[Birds chirping]
Fatwa in the Prophetic era.
Praise be to Allah ﷻ, who guided us to Islam.
We would never have been guided had Allah ﷻ not guided us.
Praise be to Him for making us the best nation raised for mankind.
He sent down to us the most comprehensive Book.
He sent us the best of messengers. May Allah ﷻ bless him and grant him peace.
It is the office He Himself, Glorious and Exalted, assumed.
That Allah ﷻ Himself assumed it is honor and majesty enough.
The definition of fatwa in language is: answering a question.
In technical terms, it means conveying a ruling without compulsion.
Al-Fayruzabadi, may Allah ﷻ have mercy on him, said:
"Fitya, fatwa, and fatwa mean what the jurist issues."
Muhammad ﷺ, chief of men, and of the messengers, held it first.
He would issue fatwas from Allah ﷻ through His clear revelation.
His fatwas, peace be upon him, were comprehensive and decisive.
In this, they are second only to the Book. Obey them, apply them, and judge by them.
No Muslim may turn away from them as long as one can refer to them.
Allah ﷻ commanded His servants to refer matters back to Him.
"If you dispute over anything, refer it to Allah ﷻ and the Messenger."
In the Prophetic era, fatwas were not limited to the Prophet ﷺ.
A number of his Companions attained this lofty honor.
These Companions took the faith from its pure source.
They kept to the Sharia's commands and its rulings.
They gave fatwas as they had heard from the Prophet ﷺ, without deviation.
He was still living among them.
In his book Al-Mudhish, Ibn al-Jawzi names them.
He listed those who gave fatwas in the Prophet's time.
They numbered fourteen Companions, including Abu Bakr (RA) and Umar (RA).
Uthman, Ali, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, Ibn Mas'ud, Ubayy, and Mu'adh (RA).
Ammar, Hudhayfah, Zayd ibn Thabit, Abu al-Darda', Abu Musa, and Salman (RA).
Shaykh Najm al-Din ibn Qadi Ajlun summed this up:
"In our Prophet's time, fatwas were given by the rightly guided caliphs and imams.
Mu'adh, Ammar, Zayd ibn Thabit, Ubayy, Ibn Mas'ud, Awf, and Hudhayfah.
Abu Bakr gave fatwas with approval, and his assent therein was a distinction.
Then Abu Musa and Salman, their scholar, and Abu al-Darda' completed the list."
The fatwas of the Prophet ﷺ stood out for their eloquence and fit their audience.
He weighed each person's case: sometimes firm, at other times lenient.
They were exceptionally clear, free of complexity and affectation.
Realistic and grounded in wisdom.
Mindful of welfare and justice.
In familiar speech, people grasp it easily, without confusion or hesitation.
It ranges between elaboration and brevity.
It gives detail when needed, as in subsidiary rulings.
At times, it is general, as in major issues of creed.
Thus the Companions absorbed the faith's broad and detailed teachings.
They needed no extra time or further review.
Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami (RA) said this of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
"May my father and mother be sacrificed for him."
"He never struck, scolded, or insulted me."
"I never saw a better teacher, before him or after him."
Reported by al-Nasa'i.
In this paper, we present some examples of the fatwa methods of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
First: fatwa by revelation.
By direct revelation, as in the story of al-Mujadilah.
Al-Mujadilah was Khawlah bint Malik (RA).
Her husband was Aws ibn al-Samit (RA). He declared zihar against her.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ gave her the ruling through the verses revealed about her.
Secondly, there was facilitation and removal of hardship.
Aisha (RA) related this about Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
"Given two choices, he chose the easier unless it was sinful."
“If it was sinful, he kept farthest from it.” — al-Bukhari
Abdullah ibn Amr (RA) related this incident.
He saw Prophet Muhammad ﷺ preaching on the Day of Sacrifice.
A man rose and said, “I thought this should not precede that.”
Then another rose and said, “I thought this should not precede that.”
“I shaved before sacrificing.”
“I applied perfume before slaughtering, before stoning, and the like.”
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do it. No harm.” That day, he said that to everyone.
al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated from Asma' (RA).
A woman asked the Prophet ﷺ.
“If menstrual blood gets on our clothes, what should we do?”
He said, “Remove it, wash it with water, then sprinkle it and pray in it.”
Asked about using seawater for wudu, he said:
“Its water is pure, and its dead animals are lawful.”
Third: taking necessity and need into account.
'Imran ibn Husayn (RA), who had piles, asked the Prophet ﷺ about prayer.
He said, “Pray standing; if you cannot, then sitting; if not, on your side.”
This hadith is in al-Bukhari.
Fourth: the Prophet's ﷺ approval of what two traveling Companions did.
They found no water, made tayammum, and prayed.
Then they found water before the time ended.
One repeated the prayer and the other did not.
When they told the Prophet ﷺ, he approved both.
To the one who did not repeat, he said these words.
“You followed the Sunnah, and your prayer sufficed.”
To the one who repeated, he said, “You have double reward.”
Sunan Abi Dawud. Fifth: a practical answer to the asker.
In al-Bukhari, in the hadith of Ammar ibn Yasir (RA), a man came to Umar (RA).
"I became junub and found no water."
Ammar ibn Yasir (RA) said to Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA).
"Don't you remember that you and I were once on a journey?"
"You did not pray, while I rolled in the dust and prayed."
"I mentioned that to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and he replied."
"It would have been enough for you to do this."
Prophet ﷺ struck the dust with both palms. He blew on them, wiped face and hands.
Sixth: kindness to one who asks, without speaking harshly to him.
We'll stop. We'll stop. We'll stop.
A page and a half remains. We'll stop now; the rest is in the shop.
Do we continue, or stop? Stop.
All right, a few points remain. Allah ﷻ willing, they'll be at the shop.
We ask Allah ﷻ to grant success to us and to you.
May He make this gathering blessed and what follows it protected.
May He reward those in charge of it with goodness.
Final prayer: Praise be to Allah ﷻ, Lord of all worlds.
Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah ﷻ be upon you.
Thank you. Thank you.