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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Is it permissible for us to alter the limits of Allah such that if we see a person who does not care about the details of expiation, we shift from what Allah has made obligatory to the second level, for example?

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The Shaykh : Is it permissible for us to alter the limits of Allah such that if we see a person who does not care about the details of expiation, we shift from what Allah has made obligatory to the second level, for example? For instance, it is mentioned that a king asked a scholar for a ruling on the expiation for zihar or something other than zihar; the point is that the expiation requires freeing a slave first, then fasting for two consecutive months, then feeding sixty poor people. The scholar said with his opinion, "If I told the king to free a slave, freeing one hundred slaves would be easier for him than fasting for one day, is that not correct? Because the king has slaves, and fasting is difficult for him." So he issued a ruling that he should fast for two consecutive months and left the first level. Do we say that this independent legal reasoning is correct? No, O guide of Allah, we do not say that. We say this independent legal reasoning is invalid. Do you understand the issue well? The point is, we say this independent legal reasoning is in opposition to the explicit text, so it is not accepted; rather, it is rejected. Because it is said to him, "Are you more knowledgeable than Allah? What does he say? Are you more wise than Allah? Are you more merciful than Allah? So, it is erroneous independent legal reasoning. The conclusion is that discretionary punishment is not restricted to a specific thing; its purpose is reform, disciplining the perpetrator, and deterring others. So by whatever means this is achieved, it is permissible, except for what is forbidden. The forbidden is not permissible to be used for discretionary punishment. For example, it is mentioned about some tyrants that they punish people by committing an immoral act with them. I seek refuge in Allah. This is forbidden and not permissible under any circumstances. Rather, whatever is permissible, any type of discretionary punishment, do it and there is no blame. Now, if someone asks, "How did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) discipline them for something he forbade them from? What is the answer?" ... He disciplined them for the sake of benefit, because this is what compels them to stop. Because souls may interpret the matter and say, "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade us from continuous fasting out of mercy and compassion for us, not because it is not prescribed." So he disciplined them. We say here that he continued to discipline them regarding what he forbade in order to achieve the benefit resulting from it. Yes.
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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