106 – So bring forth, if you can, something that will serve as evidence for you; otherwise, any statement you make without proof will be returned against you.
107 – I replied, “Neither I nor any other scholar may pronounce something permissible or forbidden, take anything from anyone or give it, unless we find a clear text in the Book of Allah, a Sunnah, a consensus, or a report whose acceptance is binding.
108 – Whatever does not fall under one of these sources may not be addressed on the basis of our personal approval or whatever springs to our hearts; we may speak about it only by way of analogy (qiyās) reached through ijtihād in pursuit of the requisite proofs.
109 – Were it permissible for us to speak without an exemplar of analogy by which right is distinguished from wrong, it would be permissible for anyone to say whatever comes to mind. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us—and upon the people of our time—not to speak in that manner.
110 – He said, “As far as I know, your range for issuing judgments is narrow unless it is broadened by analogy as you have described, and I have two questions for you:
111 – First: present the evidence that you are entitled to use analogy. Analogy, in its totality, is no more than ijtihād, so how is it too restrictive for you to speak without it? Make your answer on this point as concise as possible.”
112 – I said, “Allah has sent down the Book as a clarification of everything. That clarification takes a variety of forms: some of it is His explicit prescription within the text; some of it He revealed in general terms, commanding that effort be exerted to uncover it, and He indicated how it is to be sought through signs He created in His servants, guiding them thereby to the path of pursuing what He has made obligatory upon them.
113 – When He commanded them to seek what He has prescribed, that—Allah knows best—points to two things: first, that seeking must be purposeful, directed toward a definite object rather than haphazard; and second, that He required them to exert ijtihād in striving to reach what He has commanded them to seek.”