Jimāʿ al-ʿIlm - Al-Shafi'i - (16)

Jimāʿ al-ʿIlmAl-Shafi'i

124 – He said, “Then what, exactly, have you been charged to do?”

125 – I answered, “To face the Sacred Mosque. In doing so I have complied with the injunction. No human being can possess full, comprehensive knowledge of the precise location of the House except by direct sight; whatever lies beyond his sight cannot be encompassed by any human being.”

126 – He asked, “So shall we say that you have struck the mark?”

127 – I replied, “Yes—in the sense I have just explained: I have struck the mark inasmuch as I have done what I was commanded to do.”

128 – He said, “No answer can ever be sound in this matter save the one you have just given.”

129 – Whoever were to claim, “I have been obligated to attain complete, all-embracing certainty that I always hit the exact spot,” would thereby be alleging that he may not pray unless he can attain such certainty at all times. Yet the Quran, as I have shown, indicates only that one must turn toward the Sacred Mosque; turning toward it is a matter of deliberate aiming and ijtihād, not of exhaustive certainty.

130 – He said, “Cite another proof if you have one.”

Al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

131 – I said to him: Allah—exalted is He—declares, “Whoever among you kills game deliberately, the recompense is an equivalent from livestock, as judged by two just men” (Quran 5:95).

132 – The two just men must exercise ijtihād in determining the equivalent, for the qualities differ—some animals are smaller, others larger. They were instructed to judge by equivalence only through ijtihād; the ruling was not assigned to them until they were ordered to apply equivalence.

133 – This verse, then, points to the same principle as the verse discussed earlier: when ijtihād is required to establish the equivalent, it is forbidden to judge except on the basis of that ijtihād concerning equivalence. Likewise, neither in this matter nor in the qiblah—when it is hidden from a person, so that he lacks exhaustive certainty of striking it by turning—may he pray wherever he wishes without first striving to seek out the indicators of its direction, and in

١٢٤ - وقال: فما كلفت؟. ١٢٥ - قلت: التوجه شطر المسجد الحرام فقد جئت بالتكليف وليس يعلم الإحاطة بصواب موضع البيت آدمي إلا بعيان فأما ما غاب عنه من غيره فلا يحيط به آدمي. ١٢٦ - قال: فنقول أصبت؟. ١٢٧ - قلت: نعم على معنى ما قلت: أصبت على ما أمرت به. ١٢٨ - فقال: ما يصح في هذا جواب أبدا غير ما أجبت به. ١٢٩ - وإن من قال: كلفت الإحاطة بأن أصيب لزعم أنه لا يصلي إلا أن يحيط بأن يصيب أبدا وإن القرآن ليدل كما وصفت على أنه إنما أمر بالتوجه إلى المسجد الحرام والتوجه هو التأخي والاجتهاد لا الإحاطة. ١٣٠ - فقال: اذكر غير هذا إن كان عندك؟. قال الشافعي رحمه الله تعالى: ١٣١ - وقلت: له قال الله – Exalté soit-Il –: ﴿وَمَنْ قَتَلَهُ مِنْكُمْ مُتَعَمِّداً فَجَزَاءٌ مِثْلُ مَا قَتَلَ مِنَ النَّعَمِ يَحْكُمُ بِهِ ذَوَا عَدْلٍ﴾ [المائدة: من الآية٩٥] ١٣٢ - على المثل يجتهدان فيه لأن الصفة تختلف فتصغر وتكبر فما أمر العدلين أن يحكما بالمثل إلا على الاجتهاد لم يجعل الحكم عليهما حتى أمرهما بالمثل. ١٣٣ - وهذا يدل على مثل ما دلت عليه الآية قبله من أنه محظور عليه إذا كان في المثل اجتهاد أن يحكم بالاجتهاد إلا على المثل ولم يؤمر فيه ولا في القبلة إذا كانت مغيبة عنه فكان على غير إحاطة من أن يصيبها بالتوجه أن يكون يصلي حيث شاء في غير اجتهاد بطلب الدلائل فيها وفي