that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—intended only the first meaning: invalidating stipulations that conflict with Allah’s Book. The implied sense is: whoever stipulates something Allah has not permitted, the stipulated matter will be something He has forbidden, for Allah’s Book has granted general permission for everything He has not forbidden; or, stated otherwise, whoever stipulates something contrary to Allah’s Book. This is indicated by his words: “Allah’s Book has the stronger claim, and Allah’s stipulation is more binding.”
Thus, once it is clear that the general non-prohibition and validity of contracts and stipulations rest on [two foundations]—general proofs of the Sacred Law and rational proofs, namely the presumption of continuity and the absence of any prohibiting factor—this rule may not be applied to categories of issues or individual cases until independent legal reasoning has been exercised regarding that particular category or issue to determine whether any proof of the Sacred Law entailing prohibition has been transmitted.
When the basis is the presumption of continuity and the absence of any proof from the Sacred Law, Muslims are unanimously agreed—and it is necessarily known as part of Islam—that no one may adopt a position or issue a fatwa on that basis until he has searched for the specific proofs, provided he is qualified to do so. Every obligation and prohibition established by Allah and His Messenger [alters] this presumption. It therefore cannot be relied upon until the proofs of the Sharia have been examined by one qualified to do so.
When, however, the basis consists of general texts, a general text subject to numerous scattered exceptions likewise cannot be invoked until the particular issue has been investigated to determine whether it belongs among the cases removed from its scope or those retained within it. There is no disagreement about this either. The scholars have differed only regarding a general wording not known to be subject to exception, or one from which certain specific cases are known to have been excluded: may it be applied to all other cases before searching for