Does the Shari'ah have specific rulings for specific individuals?

The Shaykh : This is the view held by many scholars, who stated that the Shari'ah has specific rulings for specific individuals. They cited examples such as the hadith of Khuzaymah ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted his testimony as equivalent to that of two men. They also cited the evidence of the special characteristics of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which are specific to his person. These are three proofs for them that the rulings of Allah may be specific to a person, for Allah grants His favor to whom He wills. However, the stronger view is that Shari'ah rulings are not specific to a particular individual; rather, there must be a description that necessitates the ruling being specific to him. If this description is found in another person, that ruling applies to him as well. Why? Because the rulings of Allah the Exalted are based on rational connections, not personal connections. These rational connections may have a locus that is unique and not shared by anyone else, as Allah the Exalted said: Now, let us begin first with the characteristics of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). If someone were to say that these are personal characteristics, we would say: No, they are based on a meaning, but there is nothing in anyone other than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that corresponds to it. What is it? The message and the sealing of prophethood with him. These do not exist in anyone else. Therefore, Allah granted him characteristics that He did not grant to other prophets, even though they shared in the message, because being the Seal of the Prophets is specific to him, and the fact that his Ummah is the greatest of nations is specific to him, and the fact that his religion will remain until the Day of Resurrection is specific to him. Therefore, he was given characteristics that the prophets before him did not have. Now, Abu Burdah ibn Niyar: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: How is this? This is clearly a personal specification. Shaykh al-Islam said: "The word 'after' (ba'd) can be temporal or situational. If someone harasses you and you are hurt, and you strike and say, 'By Allah, there is nothing after this humiliation,' is this temporal or situational? It is situational. So the meaning of 'after you' is 'after your situation'; it is a situational 'after.' Accordingly, if someone happens to be like Abu Burdah, yes, the ruling is established for him. If someone came to us who had prepared a sacrificial animal but wanted to hasten and slaughter it before the prayer so that he and his family could eat, and then he came and we said, 'This does not suffice; this is meat,' and he said, 'By Allah, I have a young goat, a one-year-old, that has not reached maturity. Can I sacrifice it?' What do we say? He has no other animal. Does he sacrifice it? Yes, we say he sacrifices it, because the description that was in Abu Burdah is present in this man. And Allah the Exalted does not distinguish between Abu Burdah and others in rulings. Therefore, the correct view is what Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) held. What is the third example? Khuzaymah ibn Thabit. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made his testimony equivalent to that of two men. The story is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) bought a horse from a Bedouin and asked him to follow him to pay him the price. The people spoke to him about this horse, and the Bedouin was a Bedouin who perhaps did not know that this was the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). When he wanted to pay him the price, he said, 'Increase the people; they have increased your price.' So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He said, 'I did not sell it to you.' Yes, who will testify for you? So Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said, 'I testify that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) bought it from you for such and such, and his testimony is true, and he is truthful and sincere in it.' And it is obligatory for us here in Unayzah—we are not in Madinah, and between us and the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) are hundreds of years—it is obligatory for us to testify that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) bought it from him for the price the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) stated. He said, 'How can you testify when you did not see it?' He said, 'We believe you in the news from the sky, but we do not believe you in the news from the earth.' Glory be to Allah! His insight! He made his testimony equivalent to that of two men. At that time, the people asked, 'Why did he make it equivalent to the testimony of two men?' He said, 'This is specific to him; the testimony of others is not sufficient.' And others said, 'No, he made his testimony equivalent to that of two men only in this story, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not swear an oath, and he was the claimant, and he did not bring another witness. So the meaning is that he made it equivalent to the testimony of two men only in this story, in this case only.' And others said, 'No, every person known for justice and truthfulness, his testimony alone is sufficient and a ruling is made based on it.' This is what Ibn al-Qayyim held in *al-Turuq al-Hukmiyyah*, and he said that some of the Salaf, judges and rulers, ruled based on the testimony of one person known for truthfulness and justice. And he said that Khuzaymah was known for truthfulness and justice, so this is not specific to Khuzaymah. Yes, yes... we will answer you. The fan. Now, turn it on... Yes, there is also the story of Salim. Some scholars mentioned Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah... The stronger view is what Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) held. There is the story of Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, where Hudhayfah adopted this man and he became like a son to him, entering his house and being with his family. When Allah abrogated adoption, the wife of Abu Hudhayfah came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained to him that this man enters upon them and they do not feel shy of him. So he said: And he was an adult. The scholars differed in deriving the ruling from this. Some said: The breastfeeding of an adult is forbidden like the breastfeeding of a child. This is the view of the Zahiris. Accordingly, if a woman who is twenty years old breastfeeds an old man who is eighty years old, he becomes her son through breastfeeding. But this view is weak. The second view is that it was abrogated. This also has issues, because abrogation requires evidence and the impossibility of reconciling the texts. Now, the third view is that it is specific to him, and this is the correct one: it is specific to Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah. But is it specific to him because of his person or because of his description? This depends on that. The correct view is that it is because of his description, and if a situation similar to the situation of Salim, the freed slave of Abu Hudhayfah, is found, the ruling is established. But it is not possible for a situation to exist that resembles this situation, because adoption has been abrogated and the matter has become clear. It is not possible for there to be mixing like the mixing of an adopted son in the house. And at that time, this path is clear and has no difficulty. It is clear in terms of its application to the principles of the Shari'ah, and it has no difficulty in terms of contradicting other hadiths indicating that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect. Therefore, when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: They said, 'O Messenger of Allah, what about the in-law?' He said: And if the breastfeeding of an adult were beneficial in all cases, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would have guided to it, because his matter is easy. He would have said, 'The in-law should be breastfed by his brother's wife, and the difficulty would be resolved.' And since he did not say that, despite the need for it, it is known that the breastfeeding of an adult has no effect.