Explaining al-Ghazali's methodology in subjecting the texts of the Book and the Sunnah to his personal desires.
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The Shaykh : His narration, and with the entirety of what came at its end, it is not correct to say that Musa (peace be upon him) disliked death, nor is it correct to say, by implication, how can it be conceived that he struck an angel and gouged out his eye, because he was in the form of a human being. And so, all the hadiths that he rejects or mocks are ones in which he subjects his personal desire to judgment. This is contrary to the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) [Al-Ahzab 33:36] and His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He) [An-Nisa 4:59] up to many other verses.
This obligates every Muslim to submit the leadership of his heart and his mind to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because as He said in the Qur'an[An-Najm 53:3-4]. Therefore, from the day we attached to his book on the jurisprudence of the Seerah and placed that introduction, its foul smell began to appear when he announced his methodology, stating that he might rule that an authentic hadith is not authentic, and that a weak hadith is authentic. You know what he mentioned in this introduction, and I had met him more than once, especially when we were in the Supreme Council of the Islamic University in Madinah al-Munawwarah. I said to him, "O Shaykh, you rejected the hadith of Ibn 'Umar because you understood from it that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) raided Banu al-Mustaliq without the call to Islam having reached them. Where did you get this from?"
The legal rulings are not taken from a single hadith. You know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he wanted to go on a raid, would feint in another direction. Do you want him to inform the people and announce to them, "We are coming to you to raid you"? That is the notification and the warning. It is not sufficient that he warned them beforehand, whether a month, two months, a year, or two years ago; the important thing is that the call reached them, and they disbelieved and denied it, so he raids them when the means of raiding become available for him. So where did you get the idea that he raided them without warning?
And in the authentic hadith from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:.
Likewise, he authenticated the hadith, saying, "This is correct in meaning." So we said to him, "Glory be to Allah! Is it necessary that every sentence or every wisdom that is correct in meaning must be authentic in its attribution to the Messenger (peace be upon him)?"
So, his saying (peace be upon him)Sunan Ibn Majah 3755Sahih (Darussalam), this poetry is his saying, or else the saying of the poets Sunan Ibn Majah 3755Sahih (Darussalam), meaning it is not from his speech, but it contains wisdom. If a wrongdoer or a liar attributes something of beautiful and fine speech to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and we look at the meaning and find it sound, then we say the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said it. This is the extent of the deviation and straying from something like his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) Musnad Ahmad 469Hasan (Darussalam). Perhaps we will suffice with this much and ask Shaykh Sa'd to allow us to leave.
It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should [thereafter] have any choice about their affair. And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.
وما كان لمؤمن ولا مؤمنة إذا قضى الله ورسوله أمرا أن يكون لهم الخيرة من أمرهم ومن يعص الله ورسوله فقد ضل ضلالا مبيناAnd if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.
فإن تنازعتم في شيء فردوه إلى الله والرسول إن كنتم تؤمنون بالله واليوم الآخر ذلك خير وأحسن تأويلاThis obligates every Muslim to submit the leadership of his heart and his mind to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because as He said in the Qur'an
(3) Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. (4) It is not but a revelation revealed,
وما ينطق عن الهوى إن هو إلا وحي يوحىThe legal rulings are not taken from a single hadith. You know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he wanted to go on a raid, would feint in another direction. Do you want him to inform the people and announce to them, "We are coming to you to raid you"? That is the notification and the warning. It is not sufficient that he warned them beforehand, whether a month, two months, a year, or two years ago; the important thing is that the call reached them, and they disbelieved and denied it, so he raids them when the means of raiding become available for him. So where did you get the idea that he raided them without warning?
And in the authentic hadith from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), he said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not raid or fight a people until the call to Islam had reached them.
ما غزى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أو ما قاتل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قوما حتى يبلغهم الدعوةLikewise, he authenticated the hadith
Love Allah for three things.
أحبوا الله لثلاثSo, his saying (peace be upon him)
