As for Allah, this is a reality, yes. But as for the human being, you test the person and you know his outcome; this is looked at in terms of the public benefit.
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The student: ....
The Shaykh : As for Allah, this is a reality, yes. But as for the human being, you test the person and you know his outcome; this is looked at in terms of the public benefit. It may be forbidden, as if you wanted to expose his weakness before people and humiliate him. It may be obligatory, as if a person were a caller to misguidance and you wanted to test him so that his matter becomes clear to people, and you know that he has no answer to what you test him with, but you want to show people his matter. So, as for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), all of it is praiseworthy, because Allah knows the outcome. But as for the human being, testing him regarding what he knows the outcome of is according to the public benefit and the benefit. There is a problem here, in that it may be said: Does not Allah the Exalted know what the matter will end up as? The answer?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. So: what is the benefit of the test when He knows?
The student: It is a trial of His creation for differentiation, so that it is known... just as He did with Ibrahim, commanding him to slaughter his son, and He knew that this thing would not happen and that... but He commanded him to trial him.
The Shaykh : Yes. So that the reward is based on the apparent state, because if Allah rewarded the person based on what He knows of his state before He trials him, that would be injustice in the apparent state. So when He trials him and he obeys or disobeys, the matter becomes clear, and the benefit here is great: it is the manifestation of the effect of this thing for people, and that it is not injustice from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to the servants... and also the manifestation of Allah’s grace upon the servant who works when he obeys, where Allah thanks his effort.
So the result: we say that the benefit of the trial in such matters is that the reward is carried out based on the apparent state, not based on Allah’s knowledge. Yes. And can it be taken from this that it is not permissible for the judge to rule based on his knowledge, because if Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), who is the most just of judges, does not rule based on knowledge alone until the effects appear, then the judge is even more so? For this reason, the scholars mentioned that it is not permissible for the judge to rule based on his knowledge, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Yes. It may be said that this is taken from it, and it may be said that this is an expansion in the evidence, and that it is not taken from this verse. Yes.
The Shaykh : As for Allah, this is a reality, yes. But as for the human being, you test the person and you know his outcome; this is looked at in terms of the public benefit. It may be forbidden, as if you wanted to expose his weakness before people and humiliate him. It may be obligatory, as if a person were a caller to misguidance and you wanted to test him so that his matter becomes clear to people, and you know that he has no answer to what you test him with, but you want to show people his matter. So, as for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), all of it is praiseworthy, because Allah knows the outcome. But as for the human being, testing him regarding what he knows the outcome of is according to the public benefit and the benefit. There is a problem here, in that it may be said: Does not Allah the Exalted know what the matter will end up as? The answer?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. So: what is the benefit of the test when He knows?
The student: It is a trial of His creation for differentiation, so that it is known... just as He did with Ibrahim, commanding him to slaughter his son, and He knew that this thing would not happen and that... but He commanded him to trial him.
The Shaykh : Yes. So that the reward is based on the apparent state, because if Allah rewarded the person based on what He knows of his state before He trials him, that would be injustice in the apparent state. So when He trials him and he obeys or disobeys, the matter becomes clear, and the benefit here is great: it is the manifestation of the effect of this thing for people, and that it is not injustice from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) to the servants... and also the manifestation of Allah’s grace upon the servant who works when he obeys, where Allah thanks his effort.
So the result: we say that the benefit of the trial in such matters is that the reward is carried out based on the apparent state, not based on Allah’s knowledge. Yes. And can it be taken from this that it is not permissible for the judge to rule based on his knowledge, because if Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), who is the most just of judges, does not rule based on knowledge alone until the effects appear, then the judge is even more so? For this reason, the scholars mentioned that it is not permissible for the judge to rule based on his knowledge, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):