Ibn Ashur says that a weak hadith is open to error, and qiyas is open to error, but in addition, the weak hadith may be a lie and the consequence of using it would be worse than using qiyas. Ibn Ashur believes that al-Shafi'i was misunderstood as accepting a solitary hadith over the larger context and that Ahmad ibn Hanbal was misrepresented as accepting a weak hadith over qiyas. Preferring a solitary hadith over a rational deduction based on context would be problematic. He worried that taking a solitary (ahad) hadith in isolation from the body of shari'ah would end the quest for understanding in context. He suggested that comments seemingly to the contrary from Imam al-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal must be distortions of their work. Instead, legislative value should be sought from the totality of shari'ah. Ibn Ashur questioned the juridical weight of an isolated hadith in determining legislation. In contrast, the return of generations to Medina to assess the meaning of a statement shows the importance of understanding context. The entire field surrounding the word must be considered. Further, while written words are less subject to distortion, the spoken word is actually more likely to convey the speaker's intent. Ibn Ashur asserted the view that language is fundamentally ambiguous and is not enough to determine the intent of a speaker. Portrait of Mohamed Tahar Ben Achour at the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts (Carthage). Appropriate legal responses to situations in the modern world cannot be found by delving deeper and deeper into the meaning of a word. He claimed that the discipline of usul al-fiqh had reached its limits and become over-burdened with methodological technicalities. Ibn Ashur intended his work to be relevant for the modern world. His work on the ultimate purposes of Shari'a represented an attempt to revive the maqasid theory of Shatibi and an effort to renew Islamic legal theory. Responding to modern challenges to Islamic traditions, Ibn Ashur called for substantive reforms in Islamic education. His references to the great works of law are respectful, but he does not hesitate to point out shortcomings. He positioned himself as a bridge between the classical Islamic legal heritage and the needs of a modern world. Influenced by a visit to Tunisia by Muhammad Abduh, Ibn Ashur combined knowledge of the classics with a desire to revive Islamic civilization. He responded by stating "Prescribed for you is fasting", and announced on the radio, "God has spoken the truth and Bourguiba has spoken falsehood." He was, as a result, dismissed from his post.
He is famous for rejecting Habib Bourguiba's (president of Tunisia) request for a fatwa to justify abandoning the fast of the month of Ramadan because it harmed productivity. His masterpiece is the Maqasid al-Shari'ah al-Islamiyyah, the Intents, or Higher Goals of Islamic Law, published in 1946. He was a teacher at Zaytuna all his life. When he entered Zaytuna, care was made to provide him the best teachers. The family had shown dedication to the pursuit of knowledge for generations. Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur was born in Tunis in 1879 to an affluent family and died in 1973 at age 94.