analogical reasoning, according to the majority, as we mentioned when presenting the first position. Or it may be said:
They are not permissible or valid unless evidence from revelation establishes their permissibility, even if that evidence is general.
Or it may be said:
They are valid and are not forbidden unless the Lawgiver prohibits them through specific or general evidence.
The first position is invalid, because the Quran and Sunnah establish the validity of contracts concluded and property received while people were unbelievers. Allah commanded that these arrangements be honoured, provided they involve nothing prohibited after embracing Islam. Thus, the Exalted said in the verse concerning interest:
“O you who believe, fear Allah and give up what remains of interest, if you are believers.”
He commanded them to relinquish the interest still owed to them, but did not command them to return what they had already received under interest-bearing contracts. Rather, the implication of the verse—which has been unanimously acted upon—is that retaining it is not forbidden. Likewise, in the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, cancelled outstanding interest debts but did not command people to return what they had already received. He also said:
“Any division made in pre-Islamic times shall stand as made, while any division still pending when Islam comes shall be made according to Islam.”
He also allowed people to retain the marriages they had contracted in pre-Islamic times, without asking anyone whether the marriage had been contracted during a waiting period or outside one, with or without a guardian, or with or without witnesses. He did not command anyone to renew his marriage contract or separate from his wife unless the grounds for prohibition remained present when he embraced Islam, as when he “instructed Ghaylān ibn Salama al-Thaqafī, who embraced Islam while married to ten women, to retain four and part with the rest.” Likewise, he “instructed Fayrūz al-Daylamī