Is the statement of Ibn Mas'ud: "If a case of judgment is presented to him after this day, let him judge by what is in the Book of Allah. If a matter comes that is not in the Book of Allah, let him judge by what his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) judged by"
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The Shaykh : Yes, I see you are coughing.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : I say good things; I see you are coughing.
The questioner : I have a light cold.
The Shaykh : Yes, praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Regarding the question, O our Shaykh, let us start immediately, meaning
The Shaykh : Immediately
The questioner : In Sunan al-Nasa'i, from Ibn Mas'ud, he said: "A time came to us when we did not judge and we were not there, and indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic decreed that we should reach what you see"
The Shaykh : Decreed that we should reach
The questioner : what you see, "If a case of judgment is presented to him after this day, let him judge by what is in the Book of Allah. If a matter comes that is not in the Book of Allah, let him judge by what his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) judged by. If a matter comes that is not in the Book of Allah and his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not judge by it, let him judge by what the righteous judged by" This apparently contradicts what you mentioned in the weak hadith... regarding the necessity of presenting the Book and the Sunnah together.
The Shaykh : The necessity of presenting what?
The questioner : The necessity of looking at the Book and the Sunnah together.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : So what do you say about this?
The Shaykh : And is it conceivable otherwise, when the Messenger says:Mishkat al-Masabih 186Hasan (Zubair `Aliza'i) As for this hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, it is like what came in the book of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab to Abu Musa, which resembles this classification. But it is absolutely not permissible to understand from this report of Ibn Mas'ud or that report of 'Umar that they mean looking at the Book of Allah only, without the Sunnah. Rather, one should look at the Book and the Sunnah together. If it is not found in the Book, as is the case in many matters, then one returns to the Sunnah alone, and the Sunnah is sufficient in this case. Then comes the third stage: returning to what the Companions were upon.
And in my belief, such a detail that we are mentioning now and have mentioned elsewhere is something that no Muslim scholar can be free from; otherwise, he would depart from acting not only by the Sunnah but also by the Qur'an. I mean by this that Allah the Mighty and Majestic addressed His Prophet (peace be upon him) with His saying:[An-Nahl 16:44] If he looks at the Qur'an that was revealed to his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and then does not combine with it the looking at the explanation, which is the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him), that means he is bringing a new religion.
And the examples of that are many, and very many. Every one who has concerned himself practically with the study of the principles of jurisprudence and the scientific rules therein that the scholars established to regulate the understanding of the texts of the Book, let alone the Sunnah, knows this. As we know, there is the general and the specific, the absolute and the restricted, the concise and the detailed, and the like of that which is mentioned in detail in the books of the principles of jurisprudence. So if a questioner asked one of those Salaf from whom such a report came, which is the one being asked about, "What is the ruling on the carrion of fish?" If he looks in the Book of Allah, he finds the saying of the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3] So he would issue a ruling forbidding the carrion of fish. But he must look, along with his look at the Book, at the Sunnah as well, one of whose functions is to explain what was made absolute in the Qur'an or came as general in it, and the like of that. At that time, we are certain that his answer, when he looks at the Book and the Sunnah together as we have explicitly stated there and as is the reality of the scholars of the Muslims... his ruling is exactly that, and they will say: "Every carrion is forbidden except the carrion of fish and locusts," implementing the text of the Qur'an and the Sunnah which came with: So I cannot, and I do not think anyone else can, understand from the report of Ibn Mas'ud and the report of 'Umar that he means looking at the Qur'an only. Rather, he looks at the Qur'an and the Sunnah together. If he does not find anything in the Qur'an, then he relies on the Sunnah alone.
And the last thing that can be said is that... the intended meaning of this report and that one is looking at the Qur'an only, alone, without the Sunnah. No Muslim says this, for what we mentioned earlier of the many texts that came in the Sunnah which serve as an explanation of the Qur'an. This is what I have in the research.
The questioner : His saying "the Book of Allah" includes the Sunnah implicitly, or else... he stated it explicitly.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : I say good things; I see you are coughing.
The questioner : I have a light cold.
The Shaykh : Yes, praise be to Allah.
The questioner : Regarding the question, O our Shaykh, let us start immediately, meaning
The Shaykh : Immediately
The questioner : In Sunan al-Nasa'i, from Ibn Mas'ud, he said: "A time came to us when we did not judge and we were not there, and indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic decreed that we should reach what you see"
The Shaykh : Decreed that we should reach
The questioner : what you see, "If a case of judgment is presented to him after this day, let him judge by what is in the Book of Allah. If a matter comes that is not in the Book of Allah, let him judge by what his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) judged by. If a matter comes that is not in the Book of Allah and his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not judge by it, let him judge by what the righteous judged by" This apparently contradicts what you mentioned in the weak hadith... regarding the necessity of presenting the Book and the Sunnah together.
The Shaykh : The necessity of presenting what?
The questioner : The necessity of looking at the Book and the Sunnah together.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.
The questioner : So what do you say about this?
The Shaykh : And is it conceivable otherwise, when the Messenger says:
As long as you hold fast to two things which I have left among you, you will not go astray: God’s Book and His messenger’s sunna
تركت فيكم أمرين لن تضلوا ما إن تمسكتم بهما كتاب الله وسنتيAnd in my belief, such a detail that we are mentioning now and have mentioned elsewhere is something that no Muslim scholar can be free from; otherwise, he would depart from acting not only by the Sunnah but also by the Qur'an. I mean by this that Allah the Mighty and Majestic addressed His Prophet (peace be upon him) with His saying:
And We revealed to you the message that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them
وأنزلنا إليك الذكر لتبين للناس ما نزل إليهمAnd the examples of that are many, and very many. Every one who has concerned himself practically with the study of the principles of jurisprudence and the scientific rules therein that the scholars established to regulate the understanding of the texts of the Book, let alone the Sunnah, knows this. As we know, there is the general and the specific, the absolute and the restricted, the concise and the detailed, and the like of that which is mentioned in detail in the books of the principles of jurisprudence. So if a questioner asked one of those Salaf from whom such a report came, which is the one being asked about, "What is the ruling on the carrion of fish?" If he looks in the Book of Allah, he finds the saying of the Exalted:
Prohibited to you are dead animals, blood
حرمت عليكم الميتة والدمWe have been made lawful two carrion animals and two kinds of blood: the fish and the locust, and the liver and the spleen
أحلت لنا ميتتان ودمان الحوت والجراد والكبد والطحالAnd the last thing that can be said is that... the intended meaning of this report and that one is looking at the Qur'an only, alone, without the Sunnah. No Muslim says this, for what we mentioned earlier of the many texts that came in the Sunnah which serve as an explanation of the Qur'an. This is what I have in the research.
The questioner : His saying "the Book of Allah" includes the Sunnah implicitly, or else... he stated it explicitly.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is right.