has acted on knowledge, not on conjecture or doubt, even if he is not certain that there is no evidence stronger than that on which he has acted. The independent reasoning of scholars falls into this category. When a judge rules on the testimony of two upright witnesses, he rules on knowledge, not conjecture and ignorance. The same applies when he rules on a person’s admission, which is that person’s testimony against himself. Nevertheless, the underlying reality may differ from what appears outwardly, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said in an authentic hadith:

“You bring your disputes before me, and some of you may be more eloquent in presenting their case than others. I judge only according to what I hear. If I award anyone something that rightfully belongs to his brother, he must not take it, for I am only assigning him a portion of the Fire.”

Now, you know that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did not mean this kind of doubt when he said:

“If any of you is in doubt.”

Indeed, most people do not have absolute certainty, admitting no possibility of doubt, about the number of units in every prayer they have offered. Rather, they hold a belief about the number of units that they consider most likely to be correct. This is not doubt. The statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,

“If any of you is in doubt,”

applies only to someone who has neither a belief he considers more likely to be correct nor a predominant conviction. If such a person exercises his judgment, considers the matter and reflects, it may become clear to him that one of the two possibilities is more likely, so that he is no longer in doubt. This is the person described in the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ūd: he was in doubt before exercising his judgment, but afterward he was no longer in doubt.

The same applies in other situations requiring the exercise of judgment. For example, someone may be unsure of the direction of prayer, then exercise his judgment until he considers one direction more likely to be correct; he is then no longer in doubt. The same applies to a scholar exercising independent judgment, someone who remembers what he had forgotten, and other such cases.