Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah sanctify his soul—said:

Section

On matters in which Allah has authorized a judge to adjudicate, and matters in which He has given no created being authority to judge. In the latter, judgment binding upon all creation belongs to Allah Most High and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. No judge may impose a ruling in such matters upon another person, even an ordinary member of the public.

These include universal matters which Allah has commanded all people to believe in and act upon, and which He has clarified in His Book and the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him—whether the Muslim community has reached consensus on them or differed over them. If a dispute concerning these matters arises between judges and individual Muslims—whether scholars, soldiers, ordinary people, or others—a judge has no authority to rule against someone who disagrees with him, compel him to adopt his position, or prevent him from expressing the other view, let alone harm or punish him.

For example, a judge or someone else may dispute the meaning of His words:

“Or have touched women.”

Does this mean sexual intercourse, as Ibn ‘Abbās and others explained it? They held that touching a woman does not invalidate ablution, whether with desire or without it. Or does it mean contact with the skin, either with desire or without qualification? The former of these last two views is reported from Ibn ‘Umar, while the third view was held by some scholars. Thus, scholars hold “three views” on this question.