(Clarifying whether the indication of the texts, in their view, yields certainty or conjecture) So the least of it is that they be equal in your estimation, O you who commit transgression, and by Allah, they are not equal in the estimation of your leaders, in knowledge, verification, and recognition.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : He said:
"So the least of it"
The least of it means what we are asking of you.
"That they be equal in your estimation, O you who commit transgression"
And what is the greatest thing? Say, O brothers, giving precedence to the Book and the Sunnah is the greatest thing. The least of it is that the Book and the Sunnah be equal in your estimation to the words of your scholars.
"And by Allah, they are not equal in the estimation of your leaders, in knowledge, verification, and recognition"
"They are not equal" means the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and the words of the scholars are not equal in the estimation of your leaders in knowledge, verification, and recognition, because the texts of the Book and the Sunnah, in their view, do not yield knowledge, recognition, or verification, because they say: if the text is from the Book of Allah, the indication is verbal, and the indication of the verbal is conjectural, not definitive; and if it is from the Sunnah, if it is reports of individuals, then reports of individuals do not yield certainty and definitiveness, but rather yield conjecture; and if it is mass-transmitted, it is verbal, and verbal indication does not yield certainty. So, what yields certainty? The words of their scholars are what yield certainty. For this reason, he said:
"They removed them, and indeed they explicitly declared their removal from attaining certainty and the rank of proof"
"They removed them"—the pronoun refers to the Book and the Sunnah.
"They said, and those are verbal proofs, and we do not judge them as yielding certainty"
"Those" refers to the texts of the Book and the Sunnah. Verbal proofs do not yield certainty, and judgment by them does not reach certainty.
"So the least of it"
The least of it means what we are asking of you.
"That they be equal in your estimation, O you who commit transgression"
And what is the greatest thing? Say, O brothers, giving precedence to the Book and the Sunnah is the greatest thing. The least of it is that the Book and the Sunnah be equal in your estimation to the words of your scholars.
"And by Allah, they are not equal in the estimation of your leaders, in knowledge, verification, and recognition"
"They are not equal" means the texts of the Book and the Sunnah and the words of the scholars are not equal in the estimation of your leaders in knowledge, verification, and recognition, because the texts of the Book and the Sunnah, in their view, do not yield knowledge, recognition, or verification, because they say: if the text is from the Book of Allah, the indication is verbal, and the indication of the verbal is conjectural, not definitive; and if it is from the Sunnah, if it is reports of individuals, then reports of individuals do not yield certainty and definitiveness, but rather yield conjecture; and if it is mass-transmitted, it is verbal, and verbal indication does not yield certainty. So, what yields certainty? The words of their scholars are what yield certainty. For this reason, he said:
"They removed them, and indeed they explicitly declared their removal from attaining certainty and the rank of proof"
"They removed them"—the pronoun refers to the Book and the Sunnah.
"They said, and those are verbal proofs, and we do not judge them as yielding certainty"
"Those" refers to the texts of the Book and the Sunnah. Verbal proofs do not yield certainty, and judgment by them does not reach certainty.