Summary of Sunni concepts | 28- Concepts about achieving interest and legitimate objectives

0:00 A summary of the concepts of the Ahl al-Sunnah.

0:09 Wherever the law of Allah is found, there lies the true interest.

0:13 Whatever Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, has legislated in His Book and upon the tongue of His Messenger, peace be upon him,

0:21 whether it be obligatory or recommended acts,

0:24 or permissible, prohibited, or disliked acts,

0:28 He, the Glorified, legislated them only for the benefit of humanity and their welfare in this world and the Hereafter.

0:35 Thus, wherever the law of Allah is found, there lies the true interest.

0:40 Interests in the balance of the Sharia.

0:45 Interests in the balance of the Sharia are of three types:

0:50 Recognized, nullified, and unrestricted (masalih mursala).

0:54 Recognized interests:

0:59 These are interests that the Sharia has attested to by accepting and validating them through specific evidence.

1:05 It has legislated a ruling to realize them.

1:08 These are interests that cannot be rejected,

1:12 and there is no disagreement regarding the legitimacy of adopting and implementing them.

1:16 Examples of this include:

1:18 The interest of preserving life,

1:20 for which the ruling of retaliation (qisas) was legislated.

1:23 The interest of preserving wealth,

1:26 for which the cutting of the thief's hand was legislated.

1:29 The interest of preserving the intellect,

1:31 for which the prohibition of intoxicants was legislated.

1:34 And so on, to the end of such examples.

1:38 Nullified interests:

1:44 These are interests that the Sharia has attested to by invalidating and rejecting them.

1:48 Examples of this include:

1:50 The interest of earning wealth through usury (riba), gambling, or games of chance.

1:55 The Sharia has invalidated these by prohibiting both usury and gambling.

2:00 Likewise, the perceived interest in banning polygamy

2:05 due to the expected harm arising from problems and jealousy between a woman and her co-wife.

2:11 The Sharia has disregarded this interest and did not consider it,

2:15 in order to realize a higher interest,

2:18 which is the increase of offspring, the facilitation of chastity,

2:22 and the protection of the soul.

2:24 Unrestricted interests (masalih mursala):

2:28 These are interests for which no specific evidence has come in the Sharia to either validate or nullify them.

2:34 They are "unrestricted" from the constraint of being explicitly recognized or nullified.

2:38 However, they contain a meaning suitable for a ruling to be legislated for them.

2:43 Furthermore, they fall under the general principles of the Sharia

2:47 regarding the consideration of interests and the warding off of harms.

2:51 Examples of this include:

2:53 The compilation of the Qur'an, the establishment of administrative registers, and the codification of sciences,

2:58 such as the Arabic linguistic sciences, the principles of fiqh, and the science of hadith terminology.

3:03 And other such interests that no rational person would doubt are in harmony with the Sharia.

3:12 Among the conditions for adopting an unrestricted interest:

3:19 That it does not contradict a Sharia proof from a text, consensus (ijma'), or analogy (qiyas).

3:25 And that adopting it does not result in the loss of a higher interest.

3:30 The difference between unrestricted interest and innovation (bid'ah):

3:36 Unrestricted interests only apply to matters where the meaning is rationally understood.

3:43 They have no place in purely devotional acts (ta'abbudat),

3:46 for which no specific rational meaning is sought.

3:51 Such as the details of ablution, the number of units in prayer, and the specification of fasting to a particular time,

3:58 or the standing at the sites of Hajj, and so on.

4:03 This is one of the most important distinctions between unrestricted interests

4:07 and the innovation that occurs in acts of worship based on pure devotion,

4:13 or in matters of creed, as these are fixed and established foundations.

4:18 The ruling on agreeing upon an unrestricted interest:

4:23 If the scholars or specialists reach a consensus on an unrestricted interest,

4:29 it is not permissible to act contrary to it.

4:32 If consensus is not reached, the one in charge acts upon the opinion of the majority of scholars.

4:38 The overlapping of interests and harms:

4:43 Interests and harms are rarely pure and isolated.

4:48 Rather, the norm is their intermingling or competition.

4:52 In such cases, the Muslim acts according to the general rules regarding this,

4:57 such as: warding off harm takes precedence over bringing about benefit,

5:01 prioritizing the higher of two interests over the lower,

5:05 and committing the lesser of two evils.

5:08 The competition of interests:

5:12 Prioritizing one interest over another when they compete

5:16 is done according to the following criteria:

5:19 First: Prioritizing an interest that is certain over one that is merely speculative.

5:27 Second: If the two interests are equal in their certainty,

5:33 the public interest is prioritized over the private.

5:37 Third: If the two interests are equal in their realization and general benefit,

5:43 the greater interest is prioritized over the lesser.

5:48 The objectives of legislation are derived from the texts of the Sharia, not rulers over them.

5:56 The general objectives of legislation are only known through examining the texts of the Sharia and its interpretive rulings.

6:05 By deriving the objectives from them, the texts are the foundation, and the objectives are the branches derived from them.

6:13 Therefore, it is impossible for any text or interpretive Sharia ruling to contradict a general objective of the legislation.

6:24 Such claims are only made by people of deviation and desire; when they were unable to confront the texts, they resorted to reinterpreting them

6:32 according to their misguided understanding of the general objectives of Islam.

6:37 They call this adopting the "purposive" (maqasidi) understanding of Islam instead of the "textual" understanding.

6:44 Examples of this include their claim that usury was only prohibited because of injustice,

6:50 so any form of it that does not lead to injustice is permissible—we seek refuge in Allah from deviation and misguidance.

Summary of Sunni concepts | 28- Concepts about achieving interest and legitimate objectives | Concepts (397-407)

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