Fatwa No : 42558
Questions regarding the establishment of rulings and laws in the Shari'ah

Questions regarding the establishment of rulings and laws in the Shari'ah

1) Is it necessary for the establishment of something obligatory (فرض) or unlawful (حرام) in the Shari’ah to be substantiated by such evidence that is “قطی الثبوت وقطعی الدلالۃ” (i.e. such evidence that is definitively established, having a definitive meaning)? If it is, then what is the proof of this? Furthermore, how many Ahadith has been definitively established?
2) Can lawfulness and unlawfulness be proven from Ahadith? If it can, then please provide some examples.
3) Does changing the words of the Quran make one a disbeliever? For example, if someone recites “واذکروا” instead of “فاذکروا”, would he be deemed as a disbeliever or not?

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

1) Farz (فرض: obligatory) and Haram (حرام: unlawful) respectively defines the highest degree of legality and illegality in the Shari’ah, hence it is necessary for them to be substantiated with proper evidence. Their evidences come in the form of Quranic verses and Mutawatir (successive) Ahadith. In fact, all Mutawatir Ahadith are definitively established (قطی الثبوت). Furthermore, the scholars of Ahadith have deferred regarding the amount of Mutawatir Ahadith, hence a specific number for their amount cannot be concluded.
2) The lawfulness (حلت) and unlawfulness (حرمت) of something may also be established from authentic Ahadith. However, not all rulings derived from authentic Ahadith are definitive (قطی الثبوت). In fact, the status of the ruling (i.e. it being قطی: definitive or ظنی : speculative) is dependent on whether its meaning is definitive (قطی الدلالۃ) or speculative (ظنی الدلالۃ). There are many examples of this, such as: the ruling for falsely ascribing something to the Holy Prophet (pbuh), the unlawfulness of intoxicants, wiping upon leather socks, etc.
3) Since intentionally changing the words of the Quran is a form of denying it, doing such would take one out of the fold of Islam.
And Allah knows best