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The presenter:
The question, my brothers.
The Shaykh:
Come on, if Allah wills, you are finished.
The presenter:
If Allah wills, good. There is a question, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
We do not force them to ask, how?
The questioner:
There are questions, Honorable Shaykh. He says: I would like you to give us a brief overview of the constants and variables in the Islamic Shari'ah.
The Shaykh:
This term is not correct. The Shari'ah is entirely constants; there are no variables. This is the talk of the ignorant, or of people who want to get rid of the Shari'ah. The Shari'ah is entirely constants. The Shari'ah does not change in itself from the time Allah revealed it until the Hour comes; it is all constants. However, the ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) of scholars may differ due to circumstances, or because a scholar becomes clear on something that was not clear to him before. The ijtihad changes. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) exercised ijtihad in two ways regarding the issue of the polytheist in inheritance. He said, "That was according to what we ruled, and this is according to what we rule now." So it is the person's ijtihad that changes, while the Shari'ah itself does not change; it is all constants.
We should know this, and is the term "constants and variables" a false statement? The entire Shari'ah is constant; there are no variables. Nothing is abrogated after the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Nothing of the Shari'ah is abrogated. Abrogation occurred during the lifetime of the Messenger; it was possible for Allah to abrogate some matters and replace them with other legislation while the Messenger was alive. But after the death of the Messenger, everything is constant; there is no abrogation. Yes.
The questioner:
And this, Shaykh, is what is said now: that the religion consists of principles and superficial matters, meaning that you focus on the superficial matters and the husk.
The Shaykh:
This is apostasy. The one who says that there are husks in the religion has committed apostasy from Islam. There are no husks in the religion.
The question, my brothers.
The Shaykh:
Come on, if Allah wills, you are finished.
The presenter:
If Allah wills, good. There is a question, Shaykh.
The Shaykh:
We do not force them to ask, how?
The questioner:
There are questions, Honorable Shaykh. He says: I would like you to give us a brief overview of the constants and variables in the Islamic Shari'ah.
The Shaykh:
This term is not correct. The Shari'ah is entirely constants; there are no variables. This is the talk of the ignorant, or of people who want to get rid of the Shari'ah. The Shari'ah is entirely constants. The Shari'ah does not change in itself from the time Allah revealed it until the Hour comes; it is all constants. However, the ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) of scholars may differ due to circumstances, or because a scholar becomes clear on something that was not clear to him before. The ijtihad changes. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) exercised ijtihad in two ways regarding the issue of the polytheist in inheritance. He said, "That was according to what we ruled, and this is according to what we rule now." So it is the person's ijtihad that changes, while the Shari'ah itself does not change; it is all constants.
We should know this, and is the term "constants and variables" a false statement? The entire Shari'ah is constant; there are no variables. Nothing is abrogated after the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Nothing of the Shari'ah is abrogated. Abrogation occurred during the lifetime of the Messenger; it was possible for Allah to abrogate some matters and replace them with other legislation while the Messenger was alive. But after the death of the Messenger, everything is constant; there is no abrogation. Yes.
The questioner:
And this, Shaykh, is what is said now: that the religion consists of principles and superficial matters, meaning that you focus on the superficial matters and the husk.
The Shaykh:
This is apostasy. The one who says that there are husks in the religion has committed apostasy from Islam. There are no husks in the religion.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-39-قضايا فقهية - 03|صالح الفوزان|العام|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (24:11)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.