Using Scholarly Disagreement as Evidence and Dealing with the Disagreement of Scholars
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
The brother questioner who sent his question by fax says: Honorable Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, many people, when they are forbidden from doing something, cite scholarly disagreement as their excuse, saying that so-and-so Shaykh said it is permissible. The reality is that if we were to accept every instance of disagreement, many matters of our religion and our worldly affairs would not be preserved for us. The question is: Is it permissible to cite disagreement as evidence, and how do we deal with the disagreement of scholars?
Answer:
This is a phrase that has now spread from the tongues of the people of desires, whereas the one who fears Allah and is mindful of Him does not say such a thing. He says: "Stick to what the evidence indicates from the statements of the scholars." We have not been commanded to worship Allah by following the statements of the scholars; rather, we have been commanded to worship Allah by following the evidence from the Book and the Sunnah. Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nisa 4:59]. As for the one who follows the statements of the scholars and their disagreements, taking what suits him and leaving what does not suit him, he is among those who [At-Tawbah 9:31], may Allah protect us from that. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and bless you.
The brother questioner who sent his question by fax says: Honorable Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan, many people, when they are forbidden from doing something, cite scholarly disagreement as their excuse, saying that so-and-so Shaykh said it is permissible. The reality is that if we were to accept every instance of disagreement, many matters of our religion and our worldly affairs would not be preserved for us. The question is: Is it permissible to cite disagreement as evidence, and how do we deal with the disagreement of scholars?
Answer:
This is a phrase that has now spread from the tongues of the people of desires, whereas the one who fears Allah and is mindful of Him does not say such a thing. He says: "Stick to what the evidence indicates from the statements of the scholars." We have not been commanded to worship Allah by following the statements of the scholars; rather, we have been commanded to worship Allah by following the evidence from the Book and the Sunnah. Allah the Exalted said:
And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger
فَإِن تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِThey have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِThe presenter:
May Allah reward you with good and bless you.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/204 — archive.org (4:26)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.