This is especially so given that there is no contradiction between the intellect and Sharia, and that the conventions of the Wise One are grounded in reality. Rather, attributing status to something that does not truly exist is considered lying—like attributing darkness to the day and light to the night—while lying is impossible for Allah; as He has said: ﴿وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ حَدِيثًا﴾[1]; “And who is more truthful than Allah.” Moreover, Sharia has the power to legislate something it has itself nullified, but not the power to legislate something that the intellect has nullified; because legislating something that has been nullified by a cause is reasonable only by that same cause, and not permissible by another. Similarly, among intellectuals, a ruling established by an official can be specified only by that same official, and its specification by another is not acceptable. This is while the absolute nullification of the authority of conjecture has been established by the intellect; because its lack of authority means its inability to reveal reality—which is among the rational and real matters, not subject to conventional validation, and therefore beyond the reach of Sharia. Therefore, Sharia is unable to intervene in or alter it. From here, it is understood that the belief of some Muslims in the religious authority of specific conjecture—namely, conjecture derived from solitary reports—is unfounded; because authority is not among religious matters, but rather returns to the human being’s natural perceptions of reality. Therefore, one cannot establish authority for conjecture through a ruling, just as one cannot revoke the authority of certainty through a ruling. This is regardless of the fact that the ruling of Sharia on the authority of some conjectures is not established, as there are numerous verses and narrations that negate the authority of conjecture in a general sense, and with their existence, certainty about the authority of some conjectures in Sharia cannot be attained. Rather, to be fair, the explicitness of some verses and narrations regarding the lack of authority of absolute conjecture is such that attributing its specification to Sharia is like fabricating lies against Allah and His Messenger[2].

↑[1] . An-Nisa/ 87

↑[2] . Among the verses are Allah’s statement: ﴿قُلْ هَلْ عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ عِلْمٍ فَتُخْرِجُوهُ لَنَا ۖ إِنْ تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَإِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا تَخْرُصُونَ﴾ (Al-An‘am/ 148); “Say: ‘Do you have any knowledge you can produce for us?! You follow nothing but conjecture and do nothing but guess,’” and His statement: ﴿وَمَا لَهُمْ بِهِ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ ۖ وَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾ (An-Najm/ 28); “They have no knowledge of it. They follow nothing but conjecture, while conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth,” and His statement: ﴿وَمَا يَتَّبِعُ أَكْثَرُهُمْ إِلَّا ظَنًّا ۚ إِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا﴾ (Yunus/ 36); “And most of them follow nothing but conjecture, while conjecture is not sufficient for (proving) the truth,” and His statement: ﴿إِنْ نَظُنُّ إِلَّا ظَنًّا وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُسْتَيْقِنِينَ﴾ (Al-Jathiyah/ 32); “We act only on conjecture and do not reach certainty,” and His statement: ﴿وَمِنْهُمْ أُمِّيُّونَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا أَمَانِيَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ﴾ (Al-Baqarah/ 78); “And among them are unlettered ones who consider the religion nothing but wishes and do nothing but conjecture,” and His statement: ﴿وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ﴾ (Al-Hajj/ 3); “And among the people are those who dispute about Allah without knowledge,” and His statement: ﴿هَا أَنْتُمْ هَؤُلَاءِ حَاجَجْتُمْ فِيمَا لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلِمَ تُحَاجُّونَ فِيمَا لَيْسَ لَكُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ﴾ (Al Imran/ 66); “You are the ones who have argued over what you have knowledge of—why then do you argue over that of which you have no knowledge?” and His statement: ﴿وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ﴾ (Al-Isra/ 36); “And do not follow that of which you have no knowledge,” and His statement: ﴿إِنْ عِنْدَكُمْ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ بِهَذَا ۚ أَتَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ (Yunus/ 68); “You have no authority for this. Do you say against Allah what you do not know?” and His statement: ﴿نَبِّئُونِي بِعِلْمٍ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ﴾ (Al-An‘am/ 143); “Inform me with knowledge if you are truthful,” and His statement: ﴿بَلْ كَذَّبُوا بِمَا لَمْ يُحِيطُوا بِعِلْمِهِ﴾ (Yunus/ 39); “Rather, they denied something whose knowledge they did not comprehend,” and His statement: ﴿رَجْمًا بِالْغَيْبِ﴾ (Al-Kahf/ 22); “A shot in the dark,” and His statement: ﴿وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ﴾ (Saba/ 53); “And in absentia, they attribute from a distant place,” and His statement: ﴿قَدْ بَيَّنَّا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يُوقِنُونَ﴾ (Al-Baqarah/ 118); “We have made the signs clear for a people who are certain,” and His statement: ﴿لِيَهْلِكَ مَنْ هَلَكَ عَنْ بَيِّنَةٍ وَيَحْيَى مَنْ حَيَّ عَنْ بَيِّنَةٍ﴾ (Al-Anfal/ 42); “So that whoever perishes does so upon a clear proof, and whoever is saved is saved upon a clear proof.” Among the narrations reported from the Messenger of Allah is that he said: «إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ، إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ، إِيَّاكُمْ وَالظَّنَّ، فَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ أَكْذَبُ الْحَدِيثِ» (Sahifah Humam ibn Munabbih, p. 29; Sahih of al-Bukhari, vol. 7, p. 19; Sahih of Muslim, vol. 8, p. 1); “Beware of conjecture, beware of conjecture, beware of conjecture; for conjecture is the falsest of speech,” and he said: «إِنَّ الظَّنَّ يُخْطِئُ وَيُصِيبُ» (Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 3, p. 19; Sunan of ibn Majah, vol. 2, p. 825); “Conjecture may be wrong or it may be correct,” and he said: «لَا تُؤَاخِذُونِي بِالظَّنِّ» (Musnad of Abi Dawud al-Tayalisi, vol. 1, p. 186; Sahih of Muslim, vol. 7, p. 95); “Do not act upon what I say out of conjecture,” and he said: «اتَّقُوا الْحَدِيثَ عَنِّي إِلَّا مَا عَلِمْتُمْ، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا، فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ» (Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 4, p. 415; Sunan of al-Tirmidhi, vol. 5, p. 199); “Be careful about narrating from me except what you know; for whoever deliberately lies about me shall take his seat in the fire,” and he said: «مَنْ قَالَ فِي الْقُرْآنِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ، فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ» (Musnad of Ahmad, vol. 3, p. 496; Fada’il al-Quran by al-Nasa’i, p. 134); “Whoever speaks about the Quran without knowledge shall take his seat in the fire.”