You mentioned, our Shaykh, that the isolated statement or fatwa of a Companion is not a proof.

The questioner: His EminenceThe Shaykh : Muhammad, in your lesson—or rather, in the answers to questions after the 'Isha' prayer—you addressed the issue of a Companion's mawquf report. My understanding is that if the Companions reached consensus and no one is known to have opposed them, provided there is no explicit text from the Book or the Sunnah that contradicts it, then their statement is the ruling. However, if a Companion is isolated, his isolated statement is not a proof. You said that you do not know of any scholar who stated that a Companion's statement or fatwa is a proof. And naturally, it is not hidden from you—may Allah reward you with good—your extensive experience in research and reading what Ibn al-Qayyim said in the fourth volume of *I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in* when he mentioned forty-six aspects regarding the eligibility of a Companion's statement to be a proof, especially when no one is known to have opposed him. I will not prolong this, as you reminded us of the possibilities he mentioned at the end of the research?

The Shaykh : Please, and .

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.

The questioner : After mentioning these forty-six aspects, he said: "The possibilities regarding a Companion's fatwa are:
One: that he heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Two: that he heard it from another Companion who heard it from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Three: that he understood from the Book what was hidden from us. Four: that the majority of them agreed on it, but only the mufti's statement was transmitted to us. Five: that he issued the fatwa based on his complete knowledge of the language, the indication of the wording, and the current circumstances, along with the totality of matters that occurred with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), such as travel, companionship, and association, and so on. The sixth possibility is that he understood something that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not address, and he made a mistake in understanding. He said: 'There is no doubt that the occurrence of one of five possibilities is more likely than the occurrence of a specific possibility.' Then he said: 'This is the view of Malik, Ahmad, and al-Shafi'i in both his old and new views; they say this.'" May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And you, may Allah reward you with good, but I want to say something after this reminder: We often see scholars of knowledge stating a view or establishing a rule, but when it comes to application, they do not adhere to the rule. This indicates that the rule itself is not sound.
The possibilities you quoted from Ibn al-Qayyim are undoubtedly valid, but the research, when it comes to the obligation of adopting the statement of a noble Companion whose follower we do not know, what is the evidence that obligates us to adopt this statement? Otherwise, a Companion's statement is more jurisprudential than that of Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Albani, al-Shirbini, and so on. That is the issue... and there is disagreement, but what is the binding legal evidence for adopting the statement of a Companion for whom we know neither a follower nor an opponent? That is one point.
The other point is: our not knowing of an opponent is not knowledge, and this is something not hidden from you; because "not knowing a thing does not imply knowing its non-existence," and I think this statement is also clear to you.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Good; that is why we see in fiqh books that they say "So-and-so the Companion did this, and we do not know of an opponent," and then the opponents are found to be numerous!
Therefore, the issue is difficult =
-- Please, Abu Malik. If the time has ended.Another questioner: No, it has not ended.The Shaykh: If the time ends, did the congregation leave?Another questioner: They left...The Shaykh: Yes, please, it is easy, this is your place. --
= So these reasons you quoted cannot of course be denied in their value, but the research is not about this; the research is about what obligates us to adopt a Companion's statement as an obligation? Do you know of any evidence for that?

The questioner: He mentioned this in the forty-six aspects.

The Shaykh: No problem; he mentioned this, but is this a legal evidence that obligates us to adopt the statement of a single Companion? I do not find any evidence in this.

The questioner: Even if it is in the hadiths he brought in the forty-six aspects to indicate the Companions' guidance to good and so on.

The Shaykh: How is that? Even if it is attached to what?

The questioner : Yes?

The Shaykh: Attached to what?

The questioner: You are saying now, Your Eminence, that you say: We do not know of a binding legal evidence?

The Shaykh: Yes, binding for the Companion's statement.

The questioner: Yes, I tell you: Even not in the hadiths that Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in supporting his view regarding their right to be followed in matters where there is no Book or Sunnah, and these are hadiths not hidden from you, of course, regarding the virtue of Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and others, that they are guided to good; is the testimony of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding that not sufficient?

The Shaykh: It is not sufficient, but the question remains!

The questioner: The binding evidence?

The Shaykh: The evidence that necessitates taking from the Companion's statement.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: We have conceded beforehand that the Companion's understanding is better, more correct, and closer to the truth than the understanding of Abu Hanifa, and, and, al-Bukhari, and al-Albani, and so on; this is an issue that does not need research or discussion, but we say, while conceding this fact: what is the binding evidence for acting upon the Companion's statement? = -- And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings -- = In any case.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : No.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: May Allah reward you with good, we are organizing our affairs here; if you are bored of us, we will leave.

The questioner: No...

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner: We have a guest...

The Shaykh : Welcome.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh: Please, may Allah bless you, okay; Professor, we are asking permission from the brothers.

The questioner: No, we are not asking permission.

The Shaykh: How much time do you have now? It is twelve o'clock. ... Brother Sa'id, do you have anything to benefit us?

The questioner: I mean, I was just asking you about understanding this from Ibn al-Qayyim and the response to it, and I say: Does it not imply that at the very least, these hadiths indicate that their opinion is better than our opinion?

The Shaykh: Better, but not binding.

The questioner: Yes, if there is no binding evidence; does this not mean that their opinion is preferred over the opinion of others?

The Shaykh: Do you want to say the opinion of one of them individually?

The questioner: Yes, if no one is known to have opposed him, with...

The Shaykh: May Allah bless you, as a rule, it is undoubtedly better, but there is a very big difference between saying as a rule that the opinion of one Companion is better, but is that in every opinion that appears from any of them?

The questioner: We agree that if it does not contradict the Book or the Sunnah...

The Shaykh: We proceed with this condition; without there being a contradiction, is every opinion that appears from them, without any contradiction within the limits I mentioned, completely so?

The questioner: Without any contradiction?

The Shaykh: Without any contradiction to the text, meaning it obligates us to contradict them, we say: Is it conceivable in every opinion that issues from them that the Muslim among us is convinced that opinion number one, two, and three are all equal in...