Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. As to what follows: In response to your question, we say: The reply to these comparisons which seek to belittle the rulings of the Sharee’ah and nullify them is to show how much the Sahaba and the pious predecessors (may Allah be pleased with them) revered the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), their respect for the Prophet and how this was their conduct. The transmitted narrations which are contrary to this are specific issues which had their conditions, circumstances and rationale. It is known that cases of perceived contradictions in the texts from the Qur’an and Sunnah occurred during the time of the Sahabah (may Allah be pleased with them). Indeed some Sahaba asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) about areas which they could not understand in that regard and he answered them in a clear manner which removes doubts. It is known that if two texts seemingly oppose each other, and it is not possible to reconcile them, or to establish that one of the texts was abrogated, then we resort to giving preponderancy to one of the texts over the other, and this is what ’Umar did in this narration that was transmitted about him. However, Imam Ahmad refuted this narration and stated that the narration was weak. He said that what was transmitted about ‘Umaris that he said, “We do not allow a woman’s opinion in matters of our religion”. In any case the actions of those who have spiritual illnesses cannot be compared to those in whose hearts faith was firmly established and they were guided to the truth as Allah said, “As for those in whose hearts is deviation [from truth], they will follow that of it which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]” [al-‘Imran 2: 7].O Allah guide us and save us from the evil of our selves.
