(Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir, to the Questions of his Facebook Page Followers)
To: Shoakmal Imomnazarov
Question:
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, Peace be upon you, our noble Sheikh,
It was mentioned in the book The System of Islam (Nidham al-Islam) on page 11 the following: "Because his understanding of the regulation of man's instincts and organic needs is subject to discrepancy (tafawut), difference (ikhtilaf), and contradiction (tanaqud)." I understood that the two words "discrepancy" (tafawut) and "difference" (ikhtilaf) are synonyms, meaning they carry the same or a close meaning. However, the difference between them is that all tafawut is blameworthy, which is why Allah (swt) negated it from His action, saying: "You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency (tafawut)." Meanwhile, some forms of ikhtilaf are not blameworthy—do you not see His (swt) saying: "And to Him belongs the alternation (ikhtilaf) of the night and the day"? This type of ikhtilaf indicates the knowledge of its Doer, while tafawut indicates the ignorance of its doer. I mean that tafawut does not exist in the Shari'ah rules (ahkam shar'iyyah) or in matters of Creed (aqidah), unlike ikhtilaf, which exists in the rules of Shari'ah. However, some of our brothers claimed that these two words mean different things: that ikhtilaf means two opinions where there is a difference, but both are correct and lead to the goal, while tafawut also means two opinions with a difference, but one is correct and the other is wrong (i.e., one leads to the goal and the other does not).
We hope, O Sheikh, that you could detail and clarify what is intended by these two words—ikhtilaf and tafawut—as they appear in the book?
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,
The text you are referring to in the book The System of Islam is as follows:
"The evidence for the people’s need for Messengers is also that man has a need to satisfy his instincts and organic needs. If this satisfaction is left without a system, it leads to wrong or deviant satisfaction and causes man’s misery. Therefore, there must be a system to regulate man's instincts and organic needs. This system does not come from man because his understanding of the regulation of man's instincts and organic needs is subject to discrepancy (tafawut), difference (ikhtilaf), contradiction (tanaqud), and influence by the environment in which he lives. If this were left to him, the system would be subject to discrepancy, difference, and contradiction, leading to man’s misery. Thus, the system must be from Allah (swt)." End.
This text discusses human understanding of the regulation of instincts and organic needs, showing that this human understanding is beset by four matters that affect his judgments regarding this regulation, making such understanding inconsistent and incorrect. These four matters, although related to understanding, are not the same thing. Before I detail them, it is worth noting that these matters may occur in the understanding of a single individual—where his understanding of regulating an instinct today is one way, and tomorrow it is another—or they may occur between one person and another. Therefore, what we detail below may stem from the same person, varying by time and place, or between different people. Their meanings are as follows:
- Discrepancy (Tafawut) in understanding the regulation of instincts means diverse understandings where one is vastly distant from the other. Usually, these understandings are permeated with shortcomings and flaws resulting from ignorance, instability, and the absence of a fundamental principle upon which the understanding is built. Whether this tafawut is between two opinions of the same person across different days, or between two different people, tafawut in regulating instincts means the two opinions diverge greatly without an intellectual measure (miqyas fikri) for either. Rather, this divergence is mixed with ignorance and instability. Therefore, it is often the case that both opinions in regulating the instinct are wrong; rarely is one of them correct, but both are never correct. This is due to what the word tafawut carries linguistically in terms of a vast gap between two opinions accompanied by ignorance and instability.
It is worth noting that this meaning of tafawut applies to human understandings and opinions. As for Allah’s creations in this universe, there is no tafawut in them, because tafawut is mixed with flaws and shortcomings and is not free from ignorance and instability, and this cannot exist in Allah’s creations:
أَلَا لَهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالْأَمْرُ تَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِينَ
"Unquestionably, His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds." (Surah Al-A'raf [7]: 54)
As for the ikhtilaf (difference) in the form of the creations, the shape and form of the sun differ from those of the moon, and the night is different from the day; this exists in the creations of the universe:
وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ عِنْدَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍ
"And everything with Him is by due measure." (Surah Ar-Ra'd [13]: 8)
وَخَلَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ فَقَدَّرَهُ تَقْدِيرًا
"And He has created each thing and determined it with [precise] determination." (Surah Al-Furqan [25]: 2)
It is mentioned in Mukhtar al-Sahah: "(f-w-t): (fatahu) the thing... and (tafawata) two things: the distance between them grew (tafawutan)..." End.
It is mentioned in Al-Qamus al-Muhit: "(fatahu), the matter (fawtan and fawatan): it went away from him... and (tafawata) two things: the distance between them grew (tafawutan)... and 'You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency (tafawut)', meaning: a flaw..." End.
It is mentioned in Lisan al-Arab: "(f-w-t): Al-fawt is al-fawat. Fatani kadha i.e., it preceded me, and I preceded it (futtuhu)... and the matter escaped me (fawtan and fawatan)... and in the Mighty Revelation: 'You do not see in the creation of the Most Merciful any inconsistency (tafawut)'; the meaning: you do not see in His (swt) creation of the heavens any difference (ikhtilaf), nor instability (idhtirab)... and (tafawata) two things i.e., the distance between them grew (tafawutan), with a dammah on the waw." End.
- Difference (Ikhtilaf) in understanding the regulation of instincts means diverse understandings according to specific measures/criteria (maqayis) held by each party. One might see that the ownership of wealth has specific causes and follows them, and that the growth of ownership has causes he adopts, while another sees causes different from the ones the first adopts. Therefore, this ikhtilaf may contain truth and error because it is built on a specific measure, thinking, and planning regarding the understanding of regulation, etc. This is the case with the difference between madhahib (schools of thought) and thinkers. Some may be correct and others incorrect according to the intellectual principle followed. Therefore, it is often the case that one of the two opinions is correct... and it is possible for each of the two opinions to have an aspect of correctness according to its adopted measure, such as the followers of madhahib and some thinkers... and it is also possible for both differing opinions to be wrong.
It is mentioned in Mu'jam al-Furuq al-Lughawiyyah: "The difference between difference in madhahib (schools of thought) and difference in ajnas (genera): difference in madhahib is when one of two opponents goes to the opposite of what the other has gone to, while difference in ajnas is the inability of one of two things to replace the other. It is possible for a difference to occur between two parties where both are following falsehood, like the difference between the Jews and the Christians regarding the Messiah." End.
Lisan al-Arab (9/91): "Two matters differed (takhalafa and ikhtalafa): they did not agree. And everything that is not equal has differed (takhalafa and ikhtalafa)." End.
- Contradiction (Tanaqud): This is when the divergence between people in understanding and judgment reaches the point of total contradiction in every aspect regarding a single issue, as if one statement destroys the other.
It is mentioned in Lisan al-Arab (7/242): "(n-q-dh): Al-naqdh: the destruction of what you have concluded of a contract or building. In al-Sihah: al-naqdh is the destruction of a building, a rope, or a covenant. Others said: al-naqdh is the opposite of conclusion (ibram)..."
To clarify the difference between these three, we mention an example regarding the instinct of survival (gharizat al-baqa)—one of its manifestations being ownership:
Ikhtilaf in this matter would be, for example, if one person sees the growth of property through an Al-Inan partnership, while another sees it through a joint-stock company; i.e., due to a different cause.
Tafawut would be if one sees that ownership should be unrestricted in any amount, while the other sees that it should be limited to a tiny amount just to keep one alive.
Tanaqud would be if one sees the permissibility of private property while the other sees the abolition of private property.
- Influence by the environment: This is a fourth factor that affects man's understanding of matters because every human being is raised in a specific environment with prevailing rules. His mind is undoubtedly affected by the surrounding environment, both negatively and positively. His environment may influence him to find certain matters acceptable that someone living in another environment would not, or his environment might influence him to loathe and be repelled by some prevailing practices. If the regulation of instincts were left to man, his environment might become the source of his understanding and judgments. This is why it is wrong for rules to be taken from reality; rather, reality should be the object of treatment, not its source.
These four matters cause human judgments in regulating the satisfaction of instincts and organic needs to be characterized by them; thus, human judgments come out discrepant, different, contradictory, and influenced by the environment on a single issue. Therefore, the human mind is incapable of producing a correct regulation for satisfying instincts and organic needs. As for the system that comes from Allah (swt), it is from the Creator of human beings and is not subject to these four matters; thus, it is the correct system that must be followed. This is the truth:
فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلَّا الضَّلَالُ
"So what can be beyond truth except error?" (Surah Yunus [10]: 32)
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu al-Rashtah
30 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1437 AH 02/09/2016 CE
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