When Scholarly Differences Don't Mean All Opinions Are Equal

[Arabic recitation]

Early he was Allah and my bad continuing in the summary finishing up the topic of el is a little half of.

[Silence]

Foreign.

[Silence]

Yakulu foreign.

[Silence]

Alum a is.

[Silence]

Foreign.

[Silence]

The night journey and the Ascension of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he basically mentions here that it has been mentioned that is two companions held the opinion that is with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam soul for his soul alone not his body as well now is pointing out a couple of things and one of the things that he's pointing out here is the scholars have differed albeit very slightly on whether or not his body was taken on the night journey and Ascension or was it just his soul that was taken on the night journey and Ascension none of them mentioned that it was a vision that he saw while he was asleep and that's something that's very clear right because the people of Islam and the non-muslims the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam's enemies and his and his supporters would not have a big problem accepting that he saw this in a dream I mean if he said I saw in a dream that I was taken and one night to from you know A month's journey and then I ascended into the heavens and I saw these prophets and so forth that's not something that is out of the realm of possibility we all agree that people can see many things that are physically impossible that we can see these things made possible in our and our dreams it's not a problem but the the vehement rejection of the disbelievers of quraish of this account of Islam articulate to us that this was something that happened to him physically was it with his body and his soul together or was it just his soul the majority of the scholarship of Islam say that it was his body and his soul together and there are evidences of that so for instance the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam mentioned on that night that his heart was removed and washed in zemzem and and put back into his chest and so forth this is something that we know physically happened because he had scarring from this event that NS related to us he said that he would see when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would have his shirt off that there would be a scar there from where the cut or the incision was made the point is is that none of the companions were of the view that this was something that was in a dream this was not a dream this is something that actually happened now the nature of this happening was it physical or merely spiritual the majority of the scholarship of Islam and the companions all agree that this was something that was a physical and spiritual so both his body and his soul and this is not something that we should try to rationalize because these are Miracles and the nature of miraculous things miraculous events is that they go against known physical limitations right so the nature of a miracle isn't that we don't know how it happens the nature of a miracle is that we know it cannot happen except that this thing could not be done except for the one who made those laws of nature is the one who can break those laws of nature this is the nature of a miracle in its essence and so it's important for us to understand that the prophets and Messengers they have a very different type of existence in that time between death and Resurrection prophets and Messengers their souls experience a different kind of life then the rest of humanity does in this after death between death and Resurrection he mentions that's an example of this is that we see that the prophet mentions to us that he passed by Muse praying in his grave you saw that and then he ascended into the heavens and he found Musa there in the sixth heaven and then he came back down and Led Led the prophets in right it doesn't mean that Musa was in his grave and then after he passed him he took him up into the heavens and then after that he brought him back down and then after that took him back to his grave it's not it doesn't mean that it means that the prophets and Messengers their souls exist in a plane of existence and reality than the rest of us during after our death so just gives us an example he says and this is something that is beyond what we really can grasp it's kind of Beyond something that we're able to understand fully how it works but you know just as the sun is in the same place but many different people will see the sun from different angles and different places at the same time the soul is more of a mystery to us than that so it's important for us to understand the difference between saying it was a spiritual journey and saying it was a vision in his sleep all of the companions agree that this is not something that he saw in a dream in his sleep this is something that actually happened even Abdul bar ahima Allah one of the great Scholars of the fifth century he mentions that this incident happened about 14 months before Hijra so that would place it at roughly the 11th between the 11th and 12th year after prophethood and about a a year and change before Hijra foreign.

[Silence]

Torah whatever.

[Silence]

Fisheria.

[Silence]

Foreign.

[Silence]

Literature foreign.

[Silence]

Alcohol will be Anna Atkins.

[Silence]

Foreign.

[Silence]

Rojas.

[Silence]

Foreign.

[Silence]

S another thing is that there's a number of opinions with regards to if is the the night Journey happened on the same night and did it happen while he was awake or asleep and did it happen more once and the answer is that it happened physically literally happened and that was with his and his soul together and that is it it didn't happen more than once and any other opinion outside of what we've just mentioned is a weak opinion and that's important for for us to understand an important thing for us to understand that just because there's a difference of opinion doesn't mean that all of those opinions are Justified equally and it doesn't mean that all of those opinions are equal in strength right what do I mean by that there are times a lot of times most of the time most of the elements of Islam are agreed upon amongst all the scholars and if you go to open a book of filk for instance you're going to find a number of opinions on one issue correct is common why is it that it seems everything is different upon amongst the scholars the answer is number one the scholars write books to deal with those differences they don't write books usually listing all of the things that are agreed upon and are a matter of consensus amongst the scholarship of Islam usually a scholar who writes a book on filth jurisputin's writes that book in order to address those differences of opinion and come to some kind of solution and to come to a resolution right so when you open that book you're opening that book presuming that he's going to mention everything that's agreed upon which is usually not the case usually Scholars when they write books they write those books in order to deal with the issues that have been differed upon amongst amongst them not agreed upon second of all just because the doesn't mean that all of those opinions are equal in strength and doesn't mean that all of them are equally valid and all of them are equally acceptable that's not the case human beings say many different things we're talking about scholarship that has extended almost 1500 years 1 500 years in an Empire that is much larger than other Empires seen in history with Scholars from different places unable to communicate with one another coming to different conclusions it doesn't mean that everything that a scholar says is equally as valid as everything else doesn't mean that this is why we have the Quran we have the Sunnah we have the Quran we have the Sunnah and what the Quran is usually clear very clear not an issue that is open however when there are references of opinion that's when we have to look to the scholars so they can harmonized differences for us and make sense these things this is an important point because oftentimes will write even articles or you may read in some books or even the way that some teachers teach you get the idea the impression that as long as a scholar said it it's okay that's not the case we have the Quran we have the Sunnah and most things that are expected from us are very clear right however there are instances where Scholars differ and all of those opinions are not equal in validity some of those opinions are more valid than others some are more clear than others and so there are instances where the difference of opinion is very strong is very very strong and they use very strong evidences and at that point it's very fine-tuning to be able to come to a conclusion that's something that belongs to that falls in the lap of our scholarship they have to choose for that what what if it is relevant what if it applies to us and put that to practice for us we can't make that decision our own because that is something that takes special specialization however there is a difference of opinion doesn't mean that the correct opinion becomes any weaker that's an issue that a lot of people seem to misunderstand so a good example of this is reciting right so we have narrations many narrations in which the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam clearly says is not resided is valid a person who prays without reciting had their prayers invalid right many narrations that those narrations are agreed upon as being authentic those narrations are in the most authentic books of narration Muslim all of the six books of Hadith that's a clear narration if it's clear what you're supposed to do what are you supposed to read that's very clear it's obvious right it doesn't take scholarship to know that but then we have other narrations or I'm sorry we have certain opinions and certain schools of thought that say actually reciting is something that's preferred but you don't have to your prayer is still valid if you don't recite Surah Fatiha now that statement does it make the words of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam any weaker the answer is no if the messenger says no prayer is accepted without reciting and then a scholar comes later on and says you can pray without reciting and your prayer is acceptable does that change the words of the Prophet it doesn't change it does it make those words any less any less authentic no does it make those words any less authoritative no it's the same Authority it says so what I'm trying to get at here is not all opinions are the same so now just with that issue we have the majority of scholarship they say reciting in prayer is a pillar of Salah you have to if you don't do it on purpose the ability to do so your prayer is invalid that's stupid then we have another minority who say you don't have to it's preferable but you don't have to I just gave you the two opinions are those two opinions equal now they're not equal isn't one of those two opinions stronger than the other stronger because the opinion the first opinion is backed by clear narrations clear and explicit authentic narrations that say that where the other opinion is not so clear so just because a difference of opinion happens doesn't mean that that makes all opinions the same and we just basically step back and say well the issue is not clear so do whatever you'd it's not what that means and just because there's a difference of an opinion does not mean that you can choose whatever of those opinions you better we choose the opinion that we follow based on a number of factors either there's a clear verse from the Quran a clear narration of Faith there is a consensus Etc as for why conflicting opinions come up we're talking about over a thousand years worth of scholarship of millions of Scholars who have said different things it's possible that they didn't know operations it's possible that that happened before the narrations even reached that in that region there's a reason why these opinions happen right but the point that I'm trying to make is that sometimes we kind of fall into this false belief that somehow if there's a difference of opinion it means that it's not clear and you can basically do whatever you no that's not the case the Quran is clear the sun now is clear and what's expected of us is clear it's not it's not something that's usually overly complex to where the the average person wouldn't understand it it's becoming more and more complex to understand because you know most of us are living in such a radically different time and place that understanding the Quran and Sunnah as they were meant to be as they were revealed at the beginning is becoming more and more difficult however just because there's a difference of opinion does not mean that all of those opinions are equal does not mean that one of those opinions is not the right opinion does not mean that all of those opinions are the same does not mean that you can choose whichever one you best whatever one fits your particular agenda best that's the one that you choose that's not how things work right so you know there there are a lot of examples for this and it's important that we understand that when it comes down to issues of is this opinion strong or weak who tells us that the scholars same ones who mentioned to us that there's a difference of opinion the same ones that are supposed to choose for us there is a limit to what the average person can do not every person can make a decision these are decisions that Allah has placed to the behest of the scholars this is their responsibility they're the ones who transmit to us the texts of the Quran in Sunnah and they are the ones who as well explain to us and tell us how to put these things into action a good example of this is an example given to us by IBN Al qaim himself the author of he gives us a good example he says how what is the relationship between the Quran and the Sunnah and the words of the scholars for instance if I said to you how many daily prayers are there five daily prayers right do I have to double check and make sure that the scholar said that for that to be the case it's clear right what about do I need a scholar to tell me that Zina is Haram it's clear it's in the Quran it's very clear and not only is it in the Quran it's in the institutional memory and psyche of of Islam it's passed down one generation after the other until it reaches us these are things that don't change for example if we were to say that murder is Haram right that's clear bread is these are things that I don't need a scholar to tell me because as a Muslim we already know these things now where do the words of the scholars come in gives an example he says let's say a person can see the cabinet they can see the Cabo with their eye right do they need to look at the stars and the position of the sun in order to decide which direction the Kaaba is in that case oh they can see it it's right there they don't need the sun and the stars to tell them the direction of the Kaaba they don't need a compass do I need a compass to tell me which way the Kaaba is if I can see it I don't need a compass at that point right when do I need the compass I need the compass when I can't see the cabba I can't see it it's unclear which direction it is now I need a compass to lead me to it and this is the the relationship shared between the words of the scholars and the words of Allah and his messenger the in this analogy the Kaaba is like the Quran and Sunnah when it's clear and you can see it right there's no two ways about it you don't need the compass to tell you however if we cannot see it with our naked eye the Quran and Sunnah somehow we're not it's not clear to us exactly what is expected then we look to our Compass we look to the words of the scholars to explain that to us to point us in the right direction and if we look at it in this way we will not start to see all opinions as being the same all opinions are not the same there are wrong opinions and there are right opinions and just because a scholar said it doesn't mean that it's necessarily factual that is the exception the norm is when a scholar speaks he's correct otherwise he's not a scholar right however that is the exception when a scholar makes a mistake it happens we need to look at what the majority of scholarships say we need to have our current Scholars look at this and point us in the right direction come on.