There is no way to it, as it is not permissible for them to measure by their intellects in Sharia, given their inclination towards pausing and careful consideration. They understood from the Messenger, peace be upon him, the meaning to which he alluded and acted upon it. All that they act upon is of two types: that which is for the purpose of benefit and consultation, and this is understood from the origin. And that which they understood from the Messenger, peace be upon him, by his allusion to it. It cannot be said that they extract rulings and Sharia from their intellects, and whoever says that about them has indeed fabricated a lie.

And what is in this statement of arbitrariness is not hidden, as the Companions' understanding of the meaning to which the Messenger alluded and their acting upon it based on that is a matter for which no evidence was presented. Thus, the statement is weak.

To further clarify and establish this principle, Al-Mahdi presented a set of examples, among which we mention the following: First, the argument from the saying of Mu'adh ibn Jabal when the Messenger, peace be upon him, sent him to Yemen: "I will exert my opinion and will not spare." This is an incorrect argument. Because the opinion in Mu'adh's saying refers to what was previously alluded to by the command. It does not refer to extracting a ruling by art and conjecture. It is clear that this response lacks clarity and precision. Perhaps it means that the opinion mentioned by Mu'adh is used to arrive at what the text alluded to by some means of allusion, and in that case, it would be an opinion for understanding the text and its implications, not an opinion for extracting a new ruling by analogy. If that is the case, this response approaches what Ibn Hazm went for in a similar situation, where he says in response to this argument: "This hadith which we mentioned from the path of [same source: (40)] Narrated by Abu Dawud in the Book of Judgments, Chapter: Exerting Opinion in Judgment, and its full text is: When the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, wanted to [41] send Mu'adh to Yemen, he said: "How will you judge?" He said: "By the Book of Allah." He said: "If you do not find it in the Book of Allah?" He said: "By the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah." He said: "If you do not find it in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, nor in the Book of Allah?" He said: "I will exert my opinion and will not spare." So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, struck his chest and said: "Praise be to Allah, who guided the Messenger of Allah to what pleases the Messenger of Allah." [42] Those who hold the view of analogy have argued with this hadith. See, for example: Al-Bazdawi, Usul, 2/278. Al-Ghazali, Al-Mustasfa, 2/244. Ibn Tumart, A Treatise on the Fact that Sharia is Not Established by Reason, 175.

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