In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger ﷺ.
The Sunnah that clarifies the Qur’an, and the issue of the prohibition on storing sacrificial meat:
In this section Imam al-Shafi’i deals with an important issue in usul al-fiqh: that the Prophetic Sunnah clarifies, details, qualifies, and specifies the Noble Qur’an, and that this is not a contradiction of the Qur’an but a clarification of what Allah the Exalted intends. He focuses on the example of the prohibition on storing the meat of sacrificial animals (udhiyah) for more than three days, and how it was understood and applied.
The main points Imam al-Shafi’i addressed in this section:
- The Sunnah clarifies and specifies the Qur’an: Imam al-Shafi’i affirms that the Sunnah never contradicts the Qur’an in any way; rather, it clarifies it, details its summary statements, qualifies its unrestricted statements, and specifies its general statements. He gives examples of this:
- The saying of Allah the Exalted “And lawful to you are [all others] beyond these” (al-Nisa’ 4:24): The Sunnah made clear that this permission is restricted by the legal conditions of marriage and by not combining women within the prohibited degrees of one another.
- The saying of Allah the Exalted “and wipe over your heads and wash your feet to the ankles” (al-Ma’idah 5:6): The Sunnah made clear that washing the feet applies when leather socks are not worn; when they are worn, one wipes over them.
- The saying of Allah the Exalted “Say, ‘I do not find within that which was revealed to me [anything] forbidden’” (al-An’am 6:145): The Sunnah made clear the prohibition of every predatory animal with fangs, and so specified the generality of this verse.
- The saying of Allah the Exalted “But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest” (al-Baqarah 2:275): The Sunnah made clear the kinds of prohibited sales, such as usury, and so specified the general permission of sale.
- Refuting those who say the Sunnah is abandoned when it contradicts the outward sense of the Qur’an: Imam al-Shafi’i explains the error of those who say that the Sunnah should be abandoned if it contradicts the outward sense of the Qur’an, and affirms that this is ignorance of the Sunnah’s standing in relation to the Book, and that the Sunnah does not contradict the Book but clarifies it.
- The issue of the prohibition on storing sacrificial meat for more than three days: Imam al-Shafi’i deals with this issue in detail and mentions the scholars’ disagreement over it. He explains that a hadith came prohibiting storing sacrificial meat for more than three days, and then a concession allowing it came. He mentions the scholars’ views on reconciling the two hadiths:
- Abrogation: Some hold that the prohibition was abrogated by the concession.
- Specification to the case of the daffah: that is, need and poverty (the arrival of needy people); so the prohibition is specific to a situation of need, and where there is no such need, storing is permissible.
- The prohibition as a matter of preference, not obligation: Some hold that the prohibition was by way of preference and guidance, not by way of obligation and binding duty.
- Shaykh Ahmad Shakir’s preferred view on the prohibition of storing: Shaykh Ahmad Shakir holds that the prohibition on storing was due to the presence of the daffah, and that it was an action of the Prophet ﷺ in his capacity as imam and ruler, for the people’s welfare, not by way of general legislation. He explains that this shows that a ruler may command and prohibit in such matters for the people’s welfare, and that obeying him in this is obligatory.
- The obligation of acting on a hadith until an abrogating or specifying text reaches one: Imam al-Shafi’i affirms the obligation of acting on an authentic hadith until an abrogating or specifying text reaches one, and that it is not permissible to stop acting on it on the pretext of searching for an abrogating or specifying text one may never find.
Additional clarifications:
- The importance of the Sunnah in legislation (reaffirmed): Imam al-Shafi’i explains the importance of the Prophetic Sunnah in Islamic legislation: it is the second source after the Noble Qur’an, and it clarifies, details, qualifies, and specifies the Qur’an.
- Kinds of clarification (reaffirmed): Imam al-Shafi’i points out that clarification comes in multiple ways, such as qualification, specification, detailing, and explanation.
- The difference between transmission by chain, by mass transmission, by widespread report, and by consensus (reaffirmed): Imam al-Shafi’i explains that the religion is transmitted from the Messenger ﷺ in multiple ways, such as transmission by chain of narration, mass transmission, widespread report, and consensus.
- Analogy in the Shariah (reaffirmed): Imam al-Shafi’i points to analogy as one of the sources of legislation, explaining that it is used to derive rulings from the legal texts.
Summary:
In this section Imam al-Shafi’i sets out important principles for understanding the relationship of the Sunnah to the Qur’an, and shows through examples that the Sunnah clarifies, details, qualifies, and specifies the Qur’an, and that this is not a contradiction of the Qur’an but a clarification of what Allah the Exalted intends. He focuses on the issue of the prohibition on storing sacrificial meat, sets out the scholars’ disagreement over it, and prefers the view that the prohibition was due to the presence of the daffah and was an action of the Prophet ﷺ for the people’s welfare. He affirms the obligation of acting on an authentic hadith until an abrogating or specifying text reaches one.
All parts of Summary of the Explanation of al-Shafi'i's al-Risala by Dr. Yasir Burhami