Majmu' al-Fatawa - Ibn Taimiya - (27/311)

Majmu' al-FatawaIbn Taimiya

The thirty-ninth point:

Even supposing that a scholar who issues many fatwas gave rulings on several matters contrary to the established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and to the practice of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, it would not be permissible to prohibit him altogether from issuing fatwas. Rather, his errors in those matters should be explained to him. In every generation of the Companions, the Successors, and the Muslim scholars after them, there have always been scholars in this position.

Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, held views on “temporary marriage and currency exchange” that contradicted the authentic Sunnah. The Companions objected to those views, but they did not prohibit him altogether from issuing fatwas. Rather, they explained to him the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which contradicted his position. Thus, ‘Alī, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated to him that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had forbidden temporary marriage. Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, and others narrated to him the Prophet’s prohibition of usury through unequal exchange. They did not reject his fatwas merely on the strength of their own statements and judgments, nor prohibit him altogether from issuing fatwas. There are many such examples.

A blanket prohibition is therefore a judgment contrary to what Allah has revealed, and it is invalid by the agreement of the Muslims—even if his position on the matters they disputed with him had contradicted the Sunnah. How much more so when the Sunnah is on his side—indeed, when the consensus of the Muslim scholars also supports him on the questions of visitation to which they objected! This shows that this judgment is among the most utterly invalid judgments in Islam and among the gravest alterations of the religion of Islam, by the consensus of the Muslims.

The fortieth point:

The Muslim scholars have known these matters from the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, until the present, for all Muslims

الْوَجْهُ التَّاسِعُ وَالثَّلَاثُونَ: أَنَّهُ لَوْ قُدِّرَ أَنَّ الْعَالِمَ الْكَثِيرَ الْفَتَاوَى أَفْتَى فِي عِدَّةِ مَسَائِلَ بِخِلَافِ سُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الثَّابِتَةِ عَنْهُ. وَخِلَافِ مَا عَلَيْهِ الْخُلَفَاءُ الرَّاشِدُونَ: لَمْ يَجُزْ مَنْعُهُ مِنْ الْفُتْيَا مُطْلَقًا؛ بَلْ يُبَيَّنُ لَهُ خَطَؤُهُ فِيمَا خَالَفَ فِيهِ. فَمَا زَالَ فِي كُلِّ عَصْرٍ مِنْ أَعْصَارِ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ بَعْدَهُمْ مِنْ عُلَمَاءِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مَنْ هُوَ كَذَلِكَ. فَابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا كَانَ يَقُولُ فِي " الْمُتْعَةِ وَالصَّرْفِ " بِخِلَافِ السُّنَّةِ الصَّحِيحَةِ وَقَدْ أَنْكَرَ عَلَيْهِ الصَّحَابَةُ ذَلِكَ وَلَمْ يَمْنَعُوهُ مِنْ الْفُتْيَا مُطْلَقًا بَلْ بَيَّنُوا لَهُ سُنَّةَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْمُخَالِفَةَ لِقَوْلِهِ فَعَلِيٌّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ رَوَى لَهُ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ حَرَّمَ الْمُتْعَةَ وَأَبُو سَعِيدٍ الخدري رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَغَيْرُهُ رَوَوْا لَهُ تَحْرِيمَهُ لِرِبَا الْفَضْلِ وَلَمْ يَرُدُّوا فُتْيَاهُ لِمُجَرَّدِ قَوْلِهِمْ وَحُكْمِهِمْ وَيَمْنَعُوهُ مِنْ الْفُتْيَا مُطْلَقًا وَمِثْلُ هَذَا كَثِيرٌ. فَالْمَنْعُ الْعَامُّ حُكْمٌ بِغَيْرِ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَهُوَ بَاطِلٌ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ. لَوْ كَانَ مَا نَازَعُوهُ فِيهِ مُخَالِفًا لِلسُّنَّةِ فَكَيْفَ إذَا كَانَتْ مَعَهُ؛ بَلْ وَمَعَهُ إجْمَاعُ عُلَمَاءِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فِيمَا أَنْكَرُوهُ مِنْ مَسَائِلِ الزِّيَارَةِ وَهَذَا مِمَّا يُبَيِّنُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْحُكْمَ مَنْ أَبْطَلْ حُكْمٍ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ وَمِنْ أَعْظَمِ التَّغْيِيرِ لِدِينِ الْإِسْلَامِ بِإِجْمَاعِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ. الْوَجْهُ الْمُوفِي أَرْبَعِينَ: أَنَّ هَذِهِ الْمَسَائِلَ يَعْرِفُهَا عُلَمَاءُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ زَمَنِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِلَى هَذَا الْوَقْتِ؛ فَإِنَّ جَمِيعَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ