Chapter: Reporting the opinion of those who reject the solitary report

Al-Rabiʿ narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafiʿi said:

166 – A faction agreed with us that affirming the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is obligatory for the community. They accepted as conclusive proof the evidence I had cited against the one who repudiated the report, and they sought to prevent anyone from contradicting it.

167 – Later, a number of them spoke with me, both collectively and individually, in exchanges too numerous for me to recount exactly—the words of each speaker, the statements of the group, all my replies, and all that was said to me. Nevertheless, I have exerted myself to set out everything they argued; I shall therefore record some of the things I said—here they are—and to whom among them I said them, together with certain points that, in my view, necessarily follow from their position. I ask Allah the Exalted for protection from error and for success.

168 – The substance of their statement was this: It is not permissible for any judge or mufti to issue a fatwa or render judgment except on the basis of comprehensive knowledge.

169 – By “comprehensive knowledge” they meant everything known to be true, both outwardly and inwardly, that one attests to before Allah—namely the Qur’an, the Sunnah upon which there is consensus, and every matter on which the people agree without dispute. Since all rulings are one in such cases, we are, they said, obliged to accept from them only what we ourselves hold—such as the noon prayer’s being four cycles—because no Muslim contests or denies this, and no one is permitted to doubt it.

170 – I said to him, “I do not think it is hidden from you, or from anyone present, that the knowledge found among the specialists is not the same as that possessed by the general public.”

171 – He asked, “How so?”