In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise belongs to Allāh, Lord of the worlds. May Allāh send salutations and peace upon our Prophet Muḥammad, upon his family and all of his Companions. To proceed:

I came across a statement written by one of the brothers in Canada [TROID]—may Allāh guide both him and us to correctness in statements and actions—the gist of which is that he benefited from sitting with the scholars—as he claims—by returning to the people of specialization and proceeding according to their opinion in matters related to their field of specialization.

He concluded his statement with the following phrase: “In all of this, our Salafī scholars raised us upon returning to the people of specialization; then, in matters of medicine and illnesses—regarding which there is disagreement, past and present—we abandon a Salafī S͟hayk͟h Dr. [Amjad Rafīq] knowledgeable in correct creed, knowledgeable in medicine, specialized in biochemistry, holding a doctorate in it, having practiced it for thirty years? And he is among the most prominent authors and translators for the scholars into the English language, and among those with the greatest contribution to scholarly authorship in English and the establishment of several websites for the support of Islam and the refutation of disbelief, shirk, and innovations—may Allāh increase him and us in good—the introductory groundwork in his books, which gather the statements of the scholars and compare between their views in medicine and pharmacy, is something truly remarkable.

So whose statement, after this, are we to accept or even consider?

O Allāh, rectify our state if affairs and benefit us by what You have taught us through the senior scholars.” — End.

I will not address everything that he mentioned in his writing; rather, I will suffice by focusing on the portion of his words that I have quoted.

So I say—and I seek refuge with Allāh from idle speech—that among the established and affirmed principles is the obligation of referring back to the scholars, especially when significant matters and overwhelming calamities arise.

Indeed, a great calamity passed over the people a few years ago, namely the Coronavirus pandemic, the disease that spread throughout the world and resulted in many deaths.

The scholars spoke and issued fatāwā regarding this calamity, whether concerning medical matters such as vaccination and the like, or matters related to acts of worship, such as congregational prayer with distancing and other issues; whereby they fulfilled what Allāh obligated upon them of clarifying the legal rulings, in accordance with the observed principles, and with consideration of consequences and objectives.

And it is of great importance to know that when a scholar issues a fatwā regarding a calamity from among calamities, he does not do so except after fully comprehending the reality, studying the matter from all its angles, and listening to the statements of the people of expertise, if the situation requires that.

Ibnul-Qayyim (may Allāh have mercy upon him) said: “Neither the muftī nor the judge is able to issue a fatwā or judge with the truth except through two types of understanding: The first is understanding the reality and having fiqh of it, and deriving knowledge of the true nature of what has occurred through indications, clues, and signs, until he fully comprehends it.

The second type is: understanding what is obligatory within that reality, which is understanding the ruling of Allāh that He has judged in His Book, or upon the tongue of His Messenger, regarding that reality, and then applying one of the two to the other.” (Iʿlām Al-Muwaqqiʿīn 1/78)

As for contemporary medical issues, even though they are intricate, arriving at their true nature and proper depiction is not difficult. Therefore, referring back to specialists and trustworthy, reliable physicians is an accessible matter, through which proper conceptualization of the issue is attained; and “judging a matter is contingent upon its correct understanding.”

The scholars have mentioned issues in their books wherein they clarified that the reference point for knowing their actual form is the physicians, in order to determine the extent and magnitude of the illness, so that the jurist may build the ruling upon that description.

Ibn Qudāmah (may Allāh have mercy upon him) said: “Whatever is unclear regarding illnesses is referred back to the statement of the people of knowledge, namely the physicians, because they are the people of expertise, experience, and knowledge in that.” (Al-Mug͟hnī 6/203)

The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwā had issued a ruling regarding birth-control pills, and what appears in their answer is as follows: “As for the ruling differing due to the differing nature of the pills and medications, its explanation is as follows: these medications and pills intended for use in preventing pregnancy—if they are free from harmful effects similar to the harm one seeks to prevent—then it is permissible to use them, as previously clarified.

But if they contain harm equivalent to the harm intended to be prevented, then it is not permissible, because ‘harm is not removed by harm.’ The reference point in assessing what harms they contain is the people of expertise in that field, by analyzing these pills and medications and diagnosing the harms they contain and the extent of their effects.” (See Fatāwā Al-Lajnah Ad-Dāʾimah 19/293–295)

And this is Imām Al-Albānī (may Allāh have mercy upon him) seeking clarification regarding an issue related to organ transplant in order to clarify its Islamic ruling, when he addressed one of the physicians, saying: “Yes—provide us with your input, doctor.” So the doctor replied: “Repeat the question once again.”

S͟hayk͟h Al-Albānī said: “Has it been established in medicine that a person’s heart can be removed from his chest and replaced with another human or artificial heart, and that he continues to live, live, and live—not merely a temporary life like the one people experience, which without these scientific mechanical means the person would die, continuing to breathe but not actually feeling life—does the person with that heart live?”

The doctor said: “Yes, there are some cases where they lived for years…” (see Silsilat Al-Hudā wan-Nūr, tape no. 262, to follow the rest of the discussion)