The Ruling on Ijtihad in Matters of Creed
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Question:
The Shaykh informed us, may Allah love you, I love you for the sake of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. My question is: I have heard people say that those who engaged in ta'wil (figurative interpretation) of some of the attributes are rewarded for their good intention and that we cannot consider them wrong. Is it true that they are rewarded for their good intention? Please clarify this for us, may Allah grant you success.
Answer:
This requires consideration, because matters of creed are not a place for ijtihad (independent legal reasoning); rather, they are based on divine revelation. Ijtihad is for matters of the branches, matters of derivation and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). This is the place for ijtihad, where one who is correct gets two rewards and one who is wrong gets one reward, provided he meets the conditions of ijtihad and is among those qualified for it. As for matters of creed, if they are not based on divine revelation, it is not permissible for anyone to exercise ijtihad in them. However, a person may be a follower (mقلid), or he may have taken his creed from teachers and instructors who did not clarify to him the correct view, but rather taught him this creed and he followed it, believing it to be the truth. Such a person is excused by following (taqlid); he follows. But ijtihad is not allowed; creed is not a field for ijtihad. It is prescribed. If creed were left to ijtihad, no one would be misguided, no one would be a disbeliever, and everyone would say, "I am a mujtahid." This would not be good for the creed. The creed is one; ijtihad does not enter it. Rather, it is based on divine revelation, standing upon what came in the Book and the Sunnah. Opinions and ijtihad do not intervene in it. It is taken as it is, purely. The bad mixture of the few is spent. Yes.
The Shaykh informed us, may Allah love you, I love you for the sake of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. My question is: I have heard people say that those who engaged in ta'wil (figurative interpretation) of some of the attributes are rewarded for their good intention and that we cannot consider them wrong. Is it true that they are rewarded for their good intention? Please clarify this for us, may Allah grant you success.
Answer:
This requires consideration, because matters of creed are not a place for ijtihad (independent legal reasoning); rather, they are based on divine revelation. Ijtihad is for matters of the branches, matters of derivation and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). This is the place for ijtihad, where one who is correct gets two rewards and one who is wrong gets one reward, provided he meets the conditions of ijtihad and is among those qualified for it. As for matters of creed, if they are not based on divine revelation, it is not permissible for anyone to exercise ijtihad in them. However, a person may be a follower (mقلid), or he may have taken his creed from teachers and instructors who did not clarify to him the correct view, but rather taught him this creed and he followed it, believing it to be the truth. Such a person is excused by following (taqlid); he follows. But ijtihad is not allowed; creed is not a field for ijtihad. It is prescribed. If creed were left to ijtihad, no one would be misguided, no one would be a disbeliever, and everyone would say, "I am a mujtahid." This would not be good for the creed. The creed is one; ijtihad does not enter it. Rather, it is based on divine revelation, standing upon what came in the Book and the Sunnah. Opinions and ijtihad do not intervene in it. It is taken as it is, purely. The bad mixture of the few is spent. Yes.
Source
الذين يؤولون الصفات ونيتهم حسنة — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.