The Shaykh’s remarks on the creed of the Tahrir Party regarding ahad hadith and divine decree in the book *The Islamic System*

The Shaykh : ... regarding the book, and they have published a new edition. And lo, they amended the previous text, which was "It is not permissible to derive creed from ahad hadith," and lo, they say "It is not permissible, it is not permissible," so it became "permissible." This is tampering. It was "not permissible," so it became "it is not obligatory." This gives the opposite meaning of the previous one, meaning it is permissible. "It is not obligatory for you to eat meat, but it is permissible." We entered prison, the prison of al-Hasakah. And it was part of the divine decree of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that they gathered disbelievers who did not know that this one is a Salafi and this one is a Tahrir Party member; they were all Muslims. They imprisoned me with them, seventeen of them. I said, "Look at these discussions, day and night, in many areas of what they adhere to." Among the matters was this issue. And lo, some of them were not aware of the amendment. What is this one still living on? The old school: "It is not permissible, it is not permissible." I surprised one of them with this. He said, "No, we did not see it, we did not see it, it is not so." Their leader’s name is Mustafa Bakri from Aleppo, and they know I am from Aleppo. I said to him, "Ask him." He said, "No, it is true, just as the Shaykh says. It was 'not permissible,' it became 'not obligatory,' so the opinion remained with them regarding the expression that it is your choice. It is a terrible policy that they took ahad hadith. It is not up to you to criticize if you did not take it, and it is not up to you to criticize if you did take it. It is the same: this is permissible and this is permissible."

The questioner : We believe, we do not hold as a creed.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : We believe in it, but we do not hold it as a belief.

The Shaykh : You are rushing. You heard the three stages.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : ... on the other hand, later, my lord, and lo, they put out a copy I had not seen. It says, "It is obligatory to believe in ahad hadith." We asked them, "What is this?" He said, "In some texts, they used to explicitly state that it is forbidden to hold as a creed ahad hadith." I said to them, "What is it?" He said, "Belief is different from holding as a creed. This is philosophy now." I said to them, "Do you mean the word of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): meaning not a believer, meaning only from the standpoint of the predominance of probability, because they interpreted belief that way? So they said and established the term: 'It is obligatory to believe in ahad hadith,' meaning it is obligatory to hold it as a creed, but not a firm belief, a bit weakened. But if you take it as a firm creed, this is forbidden. This is the last stage they ended up at. We do not know if there is a fourth stage after it or not. So I used to say to them, "O people, your saying 'it is not permissible' or 'it is not obligatory' or 'it is obligatory to believe'—this is a creed. So what is the creed? You passed through three stages. You said, 'It is not permissible to take ahad hadith in creed, because creed must be built on certainty, so you did not build anything on certainty.' You said this, then you amended it to the second, then you amended it to the third. So you are not settled in your creeds. So what about your secondary rulings? The group, this is from the scientific side."

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : These are the details.

The questioner : It is not permissible.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible in *The Islamic System*, first edition.

The questioner : First edition.

The Shaykh : Second edition: it is not obligatory.

The questioner : On which page or which chapter.

The Shaykh : At the beginning of the book, titled "Faith is the Path." Its title is exactly "The Path of Faith," "The Path of Faith."

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed. But as for the educational side, they are completely lacking.

The questioner : Excuse me, the discussion of divine decree and destiny with you.

The Shaykh : The discussion of divine decree and destiny is not dangerous, but it is not clear, meaning it does not convince the Muslim.

The questioner : There is Mu'tazilah in it, meaning.

The Shaykh : It did not occur to me that there was Mu'tazilah in it at that time. Because I was studying the book, and it is it, but it occurred to me that it was not clear. They say there are two circles, a circle within a circle, detailing this detail. Do you remember?

The questioner : By Allah, it is old and stuck in my mind that there is Mu'tazilah in it.

The Shaykh : I do not remember, by Allah, I do not remember. And I do not want to say about people, however far they are from the truth, except what I know completely.