The Shaykh’s discourse on unlegislated public interests and their conditions.

The Shaykh : He spoke about religious innovation in a manner I had not known him to use, and he mentioned a fundamental distinction between the innovation covered by the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . He distinguishes between this innovation, which is condemned in general terms, and certain new occurrences that fall under the category of unlegislated public interests. He says: When a matter arises and the public interest necessitates legislating something to deal with this new occurrence, or to confront it, or for any other reason—what matters is that a ruling is required—he says: We looked into this, and here is the crux regarding the previous question: "If the factor necessitating the ruling we claim to be an unlegislated public interest..." And I say now that this falls under the category of blocking the means to harm. If the factor necessitating this ruling existed due to something that was present in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), then it is absolutely not permissible for us to introduce a ruling on the claim that the public interest necessitates it. Because if this public interest were prescribed, it would have been legislated when the factor for its existence was found. Since it did not exist in the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), you can see the deviation of some laws introduced by some rulers, both in the past and the present, which fall under what they call the collection of wealth, or more clearly, taxes. We say: It is not permissible to legislate such laws to collect wealth on the claim that the state needs money, except in one case. Before I speak of it, I ask: Why? Because the Wise Lawgiver has established a system for the state to be wealthy with its resources, and this wealth helps it fulfill what is required of it in serving the community. That is the Book of Zakah, or the Book of Wealth, in which some of the righteous predecessors wrote books. Introducing laws while neglecting the application of these Islamic rulings falls under the innovation of misguidance, not an unlegislated public interest. When is it an unlegislated public interest? This is also something—may Allah have mercy on you—that Imam Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi dwelt upon in his great book, *Al-I’tisam*. He said: "If the Muslim state is confronted with an invasion by some disbelievers, and the funds collected in the state treasury are not sufficient to repel this attack, then there is absolutely no objection—indeed, it is obligatory—for the state to impose taxes on the rich, not the poor. And these taxes should be temporary, so that when the cause necessitating these taxes is removed, the taxes are lifted from the community and the people." This is how the issue of unlegislated public interest is applied.