The ruling of the Shari'ah of those before us is a ruling for us
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
May Allah keep you safe, Your Eminence the Shaykh. The scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) have a principle, which is: "What was legislated for those before us is legislated for us." What is your opinion of this principle? And is it a consistent rule?
Answer:
Yes, it is correct. The negation of this hadith, the story of the seclusion of Ayyub, and the washing of nakedness are examples of what was legislated for those before us and is legislated for us, on the condition that our Shari'ah has not come with a contrary ruling. With this condition—that our Shari'ah has not come with a contrary ruling—if it is established from Musa, from Isa, and from the prophets that they had certain actions or practices, then they are lawful for us, and there is no harm in us doing them, except if our Shari'ah comes with a contrary ruling. If our Shari'ah comes with a prohibition of that, then we do not act upon it; rather, it becomes one of their specific characteristics. Yes.
May Allah keep you safe, Your Eminence the Shaykh. The scholars of usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence) have a principle, which is: "What was legislated for those before us is legislated for us." What is your opinion of this principle? And is it a consistent rule?
Answer:
Yes, it is correct. The negation of this hadith, the story of the seclusion of Ayyub, and the washing of nakedness are examples of what was legislated for those before us and is legislated for us, on the condition that our Shari'ah has not come with a contrary ruling. With this condition—that our Shari'ah has not come with a contrary ruling—if it is established from Musa, from Isa, and from the prophets that they had certain actions or practices, then they are lawful for us, and there is no harm in us doing them, except if our Shari'ah comes with a contrary ruling. If our Shari'ah comes with a prohibition of that, then we do not act upon it; rather, it becomes one of their specific characteristics. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم [ برنامج إذاعي ]، بداية من أسئلة في باب الاستتار عن الأعين للمغتسل وجواز تجرده في الخلوة — islamhouse.com (4:42)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.