Thus, the Sunnah gives clarity and detail to that which is general in the Qur’ân, specifying and restricting that which is not specific, as al Imâm Ahmad said [𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐟𝐬𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐫’â𝐧, 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐫’â𝐧].
*[𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐡]: Meaning there is no analogy in the Religion of Allah. In the presence of a text there is no analogy, and it is not opposed by any intellect, analogy, opinion, or anything else. We have no other choice except but to submit.
As Allâh--The Most High--says:
"𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨, 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 (𝐎 𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐝 ﷺ) 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 (𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦) 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧." [An-Nisa: 65]
Some people go to extremes concerning the use of analogies, to the point that this extremity leads them to reject texts, and they may even say "This text opposes the fundamentals, and this text opposes the usage of analogy," falling into extremes in this issue.
With this principle, al-Imâm Ahmad is refuting the likes of these people, because in certain unique cases analogy is used, but it is, as they say, like the dead meat that is only eaten during times of complete necessity. Rather, Sheikh al-Islâm Ibn Taymiyyah- may Allah, The Most High, have mercy on him-mentioned in one of his small works (entitled) Ma’ârij al-Wusûl in clarifying that the Messenger (ﷺ) explained the Primary and Secondary Affairs of the Religion:
"𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 (𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝) 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐭."
Likewise, no group used (a correct) analogy except that there is a text with the same meaning, but the people vary in their grasp of the (religious) texts. Only a small amount of people understood the text like al- Imâm Ahmad or (even) come close to his understanding. Because of this, you find many scholars have used analogy correctly, with the guidance of Allah. But with a more expansive study of the Prophetic Sunnah, a text would be found in the Islâmic Legislation (about the same issue). This is because the Mesenger (ﷺ) clarified every aspect of the religion, the primary and secondary affairs, and did not leave anything.
As Allah--The Most High--said:
"𝐖𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤." [Al-Anâ'm: 38]
Also Allâh's Statement:
"...𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐈𝐬𝐥â𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧..." [Al-Ma'idah: 3]
Our Religion is complete, free from deficiencies. Some people exert great effort using analogies. Their analogy may be correct and in agreement with the text, but there may be a legislative text concerning the issue that has not reached them. If the person (using analogy) were to have known of the text, he would have left of the usage of analogy, and sufficed himself with seeking proof from the text. There may come after him, a scholar who studied the Sunnah from the different books of hadith, for example Ibn Taymiyyah -- may Allah, The Most High, have mercy on him--and he finds that a particular consensus amongst the scholars actually had a text to support it. So although the consensus may have been correct and in agreement with the legislative proofs, only if the text reached them, they would have used it as a proof, but they did not find it. So there may be scholars who came after them, who examined their works, such as Ibn Taymiyyah--may Allah, The Most High, have mercy on him--and other than him and found that there are authentic texts narrated from the Prophet (ﷺ) (to support them in their analogies and consensus).
