Explaining the error of those who say in a weak hadith, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said," and also explaining the error of the statement, "Rulings change with the change of time and place"

The Shaykh : It is established in the books of hadith terminology that it is not permissible to narrate a hadith in a form that suggests the hadith is authentic. Therefore, one should not say of a weak hadith, "The Messenger of Allah said," or "It was reported from the Messenger of Allah," or "The Messenger of Allah used to do such and such," and so on. Rather, one should say of a weak hadith, "It is narrated", "It is related", "It is mentioned", and similar forms of weakening based on the passive voice. This is a settled matter in the books of terminology. My personal opinion, which I have not seen anyone precede me in, and I hope it is correct, is this: The scholars say, and this is another benefit I am pointing out to you, that "Rulings change with the change of time and place." This is a very dangerous rule if stated in this absolute manner. The correct understanding of this rule is that the rulings derived through the ijtihad of the imams, and not the rulings that are explicitly stated in the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, are what fall under this rule. These explicit rulings are excluded from the rule that says "Rulings change with the change of time and place." Rather, it is the rulings stated by the imams through derivation and ijtihad that change, because derivation and ijtihad are first subject to error and correctness, unlike what is explicitly stated in the Book and the Sunnah. Second, these rulings stated through ijtihad and derivation took into account the condition of the people at the time, so these rulings were established to be suitable for that time. It may be useful to give an example that is somewhat unusual to explain how rulings change with the change of time and place, with the aforementioned qualification: rulings stated through derivation and ijtihad, not based on explicit text. In the commentary of al-Wajiz by Imam al-Rafi'i, from the accepted Shafi'i books, it is stated: "If a man prays on a swing, note what it says: it is not supported by the ground and not suspended from the ceiling. Have you heard of this swing? It is not supported by the ground and not suspended from the ceiling. If he prays on such a swing, this distinguished imam said his prayer is invalid. Why? Because he is praying in the air. If he prays on a swing that is not supported by the ground and not suspended from the ceiling, his prayer is invalid. Now, Allah created this swing, as He the Exalted said, pointing to . Do you know what this flying swing is, specifically known as the helicopter, which hovers above heads, does not move, does not descend or ascend, does not turn right or left? Do you think that if the one who said that word were in this present age, he would say that prayer in an airplane is invalid? He did not say that. He imagined something, and he imagined it becoming a reality. Therefore, this happened to me in some of my discussions and debates with some of the scholars of taqlid in our country, Syria. I visited a town in northern Syria for the first time on my way from one town to another in the path of the da'wah. As Allah willed, a gathering took place in the place where I stayed, and among them was the mufti of the town. Naturally, the mufti is a follower of a madhhab who issues fatwas based on his Shafi'i madhhab. He began with words of welcome, meaning a polite strategy, and so on, but he was preparing for sarcasm and mockery. Finally, he said, "It has reached us that you do not follow a scholar and that you exercise ijtihad." We got into a discussion, and the details do not concern us. I said to him, "O Shaykh, we are now in an age where new matters and issues have occurred, and a person may not find a clear answer in the books of fiqh for this new issue. What does he do? I mean, I said to him, it is necessary to exercise ijtihad and open the door of ijtihad. This is a mercy from Allah, and closing it is as He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to that Bedouin who urinated in his mosque. Then, part of his error, meaning his misguidance, as it came in the hadith, was that when he was angry at the Companions of the Messenger who were about to beat him when they saw him urinating in the Prophet's Mosque, he said to them (peace and blessings be upon him) . Let him be until he relieves himself in the Prophet's Mosque. Part of his error and his ignorance was that after the prayer, he called upon his Lord, as if to vent the anger in his heart at the Companions of the Messenger who were about to harm him. He said, "O Allah, have mercy on me and Muhammad, and do not share us with anyone". Those with hard hearts who were about to harm him; do not share them in mercy. Rather, have mercy on me and Muhammad, and do not share us with anyone. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him . And these are the ones who restricted the Muslim community and forbade ijtihad, claiming that its door was closed since the fourth century of the Hijrah. I said to this Shaykh, "How do you handle some of the issues that befall Muslims today?" He said to me, for example, and here is the point. I said, "For example, is prayer in an airplane valid or not?" Immediately and obviously, he gave the correct answer: it is valid. I said to him, "What is the evidence?" He said, "By analogy to prayer on a ship." I said, "Now you have fallen into what you blame me for." He said, "How?" I said, "You exercised ijtihad, and the scholars before you determined that prayer in an airplane is permissible. First, then, what is the evidence for the one who analogizes it to prayer on a ship?" The man was speechless. I said, "And it is amazing that you erred where you were correct. Your words are contradictory, naturally, and he was surprised by what I said. I said, 'How?' I said, 'When you exercised ijtihad, you were correct, but if you had followed a scholar, you would have erred.' He said, 'I do not understand.' I said, and I mentioned the previous phrase. I said, 'Imam al-Rafi'i said in his book Sharh al-Wajiz: If a man prays on a swing that is not supported by the ground and not suspended from the ceiling, his prayer is not valid. This is the airplane. So if you followed this imam, you would say that prayer is not valid. Do you see how ijtihad is a mercy and not a curse?' He said, 'I did not find such a phrase.' I said, 'It has been said that one who knows is an argument over one who does not know, and one who memorizes is an argument over one who does not memorize. Here is the book, Sharh al-Wajiz by al-Rafi'i, printed in the marginal notes of al-Majmu' by Imam al-Nawawi. You can refer to it. The point is that issues differ with the difference of time and place. Which issues? Those that came from the door of ijtihad and derivation. As for what is explicitly stated, it is not permissible to change or alter it ever. We return to the fact that they said in terminology that it is not permissible to say of a weak hadith, 'The Messenger of Allah said' or 'It was reported from the Messenger of Allah,' and so on. Rather, it should be said in a form of weakening, as I mentioned earlier. I say now, quoting what we mentioned earlier about the rulings that were established considering the condition of the people at that time, they said, 'This speech, and knowledge is widespread among the people. But knowledge, and especially hadith knowledge in general, and more specifically hadith terminology, has become today foreign.'"