The Shaykh’s statement that conjecture is not permissible in any way, neither in rulings nor in matters of belief.
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The Shaykh : Even if the conjecture rebuked of the polytheists in these verses were the predominant conjecture, as those who cite them as evidence claim, it would still not be permissible to act upon it in rulings. This is for two reasons.
The first is that Allah rebuked them for it with an absolute rebuke, without limiting it to matters of belief to the exclusion of rulings. The second is that the Exalted explicitly stated in some verses that the conjecture He rebuked the polytheists for includes acting upon it in rulings as well, in which they used to conjecture. So listen to His explicit statement, the Exalted:[Al-An'am 6:148] This is a matter of belief. [Al-An'am 6:148] This is a ruling. [Al-An'am 6:148] And His statement, Blessed and Exalted is He, explains it: [Al-A'raf 7:33] Thus, it is established from what has preceded that the conjecture which is not permissible to act upon is the linguistic conjecture synonymous with guessing, estimating, and speaking without knowledge, and that it is forbidden to rule by it in rulings just as in matters of belief. And ... If this is the case, then our previous statement is safe: that all the aforementioned verses and hadiths indicating the obligation to act upon ahad reports in rulings also indicate, by their generality and comprehensiveness, the obligation to act upon them in matters of belief as well. ...
The truth is that distinguishing between matters of belief and rulings regarding the obligation to act upon ahad reports in them is a foreign philosophy in Islam, unknown to the righteous Salaf and to the four Imams whom the majority of Muslims today in the present age hold in high regard.
And among the most astonishing things a rational Muslim hears today is this phrase ... The weaker their faith becomes in applying a hadith, even if it is mutawatir according to the scholars of hadith, such as the hadith of the descent of Isa (peace be upon him) in the end times, the more they hide behind saying, "Ahad reports do not establish a matter of belief." And ... The wonder is that their saying is itself a matter of belief, as I said once to some of those I debated on this issue. Based on this, they must bring definitive proof for the correctness of this saying, otherwise they are contradictory in it. Far from it, far from it, for they have no proof except mere claim, conjecture, and guessing, and such is rejected in rulings ... and in matters of belief. In other words, they fled from acting upon the stronger conjecture in matters of belief and fell into what is worse than that, which is their acting upon the weaker conjecture in them. And this is only due to being distant from understanding the Book and the Sunnah and following their light directly, and being preoccupied with the opinions of men. For there are other proofs more specific in indication than what has preceded, which you see as necessary.
The first is that Allah rebuked them for it with an absolute rebuke, without limiting it to matters of belief to the exclusion of rulings. The second is that the Exalted explicitly stated in some verses that the conjecture He rebuked the polytheists for includes acting upon it in rulings as well, in which they used to conjecture. So listen to His explicit statement, the Exalted:
Those who associated with Allah will say, "If Allah had willed, we would not have associated [anything] and neither would our fathers
سيقول الذين أشركوا لو شاء الله ما أشركنا ولا آباؤناnor would we have prohibited anything
ولا حرّمنا من شيءLikewise did those before deny until they tasted Our punishment. Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can produce for us? You follow not except assumption, and you are not but falsifying."
كذلك كذّب الذين من قبلهم حتى ذاقوا بأسنا قل هل عندكم من علم فتخرجوه لنا إن تتبعون إلا الظن وإن أنتم إلا تخرصونSay, "My Lord has only forbidden immoralities - what is apparent of them and what is concealed - and sin, and oppression without right, and that you associate with Allah that for which He has not sent down authority, and that you say about Allah that which you do not know."
قل إنما حرّم ربي الفواحش ما ظهر منها وما بطن والإثم والبغي بغير الحق وأن تشركوا بالله ما لم ينزل به سلطانا وأن تقولوا على الله ما لا تعلمونThe truth is that distinguishing between matters of belief and rulings regarding the obligation to act upon ahad reports in them is a foreign philosophy in Islam, unknown to the righteous Salaf and to the four Imams whom the majority of Muslims today in the present age hold in high regard.
And among the most astonishing things a rational Muslim hears today is this phrase ... The weaker their faith becomes in applying a hadith, even if it is mutawatir according to the scholars of hadith, such as the hadith of the descent of Isa (peace be upon him) in the end times, the more they hide behind saying, "Ahad reports do not establish a matter of belief." And ... The wonder is that their saying is itself a matter of belief, as I said once to some of those I debated on this issue. Based on this, they must bring definitive proof for the correctness of this saying, otherwise they are contradictory in it. Far from it, far from it, for they have no proof except mere claim, conjecture, and guessing, and such is rejected in rulings ... and in matters of belief. In other words, they fled from acting upon the stronger conjecture in matters of belief and fell into what is worse than that, which is their acting upon the weaker conjecture in them.