Conflicts between Dala’il were Conflicts of Interpretation
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ As Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hakim Murad Timothy John Winter wrote, the reasons underlying cases of apparent conflict between various revealed texts were scrutinised closely by the early ‘ulama , often amid sustained debate between brilliant minds backed up with the most perfect photographic memories. Much of the science of uswul al-fiqh , Islamic jurisprudence, was developed in order to provide consistent mechanisms for resolving such conflicts in a way which ensured fidelity to the basic ethos of Islam. The term ta’arudh al-adillah , mutual contradiction of proof-texts, is familiar to all students of Islamic jurisprudence as one of the most sensitive and complex of all Muslim legal concepts. Early scholars such as Imam Abu Muhammad ‘Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn Qutaybah al-Marwazi ( r.a. ) felt obliged to devote whole books to the subject, including Ta’wil Mukhtalif al-Hadits . Mention should also be made of Imam Abu Ja’far Ahmad ...