Explanation of Ibn Rajab's statement: "Allah refuses to grant infallibility to any book other than His Book, and the fair-minded one is he who forgives a person's few errors in the midst of his much correctness."
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The Shaykh : But we say, as Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy on him) said at the beginning of his book *Al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyyah*: "Allah refuses to grant infallibility to any book other than His Book, and the fair-minded one is he who forgives a person's few errors in the midst of his much correctness". This is a wonderful, measured phrase. "The fair-minded one is he who forgives a person's few errors in the midst of his much correctness". This is fairness. The correct rulings are twenty-one and the errors are nineteen. Which is more?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The correct rulings are twenty-one and the errors are nineteen. Which is more?
The student: The correct ones.
The Shaykh : The correct ones. The fair-minded one weighs them. If we weigh twenty-one against nineteen, which one prevails?
The student: The twenty-one.
The Shaykh : The twenty-one prevail. So, my brother, this man was correct in twenty-one and erred in nineteen. The errors are forgiven because they are submerged in the side of correctness. This is fairness. But if someone is correct in a thousand matters and errs in one, and that one error obscures the entire thousand as if he had not been correct in them, and he is held accountable for that one error, and it is spread about, and things are said about it—this is a mistake. This is not fairness, and it is not the practice of the Muslims. Furthermore, if you see an error in your brother, do not confirm it for him. Contact him and discuss it with him, for perhaps you are the one who is wrong and he is correct. Explain it to him. The true believer is the one who, when the truth becomes clear to him, returns to it and abandons his own opinion. The good outcome of us adopting this method is that when one of us errs, we contact him in private, not publicly, and explain to him where he erred and discuss it with him. The truth may become clear with him, and we follow him, or it may be with us, and he follows us. As for a person rejoicing in his brother's error to the extent that he spreads it left and right, this is not the practice of the Muslims nor their method. Rather, he is among those who harm the Muslims. Every person, and Allah, is hurt by this. One is hurt to find brothers who throw bad labels at each other in matters that are subject to ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and can be rectified.
Then know that the nature of humans, when they are supported, is that they
The student: ...
The Shaykh : become stubborn, increase in their stance, and persist in their opinion. But if wisdom is used, the error is explained to them, and the intention is good, much good will result. The matter is still, praise be to Allah, in our hands and can be rectified. Nothing has happened yet except mere talk. Talk can be rectified by returning to the truth, so that the harm to people is removed.
So, is harming the believers forbidden or permissible?
The student: Forbidden.
The Shaykh : Due to His saying:[Al-Ahzab 33:58], is harming the believers with what they have earned forbidden or permissible?
The student: Permissible.
The Shaykh : Permissible, mubah (permissible), and indeed one may be commanded to do it because it is with truth.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The correct rulings are twenty-one and the errors are nineteen. Which is more?
The student: The correct ones.
The Shaykh : The correct ones. The fair-minded one weighs them. If we weigh twenty-one against nineteen, which one prevails?
The student: The twenty-one.
The Shaykh : The twenty-one prevail. So, my brother, this man was correct in twenty-one and erred in nineteen. The errors are forgiven because they are submerged in the side of correctness. This is fairness. But if someone is correct in a thousand matters and errs in one, and that one error obscures the entire thousand as if he had not been correct in them, and he is held accountable for that one error, and it is spread about, and things are said about it—this is a mistake. This is not fairness, and it is not the practice of the Muslims. Furthermore, if you see an error in your brother, do not confirm it for him. Contact him and discuss it with him, for perhaps you are the one who is wrong and he is correct. Explain it to him. The true believer is the one who, when the truth becomes clear to him, returns to it and abandons his own opinion. The good outcome of us adopting this method is that when one of us errs, we contact him in private, not publicly, and explain to him where he erred and discuss it with him. The truth may become clear with him, and we follow him, or it may be with us, and he follows us. As for a person rejoicing in his brother's error to the extent that he spreads it left and right, this is not the practice of the Muslims nor their method. Rather, he is among those who harm the Muslims. Every person, and Allah, is hurt by this. One is hurt to find brothers who throw bad labels at each other in matters that are subject to ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) and can be rectified.
Then know that the nature of humans, when they are supported, is that they
The student: ...
The Shaykh : become stubborn, increase in their stance, and persist in their opinion. But if wisdom is used, the error is explained to them, and the intention is good, much good will result. The matter is still, praise be to Allah, in our hands and can be rectified. Nothing has happened yet except mere talk. Talk can be rectified by returning to the truth, so that the harm to people is removed.
So, is harming the believers forbidden or permissible?
The student: Forbidden.
The Shaykh : Due to His saying:
have certainly born upon themselves a slander and manifest sin.
فقد احتملوا بهتاناً وإثماً مبيناًThe student: Permissible.
The Shaykh : Permissible, mubah (permissible), and indeed one may be commanded to do it because it is with truth.