Thursday, July 11, 2024
Tuesday, July 9, 2024
Should You Follow a Madhhab?
Hanafi, Maaliki, Shaafi'i, Hanbali, we've all heard of it, but what are they exactly?
In Islam, a madhhab is a school of thought. To put it simply, there are four major scholars whose religious rulings are commonly referred to by Muslims seeking knowledge.
These scholars lived way back, and at the time they were not consciously creating these schools of thought. They simply happened to be among the most knowledgeable and pious (and Allah knows best) of their time, and thus when they shared the knowledge they had gathered over a lifetime, they attracted students and followers who hung on their every word.
Eventually those students and the ones who came after wrote down the advice, rulings, and musings of these scholars, and over time the points of view ossified into the four major mathaahib (plural of mathhab). The four major scholars who lent their names to these schools of thought were Imaams Abu Hanifah, Maalik, Shafi’i, and ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on them).
Nowadays, over 1400 years after the time of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), almost every Muslim identifies at least marginally with one school of thought. If you are from a certain country in Africa, you will be Maaliki, or if your country is in a certain part of Asia, you might be a Shafi'i.
Now, the controversy arises due to the fact that since these scholars were human beings, they were correct in some instances and may have erred in some instances. Some Muslims say if you grew up learning within a particular school of thought, you have to adhere to it no matter what.
Others decry this “blind following” and stress that you have to follow the evidence. If scholar “A’s” point of view is weak, then even if your entire country follows him, if you find the evidence supports scholar “B”, you have to abandon the first and follow the one who is correct.
Some say this leads to “fatwa shopping” where a person will deliberately seek out a ruling that supports his internal desire. The squabbling over schools of thought has gone on for centuries and there are some Muslims who are quite fanatical about it.
But here is a simple explanation that will insha Allah lessen the confusion a bit and give you a clearer picture.
Your “mathhab”, your school of thought, will vary depending on YOU. Imagine that you are an illiterate peasant who lives in a rural farm in Egypt. You are not educated. When you have a question about Islam, you go to the local Imaam. HE is effectively your “mathhab” because since you are not educated you have to rely on what he tells you is right or wrong.
If you are the Imaam in that little village, you can read and write and you went for higher studies at the Islamic University of Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The teachers there taught strictly according to Hanbali fiqh (the mathhab of Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal) so that is all that you learned. You are simply a village Imaam without a lot of resources so you always give advice based on your mathhab because that is what you know and you don’t have internet access or further chances to study because you are a farmer also so you are usually right next to everyone in the field. So your mathhab is Hanbali because that is what you know.
Now, imagine you are a scholar at Madinah University. You are highly educated, have the latest technology and you have the best scholars in the world on speed dial. You grew up in the Hanbali fiqh, but you are not a blind follower and when someone brings you a difficult question you access all your resources to find the best answer regardless of whose school of thought it comes from. You are mainly Hanbali in your outlook, but you are also open to other points of view. This is the correct position for someone with this level of education.
In our time and in the times before us, there are and were great scholars who ascribe to Madthabs, while, in reality, they followed the evidences. Their ascription to their Madthab only came because they studied that Madthab specifically, or that it was the one that was common in their land. Thus, they have been given the ascription to the Madthab, not because they were blind followers.
So it is said about:
• Ibn Taymiyah, for example, that he was a Hanbali.
• Ibn Al-Qayyim that he was a Hanbali, too.
• Ibn Hajr that he was a Shafi'i.
• Al-Laknawee that he was a Hanafi.
• Sheikh Bin Baz and Sheikh Ibn 'Uthaymin that they were Hanbalis.
• Sheikh Al-Fawzan that he is a Hanbali.
and the reality is that they all followed the evidences.
The Manhaj of all of these great scholars is to give verdicts according to the evidence. When the evidence came to them, they followed it. If they did not have the evidence, then they would give a verdict according to their Madthabs.
The most important thing to remember is ALL the scholars of the major schools were one hundred percent united when it came to the usool or foundations of the deen, Their aqeedah and manhaj were one and the same. They only differed regarding various fiqh issues. For example, one school might say to raise your arms higher when making takbir in salah. Another might say only to raise them to chest level. Each will have some sort of proof for his point of view.
Shirk : The Greatest Sin
You may already know what is Tawheed. However, to truly understand Tawheed, its opposite, Shirk, must also be understood. The greatest thing Allah has commanded us to do is worship Him alone, and the greatest sin He has forbidden is Shirk.
Shirk is an Arabic word which means sharing something with others that ONLY Allah deserves, such as worshiping others or describing others with Allah’s descriptions. Making someone or something equal to Allah is Shirk. It is to belittle Allah, believing Him to be less than He is while believing others are equal to Him.
You may remember that there are three categories of Tawheed. Shirk is done when you associate partners with Allah in each of these three categories.
1 - Shirk in Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah
Shirk in Tawheed of Lordship is to believe that others besides Allah create or share control over His creation. This belief means that someone other than Allah can make good things happen or keep bad things from happening.
One example of this type of Shirk is to believe something brings good luck. People often have “good luck” rings or similar items they believe will help good things to happen to them. Others tie special strings with Quranic verses believing they are a protection against bad things.
Only Allah can protect us from bad things and we should only seek His protection in ways He mentions in the Quran or the Prophet صلّى الله عليه وسلّم taught us in the hadīth.
Another common example of Shirk in Tawheed of Lordship is when people believe the souls of the dead can control things in this life even after their death, and so they pray to them. This is completely wrong because Allah alone controls everything that is in the heavens and the earth.
2 - Shirk in Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat
Shirk in Tawheed of Names and Attributes is to believe that Allah can be described with the descriptions of the creation, or to believe that others besides Allah share in His descriptions.
There are several ways this type of Shirk is made. One example is when people make statues or paintings of God, claiming they are images of Allah. By doing so, they have described Allah in the image or form of people although Allah says: "There is nothing like Him".
Christians fall into this type of Shirk when they believe Allah has a son, because procreating is an attribute of the creation, not the Creator.
Another example is when many Jewish people claim that Allah likes the Jews more than all other people – just because they were born to a Jewish parent. This belief of theirs means that Allah is prejudiced and unfair just like some people are, and this is describing Allah with descriptions of people.
Yet another way this type of Shirk can occur is when people raise other humans up to the level of Allah. For example there are those believe fortunetellers and soothsayers know the secrets of the unknown.
Only Allah is the All-Knowing. Only He has knowledge of the Ghayb (the unseen). Palm readers and astrologers do not have true knowledge of the unseen, and believing that they do is Shirk because you're saying that they know what only Allah knows.
3- Shirk in Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah
Shirk in Tawḥeed of Worship is worshiping others along with Allah. We must NEVER share our worship with other than Allah. There are two types of Shirk in this category: Major Shirk and Minor Shirk.
• Major Shirk :
Major Shirk is any type of Shirk the Quran or the ḥadīth explains that whoever does it is not considered a Muslim anymore.
Major Shirk dooms the person to live in Hell forever if he does not stop making Major Shirk before he dies. Any form of worship that is done for other than Allah is Major Shirk.
A common example of Major Shirk is when people pray to idols or objects or other people such as prophets or saints, believing those people hear or answer prayers. If someone makes Major Shirk, all their good deeds may be ruined and lost.
• Minor Shirk :
Minor Shirk is any type of saying or action that the Quran or ḥadīth describes as being Shirk but that the person who says or does it could still be considered a Muslim.
Some common superstitions are also Minor Shirk. For example, if someone believes Allah will allow bad things to happen if he does not wear a certain ring or hang verses from the Quran in his house, or if a black cat crosses his path. These are all forms of Minor Shirk because Allah has not made those things ways to cause or prevent bad things from happening.
However, if someone believes those things themselves actually cause or prevent bad things from happening instead of Allah, then this becomes Major Shirk. Such a wrong belief would then mean there are other things besides Allah that control creation.
Another form of Minor Shirk is harder to recognize. This type of “hidden Shirk” is in a person’s intention, or the reason he does something. When someone does a good deed—which he should do for only Allah—yet he does his good deed just for people to think he is a good worshiper, this is a form of Minor Shirk.
Examples of this may be if someone prays very well, raises his voice while remembering Allah or reading the Quran, or gives charity but he does so only for people to think and say good things about him.
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We do not study Tawheed and Shirk simply to memorize detailed categories and types of Shirk. We learn Tawheed for the purpose of getting closer to Allah by believing in and worshiping him in the way he wants. Similarly, we learn Shirk so we know what beliefs, statements, and actions make Allah displeased and take us out of the fold of Islam.
Shirk is a real threat and one we must be vigilant against, because no one is safe from misguidance. Because of its importance, the Prophet صلّى الله عليه وسلّم taught us to ask Allah's protection from knowingly making Shirk in belief, statement, or action. We must also ask for His forgiveness if we happen to make a mistake by believing, saying, or doing anything that is Shirk that we may not know.
Please click here to find the dua against Shirk.
All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah Alone, the Lord of the Worlds, and may He forgive us our sins and make us among those who are truly guided. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his Companions. Ameen.
Reference :
Title: Explaining Shirk: The Greatest Sin
Original Title: شرح ثلاثة الأصول، كتاب التوحيد، الإرشاد إلى صحيح الإعتقاد
Original Authors: Shaykh Muḥammad Ibn Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn and Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān
Salaf Quotes: Look Where You Take Your Deen From
Shaykh Ahmad Bazmool states:
'...This is how important this is, this knowledge is deen, something that he will be raised with on the day of judgment...the Muslim must look and take his deen from Ahlus-Sunnah, as-Salafiyyoon, known for knowledge, being upright and having taqwaa'
'Imaam Maalik said it is not enough for someone to be a worshipper, and to be known for Zuhd, outward expression of worship, that you take from them...but they did not take from them because that was not their affair (knowledge), they were worshippers that's all. In this time we see someone who has a lihyah (beard), his thobe above his ankles and he is then the muftee of his area, this is a mistake!'
'It is forbidden for the one who is asked and doesn't know, to answer. Likewise it is haraam for the one to ask one who doesn't know...he has to ask the scholar...if you had a medical situation, would we go to a mechanic? And if we had a problem with our car, would we go to a farmer...no we would go to each individual who is a specialist in their field...so when it comes to the issue of deen, we must go to the scholars, it is not right to ask (just) anybody or do what everyone else is doing.'
''Abu Dardaa' went to the masjid one day (in the time of the tabi’een) and he observed the people praying differently than according to the Sunnah, so he came home angry and his wife (Ummudh-Dardaa') asked him what has made you angry? He said, 'By Allaah I don't see anything from the time of the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) except praying together (meaning that they had abandoned much of the Sunnah).
This is his statement whilst he was close to the time of the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam). So what about know? 1400 years after that, are general masses upon Sunnah? Are the general masses upon knowledge? No! Rather we should follow the scholars!'
Source: 'Explanation of the Statement of Ibn Seereen 'Indeed this Knowledge is Religion' by Shaykh Abu ‘Umar Ahmad Baazmool (Troid)
A Glimpse at Four Great Men in the History of Islam
In the past fourteen centuries of Islam, there have been a number of men and women who have left indelible marks in the history of this deen, but amongst all of them, these four men are especially noted.
Why? Because the sheer magnitude of what they did to preserve this deen was so great that it continues to reverberate through the centuries, whereby Allaah تعالى has raised their names to be forever taken as the greatest defenders of His deen.
Why is it important for us to know about the great scholars who have preceded us and their invaluable service to this deen?
Because we need to see and we need to realize the blood and the sweat, the patience and the striving, the effort and everything that went behind into what these great men stood for and what they called to.
Saying "Sadaq Allahu al-Azeem" Has NO BASIS
Many people have the habit of ending a recitation from the Qur'an with the words "Sadaqa Allaahu al-‘Azeem (Allah has spoken the truth)," but this has no basis in Islam because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not do it, nor was it the custom of the Sahaabah رضي الله عنهم, and it was unknown among the Taabi’een (the generation after the Sahaabah).
This custom arose in later times because some reciters would say these words, on the basis of the ayah: "Say: Allah has spoken the truth" [Surah al-Imraan 3:95], and people liked this. But this istihsaan (being liked) should be rejected, because if this was really something good, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, the Sahaabah and the Salaf (the best generations of the Ummah) would not have neglected to do it.
The aayah, "Say: Allah has spoken the truth” (Surah al-Imraan 3:95) does not mean that these words should be said at the end of any reading or recitation. If that were the case, Allah سبحانه و تعالى would have said, "When you finish reading, say "Allah has spoken the truth,’" just as He said: "So when you want to recite the Qur’an, seek refuge with Allah from Shaytaan (Satan), the outcast (the cursed one)" [Surah al-Nahl 16:98]/.
The ayah which the innovators use to support their practice of saying "Sadaqa Allah" after reciting Qur’an was actually revealed in the context of commanding the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to make it clear to people that the revelations contained in the Tawrah (Torah), the Injil (Gospel) and all the other heavenly revealed Scriptures are true.
By the same token, revelations contained in the Glorious Qur'an are true. Believing that Allah has spoken the truth is obligatory, and whoever disbelieves or doubts the truth of what Allah has said is a kaafir who is outside of the pale of Islam. We seek refuge with Allah from that.
However, there is nothing wrong if someone happens to say this expression unintentionally. If a person says "Allah has spoken the truth" on certain occasions, such as when something He has foretold comes to pass, affirming the truth of what He has said, then this is permissible, because something similar has been reported in the Sunnah.
In short, there exists NO evidence in the Shari'ah that makes it desirable to conclude recitation of the Qur'an by saying: "Sadaqa Allaahu al-‘Azeem". It belongs to the category of Bid`ah, particularly when someone believes it to be an act of Sunnah. This expression has to be left unsaid so that one would be following the example of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.
Since Allah سبحانه و تعالى always speaks the truth, this expression of "Sadaqa Allaahu al-‘Azeem" has to be thought of as an absolute expression which should not be limited to a given time, place, or situation. Therefore, habitual recitation of this expression whenever one finishes reading the Qur'an has NO evidence in its support as has been mentioned above.
Reference :
- Izaalat al-Sitaar ‘an al-Jawaab al-Mukhtaar by Sheikh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, Page No. 79-80
- Fatwas of Sheikh Ibn Baz : Volume 9 : Part No. 9 : Page No. 343
- The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' : Volume 3 : Fatwa No. 21039
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