Which is better: taking the more cautious approach or the one with the stronger evidence, and when is the cautious approach taken in rulings?
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The questioner : Which is better: taking the more cautious approach or the one with the stronger evidence?
The Shaykh : Or the one with the stronger evidence?
The questioner : The one with the stronger evidence.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is obligatory. Yes, caution is only appropriate when the evidence is ambiguous to him. But if the correct ruling is clear to him and he is convinced of it, then there is no basis for caution here. However, we say that at times it is impossible for any person, no matter how pious and scrupulous, to be cautious in everything, or else he would be afflicted with hardship. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says:[Al-Baqarah 2:220] Therefore, caution has a very limited place, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan an-Nasa'i 5711Sahih (Darussalam) But when the correct ruling is established for you by a legal proof, then caution falls under the general meaning of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: .
The Shaykh : Or the one with the stronger evidence?
The questioner : The one with the stronger evidence.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is obligatory. Yes, caution is only appropriate when the evidence is ambiguous to him. But if the correct ruling is clear to him and he is convinced of it, then there is no basis for caution here. However, we say that at times it is impossible for any person, no matter how pious and scrupulous, to be cautious in everything, or else he would be afflicted with hardship. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says:
And if Allah had willed, He could have put you in difficulty
ولو شاء الله لأعنتكمLeave that which makes you doubt for that which does not make you doubt.
دع ما يريبك إلى ما لا يريبكThe excessive ones have perished, the excessive ones have perished, the excessive ones have perished.
هلك المتنطعون هلك المتنطعون هلك المتنطعون
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.