One of them began by saying: "You have made conjecture the basis for misguidance. And the majority of the Sharia rulings are established by conjecture."

This person was confused about the ruling on testimony, which is based on conjecture, and the ruling derived from it. They considered it a basis for judgment. In reality, it is a sign, not a basis. This is what prompted Al-Mahdi to distinguish between a basis and a sign to remove the confusion.

The fundamental difference between a sign and a basis is that a basis establishes the ruling, while a sign indicates the ruling. This means that the basis is the cause that necessitates the ruling. As for the sign, it is the indicator that, when present, leads to the ruling without a necessary connection between them. Therefore, the legislator can link the ruling to a sign or to something other than a sign. If the sign is absent, the ruling remains in effect because it stems from the basis, not from the sign.

To illustrate the foregoing, consider the example: "If my servant comes to you on such-and-such a day, give him a letter or a garment." The act of giving is based on the master's command when the servant arrives. The master's command is the basis for giving, and the servant's arrival is a sign for giving. The act of giving (which is the ruling) is not completed by relying on the servant's arrival (i.e., the sign), but rather requires the master's command (i.e., the basis). In this vein, fasting became obligatory based on a definitive basis when the crescent moon was sighted. The sighting of the crescent moon alone does not necessitate fasting because it is merely a sign at which point fasting occurs. Rather, it is the divine command from the Book that made it obligatory. The same can be said for performing prayer at noon and other rulings.

The debater was mistaken in his assertion that a ruling can be based on conjecture, as in the case of testimony. This is because he attributed the ruling, such as the ruling on stoning, to testimony that establishes the occurrence of adultery based on conjecture. The reality is that the ruling on stoning was not necessitated by testimony; rather, it was necessitated by...

(Ibn Tumart) Same source: Same source: Same source: Testimony was conjectural because it was conditioned on the justice of the witness.

The witness's testimony is based on a strong presumption, not certainty.