acting upon it, even though its apparent meaning is true, as in His saying, Exalted is He:

“Take charity from their wealth to purify and cleanse them thereby.”

The apparent sense and meaning of this verse are intelligible; it is not a passage whose intended meaning cannot be understood. Rather, what it conveys does not, on its own, suffice for acting upon it. What is commanded is charity that purifies and cleanses them, and this can only be known through the explanation of the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Hence Ahmad said: “Anyone discussing jurisprudence should beware of these two ‘principles’: undetailed texts and analogical reasoning.”

He also said: “Most of people’s errors arise from interpretation and analogical reasoning.” By this he meant that one should not rule according to what general and unrestricted wording indicates before examining what specifies its scope and restricts it, nor act upon analogical reasoning before examining whether the implications of the texts invalidate it. Most of people’s errors arise from their adherence to what they suppose the wording and analogical reasoning indicate. Matters resting on probability must not be acted upon until a search for contrary evidence has been conducted thoroughly enough to reassure the heart. Otherwise, anyone who fails to do so will err. This is what happens to those who adhere to apparent meanings and analogies. Hence, invoking apparent meanings as evidence while disregarding the explanation of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions was deemed the way of the people of innovation. He has a substantial work on this subject.

Likewise, adhering to analogies while disregarding the texts and transmitted reports is the way of the people of innovation. Thus, every position these people originated was unsound; the only sound positions among their statements are those in which they agreed with the early generations—the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness.

He called His saying, Exalted is He,

“Allah instructs you concerning your children,”

general, whereas it is unrestricted with respect to circumstances, encompassing them as alternative possibilities, just as His saying,

“then the freeing of a slave,”

encompasses all slaves. It does not encompass them in the way that the term ‘child’ encompasses