The truth is one not multiple

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

قال ابن حزم:ـ
وَالْحَقُّ ‌مِنْ ‌الْأَقْوَالِ ‌فِي ‌وَاحِدٍ ‌مِنْهَا وَسَائِرُهَا خَطَأٌ. وَبِاَللَّهِ تَعَالَى التَّوْفِيقُ. قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: {فَمَاذَا بَعْدَ الْحَقِّ إِلا الضَّلالُ} [يونس: 32] وَقَالَ تَعَالَى: {وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلافًا كَثِيرًا} [النساء: 82] وَذَمَّ اللَّهُ الِاخْتِلَافَ فَقَالَ {وَلا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا} [آل عمران: 105] وَقَالَ: {وَلا تَنَازَعُوا فَتَفْشَلُوا} [الأنفال: 46] وَقَالَ: {تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ} [النحل: 89] فَصَحَّ أَنَّ الْحَقَّ فِي الْأَقْوَالِ مَا حَكَمَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِهِ فِيهِ، وَهُوَ وَاحِدٌ لَا يَخْتَلِفُ، وَأَنَّ الْخَطَأَ مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ عز وجل. وَمَنْ ادَّعَى أَنَّ الْأَقْوَالَ كُلَّهَا حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ كُلَّ مُجْتَهِدٍ مُصِيبٌ، فَقَدْ قَالَ قَوْلًا لَمْ يَأْتِ بِهِ قُرْآنٌ وَلَا سُنَّةٌ وَلَا إجْمَاعٌ وَلَا مَعْقُولٌ، وَمَا كَانَ هَكَذَا فَهُوَ بَاطِلٌ، وَيُبْطِلُهُ أَيْضًا قَوْلُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم إذَا اجْتَهَدَ الْحَاكِمُ فَأَخْطَأَ فَلَهُ أَجْرٌ فَنَصَّ عليه الصلاة والسلام أَنَّ الْمُجْتَهِدَ قَدْ يُخْطِئُ [المحلى (١/ ٨٨)]

Ibn Hazm said:
And the truth among the statements is in one of them, and the rest are error. And with Allāh the Exalted is the Tawfīq (success and guidance). Allāh the Exalted said: {So what is there after the truth except falsehood?} [Yūnus: 32]. And He the Exalted said: {And if it were from other than Allāh, they would have found within it much contradiction} [Al-Nisāʾ: 82]. And Allāh condemned disagreement (ikhtilāf), so He said: {And do not be like those who became divided and disagreed} [Āl ʿImrān: 105]. And He said: {And do not dispute, lest you lose courage} [Al-Anfāl: 46]. And He said: {…as a clarification for all things} [Al-Naḥl: 89]. Thus, it is established that the truth in the statements is what Allāh the Exalted has decreed concerning it, and it is one, it does not differ. And that error is that which is not from Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic. And whoever claims that all of the statements are truth and that every mujtahid (one performing ijtihād) is correct, has made a statement not brought by the Qurʾān, nor the Sunnah, nor Ijmāʿ (consensus), nor sound reasoning. And whatever is as such is false. This is also nullified by the statement of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ: “When the judge performs ijtihād and errs, he receives one reward.” So he explicitly stated that the mujtahid can indeed err. [al-Bukhari (7352) & Muslim (1716)] [Al-Muḥallā (1/88)]

ابن القاسم يقول: سمعت مالكا والليث بن سعد، يقولان في ‌اختلاف ‌أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وذلك أن أناسا يقولون: في ذلك توسعة فقال: ليس كذلك إنما هو خطأ وصواب
قال إسماعيل القاضي: إنما التوسعة في ‌اختلاف ‌أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم توسعة في اجتهاد الرأي فأما أن يكون توسعة لأن يقول الناس بقول واحد منهم من غير أن يكون الحق عنده فيه فلا ولكن اختلافهم يدل على أنهم اجتهدوا فاختلفوا
قال أبو عمر: كلام إسماعيل هذا حسن جدا [جامع بيان العلم (١٦٩٩) وسنده جيد]

Ibn al-Qāsim said: I heard Mālik and al-Layth ibn Saʿd, saying regarding the disagreement (ikhtilāf) of the companions of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ and that is because some people say: “In that (disagreement) there is leeway.” So (the imams) said: “It is not like that. Rather, it is correct and wrong.”

Ismāʿīl al-Qāḍī (d. 282) said (commenting): “The leeway in the disagreement of the companions of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ is leeway in the ijtihād (scholarly reasoning) of opinion. As for it being a leeway for people to adopt the statement of any one of them without the truth being with him in that matter, then no. But rather, their disagreement indicates that they performed ijtihād and (thus) differed.”

Abū ʿUmar (Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr) said: “This statement of Ismāʿīl is very good.” [Jāmiʿ Bayān al-ʿIlm (1699); Isnād Jayyid]

وفي رواية:ـ
عن مالك، أنه قال: في اختلاف أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ‌مخطئ ‌ومصيب فعليك بالاجتهاد [جامع بيان العلم (١٦٩٧) وسنده جيد]

Mālik (may Allāh have mercy on him) said: “In the disagreement of the Companions of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ, (there is) an erring one and a correct one, so upon you is to strive (to reach the truth).” [Jāmiʿ Bayān al-ʿIlm (1697); Isnād Jayyid]

قال الشافعي:ـ
«أرأيت ما اجتهد فيه المجتهدون كيف الحق فيه عند الله؟ قيل لا يجوز فيه عندنا والله تعالى أعلم أن يكون الحق فيه عند الله ‌كله ‌إلا ‌واحدا ‌لأن علم الله عز وجل وأحكامه واحد [الأم (٧ /٣١٧)]

Al-Shāfiʿī said:
“Consider that upon which the mujtahidūn have reasoned; what is the truth in it with Allāh? It is not permissible in our view, and Allāh the Exalted knows best, that the truth in it with Allāh be all of it (i.e., all the varying opinions). Rather, it is only one, because the knowledge of Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, and His rulings are one.” [Al-Umm (7/317)]

قال ابن عبد البر في باب ذكر الدليل من أقاويل السلف على أن الاختلاف خطأ وصواب:ـ
والنظر يأبى أن يكون الشيء ضده صوابا كله [جامع بيان العلم وفضله (١٧٤٠)]

Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr said in the chapter “Mentioning the Evidence from the Statements of the Salaf that Disagreement is (a matter of) right and wrong“:
“And sound reasoning rejects that a thing and its opposite can both be entirely correct.” [Jāmiʿ Bayān al-ʿIlm wa Faḍlihī (1740)]