The Difference Between Definitive Evidence and Probable Evidence
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the difference between definitive evidence and implied evidence? And is the evidence of the vastness of the Majesty definitive or implied?
The Shaykh:
This distinction was not known among the Salaf. To them, all authentic evidence was definitive. Because they believed in it, affirmed it, and did not doubt it. They did not divide evidence into definitive and probable. They said that whatever is authentic from Allah and His Messenger is definitive in its indication. This distinction came from the scholars of kalam, the scholars of kalam who say that a report with a limited chain is probable, whereas a mass-transmitted report is definitive. This is an incorrect distinction, because it led to many harms and the negation of legal rulings, casting doubt upon the religion of Allah the Exalted. The position of the people of the Sunnah and the community is that whatever is authentic from Allah and His Messenger is definitive in its indication, without any doubt, whether it is a report with a limited chain or a mass-transmitted report. Yes.
Another questioner:
The hadith scholars.
The Shaykh:
This is from the perspective of the chain. It is not from the perspective of the indication. From the perspective of the chain, they call this establishment. Definitive establishment means a definitive chain. And definitive indication is from the perspective of the meaning.
The questioner:
Does a general term apply to it in the ruling? No.
The Shaykh:
What is authentic is what is authentic. As for what is not authentic because it is good or weak, it is not definitive in its indication, because it is not authentic. The speech on the authentic, on the authentic evidence, is what provides certainty. No Muslim doubts an authentic hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, a good or weak hadith may cause a person to doubt its establishment from the perspective of the chain, not from the perspective of… Yes.
This is from the perspective of generality. A text, from the perspective of indication, if a thing indicates several meanings, it is not explicit. That is, it has one meaning that could be this or that. This is not explicit, unlike a thing that has only one meaning. That is explicit. It is explicit in its indication because it has no other possibility. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, what is the difference between definitive evidence and implied evidence? And is the evidence of the vastness of the Majesty definitive or implied?
The Shaykh:
This distinction was not known among the Salaf. To them, all authentic evidence was definitive. Because they believed in it, affirmed it, and did not doubt it. They did not divide evidence into definitive and probable. They said that whatever is authentic from Allah and His Messenger is definitive in its indication. This distinction came from the scholars of kalam, the scholars of kalam who say that a report with a limited chain is probable, whereas a mass-transmitted report is definitive. This is an incorrect distinction, because it led to many harms and the negation of legal rulings, casting doubt upon the religion of Allah the Exalted. The position of the people of the Sunnah and the community is that whatever is authentic from Allah and His Messenger is definitive in its indication, without any doubt, whether it is a report with a limited chain or a mass-transmitted report. Yes.
Another questioner:
The hadith scholars.
The Shaykh:
This is from the perspective of the chain. It is not from the perspective of the indication. From the perspective of the chain, they call this establishment. Definitive establishment means a definitive chain. And definitive indication is from the perspective of the meaning.
The questioner:
Does a general term apply to it in the ruling? No.
The Shaykh:
What is authentic is what is authentic. As for what is not authentic because it is good or weak, it is not definitive in its indication, because it is not authentic. The speech on the authentic, on the authentic evidence, is what provides certainty. No Muslim doubts an authentic hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, a good or weak hadith may cause a person to doubt its establishment from the perspective of the chain, not from the perspective of… Yes.
This is from the perspective of generality. A text, from the perspective of indication, if a thing indicates several meanings, it is not explicit. That is, it has one meaning that could be this or that. This is not explicit, unlike a thing that has only one meaning. That is explicit. It is explicit in its indication because it has no other possibility. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، تابع باب نواقض الوضوء - 3 — islamhouse.com (59:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.