The Meaning of the Rule: The Truth Is Not Known by Men
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Question:
What is the meaning of this rule: "The truth is not known by men, but men are known by the truth"?
Answer:
Its meaning is that we do not follow what we follow as mere imitation. Imitation may be based on error; the mujtahid may be mistaken, and the one making the statement may be mistaken. So we do not say, "This is so-and-so's statement, and it is the truth, because so-and-so is good, so-and-so is a scholar, and so-and-so is pious." We do not say that, for no one is infallible; everyone makes mistakes. So we know men by the truth: those who act and take the evidence, and who know that they are scholars.
As for those who do not care about the evidence, they are not people of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and they are not people of knowledge. Their statements are not accepted as a matter of course, not always, absolutely not. It is not necessary that they be presented to the evidence. If the evidence testifies to them, then it is the truth; and if it contradicts the evidence, then it is rejected. However, if he is a mujtahid and he makes a mistake, he is rewarded for his ijtihad (independent legal reasoning). But if he intentionally makes a mistake, he commits a sin. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
What is the meaning of this rule: "The truth is not known by men, but men are known by the truth"?
Answer:
Its meaning is that we do not follow what we follow as mere imitation. Imitation may be based on error; the mujtahid may be mistaken, and the one making the statement may be mistaken. So we do not say, "This is so-and-so's statement, and it is the truth, because so-and-so is good, so-and-so is a scholar, and so-and-so is pious." We do not say that, for no one is infallible; everyone makes mistakes. So we know men by the truth: those who act and take the evidence, and who know that they are scholars.
As for those who do not care about the evidence, they are not people of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and they are not people of knowledge. Their statements are not accepted as a matter of course, not always, absolutely not. It is not necessary that they be presented to the evidence. If the evidence testifies to them, then it is the truth; and if it contradicts the evidence, then it is rejected. However, if he is a mujtahid and he makes a mistake, he is rewarded for his ijtihad (independent legal reasoning). But if he intentionally makes a mistake, he commits a sin. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you,
Source
بلوغ المرام 20-08-1433هـ — alfawzan.live (45:21)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.