About the obligation for the Qat�iy Daleel to be fulfilled in respect to the I�tiqaad

About the obligation for the Qat�iy Daleel to be fulfilled in respect to the I�tiqaad (belief i.e. Aqeedah) in the branches (Furoo�) and the Usool and the statement of Al-Imaam An-Nawawi (rh)

From the archives:

Al-Imaam An-Nawawi said: �The Usool of the Deen is obligatory to have I�tiqaad in by way of the Tawaatur. As for the Furoo� (branches) then it is not obligatory for the Tawaatur to be fulfilled (in respect to them)�.

This statement of An-Nawawi is not a Shar�iy Daleel; it is not valid to use it as evidence at all and so it is not permitted to present it as a Daleel (evidence) for the permission of Al-I�tiqaad (belief) in the branches without the Tawaatur being fulfilled (in respect to them). This is because it would represent deduction of a Hukm Shar�iy by other than the Adillah Ash-Shar�iyah (Islamic sources of evidence i.e. the Kitaab, Sunnah etc...) in the case where the speech of An-Nawawi is not from the Adillah Ash-Shar�iyah or from the Adillah Al-Aqliyyah (rational proofs).

Despite this it could be said (or argued) that Imaam An-Nawawi is a Mujtahid Imaam, this is his opinion, and so we follow it (Taqleed) from him whilst not adopting it as a Daleel Shar�iy. The answer to this is that the statement of An-Nawawi does not indicate that he is saying what has been said. This is because what An-Nawawi means is that the Usool of the Deen must have the Tawaatur fulfilled in respect to them whilst the Furoo� branches do not have to be fulfilled by the Tawaatur.

The Usool is of two categories: The first is that which the I�tiqaad (belief) falls under and this includes everything that is related to the Aqaa�id (beliefs) i.e. that which has come in a Shar�iy text demanding Imaan in it. The second category is what falls under the Usool of the Ahkaam and these are the Adillah Ash-Shar�iyah (the Shar�iyah evidences i.e. (sources) the Kitaab, Sunnah, Ijmaa and Qiyaas). This is different to the Furoo� (branches) because they represent a single category and they do not contain that which falls under the belief (I�tiqaad). Therefore everything that falls under the belief (I�tiqaad) is only from the Usool whilst there is nothing that enters into the I�tiqaad that is from the branches. For this reason An-Nawawi does not mean that it is permitted to have I�tiqaad (belief) in it because the issue of I�tiqaad does not come into it and this (the opinion that An-Nawawi said that the Furoo� can be taken into the I�tiqaad) is not attributable to An-Nawawi. Rather what he meant (by his statement) is that it is not necessary for the Tawaatur to be fulfilled or met in respect to it (the Furoo�) in order for it to be acted upon (i.e. action undertaken based on it). As such his speech is taken to refer to taking the Furoo� (to act upon) and not to believe in them.