The Shaykh mentions his discussion with members of the Tahrir Party regarding the issue of accepting ahad reports in matters of creed

The Shaykh : I am holding this book, which has been printed in a new edition, and they have altered the previous text, which was "It is not permissible to derive creed from ahad hadiths." And they now say, "It is not obligatory." It is not obligatory, so "not permissible" became "permissible." This is a statement that was "not permissible" and the phrase became "not obligatory," which gives the opposite meaning of the previous one, meaning it is permissible. It is not obligatory for you to eat meat, but it is permissible. We entered the prison in Hasakah, and as part of Allah's (Mighty and Majestic) decree, the group were disbelievers who did not know that this one was a Salafi and this one was a Tahrir Party member; all of these were Muslims, and they put me with them, seventeen men. And you would see these discussions day and night in many areas of what they call for. Among these matters was this issue. And some of them were not aware of this amendment; this one was still living by the old school: it is not permissible. I surprised one of them with this, and he said, "No, we did not see it, we did not see it, it is not like that." Their leader's name is Mustafa Bakri from Aleppo, so he knows me; I am from Aleppo. I said to him, "Ask them." He said, "No, it is true, just as the Shaykh is saying. It was 'not permissible' and it became 'not obligatory.' So their opinion regarding this amendment is that you have the choice, and this is a policy of the Shari'ah. If you take ahad hadiths, you are not criticized, and if you do not take them, you are not criticized either. It is the same; this is permissible and this is permissible."
The student : They say, "We believe in it, but we do not hold it as a belief."

The Shaykh: Yes.
The student : We believe in it, but we do not hold it as a belief.

The Shaykh : Are you in a hurry? Did you hear the three stages?
The student : ... They are finished.

The Shaykh : No, they are not finished; we are at the second stage now, and then, my lord, and they... I was not aware of the ratio. They say there is an obligation to believe in ahad hadiths. We asked them what they meant? They said that in some of their texts, they explicitly stated that it is forbidden to hold as a belief a hadith of belief. They said, "Belief (tasdiq) is not the same as conviction (i'tiqad)." This is a fatwa. I said to them, "Do you mean that the word of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): 'And a confirmer' is not a believer? Is it only by way of the predominance of probability? That is how they interpreted belief (tasdiq). So they established the term: it is obligatory to believe in ahad hadiths, meaning it is obligatory to hold it as a belief, but not a firm, solid belief; it is a bit weakened. But if you take it as a firm creed, then it is forbidden. This is the final stage they reached. Do we know if there is a fourth stage after this or not? So I used to say to them, "O people, your saying 'it is not permissible' or 'it is not obligatory' or 'it is obligatory to believe'—this is a creed. What kind of creed is it that you have passed through three stages in?!" You say, "It is not permissible to take ahad hadiths in creed, because creed must be built on certainty." So you did not build anything on certainty. You said this, then you amended it to the second, then you amended it to the third. So you are not settled in your creeds. What about your secondary rulings? So, the group, from the scientific aspect, from the remaining aspect.

The questioner : ... in "The System of Islam."

The Shaykh : These details?

The questioner : It is not permissible.

The Shaykh : It is not permissible in the first edition of *The System of Islam*; in the second edition, it is not obligatory.

The questioner : Approximately on which page or which chapter?

The Shaykh : At the beginning of the book, under the title "Faith." The title is exactly "The Path of Faith."

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed. But from the remaining educational aspect, they are completely free.