Is it permissible to change the creation of Allah without the permission of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and is deriving the rulings of the Shari'ah from detailed evidence a rational inquiry?

The Shaykh : And thirdly, and perhaps this will be the last, what is your opinion on changing the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) without permission from Allah or His Messenger? Is it permissible?

The questioner : It is not permissible, it is not permissible.

The Shaykh : So this is a change to the creation of Allah!

The questioner : The rational evidence that I was telling you about...

The Shaykh : But your saying "rational evidence"...

The questioner : Well, shaving the hair...

The Shaykh : Here we need to enter into a discussion with you: why did you call it rational evidence?

The questioner : It is purely my ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), I mean.

The Shaykh : Allow me to ask: is deriving the rulings of the Shari'ah from their detailed evidence a rational inquiry?

The questioner : As long as the intellect works on it, it is rational, that is my understanding of it. As long as the intellect is engaged, it is rational.

The Shaykh : You did not answer me. Using the intellect to derive the rulings of the Shari'ah from the detailed evidence of the Book and the Sunnah: is the ruling we reach rational?

The questioner : If my opinion on its indication is rational, and if it is definitive...

The Shaykh : This is a second matter. May Allah reward you, may Allah guide you... will it become rational? Will it become presumptive?

The questioner : If the evidence for deriving the ruling of the Shari'ah from its detailed proof were transmitted (nقلي), the scholars would not have differed on some of the issues.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, I am asking you a question now.

The questioner: Go ahead.

The Shaykh : Are the rulings of the Shari'ah definitive in their establishment?

The questioner : The mutawatir (mass-transmitted) hadith... according to the degree of the hadith's authenticity, the rulings! No, excuse me, I thought about it: the evidence, the ruling, no, it is not definitive!

The Shaykh : What is it, then, if it is not definitive? What will it be?

The questioner : Well, if it is definitive, how...

The Shaykh : You did not answer me. May Allah guide you. If it is not definitive, what will it be?

The questioner : Presumptive, presumptive.

The Shaykh : Well, if we derive rulings from the Book and the Sunnah and you say that this ruling is presumptive, what harm is there for us?

The questioner : There is nothing wrong with it.

The Shaykh : Well, why are you arguing about a matter that is known to the scholars? Most of the rulings of the Shari'ah are presumptive, meaning a predominant presumption, a stronger presumption, not in the sense of a weaker presumption. They are not definitive. What harm is there for us if you call the third argument—that shaving the beard is a change to the creation of Allah without permission from Allah—a rational ruling? How is it a rational ruling? If the intellect does not constrain itself by the Book and the Sunnah, it strays far astray. And if it ties itself and its intellect to the Book and the Sunnah, it is guided to a happy guidance. And so, your saying is something we have not heard before: that merely deriving a ruling from the Book and the Sunnah is called rational evidence!

The questioner : My ijtihad, I mean by intellect, ijtihad.

The Shaykh : In any case, you have a specific terminology. We tell you: at that point, it is easy for the matter, for every people to agree on whatever they wish. There is no dispute in terminology. The problem is resolved.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.