Disagreements of the Jurists. al-Qadi al-Nu'man
judgments, and rulings that are not found in the Book of God or in the Practice of His Messenger on their own, so that lawful matters are what they declare lawful, and unlawful matters are what they declare forbidden, and judgments and rulings are what they rule and judge—is so clear according to the dictates of reason, once properly investigated and subjected to scrutiny, that one scarcely need argue against it or adduce evidence to the contrary. Nevertheless, we are obliged to discuss this and to respond: Their claims—that some of God’s lawful and unlawful matters, the judgments and rulings of His religion, are not to be found in the Book of God or the Practice of His Messenger, and that they can derive these lawful and unlawful matters, and judgments and rulings, that are not found in the Book of God or the Practice of His Messenger—are demonstrated to be false by the Book and the Prophet’s Practice, the following of which God imposed as a religious obligation on His worshipers, and which He forbade them from contradicting.
20 God said: «We have neglected nothing in the Book.»39 He said to His Messenger: «We sent down the Book to you as an explanation of everything, a guidance, mercy, and glad tidings for the Muslims.»40 Thus God announced that He explained everything in His Book and that He did not neglect anything in it at all. This in His word indicates that all the religious obligations that He imposed on His creation, as well as lawful and unlawful matters, and judgments and rulings, are included and explained in His book. For the term “explanation” refers only to that which is plainly visible, clear, and known, and not derived through analogy, personal judgment, legal interpretation, preference, speculation, or inference, as those who adopt this doctrine have claimed. If they inquire about that, asking us how it could be and where its exposition appears in the Qurʾan, we answer with the word of God to His Prophet Muḥammad: «We have sent down to you the Message that you might clarify to the people what was sent down to them»;41 and with God’s word: «Whatever the Messenger brings you, take, and what he forbids you, avoid»;42 «Had they referred it to the Messenger and to the Ones in Authority among them, then those who derived it from them would have known it»;43 «Obey God and obey the Messenger and the Ones in Authority among you»;44 and «Today I have perfected for you your religion, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as a faith for you.»45 That which God set forth in the explicit text of His book and explained to His worshipers allows them to dispense with explanations by anyone else. That regarding which God made them need the explanation of the Messenger they must refer to him, as God commanded those who lived during the Messenger’s lifetime to do. Those who lived after the Messenger were obliged to refer what was difficult for them to the Ones in Authority, as God commanded them.46 As I have stipulated at the beginning of the book, we will explain who «the Ones in Authority among them» are in the chapter which follows this one.
21 Explanation by the Messenger and by the Ones in Authority is included in the purport of the Qurʾan, since the Book requires, announces, and indicates it. Therefore, all permissible and forbidden things, judgments, rulings, and obligations—all duties that God imposed on the worshipers as their religion—are, according to this view, established in the Book in this sense, clear and plain, and neither ambiguous nor impenetrable. There is no need to draw an analogy from the text, or to infer something from it, nor is there need of personal judgment, legal interpretation, preference, or speculative reasoning, as those who are in disagreement have claimed.
22 The right they arrogated to themselves to determine the judgments and rulings of God’s religion, and God’s lawful and unlawful things, through their so-called analogy, personal judgment, legal interpretation, preference, speculative reasoning, and inference countermands the word of God, because He stated to His Prophet Muḥammad: «We have revealed to you the Scripture with the truth in order that you judge between mankind according to what God has shown you.»47 God did not say, “by what you consider appropriate,” “by what you prefer,” “by what you arrive at by analogy based on the Scripture,” “by speculating about it,” “by what you infer from it,” or “by what you arrive at through legal interpretation regarding it.” These jurists arrogated to themselves what God did not grant to His Messenger. God said to the Messenger, «Say: … I follow only that which has been revealed to me»;48 «By the star when it sets, your comrade errs not, nor is he mad, nor does he speak out of whim. It is only an inspiration inspired, taught him by one strong of powers»;49 and «Say: If I have gone astray, then I stray only at my own expense, and if I am guided aright, then it is by what my Lord inspires in me.»50 He did not say, “by what I have thought up and deduced for myself.” God said: «Follow what has been sent down to you from your Lord»;51 «This is a Book that We have sent down, blessed. So follow it, and fear God. Perhaps you will be shown mercy»;52 «Judge among them by what God has sent down»;53 «Whoever judges not by what God has sent down, they are the unbelievers»;54 «Whoever judges not by what God has sent down, they are the unjust»;55 «Whoever judges not by what God has sent down, they are the sinners»;56 «O David, We have made you a representative in the Earth, so judge among the people by the truth, and do not follow your whim, lest it lead you astray from the path of God»;57 «They follow nothing but a guess, and a guess can never take the place of the truth»;58 and «They follow only surmise and that which their minds desire, but guidance has come to them from their Lord.»59
23 The Messenger of God was asked about many things concerning which God had not revealed anything, but he refrained from answering and did not say about them anything based merely on his opinion, analogy, or any of the other methods which those jurists have adopted, until God revealed to him the answer to what he had been asked. If it were permissible for anyone to give an answer using something that is not in the Book, then it would have been permissible for him, because he was the most discriminating and perceptive of people, endowed with the most excellent faculties of judgment, analogy, discernment, and inference. God said: «They ask you about menstruation. Answer: “It is harmful, so stay away from women during menstruation”»;60 «They ask you about the Spirit. Answer: “The Spirit is from the command of my Lord”»;61 «They ask you what they should spend. Answer: “Forgiveness”»;62 «They ask you about orphans. Answer: “Anything done to remedy their situation is a part of goodness”»;63 and «They ask you, concerning the forbidden month, about fighting therein. Answer: “Fighting therein is a grave sin, a blocking of the path of God, and disbelief in him.”»64 In these and in many additional examples, God reported that they posed questions to the Messenger of God but that he did not answer until God revealed the answer to their questions.
24 God reported that He perfected His religion, so how could those people claim that He did not perfect it, such that they had to perfect it themselves? How could they claim that God did not send His Prophet to the people with everything that they needed, and that He rendered His Book deficient so that they had to complete and perfect it and provide the people with what they needed? The Messenger of God said: “Follow, and do not innovate, for every innovation is an error, and every error leads into the Fire.”65
25 This is corroborated by the famous report that ʿAlī, God’s blessings upon him, related from the Messenger an account that supports what we have stated: that the Book of God contains all that people need. Al-Ḥārith al-Aʿwar related this from him: “I entered the mosque, and there, before me, the people had taken to attacking Prophetic reports. So I came to ʿAlī, God’s blessings upon him and his descendants, and said, ‘O Commander of the Faithful! The people have attacked Prophetic reports.’ He asked, ‘Have they also fabricated Prophetic reports?’ I answered, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Hear ye! I heard the Messenger of God say, “A time of discord will certainly occur.” I asked, “What will be the way out of it, O Messenger of God?” He answered, “The Book of God. In it is an account of those who came before you, a report of those who will come after you, and judgment between your disputing parties. It is decisive speech, and not frivolity. Whatever tyrant forsakes it, God will batter down. Whoever seeks guidance in any other source, God will lead astray. It is God’s sturdy cable, the wise message, and the straight path. People do not tire of hearing it and so turn their attention elsewhere,