From `AbdulAziz ibn `Abdullah Ibn Baz to respectable Muslim brother, His Eminence Shaykh Sulayman Ibn `AbdulRahman Ibn Hamdan, may Allah increase him in knowledge and faith and grant him and me insight in the Prophetic Sunnah and the Holy Qur'an! Amen!
May Allah's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you! To proceed; I have received your letter, dated 8/10/1389 A.H. may Allah keep us all with those who fear and obey Him! This letter includes a comment on an article I published in some local newspapers in the month of Sha`ban of the same year, concerning the question of traveling into space.
I reviewed what Your Eminence had mentioned, but I found nothing to make me review what I had mentioned in the article. I exerted much effort on discussing this question, reflected on the Qur'an and the Prophetic Hadiths that tackle this question, and sought the truth with regard to this topic to give Muslims advice and defend the Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah, lest those believing what has been claimed by astronauts regarding landing on the surface of the moon should think that the Holy Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah had told something opposite to the reality.
There could be no doubt that the Holy Qur'an and the authentic Prophetic Sunnah can not include anything that opposes the tangible or logical reality. If there is something thought to oppose the reality, a Muslim should know that this thing is not true. Rather, a Muslim should be aware that mistakes arise from a person's belief or misunderstanding, i.e. regarding what is untrue as true, what is unreal as real, what is unauthentic Hadith as authentic, or misinterpreting the Ayahs of the Holy Qur'an and the Hadiths of the authentic Prophetic Sunnah.
How many who may criticize a true statement just out of his ill understanding
As a matter of fact, there are many proofs of this question. ShaykhulIslam Ibn Taymiyyah and his notable student Ibn AlQayyim (may Allah be pleased with both of them) stressed this point in many topics in their books. And this is known by you and many people.
In a nutshell, the article aimed to show the truth, remove doubts, urge people to seek the truth with regard to the questions related to their religion, and not to believe, belie, or disbelieve any matter quickly unless there is solid evidence. If what I wrote is true, so all praise be to Allah; if not, this would be of my scant knowledge and Satan. Allah (may He be Exalted ) and His Prophet (peace be upon him) are innocent of it.