The Relationship Between the Text and the Practice of the Salaf
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: The principle states that it is not permissible to act upon any specific detail of the text if the practice of the Salaf did not include it.
Answer:
Who said this? This is a statement with no basis. The text remains, and its evidence remains. The Salaf did not encompass everything in the evidence. As long as the Book and the Sunnah are with us, what the Imams said is upon our heads and eyes, and we take it upon ourselves. However, they did not say that we need everything. We also have the right to seek knowledge, and new events and issues arise, requiring ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and consideration of them.
The Shaykh: In the days when the great scholars were present, praise be to Allah, people would refer to them. But now, people refer to the competent authorities to whom issuing fatwas and adjudication are entrusted; they refer to them in this matter.[An-Nisa 4:83] Meaning, they discuss it among themselves, yet they are not qualified for this. [An-Nisa 4:83] Look, and to the people of authority among them—who are the people of authority? The scholars. [An-Nisa 4:83] Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. This questioner says: The principle states that it is not permissible to act upon any specific detail of the text if the practice of the Salaf did not include it.
Answer:
Who said this? This is a statement with no basis. The text remains, and its evidence remains. The Salaf did not encompass everything in the evidence. As long as the Book and the Sunnah are with us, what the Imams said is upon our heads and eyes, and we take it upon ourselves. However, they did not say that we need everything. We also have the right to seek knowledge, and new events and issues arise, requiring ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and consideration of them.
The Shaykh: In the days when the great scholars were present, praise be to Allah, people would refer to them. But now, people refer to the competent authorities to whom issuing fatwas and adjudication are entrusted; they refer to them in this matter.
And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around
وَإِذَا جَاءَهُمْ أَمْرٌ مِّنَ الْأَمْنِ أَوِ الْخَوْفِ أَذَاعُوا بِهِBut if they had referred it back to the Messenger
وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى الرَّسُولِor to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.
وَإِلَىٰ أُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَنبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْ وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ لَاتَّبَعْتُمُ الشَّيْطَانَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، العلاقة بين النص وعمل السلف لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.