The Ruling on Ijtihad in Contradiction to the Text

Question:
One of the Islamic thinkers appeared on television and said: The phrase "there is no ijtihad in the presence of a text" is arbitrary and restricts people in the present time; because these texts do not always align with the spirit of the age?

Answer:
This is a dangerous opinion and a clear evil. The statement is correct: there is no ijtihad in the presence of a text. The scholars have agreed that the place of ijtihad is when there is no text, when the texts are obscure, and people resort to derivation and analogical reasoning (qiyas). This is the place of ijtihad.
As for when a text is found from the speech of Allah, or the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), there is no place for ijtihad. The Shari'ah came in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the ages after him until the Day of Resurrection. He was sent to all people until the Day of Resurrection. Therefore, it is not permissible for anyone to contradict the authentic, established text from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Nor is it permissible to say that it does not align with the spirit of the age.
The spirit of the age must submit to the speech of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet. As for the speech of Allah and the speech of His Messenger submitting to the age, that is false. This is an evil, and no one who has reason regarding Allah, and believes in Allah and the Last Day, would say it. Would anyone tell us: If the spirit of the age does not submit to the prohibition of the mother, or the prohibition of the daughter, or the prohibition of the sister, and it is not permissible to marry one's mother, or if the spirit of the age is that a man gathers between a woman and her aunt, and between a woman and her maternal aunt, and rejects the text that prohibited that—who says this?
Or the text came with the option for the two parties in a sale, and there is no harm in discarding that; because there is a pressing need for the absence of the option, or something similar. Or he says there is a pressing need to abolish breastfeeding, and breastfeeding is not prescribed, and it has no ruling; because the spirit of the age requires expansion in wives, and expansion in marriage, and that a man marries his foster sister, his foster aunt, and his foster mother—who says this?
The text is the judge over people, and it is not permissible to judge the text by the statement of any person, nor by the statements of the Companions. Even the Companions, who are the best of people, if they contradict the text, it is obligatory to take the text and leave the statement of any Companion who contradicted it. They are the companions of the Messenger, and the best of people after the prophets. If one of them says something, and the text contradicts it, it is obligatory to take the established text from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and not to take the statement of the Companion; because at most, he was ignorant of the text, and it was hidden from him, and he is not infallible. The text is infallible; so it is obligatory to take the text.
The conclusion and summary is: The statement of this speaker that the scholars' saying "there is no ijtihad in the presence of a text" is not absolute, and that there is no barrier to contradicting the text if it does not align with the spirit of the age, this is a false statement. Its owner is in danger of apostasy from Islam. We seek refuge in Allah.