Explaining the error in the statement "Rulings change with the change of time and place" and the correct position on this matter.
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The Shaykh : And this is another benefit I wish to draw your attention to: "Rulings change with the change of time and place". This principle is extremely dangerous if stated in this absolute form: "Rulings change with the change of time and place". The correct formulation of this principle is: "Rulings derived through the ijtihad of the imams", and not the rulings that are explicitly stated in the Book of Allah and in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah. May Allah protect us from these rulings falling under the principle that says: rulings change with the change of time and place. Rather, these are the rulings that the imams stated through derivation and ijtihad, because derivation and ijtihad are first of all subject to error and correctness, unlike what is explicitly stated in the Book and the Sunnah. Second, these rulings that were stated through ijtihad and derivation took into account, during the process of ijtihad and derivation, the situation in which people were or upon which they were, so these rulings were established to be appropriate for that time.
It may be useful to give an example that is somewhat unusual, and which clarifies how rulings change with the change of time and place, with the aforementioned qualification: rulings that are stated through derivation and ijtihad, and not based on an explicit text. It is stated in *Sharh al-Wajiz* by Imam al-Rafi'i, from the relied-upon books of the Shafi'i school, in the following exact wording: "If a man prays on a swing—pay attention to what he says—that is not supported by the ground nor suspended from the ceiling". Have you heard of this swing? It is not resting on the ground, nor is it hanging from the ceiling. If one prays on such a swing, this distinguished imam said: "His prayer is invalid". Why? Because he is praying in mid-air. "If he prays on a swing that is not supported by the ground nor suspended from the ceiling, his prayer is invalid". Now, this swing was created by Allah, as He the Exalted indicated:[An-Nahl 16:8]. Do you know what this swing is? It is the well-known aircraft, specifically the helicopter that hovers above heads, not moving, not descending or ascending, not turning left or right. Do you think that if the one who said that word were in the modern era, would he say that prayer in an aircraft is invalid? He would not say that. He imagined something, he conceived of it becoming a reality!
And so, in the course of the discussions and debates I had with some of the scholars of taqlid in our Syrian land, I visited a town in northern Syria for the first time in the course of transferring the da'wah from one town to another. As Allah willed, a gathering took place in the place where I stayed, and among them was the mufti of the town. That mufti, naturally, practices taqlid and issues fatwas based on his Shafi'i madhhab. He began with words of beautiful welcome, meaning a polite strategy, and so on, but he was laying the groundwork for insinuation and hinting. He finally said: It has reached us that you do not practice taqlid and that you engage in ijtihad. We got into a conversation with him, and I do not want to lengthen it. I said to him: O Shaykh, we are now in an era where new matters and issues have arisen, and a person may not find an explicit answer in the books of fiqh for this new issue. So what does he do? I meant to say to him: Ijtihad is necessary. Opening the door of ijtihad is a mercy from among the mercies of Allah, and closing it is as He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to that Bedouin who urinated in his mosque. Then, part of his error, or his misguidance, as it came in the hadith, was that when he became angry at the Companions of the Messenger who were about to beat him when they saw him urinating in the Prophet's Mosque, he said to them (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 147Sahih (Darussalam). Let him be until he has relieved himself in the Prophet's Mosque. He urinated in the Prophet's Mosque. Part of his error and his ignorance was that after the prayer, he supplicated to his Lord, as if quenching the anger in his heart at the Companions of the Messenger who had been about to harm him, and he said: "O Allah, have mercy on me and on Muhammad, and do not share us with anyone". These are the hard-hearted ones who were about to harm him. Do not share them in mercy. Rather, "O Allah, have mercy on me and on Muhammad, and do not share us with anyone". He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: .
And these are the ones who restricted the Muslim ummah, forbade ijtihad, and claimed that its door was closed since the fourth century of the Hijrah! I said to thisThe Shaykh : How do you deal with some of the issues that befall Muslims today? He said to me: For example, and here is the point. I said: For example, prayer in an aircraft. What do you say, is it valid or not? He answered immediately and on the spot with the correct answer: It is valid. I said to him: What is the evidence? He said: By analogy to prayer on a ship. I said: Now you have fallen into what you blame me for. He said: How? I said: You engaged in ijtihad. Who among the scholars before you said that prayer in an aircraft is permissible first? Then, what is the evidence for that analogy of prayer in an aircraft to prayer on a ship? The man was stunned. I said: And it is amazing that you erred where you were correct. It is contradictory speech, naturally, and one is surprised by it, and I mean what I say. He said: How? I said: When you engaged in ijtihad, you were correct, but if you had practiced taqlid, you would have erred! He said: I do not understand. I said: So I mentioned the previous phrase. I said: Imam al-Rafi'i said in his book *Sharh al-Wajiz*:. This is the aircraft. So if you had followed this imam, you would have said that the prayer is not valid. Do you see how ijtihad is a mercy and not a curse? He said: I did not find this phrase. I said: It has been said: "Whoever knows is an argument over whoever does not know, and whoever memorizes is an argument over whoever does not memorize". There is the book *Sharh al-Wajiz* by al-Rafi'i, printed in the marginal notes of al-Majmu' by Imam al-Nawawi. You are able to
It may be useful to give an example that is somewhat unusual, and which clarifies how rulings change with the change of time and place, with the aforementioned qualification: rulings that are stated through derivation and ijtihad, and not based on an explicit text. It is stated in *Sharh al-Wajiz* by Imam al-Rafi'i, from the relied-upon books of the Shafi'i school, in the following exact wording: "If a man prays on a swing—pay attention to what he says—that is not supported by the ground nor suspended from the ceiling". Have you heard of this swing? It is not resting on the ground, nor is it hanging from the ceiling. If one prays on such a swing, this distinguished imam said: "His prayer is invalid". Why? Because he is praying in mid-air. "If he prays on a swing that is not supported by the ground nor suspended from the ceiling, his prayer is invalid". Now, this swing was created by Allah, as He the Exalted indicated:
And He creates that which you do not know.
ويخلق ما لا تعلمونAnd so, in the course of the discussions and debates I had with some of the scholars of taqlid in our Syrian land, I visited a town in northern Syria for the first time in the course of transferring the da'wah from one town to another. As Allah willed, a gathering took place in the place where I stayed, and among them was the mufti of the town. That mufti, naturally, practices taqlid and issues fatwas based on his Shafi'i madhhab. He began with words of beautiful welcome, meaning a polite strategy, and so on, but he was laying the groundwork for insinuation and hinting. He finally said: It has reached us that you do not practice taqlid and that you engage in ijtihad. We got into a conversation with him, and I do not want to lengthen it. I said to him: O Shaykh, we are now in an era where new matters and issues have arisen, and a person may not find an explicit answer in the books of fiqh for this new issue. So what does he do? I meant to say to him: Ijtihad is necessary. Opening the door of ijtihad is a mercy from among the mercies of Allah, and closing it is as He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to that Bedouin who urinated in his mosque. Then, part of his error, or his misguidance, as it came in the hadith, was that when he became angry at the Companions of the Messenger who were about to beat him when they saw him urinating in the Prophet's Mosque, he said to them (peace and blessings be upon him):
You have been sent to make things easy (for the people); you have not been sent to make things difficult for them.
لا تزرموه ، إنما بُعثتم ميسِّرين ، ولم تُبعثوا معسِّرينYou have restricted a vast expanse of the mercy of Allah.
لقد حجَّرت واسعًا من رحمة اللهAnd these are the ones who restricted the Muslim ummah, forbade ijtihad, and claimed that its door was closed since the fourth century of the Hijrah! I said to thisThe Shaykh : How do you deal with some of the issues that befall Muslims today? He said to me: For example, and here is the point. I said: For example, prayer in an aircraft. What do you say, is it valid or not? He answered immediately and on the spot with the correct answer: It is valid. I said to him: What is the evidence? He said: By analogy to prayer on a ship. I said: Now you have fallen into what you blame me for. He said: How? I said: You engaged in ijtihad. Who among the scholars before you said that prayer in an aircraft is permissible first? Then, what is the evidence for that analogy of prayer in an aircraft to prayer on a ship? The man was stunned. I said: And it is amazing that you erred where you were correct. It is contradictory speech, naturally, and one is surprised by it, and I mean what I say. He said: How? I said: When you engaged in ijtihad, you were correct, but if you had practiced taqlid, you would have erred! He said: I do not understand. I said: So I mentioned the previous phrase. I said: Imam al-Rafi'i said in his book *Sharh al-Wajiz*: