Is Specification of the Qurʾān by a Khabar al-Wāḥid Possible? Complete Sharʿī Guidance
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 289
Is it permissible to specify a general ruling of the Qurʾān through a Khabar al-Wāḥid?
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
The specification (takhṣīṣ) of a general ruling of the Qurʾān by means of an authentic Khabar al-Wāḥid is not only permissible, but also necessary.
The Qurʾān gives a general ruling:
﴿حرمت علیکم المیتة﴾
"Dead animals have been made unlawful for you" (al-Māʾidah: 3)
Opposite to this, we find a specific ruling in the ḥadīth:
«میتة البحر حلال»
"The dead of the sea (such as fish) is ḥalāl"
(al-Mustadrak 1/143, ḥadīth no. 501, with a ḥasan chain)
This specific ruling specifies the general ruling, so now, while dead animals remain ḥarām, fish and other sea creatures that die naturally are excluded from this prohibition and are ḥalāl.
Specifying the Qurʾān through Khabar al-Wāḥid is the agreed-upon stance of:
◈ The Noble Companions (Ṣaḥābah)
◈ The Illustrious Followers (Tābiʿīn)
◈ The Majority of the Ummah (Jumhūr al-Ummah)
It is also narrated that all four Imams:
◈ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah
◈ Imām Mālik
◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī
◈ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
were in agreement on its permissibility.
As mentioned in the following works:
"وأما بالخبر الواحد فقال بجوازه الأئمة الأربعة"
("As for Khabar al-Wāḥid, the four Imams have ruled its specification [of the Qurʾān] permissible.")
(Muntahā al-Wuṣūl by Ibn al-Ḥājib p. 320; Ghayth al-Ghamām by ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī p. 277; al-Aḥkām by al-Āmidī 2/347; Ijābat al-Sāʾil Sharḥ Bughyat al-Āmil by al-Ṣanʿānī p. 329)
The renowned Mālikī jurist, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Idrīs al-Qarāfī (d. 684H), clearly stated that this is the position of:
◈ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah
◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī
◈ and other leading scholars
(Sharḥ Tanqīḥ al-Fuṣūl fī Ikhtiṣār al-Maḥṣūl fī al-Uṣūl p. 208)
ʿĪsā ibn Abān and some later Ḥanafīs, as well as certain theologians, rejected the specification of the Qurʾān’s general ruling through Khabar al-Wāḥid by arguing that Khabar al-Wāḥid is ẓannī (probabilistic).
However, this view is:
◈ Contrary to the stance of the four Imams
◈ Against authentic evidences
Therefore, it is a rejected position.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 289
Question:
Is it permissible to specify a general ruling of the Qurʾān through a Khabar al-Wāḥid?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
The specification (takhṣīṣ) of a general ruling of the Qurʾān by means of an authentic Khabar al-Wāḥid is not only permissible, but also necessary.
An Example
The Qurʾān gives a general ruling:
﴿حرمت علیکم المیتة﴾
"Dead animals have been made unlawful for you" (al-Māʾidah: 3)
Opposite to this, we find a specific ruling in the ḥadīth:
«میتة البحر حلال»
"The dead of the sea (such as fish) is ḥalāl"
(al-Mustadrak 1/143, ḥadīth no. 501, with a ḥasan chain)
This specific ruling specifies the general ruling, so now, while dead animals remain ḥarām, fish and other sea creatures that die naturally are excluded from this prohibition and are ḥalāl.
Specification of the Qurʾān by Khabar al-Wāḥid: The Position of the Ṣaḥābah, Tābiʿīn, and the Majority
Specifying the Qurʾān through Khabar al-Wāḥid is the agreed-upon stance of:
◈ The Noble Companions (Ṣaḥābah)
◈ The Illustrious Followers (Tābiʿīn)
◈ The Majority of the Ummah (Jumhūr al-Ummah)
It is also narrated that all four Imams:
◈ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah
◈ Imām Mālik
◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī
◈ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
were in agreement on its permissibility.
As mentioned in the following works:
"وأما بالخبر الواحد فقال بجوازه الأئمة الأربعة"
("As for Khabar al-Wāḥid, the four Imams have ruled its specification [of the Qurʾān] permissible.")
(Muntahā al-Wuṣūl by Ibn al-Ḥājib p. 320; Ghayth al-Ghamām by ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Lakhnawī p. 277; al-Aḥkām by al-Āmidī 2/347; Ijābat al-Sāʾil Sharḥ Bughyat al-Āmil by al-Ṣanʿānī p. 329)
Statement of al-Qarāfī
The renowned Mālikī jurist, Shihāb al-Dīn Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Idrīs al-Qarāfī (d. 684H), clearly stated that this is the position of:
◈ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah
◈ Imām al-Shāfiʿī
◈ and other leading scholars
(Sharḥ Tanqīḥ al-Fuṣūl fī Ikhtiṣār al-Maḥṣūl fī al-Uṣūl p. 208)
The View of Some Later Scholars and Its Refutation
ʿĪsā ibn Abān and some later Ḥanafīs, as well as certain theologians, rejected the specification of the Qurʾān’s general ruling through Khabar al-Wāḥid by arguing that Khabar al-Wāḥid is ẓannī (probabilistic).
However, this view is:
◈ Contrary to the stance of the four Imams
◈ Against authentic evidences
Therefore, it is a rejected position.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
