Al-Isra (The Night Journey): Verse 36

ولا تقف ما ليس لك به علم (And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge.)

There are several issues concerning this verse:

After explaining the three commands, the Almighty returns to mentioning prohibitions, forbidding three things. The first is His saying: {And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge.}

The word {تقف} (taqif) is derived from the expression: qafawtu athara fulānin aqfū qafwan waqufūwan (I followed the track of so-and-so), meaning you followed his track. The end of a poem (rhyme) is called qāfiyah because it follows the verse. The famous tribe known for tracking footprints and deducing a person's condition from them was called al-Qāfah. Allah says: {Then We caused Our messengers to follow in their footsteps} (Al-Hadid: 27). The back of the neck is called qafā because it is the rear part of the human body, as if it is something that follows or trails behind.

Therefore, {ولا تقف} means: Do not follow, nor trace, what you have no knowledge of, whether in speech or action. Essentially, it is a comprehensive prohibition against judging based on what is not known. Many types fall under this general principle, and each commentator has applied it to one of those types. There are several viewpoints:

Viewpoint 1: It refers to prohibiting the polytheists from the doctrines they held regarding divinity and prophethood due to imitating their ancestors. Allah attributes their beliefs to following whims, saying: {They are but names you have named—you and your fathers—for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow nothing but conjecture and what their souls desire} (An-Najm: 23). Regarding their denial of Resurrection, He says: {Or has their knowledge fallen short concerning the Hereafter? Rather, they are in doubt about it; rather, they are, concerning it, blind} (An-Naml: 66). It is narrated that they said: {We only think [it is] a guess, and we are not certain} (Al-Jathiyah: 32). Allah also says: {And who is more astray than one who follows his desire without any guidance from Allah?} (Al-Qasas: 50). He also states: {And do not say about what your tongues falsely describe, "This is lawful and this is unlawful," to invent a lie about Allah} (An-Nahl: 116), and: {Do you have any knowledge that you can present to us? You follow nothing but conjecture} (Al-An'am: 148).

Viewpoint 2: Narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, it means bearing false witness. Ibn Abbas said: "Do not testify except concerning what your eyes have seen, your ears have heard, and your heart has retained."

Viewpoint 3: It means prohibiting slander (qadhf) and accusing chaste men and women with falsehoods. This was a common practice among the Arabs, which they would employ in satire and exaggeration.

Viewpoint 4: It means prohibiting lying. Qatadah said: "Do not say you heard what you did not hear, or you saw what you did not see, or you knew what you did not know."

Viewpoint 5: That al-qafw (pursuit) here means defamation (bahatan), originating from al-qafā (the back), as it is a statement made behind someone's back, which is akin to backbiting—mentioning something about a person in their absence that displeases them. Some traditions state: "Whoever defames a Muslim with something untrue, Allah will detain him in the mire of Radghat al-Khabāl (a place of torment)."

However, the wording is general and encompasses all these meanings. Therefore, there is no need to limit it to one specific interpretation. (And Allah knows best.)

Those who deny Qiyās (analogical reasoning) used this verse as evidence, arguing: Qiyās only yields conjecture (ẓann), and conjecture is different from certain knowledge ('ilm). Therefore, ruling in matters of religion based on Qiyās is ruling based on the unknown, which is forbidden by Allah's saying: {And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge.}

This argument has been refuted in several ways:

Refutation 1: Ruling in religion based solely on conjecture (ẓann) is permissible by the consensus of the Ummah in many situations:

1. Acting upon a fatwa (legal ruling) is acting upon conjecture, and it is permissible.
2. Acting upon testimony is acting upon conjecture, and it is permissible.
3. Striving to find the direction of the Qibla yields only conjecture, and it is permissible.
4. Determining the value of damaged property or compensation for injuries can only be done through conjecture, and it is permissible.
5. Bloodletting, cupping, and other medical treatments are based on conjecture, and it is permissible.
6. The ruling that a slaughtered animal is permissible (if slaughtered by a Muslim) is based on conjecture, not certainty, and acting upon it is permissible.
7. Allah says: {So appoint an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from hers} (An-Nisa: 35). The existence of discord between them is conjectured, not known with certainty, yet acting upon this is required.
8. Ruling that a specific person is a believer is conjecture, yet based on this, many rulings follow, such as inheritance rights and burial in Muslim cemeteries.
9. All worldly affairs considered valid—travel, seeking profit, transactions with specified deadlines, reliance on friends' loyalty and enemies' enmity—are based on conjecture, and acting upon these conjectures is permissible.
10. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "We judge based on the apparent, and Allah handles the secrets." This explicitly states that conjecture is considered in these ten categories, invalidating the claim that ruling based on conjecture is impermissible.

Refutation 2: Conjecture (ẓann) is sometimes referred to as knowledge ('ilm). Evidence for this is Allah's saying: {O you who have believed, when believing women come to you for emigration, then test them. Allah is most knowing of their faith. And if you know them to be believers, then do not return them to the disbelievers} (Al-Mumtahanah: 10). It is known that ascertaining their faith is only possible based on their declaration, which yields only conjecture. Thus, here Allah calls conjecture knowledge.

Refutation 3: The definitive proof that necessitates acting upon Qiyās also proves that whenever conjecture arises that the ruling of Allah in this verse equals His ruling in the place of the explicit text, you are obligated to act according to that conjecture. Here, the conjecture is in the method of ruling, but the ruling itself is known and certain.

The deniers of Qiyās responded to the first refutation by saying: The verse {And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge} is a general statement that has been specified (excepted) in the ten mentioned cases. Thus, the generality remains a proof for matters outside these ten cases. We argue that the difference between these ten cases and the disputed matter (Qiyās) is that these ten cases involve rulings specific to certain individuals at specific times. The event to which a specific person refers is related to that specific person, as is the case with testimony, seeking the Qibla, and all other instances. Specifying rulings for infinite individual occurrences at specific times is impossible, so conjecture is sufficed out of necessity. However, the rulings established by Qiyās are general rulings valid for general occurrences; they are few and well-defined, making specification possible. Therefore, jurists who derived these rulings via Qiyās recorded and mentioned them in their books.

If this is understood, we say: Specifying the rulings in the ten mentioned cases was impossible, so the Lawgiver sufficed with conjecture. But for the issues established by analogical methods, specification was possible, so it was not permissible to suffice with conjecture. Thus, the difference is clear.

Regarding the second refutation—that conjecture is sometimes called knowledge—we say: This is false, because it is valid to say, "This is conjectured and not known," and "This is known and not conjectured," which indicates they are distinct. Furthermore, Allah’s saying: {Say, "Do you have any knowledge that you can present to us? You follow nothing but conjecture"} (Al-An'am: 148) negates knowledge while affirming conjecture, indicating distinction. As for {if you know them to be believers} (Al-Mumtahanah: 10), the believer is the one who affirms (the faith), and that affirmation is the knowledge (in that context).

Regarding the third refutation, it is also weak. That argument would only hold if it were established by definitive proof that Qiyās is binding. This is false because that proof must be either rational or transmitted. The rational argument is false because Qiyās that yields only conjecture is not rationally required to be binding. Evidence: There is no dispute that the Lawgiver could validly say, "I forbade you from resorting to Qiyās." If its validity were purely rational, such a prohibition would be impossible. The transmitted argument is also false because the transmitted proof for Qiyās being binding would only be definitive if it were transmitted via continuous narration (tawātur) and its indication of the required ruling was definitive and admitted no contrary interpretation. If such proof existed, it would have reached everyone, everyone would know it, and the dispute would have ended. Since this is not the case, we know that no definitive transmitted proof exists for this issue. Thus, it is established that no definitive proof whatsoever exists for establishing Qiyās as binding. Therefore, your claim that a ruling established by Qiyās is known and not merely conjectured is void. This concludes the discussion regarding this proof.

The best response that can be offered is: Relying on this verse, upon which you depend, is relying on a general statement that has been specified ('āmm makhṣūṣ). Relying on a specified general statement yields only conjecture. If this verse implied that relying on conjecture is impermissible, it would imply that relying on this very verse is impermissible. Thus, asserting this verse as proof leads to its own negation—a contradiction—so the inference based on it falls. (And Allah knows best.)

The respondent can reply: We know through apparent continuous narration (tawātur) of the religion of Muhammad (peace be upon him) that relying on verses of the Qur'an is a proof in the Sharia. This response can be countered by saying that the binding nature of a specified general statement is not known through continuous narration. (And Allah knows best.)

There are two points of discussion here:

Point 1: Knowledge is either derived from the senses or from the intellect. The first category is indicated by mentioning hearing and sight, as when a person hears or sees something, they report and narrate it. The second category is knowledge derived from the intellect, which is twofold: intuitive (badīhiyyah) and acquired (kasbiyyah). Intellectual knowledge is indicated by mentioning the heart (fu'ād).

Point 2: The apparent meaning of the verse indicates that these limbs will be questioned. There are several views on this:

Viewpoint 1: The one who possesses the hearing, sight, and heart is the one questioned, because questioning is only valid for one who is rational. These limbs are not rational; rather, the rational, understanding being is the human. This is like His saying: {And ask the town} (Yusuf: 82), meaning its people. It is as if it is said to the person: Why did you hear what was unlawful for you to hear? Why did you look at what was unlawful for you to look at? Why did you resolve upon what was unlawful for you to resolve upon?

Viewpoint 2: The verse establishes that those people will be questioned concerning their hearing, sight, and heart. It will be asked of them: For what did you use your hearing—in obedience or in disobedience? The same applies to the rest of the faculties. This is because these senses are instruments of the soul (nafs). The soul is like a commander over them, using them for its interests. If the soul uses them for good deeds, it deserves reward; if it uses them for sins, it deserves punishment.

Viewpoint 3: It is established by the Qur'an that Allah creates life in the limbs, and then they testify against the person. Evidence is His saying: {On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them concerning what they used to do} (An-Nur: 24). Therefore, it is not far-fetched that He creates life, intellect, and speech in these limbs, and then He directs the questioning toward them.

{And do not walk upon the earth exultantly. Indeed, Allah does not like everyone who is proud and boastful. Nor seek to attain the length of the mountains in height} (Al-Isra: 37)

(Note: The provided excerpt ends here, transitioning to verse 37.)