Explanation of the Classification of the Texts of the Shari'ah by the Tahrir Party in Terms of Transmission and Understanding

The Shaykh : The second point, which in my opinion branches off from the first point. They divided the texts of the Book and the Sunnah into two categories in terms of their transmission and in terms of their meaning. As for their transmission, they said: transmission may be definitive in its establishment or it may be probable in its establishment. As for the meaning, likewise, it may be definitive in its meaning or it may be probable in its meaning. We do not discuss this terminology, for the matter is as has been said: every people may adopt whatever terminology they wish. However, we do discuss the case where they derive from this terminology consequences that contradict what the early Muslims were upon. From this, the importance of the path of the believers becomes apparent, for it is a constraint that prevents the Muslim scholar, let alone the Muslim layperson, from escaping from the text of the Book and the Sunnah by resorting to such a terminology that should not have the following result. They derived from that terminology of the definitive and the probable, which encompasses transmission and understanding, the following: They said, if a text comes in the Noble Qur'an, which is undoubtedly definitive in its establishment according to the aforementioned terminology, but it is not definitive in its meaning, then it is not obligatory for the Muslim to take what is in it of meaning, because it is probable in its establishment. Therefore, it is not permissible for him to build his creed upon a text that is definitive in its establishment but probable in its meaning. And the reverse is exactly the same with them: if the evidence is definitive in its meaning but not definitive in its establishment, they also do not take a creed from it. From this, they produced a creed that the righteous Salaf did not know, and they established a terminology for themselves. Their books are well known, and I am referring now to their old books, for they have made modifications in them. I am one of the most knowledgeable people regarding this modification, but in reality, it is a formal modification. And even if it is accepted, it only indicates that these people were, even in their creed, in a state of confusion.