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Post by Admin on Jan 30, 2015 17:01:18 GMT
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2015 0:13:29 GMT
Darul-Uloom Deoband, is a great central and religious teaching institution for the Muslims of Asia, which has been rendering for a period of more than 114 years the service for the reviving and progress of religious sciences like Tafsir, Hadith, Fiqh, Kalam, culture, morality, etc. After the collapse of the Mughal sultanate in India when the English, in view of their own political expediencies, had altogether abolished the old institutions teaching the Islamic arts and sciences, at that time not only for the survival of the Islamic arts and sciences and the Islamic culture but also for keeping Muslims as Muslims, it was an urgent need of the time to establish a great teaching institution on great foundations in order to protect the Indian Muslims from the great threatening mischief of atheism and religiousness. The responsibility of preserving Islam then devolved on the band of Ulema and the land of India is a witness that they did not show any dereliction in discharging their duty in time. Thanks to Allah Most High that these expectations were fulfilled in full measure and in a short time the fame of Darul-Uloom reached its apogee and before long it became an international university, not only of the Indian Muslims but also of the Muslims of Afghanistan, Central Asia, Indonesia, Malayasia, Burma, Tibet-, Sri Lanka and the countries of East and South Africa; now around one and a half thousand students from India and outside India flock to it every year. Darul-Uloom Deoband, is not merely a teaching institution; it is infect a movement, an independent school of thought, a shoreless sea from which, besides those of India, Pakistan and Bangla Desh, students from the whole of Asia and east and south Africa are acquiring knowledge. Almost all the teachers in all the religions schools that exist today in the subcontinent are directly or indirectly those who have benefited from Darul-Uloom and every year hundreds of students graduating from here, discharge the duty of propagating religion through leaching, preaching, sermonising and compiling of books and now this range has spread upto Europe, England and America. Darul-Uloom Deoband, has rendered yeoman service in taking the Muslims of the sub-continent to a distinguished position in their religions life. It is not only an international educational centre but is also such a centre of intellectual development, cultural evolution and communal aspirations that the Muslims have always had confidence in and pride over its authentic knowledge and high ethos. Even as the Arabs had once saved the sciences of the Greeks -from being wasted, the 93 Darul-Uloom Deoband, has similarly rendered invaluable services to the Islamic sciences, particularly to the science of Hadith, in the present limes, which is a golden achievement in the academic history of Islam. Darul-Uloom Deoband, has not only provided prodigious means of maintaining and preserving the religious sciences and Islamic values in India, but it has also cast, at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries Hijri, very far-reaching and fruitful influences. Discomfited in the uproarious revolution of 1857, the Muslims had been overcome with great depression and pessimism. A dreadful bowling wilderness was rampant in their academic and cultural environments. Had Darul-Uloom been not established and had it not served as a torch in .hose dark limes, it is difficult to say what would have been the Indian Muslims' history today. In short, the glorious services Darul-Uloom Deoband, has been rendering for the last one century in respect of the religious education, preaching and sermonising, correction of beliefs and morals and the conservation of religion, are not hidden from anyone today. The graduates of Darul-Uloom, accordingly, are busy in many countries in giving religious guidance to Muslims and in teaching, preaching and reforming. In the words of Maulana Abul Hasan All Nadvi; "The rapport which the graduals of Darul-Uloom have with the common Muslims is not had by any other religious group, A network of Arabic Madaris has spread all over India and the Ulema and graduates of this institution are gracing the Masnads of teaching in them. They are considered trustworthy among the Muslim masses and are influential in the masques and the Mohallas (localities)". So however much the Muslims of the sub-continent exult over the existence of Darul-Uloom, it will not be improper. After the start of the British system of education in India when a new culture and a new era was beginning here, the elders of Darul-Uloom opportunely felt the necessity and importance of the Muslims' religious education. With public co-operation and the common Muslim's donations they started the movement for religious education and the establishment of Islamic Madaris. By Allah's grace and favour this movement of theirs gained popularity amongst the Muslims with the result that religious schools were started at many places in the subcontinent and a network of which spread all over India before long and has been widening day by day. In short, Darul-Uloom Deoband, arranged such a bouquet of its graduates in which parti-coloured and multi-coloured flowers are providing by their fragrance the means of exhilaration and delight to the smelling-sense of the soul. Who is not aware of this reality that students alone are the true reservoir of a people's strength? There is no dearth of promising young men among the Muslim community. There are however today countless young men and children who do have an eagerness and penchant for studies but financial difficulties come in their way. They want to walk but cannot walk; they wish to advance but cannot advance; they desire to come up but cannot come up; and yet the very same young men and children will constitute our future tomorrow. Feeling this helplessness and encumbrance, the Darul-Uloom Deoband, and all the other seminaries founded in its wake, have opened the thorough tares for the prosecution of studied for the students of religious sciences by making education free along with free facilities for food, clothing and lodging; and have removed all those obstacles and shackles which came in 'the way of acquiring education. The point of view of the religious schools is that the true key for the treasure of the world is the key of religion. Those prosecuting studies in the religious schools with this point of view are undoubtedly living a successful life. As far as the demand for their services in that subcontinent is concerned, it is increasing day by day. In this respect the future of the graduates of the religious schools is bright and satisfactory. After completing their education whichever walk of life the graduates of the Darul-Uloom selected for themselves, they were successful in it; and the complaint of unemployment is being rarely heard about them, although among the students of modern education this complaint of joblessness is quite common. In its more-than-one-hundred-year history the Darul-Uloom, on the one hand, has given the Indian Muslims a progressive consciousness of social life and, on the other, a counterbalance between thought and action. If a class of Muslims today .has adopted a rational interpretation of Islamic views, a satisfactory elucidation of Islamic thoughts, and a correct Islamic life, it is mainly the result of the more than one hundred year old academic and practical struggle of the Darul-Uloom. Contrary to the common reports the religious proclivity here has never been reactionary and obscurantism. Darul-Uloom, while grasping its basic principles firmly, has, in changing circumstances, always sided with the spirit of the age. as far as the Islamic principles permit. In this respect it can be said that Darul-Uloom is an educational institute which has been established on a 95 beautiful confluence of the old and the new, and its more than hundred year old glorious traditions are a herald of its brilliant past and a messenger of its great -future.
THE ACADEMIC AND RELIGIOUS BENEFACTION OF DARUL-ULOOM DEOBAND
There is no doubt about it that the Muslims, due to their infirmities, bidding farewell to sovereignty, had set seal to the decision of death of their collective life. But Divine Will wanted to preserve them. This required religious warmth which has always been the fountain-head of the Muslims progress. The land of Deoband was chosen for this fountainhead. Accordingly, for centuries this land was being given good tidings through the auspicious tongues of Hazrat Mujaddid Alf-e-Thani and Hazrat Sayyid Ahmed Shaheed that it would become the cradle of prophetic sciences. Most probably it was for this reason that the gentlemen who took part in the founding and establishing of Darul-Uloom were not only adorned with external sciences but their hearts were also the reservoirs and reflectors of the effulgence of divine lights, and who had been especially appointed through special inspiration for the establishment of Darul-Uloom. Hazrat Qazi Muhammad lsma'il Manglori who has been one of the great saints, says : "Darul-Uloom Deoband, Mazahir-e-Uloom of Saharanpur and Madrasa-e-Shahi of Moradabad are not among those Madaris which are being established by chance; these Madaris have been established through special inspirations". Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Ahmed, the fifth vice-chancellor of Darul-Uloom, writes in one of his memoranda that: "In this world of causes whatever fame, respect, high position, esteem, progress and popularity this Madrasah has achieved is sheerly Allah's bounty and special favour to this Madrasah. From the inception this Madrasah has received the patronage of such favourites of the Divine Court and training of such special men of God through whose internal and external 'confrontation' (Tawajjuh, a technique of contemplation, concentrating one's being upon someone; Translator) this Madrasah day by day achieved every kind of progress. Sincerity in the members, unity among the teachers, good and prosperity (Barakah) in every matter and the hourly progress, etc.- all these things are a sign of the confrontation of the same august men and trust in Allah of the same benefactors". There is no doubt about this fact that whatever has been Allah's dealing with this Ummah and even as. He has helped it repeatedly in the past, this time also the divine miracle appeared. In the light of the philosophy of history this event can be put into these words that this was a natural reaction to the unfavourable circumstances which shook the Muslims' mental faculties out of their sleep and revivified them. It is very necessary to know here as to what kind of results and fruits of education and training of Darul-Uloom were produced among the Indian Muslims and other Islamic countries, for the true criterion of the success of anything can be only its consequences and results. In this connection, a long time back, the famous Urdu daily "Zamindar" of Lahore, had written the following about Darul-Uloom Deoband: "At this time a large number among the personalities well-versed in religious sciences seen in the length and breadth of India consists of those who have come out assuaged from this river of knowledge (Darul-Uloom Deoband). All the great Ulema of India have been students of this glorious Madrasah and intact no other teaching institute in India can compote with it in the valuable's of academic services. Not only this, but in foreign countries also, except one or two, there is no other seminary which can stand comparison with it and which may have rendered such important services to the bright Islamic nation". Darul-Uloom Deoband, had been established at a time when the Madaris for religious education had altogether become extinct in India and that time looked like approaching when vis-à-vis the modern education and its influences in India the light of religious education, Islamic commandments and religious usage's might have been lost or al least might have got bedded. During those tumultuous limes it was Darul-Uloom which steadied the tossing and teetering boat of the community and hence as far as the renascence of the social life of the Muslims concerned, it can be said off hand that a large part of its history is connected with the skirt of the continua educational and missionary struggle of Darul-Uloom. In the long life of Darul-Uloom a good many storms of accidents arose and a good many revolutions. 97 occurred in the politics and conditions of the country, but this institution, remaining unruffled, continued to fulfil with almost perseverance and steadiness the objectives with which it had come into existence, lt. is a tact that during these tumults of thought and ideas and in the period of movements steeped in the mischief of the West, had there been no existence of the Arabic schools generally and that of an academic institution like Darul-Uloom particularly, then it is ineffable in what gigantic maelstrom of inertia and insensitiveness the Muslims would have been engulfed. In guidance and inculcation, preaching and commemoration (Tazkir), education and training and in improving the people there is no comer where the graduates of Darul-Uloom may not be busy and may not have played an important role in reforming and training the Muslim community. The splendour of the great functions and gatherings held for the call to and guidance of religion, and preaching and sermonising, at present in India is due to the presence of the honourable Ulema of the same, Darul-Uloom; the seals of teaching in all the big Islamic Madaris in the country today are being graced by these very gentlemen. As regards educational thought and practice Darul-Uloom has always traversed a particular tack. This tack fully reflects the light of its intelligence and perspicacity and its understanding of the times; and not only at that time but even after a pretty long time a large body of our educational experts was unable to understand it. However, the turn of event; at last brought the sincerity of action of Darul-Uloom into full relief like a sunny day, so much so that even those circles in which Darul-Uloom had been opposed vehemently had to acknowledge its necessity and services. Accordingly, once when its opponents had started a movement to get the financial help it was receiving from Hyderabad (Deccan) cut off. Sir Ross Mas'ud who was then the education minister in the Hyderabad Slate, opposing the said movement, had written; "Although we are striving for the dissemination of the English language, even as our effort for the betterment of our worldly economic life is correct, the existence of Deoband (Darul-Uloom) for our religions need is also necessary". Khwaja Khalil Ahmed Shah, the keeper of the famous saintly shrine (Dargah) of Hazrat Sayyid Salar Mas'ud Ghazi at Bahra'ich (U.P.) writes:- "Darul-Uloom Deoband, is a matchless centre of Islamic sciences not only in India but also in the whole world and it has had a special 98 class in the world next to the Jama-e-Azhar. This is the Madrasah which has caused to flow the rivers of Islamic Arabic sciences in India. Its graduates are engaged in each and every comer of India in education and Islamic services. The services Darul-Uloom Deoband, has rendered to religion and religious sciences are as bright as the sun. Of course, if some one closes his eyes due to inward blindness, opinionatedness and inequity, there is no remedy for it". The people who have happened to travel through Islamic countries or have read in newspapers and magazines about the conditions prevailing there will have marked one thing, not so much marked in thought and mind as in their lifestyle : that the inhabitants of these Islamic countries have not only been affected by western civilisation and culture but have also accepted and adopted their influences to a large extent. The atmosphere of "he countries like Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Iran, etc., the lands whereof received directly the honour of being traversed by the holy Companions and acquired grace directly from their holy breaths, remained resplendent with prophetic sciences and the Companions' relies and continued as cradles of Islamic sciences and arts for centuries; but no sooner the feet of strangers touched those lands than the Muslim inhabitants bode good-bye precipitately to Islamic arts and sciences and Islamic culture and civilisation, and admitted such change and revolution in their lifestyle as if they had never been accustomed to the Islamic way of life; or as though they belonged to a region of Europe ab initio. Besides this social and cultural revolution the condition of the academic decline you have already heard about in the foregone pages from no less a person than Allama Sayyid Rasheed Reza that had the Indian Ulema not lavished their attention on the Science of Hadith, this science would have completely disappeared from the countries of the East, for between the tenth and the beginning of the fourteenth centuries (Hijri) this science had reached the last stage of decay and debility in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Hejaz. In A.H., 1315 when this respectable scholar migrated to Egypt he found that the khatibs in the Jama-e-Azhar and other masques used to quote such hadiths in their sermons which were untraceable in the tomes of Hadith, and, he has added the condition of the preachers and the teachers was also the same. When the death-dealing tide of European dominance and paramountcy tried to wash away India, which had generally remained deprived of the auspicious steps of the Holy Companions and had not had any opportunity to be benefited directly by their holy breaths, the Indian Muslims had to contend with these calamities for nearly one and a half or two centuries, but they have not to date totally relinquished their old Islamic conduct, culture and social life and the orthodox religiosity the foundation of which had been laid eight hundred years ago. The cause of this difference? What else can it be but this that at the time of the revolution in the said Islamic regions there did not exist any organised religions party, which, feeling the pulse of the nation in that envenomed atmosphere, could have made an all-embracing arrangement as a prophylactic measure for its survival and safeguard. But in India Hazrat Shah Wall Allah, having presaged this change from the straw in the wind, had laid the foundation of preventive measures. He prepared the Muslims' thought and mind in such a way that it safeguarded them from the alien influences; and at last the organised and blessed efforts of this party appearing on the one hand in the form of Darul-Uloom proved to be the guarantors 'of the Muslims' religion and virtue, on the other they became the means of their Islamic relations and religious connections. Forestalling, Darul-Uloom and its party built dams and dikes against the atheism-nourishing hurricanes and poisonous storms of irreligious, saved and rescued the Muslims from the current of the flood and brought them to the shore, reminded them of the forgotten lesson and thus, maintaining the prophet knowledge and the Companions' legacy intact in India, did not let the Indian Muslims straggle from the straight course. The thirteenth century Hijri (nineteenth century AD) is a period of political decline and ideational languor. It was during this period that Europe gained domination over and colonised almost all the Islamic countries and more or less everywhere Islamic culture and Islamic sciences were facing the struggle of life and death, Ever-new misleading movements were faking birth in Islam, In short, after the decline of the power of the Mughal kings in India, the Indian Muslims were passing through the most precarious period of their history. They had never needed correct guidance so much before as they did now. The collapse of the Mughal regime and the establishment of the English paramountcy was the greatest accident in the history of the Indian Muslims. Under the violence, oppression and domination of the English, the enforcement of the Islamic laws apart, even the survival itself of Islam and Muslims in India was difficult. At that time the only party to bear the responsibility of protecting Islam was that of the Ulema; every inch of land of India is a witness to fact that the Ulema did not fail in discharging their duty even to the extent of a scintilla. Even on ordinary student of history knows that inspire of being deprived of the government backing during the past quarter and century the Ulema of India have so lightsomely discharged the onerous responsibility of protecting and developing the Millat (community) that the alien government had to incur defeat at every front of antagonism to Islam. And prise be to Allah that the Muslims of India continued to progress! After the revolution of 1857, the Indian Muslim were groaning under mountains of misfortunes and tyrannies inflicted by the English upon them; they were overwhelmed with a peck of troubles and oppression which created in them such a feeling of fear and panic, helplessness and distress that if urgent and effective steps had not been taken to alleviate it, it is difficult to say that would have been the condition of the Muslims in respect of Islam. Madaris and hospices had been devastated; the Ulema had been sent to gallows, the fiefs (Jagirs) of the nobles had been confiscated, and the endowments of Madaris and hospices had been peculated. The Muslim rank and file had been so severely and excessively punished that a feeling of misery, loneliness and subjugation had overcome them and had blunted their religious and academic faculties. Such a condition of inertia had developed in them that seeing it, it was not easy to predict that this community would ever thrive again. The victorious English men's passion for vengeance, with their characteristic morgue anglaise, did not content itself only with the country and wealth of the Muslims but it also did not leave any stone unturned in destroying and obliterating, as far as possible, their 1300-year old proud achievements, their arts and sciences, civilisation and culture and human virtues and merits. Under such adverse circumstances it will not be an exaggeration to assert and claim that if the name of Islam has remained alive in this land of India, it is very much due to this Darul-Uloom and the sweating toil of the party of the Ulema. Then, stringing all the inhabitants of the Islamic world in one academic thread, it served them also besides the Indian Muslims in a very generous manner. There are very few such Islamic countries from where students may not have come to Darul-Uloom to slake their academic thirst. As such, in the past one century, thousands of students, having lighted their own torches from this great candle of knowledge, have fanned out in the darknesses of the world. Students from Sri Lanka, Java, Sumatra, Malaya, Burma, China, Mongolia, Tatar, Qazan, Bukhara, Samarqand, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria. Yemen, Iraq, so much so that even from the illuminated Madina and the glorious Mecca, came here for studies. Is it not short of a miracle that the country that may never have benefited directly from the prophetic sciences should become a centre for the whole world in religious education, so much so that the same sun of knowledge may be shedding its light in the two holy sanctuaries of Islam (Mecca and Madina)? And this felicity has not fallen to the lot of any other seminary that its graduates may have graced the Masnads of teaching in the illuminated Madina, particularly in the Prophet's Masque. Maulana Khalil Ahmed Anbathvi. the author of Bazlul-Majhood, Maulana Sayyid Ahmed and Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madani have lectured on Hadith for years in Madina and in the Prophet's Masque, and have caused to flow the rivers of arts and sciences, the Book and the Sunnah, from which numerous students of Egypt and Syria, besides those of Hejaz, benefited and quenched their thirst of knowledge. Maulana Madani's elder brother, Moulana Sayyid Ahmed, an alumnus of Darul-Uloom, started a Madrasah named Madrasatul-Uloom al-Shariyyah in the illuminated Madina from which the Madinans are deriving benefit, Maulana Madani used to say that "when during my stay in the illuminated Madina l used to describe the exegetical information of Hazrat Shah Abdul-Aziz and other Indian Ulema before the Ulema of Hejaz, the latter used to wonder as to from where the Indian Ulema had acquired those secrets and mysteries of the Quranic knowledge". Maulana Rahmatullah Keranvi established Madrasa-e-Saulatiyyah in the venerable Mecca on the pattern of Darul-Uloom. Another Madrasah was founded by Maulana lshaq Amritsari, an old boy of Darul-Uloom. The peculiarity of Darul-Uloom is that it is irrigated by the pellucid spring of Islam and has had its own special individuality, Its versatile services which, crossing the Indian borders, have reached the Islamic countries, are intact the sweet fruit of the Indian Muslims' performance of their duty and pecuniary sacrifices, and by way of "discourse of Lord's bounty", they can pride themselves in all the Islamic countries on the tact that this largest seminary of the Muslims of Asia is maintained on the basis of their generosity and love of learning, and its sphere of benefaction is not limited to them only but has encompassed within its religious C education and training the non-Indian Muslims also; and for one hundred and thirteen years the assemblies discoursing on Allah's and the Apostle's words have been thronged due to Darul-Uloom only. This is the very fountain-head of divine graces which, by its spiritual water of life, has made the fields of faith green in every nook and comer of India and outside India and the alumni of this very seminary are discharging the duty of serving the upright religion (Din-e-Hanif) in India and most of the Islamic countries. No just Muslim can deny the tact that the sentiments of awakening of the Indian Muslims are mostly the result of the admirable efforts of Darul-Uloom only. Time showed many vicissitudes and fluctuations but at no lime did Darul-Uloom change its ideal; it has maintained its old tenor for a period of more than one hundred years. If had to sail through perilously swirling waters and brave severe storms and it had to bear many buffeting from angry waves, but it did not alter its course. Instead of being affected and swayed by the accidents and vicissitudes of time, it has always tried to change the atmosphere of the world by casting its own influence. This is the reason that as much religiosity as is found in the Muslims of India despite their long subjugation is not seen in other Islamic collieries. A contributor to Mujalla-al-Uloomiddin, Aligarh, has stated as follows: "The domination of the English people had created the danger that, God forbid, religion and religious sciences might depart from the country. The establishment of Darul-Uloom under such circumstances obviated this danger and it emerged on the map of India as a live exposition of the Quranic verse : 'Lo! We, even We, reveal the Reminder, and Lo! We verily are its Guardian' (XV : 9) "The Muslims of India and Pakistan (the subcontinent). as regards their religious life, are under the obligation of the graduates of Deoband. Innovations and wrong customs and conventions came to an end in every nook and corner of the country through their missionary and reforming efforts. The correction of convictions (Aqa'id), preaching of religion, and polemical debates with the benighted sects, etc., are the conspicuous achievements of these gentlemen. "Its graduates accomplished great works in the academic field in which, besides the compilation and writing of useful books, are included the discovery of old academic treasures, useful and meaningful commentaries and scholia, and the translations of innumerable books. Their services in the academic field deserve to be appreciated and complimented. "Many graduates of Darul-Uloom entered the political field, gave sacrifices and suffered hardships for the sake of the dear native land. Darul-Uloom Deoband, has also been a centre of political guidance for the Muslims of India. Its graduates not only joined different movements and worked with them but they also became the cause of the setting of several new movements on foot. Thus they have been regularly giving the correct political guidance to the Muslims. "Indubitably the establishment of Darul-Uloom Deoband, was an important need of the time and its graduates fulfilled this important need. In such circumstances prevailing in the country when the very concept of education, particularly the religious education, was absent and when there were only schools established by the English which either used to christianise their students or at least made them weary of their religion, Deoband rose to the occasion, gave correct religious guidance to the people and created a religious atmosphere in the whole country. The services of Darul-Uloom in this connection deserve to be written in letters of gold''. A former ambassador of Afghanistan, Sardar Najibullah Khan, has expressed his impressions of Darul-Uloom in the following words : "In the eyes of the common people of Afghanistan Darul-Uloom Deoband, is a public educational institution but l can say on the basis of my own observation' that it is not merely a public teaching institution but is also a centre of Islamic culture. At a time when the Islamic state was no more in India, Darul-Uloom protected religion and Islam, and l hope that in future too it will remain similarly engaged in serving the arts and sciences. The public, Ulema and lowers of knowledge in Afghanistan are not only its admirers but they are also the helpers and well-wishers of its Ulema. In fact this assembly (Mehfil) of Islamic culture is the most prominent assembly and is sui generis. The foundation of Islamic culture rests on truth, love and recognition of reality and this assembly comprises all these elements. "The history of the Darul-Uloom is a witness to this thing that it has always produced upright and truthful sons on whom Darul-Uloom can rightly pride itself." Once a newspaper of Calcutta, 'Asr-e-Jadid', dated October 13, 1936, reviewing the services of Darul-Uloom, had written :- "The religious and educational services Darul-Uloom Deoband. bas been rendering to Islam and the manner in which it has protected the spiritual building of Islamic India from the flood of western culture and civilisation can be evidenced by every comer of this long and broad subcontinent that is India. At a lime when the glitter of modern sciences had dazzled the superficial' observers, when the lure of worldly honour and ranks was drawing the best hearts towards them, when people had become indifferent to religion and negligent towards religious education, when the sacred voices of "Said Allah" and 'Said the Apostle', overcome by the victorious racket and deafening flourish of trumpets of the western education and civilisation, had been suppressed in the drum-porch of modern education, at such a delicate time it v/as Deoband and Deoband atone which stood its ground bearing the standard of the Quran and the Hadith. The typhoons of apathy and the tornadoes of lukewarmness of the country repeatedly tried to knock it down but it stood like a mountain. The derisive laughter of the triumphant culture could not deflect it from its Asianism and conservatism. The flood of modern education did wish to wash it away with its current but it was discomfited; and it, despite its forlorn condition, continued on the one hand to contend with its internal and external enemies and, on the other, kept transmitting the light of its spiritualism to every nook and comer of the country, so much so that after its continuos struggle it is today a glorious centre of Islamic education not only in India but also in Asia and the state of its spiritual lure is such that those doting on the Quran and the Hadith have gathered around it moth-like not only from Peshawar and Rangoon but also from Qafqaz, Mosul, Bukhara and every part of the Islamic world. "It is said that the Ulema are recluses, unaware of the roughs and smooths of the world. But this is not correct. They are not against the modern sciences but they are certainly inimical to the westernism which makes hearts and minds disclaim their own nationality, their own religion and their own social life. They are not inert and narrow-minded, but this is also certain that they do not look with approval upon such education and lifestyle which may make the sons of the community and the country strangers to themselves; which may annihilate their communal sentiment and make them indifferent to religion and devoid of oriental morals; which may habituate them to fashion, externalism and indolence and may put out of sight the greatest and most important purpose of life, i.e., worship to God and service to his creatures". The newspaper, AI-Jami'at, Delhi, dated April 22, 1952, had written in its editorial as follows:- "To deny this fact will be tantamount to denying the greatest truth of the world that the example of the glorious services which the Islamic and religious schools of India, particularly Darul-Uloom Deoband, have rendered to Islam and the Muslims and the way they have moulded the mind in the Islamic mould, cannot be found in any educational system of the world. Such inexpensive education which has been given in Arabic schools till now is sui generis in the world. The teachers get so much pay as today perhaps office peons must be getting. They teach sitting on sack-cloth so that such students may be prepared who may become responsible for the religious life of the Muslims. The condition of the students' steadiness is such that they content themselves with whatever they get. Even if they receive any help from the Madrasah, it is only so much that oil and soap may be bought and they may launder their clothes themselves. These students devote themselves merely for Allah's pleasure and don't care a fig even if they have to starve sometimes and may not have whole clothes on their bodies ! "If the statistics of this inexpensive education these schools have given are published, perhaps the world will not believe it. These schools are the headspring of Islamic life through which the warm blood of religion and beliefs is transfused into the religious body of the Muslims. And all are aware of the fact that Darul-Uloom Deoband, is the greatest religious centre not only of India but also of Asia in which students from all over the world receive education and the sheets of whose educational benefaction have spread all over Asia". The daily Da'wat, Delhi, dated July 24, 1969, writes about the peculiarities of Darul-Uloom as follows :- "Darul-Uloom Deoband, is a century-old trust with us. In Asian countries it is the only institution which takes upon itself full responsibility for supporting and educating nearly fifteen hundred students every year in such condition that it never took aid of a single paisa from the government. Students right from Asia Minor to Hejaz, Syria and Iraq used to come to Darul-Uloom Deoband, for prosecuting their studies and after graduating from it when they reached their own countries, they used to cut a good impression of their academic erudition. In India and Pakistan teachership in the Madaris and the important service of leading the congregational prayers in the masques and sermonising are even today mostly in the hands of the graduates of the same Darul-Uloom". From the opinion of a western thinker you will -know that the fame and greatness of Darul-Uloom, having passed through the continents of Asia and Africa has even reached Canada. Prof. W. Cantwell Smith, Director of the Department of Islamic Studies, Mc Gill University, Montreal, Canada, writes in his book. Modern Islam in India :- "Next to the Azhar of Cairo, the Darul-Uloom at Deoband is the most important and respected theological academy of the Muslim World. Its influence and prestige throughout India are naturally large and they are all the greater for the school's long tradition and concern for the' material condition of the Indian Muslims. The tradition is derived ultimately from the movement of Shah Waliullah Dehlavi and the Indian Wahabis and has expressed itself in the participation of Deoband 'Ulama' in various revolutionary movements such as the Ghadar of 1857 and their more recent support of Congress nationalism. Unlike Bareilly, Deoband is thoroughly dissatisfied with things as they are, and it is vigorous and determined in its efforts to improve them. Its aim is to resuscitate classical Islam, rid the Muslims of the theological corruption's, the ritual degradation's and the material exploitation to which they have fallen prey since the British occupation. "Theologically the school stands for a rigid orthodoxy of the classical Aristotelian type. The door of "Ijtihad" is closed tight. Deoband maintains rigorously the promises of Islam. Within the limits of those pressures it is relentlessly rationalist. It attempts to do away with aberrations, compromises and intellectual laziness. The theological atmosphere is that of an unmitigated scholasticism; the professors use exclusively the old categories of thought. "On the practical side, Deoband 'Ulama' are puritanically strict. They work assiduously to overcome and destroy backsliding, superstitions, saint-worship and all the paraphernalia of ignorance, poverty and fear in a depressed and decadent agrarian society. "Their ideal is traditional Islam in its purest form with a strict enforcement of Shari'ah. Their conception of historical Islam is precise unlike the liberals, whose roseate picture of an ideal age in the past is coloured more strongly by contemporary liberal aspirations than by any disciplined acquaintance with Islamic studies". (Modern Islam in India, pp. 320-321 by Prof. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Pub. Minerva Bookshop, Anarkali, Lahore 1943.) The educational and religious services of Darul-Uloom are so clear that an observer can see them at first sight. In 1377/1957, the President of the Republic of India, the late Dr. Rajendra Prasad, while speaking in Darul-Uloom, has said :- "The august men of the Darul-Uloom have been learning and imparting knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Such men have been there in the past also but very few who acquired knowledge and taught it merely for the sake of serving knowledge. They used to be more honoured than the kings. Today the elders of Darul-Uloom are treading the same path. "The elders of Darul-Uloom have rendered service not only to the inhabitants of this country but they have also achieved such fame from their services that students of foreign lands also flock to this institute, and after having acquired education here, they go back to their countries and disseminate whatever they have learnt here. This thing is worthy of being proud of for all the people of this country".
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Post by Admin on Jan 26, 2015 0:09:01 GMT
The track of Darul Uloom Deoband, shall be in accordance with the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah, Hanafiate practical method (Mazhab) and the disposition (Mashrab) of its holy founders, Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Qasim Nanautavi (Allah's mercy be on him!) and Hazrat Maulana Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi (may his secret be sanctified).
The preservation of the track of Darul Uloom shall be a duty of all the members and kindred of the Darul Uloom. No employee or student of Darul Uloom shall be permitted to attend any such society, institution or function the attendance where of may be injurious to the track or interest of the Darul Uloom.
As far as the religious attitude of Darul Uloom and its elders is concerned, it has been clearly stated in a very eloquent and concise manner by Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Tayyib, vice chancellor of Darul Uloom in his treatise entitled Maslak-e-Ulama-e-Deoband.Its summary, more or less in his own words, is as follows:
"Academically this Waliyullahian party is, by track, Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jama'ah, which is based on the Book, the Sunnah, consensus (Ijm'a) and analogy (Qiyas). According to it, the foremost position in all propositions (Masa'il) is held by tradition (Naql), narration (RiwayaT) and the predecessors historical traditions (A'sar), on which the entire building of religion rests. With it, the purports of the Book and the Sunnah can be determined not merely by the power of study but by being confined within the limits of the predecessors' saying and their bequeathed taste, and, to boot, through the company of and attendance on the Shaikhs and their teachings and training. At the same time, intellect and knowledge (Derayat) and discernment of religion (Tafaqqoh Fiddin), too are according to it, a very important factor in the under standing of the Book and the Sunnah. Keeping the intent and purpose of the Legislator (peace be on him!) from amongst the collection of traditions (Riwayat) before itself it connects all the traditions to it and concatenates all of them grade wise at their respective places in such a way that they all look like links of the same chain. Hence the "collocation of tradition" (Jama Bainar Riwaytain) and the "condition of Hadiths' (Tatbiq-e-Ahadith) at the time of mutual contradiction is its main principle the purport of which is that it does not want to leave or omit even the weakest of the weak traditions, so long as it is not fit to be protested against. On this basis, in the sight of this party, contradiction and variance is not felt anywhere in the explicit legal texts; on the contrary, the entire religion, being free from contradiction and variance, looks like a bouquet in which academic and practical flowers of every hue look blooming at their respective places. Along with this, self-purification (Tazkiya-e-Nafs) and self-improvement (Islah-e-Batin), in accordance with the manner of the wayfarers (Ahl-e-Sulook), which is innocent of and free from formalities, usage's and exhibitive rapture and discourse, are also necessary in this track. It favored its dedicated followers with the heights of knowledge as well as adorned them with human morals like slave hood (Abadiyat) and humility. If the members of this party, on the one hand, reached the heights of academic dignity, self-satisfaction (Istaghna) - academically - and self-content (Ghina-e-Nafs) - morally - on the other, they were also abundantly invested with the humbling sentiments of complaisance, humility, self-denial and abstinence; neither did they become a prey to arrogance, pride and self-conceit nor were involved in self-humiliation and wretchedness. While they, reaching the heights of knowledge and morality, began to look higher than the common run of men, at the same time, adorned with the virtues of humility and sub-mission humbleness and complaisance and non-discrimination, they mixed freely with the masses and yet remained "unique among the people". While they sought seclusion for striving with the unregenerate soul (Mujahada) and spiritual communion or contemplation (Muraqaba), at the same time they also displayed warrior - and crusader-like zeal as also feelings for communal service. In short, through the mixed feelings and desires of knowledge and morality, seclusion and congregation (Jalwat), striving and jihad, moderation and the golden mean became they distinctive feature in every religion circle; which is a natural Corollary of the comprehensiveness of sciences and moderateness of morals. It is for this reason that among them the meaning of becoming a traditionalist is not to be dispute with the jurisconsult or of being a jurist consult is not to be disgusted with the traditionalist; or the meaning of Nisbat-e-Ihsani (predilection for Sufism) is not to be hostile to the dialectician (Mutakallim) or the meaning of acumen in dialectics is not to be weary of Sufism. On the contrary, under this comprehensive track the graduate of this institution proved, by gradation, simultaneously a traditionalist, a jurisprudence, a professional commentator of the Quran, a Mufti, a dialectician, a Sufi (Muhsin), a physician and a protector (Murabbi), in whom the mixed sentiments of abstinence and contentment sans beggarliness, modesty and self-effacement sans cajolement, com-passion and mercy with "enjoining the right conduct" (Amr bil-ma'roof) and "the forbidding of indecency" (Nahi anil-munkar), composure of heart with communal service and "solitude in a crowd" (khalwat Dar Anjuman), became firm. Or, the other hand, the feelings of moderation, recognition of dues and the fulfillment of rights in regard to arts and sciences and the men of arts and sciences permeated in them as virtues of the self. Hence all the masters of learning and excellence and the well-versed scholars in all the branches of religion, whether they be traditionists or jurisprudenis, Sufis or Gnostics, scholastic theologians or fundamentalists, the nobles of Islam or caliphs, all of them are worthy of respect and faith in their sight. To extol or run down any class of Ulama or to be careless as regards legal limits in praise or censure is not the track of this party. With this comprehensive method the Darul-Uloom, by its academic services, diffused the light of the prophetic sciences from Siberia in the north to Java and Sumatra in the south and from Burma in the east to Arabia and Africa in the west, wherefore the thorough fares of sacred morals became clearly visible.
On the other hand, its scholars never shrank from political and national services, so much so that, from 1803 to 1947, the individuals of this party offered in their own style the greatest possible sacrifices which are on record in the pages of history. The political and warrior-like strives of these august men can never be concealed; particularly the events in the second half of the thirteenth century when the Mughal regime was tottering, the efforts for revolution, jihad-like steps and self-sacrificing struggle under the auspices especially of Shaikhul Masha'ikh Haji lmdadullah for the national liberty and independence, and the imprisonment and bandage on arrest-warrants of his two favorite proselytes (Murids), viz., Maulana Mohammad Qasim and Maulana Rasheed Ahmed and their dedicated followers and attendants, are such historical facts which can neither be denied nor thrown into oblivion. The people who wish to conceal them merely for the reason that they were themselves not accepted in the path of sacrifice will add to their own unpopularity. According to research scholars and those who are knowledgeable about this aspect of the Indian history, all such writings whether emanating from one who may have some connection with Deoband or from a non-Deobandi that negate the jihad-like services of these august men are unreliable and absolutely unworthy of attention. If a favorable view is taken the utmost accounting of these writings can be only this much that these writings, as a result of the awesome factors of the time, are a demonstration of foresight and circumspection to the personal extent, Otherwise, in view of the historical and factual evidences, they have neither any importance nor are worthy of consideration. The sequence of these services continuously went further and with the same inherited feelings the well-guided successors of these elders also continued to come forward in a self-sacrificing manner in connection with national and communal services; whether it was the Khilafat Movement or the release of the native land from the foreign yoke, they, in exact proportion, took part in all these revolutionary ventures.
In short, while the comprehensiveness of knowledge and morals was always the distinctive feature of this party, service to religion and community, nation and country with breadth of vision, enlightenment and toleration was its practice. But in all these walks of life the utmost importance in this party has been given to the imparting of the prophetic sciences, as all these walks of life could be brought into effect correctly only in the light of knowledge and therefore it kept this aspect only conspicuous. Hence the summary of the comprehensiveness of this track is that it is inclusive of knowledge and gnosis, inclusive of reason and love, inclusive of action and morals, inclusive of spiritual striving and jihad, inclusive of rectitude and politics, inclusive of tradition and intelligence, inclusive of seclusion (khalwat) and public appearance (jalwat), inclusive of devotions and social life, inclusive of commandment and wisdom, inclusive of the exterior and the interior, and inclusive of ecstasy and discourse. If this track which has been obtained through the spiritual connections (Nisbats) of the predecessors and the successors is reduced to technical language, then in sum it is this that religiously Darul Uloom is Muslim; as a sect, Ahl-e-Sunnat wal-Jama'at; in practical method, (Mazhab), Hanafi'yat; in conduct, Sufi; dialectically, Maturidi Ash'ari; in respect of the mystic path, Chishtiyyah, rather comprising all the Sufi orders; in thought, Waliyullhian; in principle, Qasimiyah; sectionally, Rasheedian; and as regards connection, Deobandi".
Since a separate treatise entitled "Maslak -e- Darul Uloom" has already been written in this connection, the need of greater detail is not felt on this occasion and its comprehensive sentences only have been excerpted here. For details, one can refer to the said treatise.
Moreover, greater detail here is unnecessary for the reason that a very clear sketch of this track has been written by Qari Saheb in his introduction to this history. However, a synopsis of this extensive article was necessary and so, at my request, he wrote it himself and gave me, The verbatim text is as under:-
"The summary of it is that this moderate track is based on seven basic foundations, which, with brief elucidation of each, are as follows:-
1- KNOWLEDGE OF THE SHARI'AT: Which includes all the branches of beliefs, devotions and worldly dealings etc. The outcome of which is faith (Iman) and Islam; provided this knowledge may have been acquired, being restricted to the sphere of the sayings and practices of the predecessors, through the teaching; training and grace of the company of authoritative divine doctors and discipliners of the hearts whose chain of exterior and interior, knowledge and practice, understanding and taste may have continuously reached through continual authority to the Author of the Shari'at (on whom be most excellent blessings and greetings !); and may not be the result of self-opinion or mere book-reading and power of study or mere rational search and intellectual investigation, though it may not be devoid of rational style of description and argumentative proof and demonstration, for without this knowledge, distinguishing between right and wrong, legitimate and illegitimate, permissible and impermissible, the Sunni and the innovation, the abominable (Makrooh) and the commendable (Mandoob) is not possible nor is release possible from wild fancies, philosophical theories and blind superstitions in religion.
2- THE FOLLOWING OF THE PATH: That is, consummation of good breeding, self-purification and spiritual traversing (Sulook-e-Batin) within the auspices of researching Sufis and their well-tried principles (inferred from the Book and the Sunnat), because, without this, moderateness in morals, stability of zest and ecstasy, internal insight, mental purity and observation of reality are not possible. It is obvious that this branch is connected with Ahsan along with faith and Islam.
3- CONFORMITY TO THE SUNNAT: That is, conformance to the prophetic Sunnat in every walk of life and dominance of the permanent Sunnat thorough maintaining respect of the Shar'at in every 'state' (Hal) and 'utterance' (Qal), every condition of the exterior and the interior; for without it, It is impossible to be released from the conventions of ignorance, customary innovations and prohibited indecencies. and from the calamity of customarily imitating the ecstatic utterances and sayings of 'men of states' inspite of the lack of spiritual states of giving those utterances the status of a permanent general law parallel to the shari'at.
4- JURISPRUDENTIAL HANAFATISM: The name of Islamic practical doctrines (fra'iyat) and casuistic interpretations of laws (ijtehai'yat) is Fiqh (jurisprudence). And since the elders of Darul Uloom are generally Hanafi'at, the meaning of jurisprudential Hanafiatism is compliance with the hanafi'at jurisprudence in casuistic practical doctrines, and conformance to its principles of jurisprudence only in the education and preference of propositions and fatwas; for without it elusion from the desires of the evil self in educible propositions and, through the way of colligation, operating capriciously under different systems of jurisprudence, excision in the contents of propositions in accordance with the desires of the hoi polloi or guess and conjecture under the awe of emergency conditions and shallow changes and innovations in propositions through unlearnedness are unavoidable. It is obvious that this branch appertains to Islam.
5- DIALECTICAL MATURIDIISM: That is, as regards beliefs, the sustentation of the power of certitude and the stability of true beliefs with right thinking in accordonce to the laws and principles determined and codified through the method of the Ahlus Sunnat wal-Jama'at and the Asha'ira and the Matureedia; for without it escape from the doubts cast by the tergiversators and the conjectural innovations, superstitions and skepticism of the false sects is not possible. It is evident that this branch is connected with faith (iman).
6- DEFENSE AGAINST TERGIVERSATION AND DEVIATION: That is, defense against the mischiefs raised by bigoted cliques and tergiversators, but in the language and expression of the time, with consciousness of the psychology of the milieu and through the contemporary familiar means where the argument or proof may be completed. Moreover, efforts with a crusader-like spirit for stamping them out, for without these the removal of the unlawful things (munkarat) and protecion of the Shari'at from the encroachment of the antagonists is not possible. It includes refutation of polytheism and innovation, confutation of atheism and materialism, correction of the customs of ignorance, and, as per need, polemics, verbal or in writing, and the changing of unlawful things. It is obvious that this branch is concerned with the elevation of the word of allah in accordance with "While Allah's word it was that become the uppermost" and the expression of religion be in accordance with "He may cause it to prevail over all religion" and the general organization of the community.
7- THE TASTE FOR QASIMISM AND RASHEEDISM: Then while the same track, with its collective dignity, appeared after passing through the hearts and souls of the first patrons of Darul Uloom Deoband, and the feelers of the pulse of the community, it drew in the demands of the time in it and adopted the form of a particular taste which has been denoted with the word 'mashrab' (disposition, nature, temper, conduct). Accordingly, in the basic constitution of Darul Uloom Deoband (dustoo-e- Asasi-e- Darul Uloom Deoband), which was approved in Sha'ban, A.h. 1368, this reality has been stated in the following words: "The track of the Darul Uloom, Deoband, will be the hanafi'at practical method (mazhab) in accordance with the Ahlus Sunnat wal-Jama'at and the disposition (mashrab) of its holy founders, Hazrat Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Hazrat Maulana Rasheed Ahmad Gangohi (may their secrets be sanctified !)".
Hence among the constituents of the track of Darul Uloom this factor is an important element on which the establishment of the education and training of Darul Uloom working. It comes under Ahsan (god-consciousness), while it is connected with spiritual training. Thus the knowledge of the Shari'at, the following of the path, conformity to the Sunnat, Jurisprudential Hanafitism, dialectical Maturidiism, defense against deviation, and the taste for Qasimism and Rasheedism are the constituents of this moderate track which answers well to "seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains" (11:261). If these "seven ears" are expressed in shara'i language, they can be interpreted as Iman (faith), Islam, Ashan and Izhar-e- Deen (demonstration of religion), as has been indicated item-wise above. The collection of all these seven articles with the above-mentioned details is the track of Darul Uloom Deoband. if it is mused over, this track will be found to be an exact epitome of the Hadith-e- Jibra'il in which, on Gabriel's questioning, the Holy Prophet (Allha's peace and blessings be on him!) has described Islam, Iman, Ahsan ans defense against mischiefs in detail and has called it the teaching of religion. Hence it witt not be inappropriate if it is said that track of the Ulama of Deoband is Hadith-e- Jibra'il itself.
Then the basis and foundation of all these basic elements are the Book of Allah, the Sunnat of the Apostle of Allah, the consensus of the ummat, and casuistic analogy, out of which the first two proofs are legislative (fashri'i) with w the Shari'at is formed and the last two are derivative (taf'ri'i) by which the Shari'at is opened. The first two proofs are the treasure of explicit texts which are traditional, for which authority (sanad) and (riwayat) are inevitable; the next two proofs are rational for which trained reason and understanding and habitually pious mind and taste are ineluctable. Hence this moderate track is traditional as well as rational, narrative as well as intelligential; but in such a way that it is neither extraneous to reason nor based upon it, but has been rather raised in such a way with a balanced mixture of reason and tradition that tradition and revelation (wahy) are the root in it and reason is its all-time attendant and agent.
Thus this track of the ulama of Deoband is neither the track of the rationalist Mutazilites in which, acknowledging reason to be covereign and master over tradition, reason has been made the root and revelation or its meaning its subject, whereby religion is rendered a mere philosophy, the paths of atheism (zandaqa) are made even for the rank and file and at the same time the connection of the simple-minded faithful with the religion does not remain intact. Nor is this track that of the externalists (zahiriya) in which dead-locked or being inert over the words of revelation, reason and intellect have been thrown into abeyance, and, bidding adieu to the esoteric causes and mysteries and inner points of wisdom and experiences of religion, all the ways of ijtehad and inference have been blocked, whereby religion is rendered something unreal, rather, something meaningless, unreasonable and static, and the wise and the sagacious then have no more relation with it. Thus in one track there in left reason and reason alone and in the other reason becomes suspended and idle. It is obvious that both these directions are of the two extremes and of "whose case ha?h been abandoned" (XVIII : 29) from which this middle, comprehensive and moderate religion is free. Hence this alone is the track that includes both reason and tradition and it can be this only that in all roots and offshoots common sense should always remain with authentic tradition, but as an obedient and compliant attendant and agent of the religion so that it may keep supplying rational proofs, reasonable arguments and perceptible evidences and examples for each of its generalities and details whereby religion may prove acceptable for every class of the ummat an all-sided constitution of life, and this ummat may look a correct answer to "Thus We have appointed you a middle nation" (11:143). This thack alone is called the track of the Ahlus Sunnat wal-Jama'at and the ulama of Deoband are the heralds and standard-bearers of this very track . It is for this reason that on account of the culmination of this comprehensive track and all these religious sciences, they are simultaneously commentators of the Quran as well as traditionists, jurisprudents as well as scholastic theologians, sufis as well as strivers with the self (mujahid) and thinkers; and then, with the amalgamation of all these sciences, their disposition is temperate as well as medium. This is the reason that in their party disposition there is neither extremism (ghulu) nor exaggeration (mubalagha), and due to this breadth of vision there is neither anathematizing (takfir) nor scurrility, neither obloquy nor ill-speaking against anyone, neither obstinacy and envy and indignation nor dominance of position and pelf and excess of luxury. It is rather only a statement of proposition and ummat, or the establishment of the truth and refutation of the falsehood, in which there is neither involved the despising and disparagement of personalities nor is there arrogant flouting. The name of the sum-total of the same virtues and particulars is Darul Uloom, Deoband, and it is due to this very academic and practical versatility that its influence has spread over all the countries of world.
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Post by Admin on Jan 25, 2015 23:58:49 GMT
In The Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The day of Thursday, 15th Muharram, A.H. 1283 (May 30, 1866), was that blessed and auspicious day in the Islamic history of India when the foundation stone for the renaissance of Islamic sciences was laid in the land of Deoband. Seeing the simple and ordinary manner in which it had been started, it was difficult to visualize and decide that a Madrasah beginning so humbly, with utter lack of equipment's, was destined to become the center, within a couple of years, of the Islamic sciences in Asia.Accordingly, before long, students desirous of studying the Holy Book and the Sunnah, the Shari'ah and the Tariqah (the spiritual path), began to flock here in droves from this sub continent as well as from neighboring and distant countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Bukhara and Samarqand, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and the far off regions of the continent of Africa, and within a short-time the radiant rays of knowledge and wisdom illumined the heart and mind of the Muslims of the continent of Asia with the light of faith (Iman) and Islamic culture.
The time when the Darul Uloom Deoband, was established, the old Madaris in India had almost become extinct, and the condition of two or four that had survived the ravages of time was not better than that of a few glow-worms in a dark night. Apparently it so looked at that time as if the Islamic sciences had packed up their kit from India. Under these circumstances, some men of Allah and divine doctors, through their inner light, sensed the imminent dangers. They knew it too well that nations have attained their right status through knowledge only. So, without depending upon the government of the time, they founded the Darul Uloom, Deoband, with public contributions and co-operation. One of the principles that Hazrat Nanautavi (may his secret be sanctified) proposed for the Darul Uloom and other religious Madaris is also this that the Darul-Uloom should be run trusting in Allah and with public contributions for which the poor masses alone should be relied upon.
The Darul-Uloom, Deoband, is today a renowned religious and academic center in the Islamic world. In the sub-continent it is the largest institution for the dissemination and propagation of Islam and the biggest headspring of education in the Islamic sciences. Such accomplished scholars have come out from the Darul Uloom in every period that they, in accordance with the demands of religious needs of the time, have rendered valuable services in disseminating and spreading correct religious beliefs and religious sciences. These gentlemen, besides in this sub-continent, are busy in performing religions and academic services in various other countries also, and everywhere they have acquired a prominent status or religious guidance of the Muslims. The fact is that the Darul Uloom, Deoband, was a great religious, educational and reformative movement in the thirteenth century Hijri. It was such a crucial and crying need of the time that indifference to and connivance at it could cause Muslims to be confronted with inestimable dangers. The caravan that comprised only two souls on 15th Moharram, A-H. 1283, has today in its train individuals from many countries of Asia!
For the last one century, the Darul Uloom, Deoband, has been considered an incomparable teaching institution for the religious education of the Muslims not only in the sub-continent but also throughout the Islamic world. Besides the Jam'a-e Azhar, Cairo, there is no such institution any where in the Islamic world that may have acquired so much importance in point or antiquity, resorting, centrality and strength of students as the Darul Uloom, Deoband, has. The foundation of the Darul Uloom had been laid in this obscure, sleepy village of India at the hands of such sincere and august men that within a short time its academic greatness was established in the world of Islam. And it began to be looked upon as the most popular educational institution of the Islamic world, students from the Islamic countries flocking to it for the study and research of different arts and sciences. A large number of personalities, well-versed in the religions sciences, found today in the length and breadth of this sub-continent has quenched its thirst from this very great river of knowledge, and eminent religious doctors (Ulama) have been once the alumni of this very educational institution. It is a fact that as regards the worth of academic services not only in the sub-continent but also in other Islamic countries there is no other educational institution except one or two, that may have rendered such weighty and important religious and academic services to the Muslim community. The achievements of the Ulama of the Darul Uloom in the fields of religion, education, missionary-work and book writing have been acknowledged repeatedly. And the achievements not only in India but also in other Islamic lands, and in the fields especially of guidance and instruction, teaching and preaching they seem to be ahead of all others. In the Muslim society of the sub-continent, the command a high rank and a lofty position. With the tumult of the fame of the Darul Uloom even the academic assemblies of Afghanistan, Bukhara and Samarqand reverberated. Us graduates became deans and principals of great Madaris, and it is an authentic history. And a fact to assert that this spring of grace of the Darul Uloom, Deoband, by virtue of its ethos, has been busy for more than a century. In quenching the thirst of the seekers of knowledge of different sciences and the whole of Asia is redolent with the aroma of this prophetic garden. Among the hundreds of thousands of seminaries in the world of Islam today there are only two such institutions on which the Muslims have relied most of all: the one is Jam'a-e-Azhar, Cairo, and the other is Darul Uloom, Deoband. The religious services both these institutions of learning have rendered to the Muslims are sui generis. These very religious, academic and intellectual services of the Darul Uloom have made it a cynosure in the Islamic world. And what is more astonishing is that the Darul Uloom without being dependent on the government has made all these advancements. The blessings (Barakat) of the Darul Uloom and its universal beneficence are indicating that upon this academic institution a special theophany (Tajalli) of divine and prophetic knowledge has cast its light, which regularly continues to attract hearts towards it. What and how many great achievements the Darul Uloom, Deoband, made, what and how many renowned personalities it produced and how they imprinted the stamp of their service and utility in every field of religious life. All these things you will know by going through this history of the Darul Uloom, Deoband.
However much pride and joy the Muslims of the sub-continent express over the existence of the Darul Uloom Deoband, there can be no doubt about its being correct and justified. The history of the Darul Uloom in the present times is a bright chapter in the history of the Muslims effort and endeavor; this great struggle for the survival of religion and freedom of thought cannot be over looked in the history of Islam and the Muslims. Darul Uloom, Deoband, is in fact a shore less ocean from which, besides those of this sub-continent, the seekers of knowledge of the whole of Asia are benefiting. If the history of the Darul Uloom is studied minutely, a perspicacious reader will not fail to see the reality that it is not merely an old-type teaching institution; it is in fact a stupendous movement for the revival of Islam and the survival of the community.
The establishment of this seminary in the land of Deoband and its stability is the result of a concerted effort and endeavor of the Muslims of the sub-continent. Service to religion, support to Islam, renaissance of Islamic arts and sciences and their dissemination, and help to the students craving religious knowledge are the special and momentous achievements of the Darul Uloom Deoband. For one hundred and fourteen years it has been rendering, as per the pious predecessors tack, the right-type of academic and gnostic training to the Muslims. Even as Cairo, after the fall of Baghdad, became the center of Islamic arts and sciences, exactly in the same way, after the decline of Delhi, academic centrality fell to the lot of Deoband. And great illustrious personalities rose up from this teaching institution, innumerable scholars were fostered in its laps, and thousands of Ulama, Shaikhs, traditionists, jurisconsults, authors and experts of other arts and sciences were produced here. And, having become an adornment in the firmament of knowledge and action rendered and are still rendering services to religion in different manners in every nook and corner of the sub-continent.The history of the Darul Uloom, Deoband, is a historical chapter on an epoch-making period in the history of Islam as a whole. The long and short of this is that this overflowing ocean of arts and sciences has so far assuaged the thirst of a very large number of the seekers of knowledge, who having become the vernal air, have spread its academic aura in the four corners of the world. Those who benefited from the Darul Uloom are like a luxuriant free the green and fresh branches and foliage of which it is not easy to compute.
Darul Uloom Deoband, has been a center of both the Shariah and the Tariqa from the very day of its inception. All the moons and stars in the sky of the Shariah and the Tariqa and knowledge and action that are at the time shining in the sub-continent have been mostly illuminated by this very brilliant sun, and have come out assuaged from this very head spring of knowledge and gnosis. Every one knows that most of the great Ulama of the sub-continent has been the alumni of this very institution. And those who feasted at the dinner-cloth of Darul Uloom are now present in most of the Asian countries, where as well as in the sub-continent and certain other foreign lands. They have enkindled the lamps of the Holy Book and the Sunnah, and have imparted the grace of instruction and guidance to countless people. Darul Uloom, Deoband, has played a great part in investing the Muslims thoughts and views with freshness and sacredness, their hearts with ambition and courage, and their bodies with strength and energy. Its beneficence universal and countless men, to satisfy whose academic eagerness there were no means available, have quenched their thirst from it. At the same time, on the model of Darul.Uloom sprang up many religious and academic springs, each having its own particular many of circle of its benefit and grace. They are all the stars of this very solar system by the light of which every nook and corner of the religious and academic life of the Muslims of the sub-continent is radiant.
Very little attention has been paid to this benefit of these ýreligious schools that on account of them the condition of millions of Muslim families has been ameliorated. The Muslims inferiority complex was removed and that through these schools became available to the community innumerable such individuals, who, according to the conditions and time, guided the Muslims in the different aspects of life.
Besides their great services in the revival of Islam, they awakened political consciousness among the Muslims and took leading part in the struggle for freedom as a result of which the countries of the sub-continent acquired independence.
Even as in the past the Darul Uloom, Deoband, has rendered invaluable services to the cause of Islam, the Muslims and the religious sciences. It is hoped that in future too it will continue to discharge the obligation of inciting the Muslims power of action, of strengthening the faiths and of preaching and propagating Islam.
courtesy of: www.darululoom-deoband.com/english/index.htm
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Post by Admin on Jan 25, 2015 21:52:10 GMT
Title: Imām Abū Hanīfa & Hadīth Author: Shaykh 'Abd al-Hafiz Makki Db Translated by: Maulana Ismaeel Nakhuda
Translator’s foreword: The following is a translation of the introduction (by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hafiz al-Makki) to Shaykh Latif al-Rahman al-Bahraichi al-Qasmi’s Al-Rasa’il al-Thalathah al-Hadithiyyah, a collection of three hadith compilations containing narrations transmitted by Imam Abu Hanifah Nu‘man ibn Thabit. It was during the Hajj of 2009 that I was sat in a tent in Mina, a stone throw away from the Jamarat, when I was forced to listen to a young man’s rant on how weak Imam A‘zam Abu Hanifah apparently was in hadith.
Ignoring the sanctity of the venue and time, this young man — who it later transpired was an instructor at Al Kauthar Institute — gave a very colourful and misleading description of the respected imam’s supposed lack of knowledge and prowess in hadith. He also gave very little opportunity to others to rectify his wrong impressions. During this lengthy and greatly troubling speech, this young man — who, to add legitimacy to his views, claimed to be Hanafi and cited several contemporary Hanafi ‘ulama to support his claim to this effect — made many frivolous comments regarding the great imam that left me greatly pained and astonished. I also wondered how one could indulge in such slander of an individual who met and narrated from several Companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them), and that also at such a sacred time and place.
I pray and hope that by translating writings on this subject, misconceptions about this great tabi‘i, hadith scholar and faqih will be removed, insha-Allah. To add salt to my wounds, the Al Kauthar instructor also insisted that Imam Abu Hanifah apparently only knew seventeen hadiths! La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. I will, insha-Allah, deal with this issue in a subsequent translation.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Hafiz writes:
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful
All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and salat wa salam on the noblest of messengers and the seal of the prophets Sayyiduna and Mawlana Muhammad, the unlettered and noble prophet, and upon his family and companions, all of them.
After praising Allah and sending salutations upon the prophet:
The Islamic Ummah is united that Imam A‘zam Abu Hanifah Nu‘man ibn Thabit (may Allah mercy him) is one of the four followed imams — Malik, al-Shafi‘i, Ahmad and Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy them all and be pleased with them).
Among those issues upon which all of the people of knowledge from both the early and latter times are agreed is that these four jurists, and their likes from among the mujtahid imams whose followers have gradually died out, only derived fiqh issues (masa’il) and Shari‘ah rulings from the book of Allah Most High and the Sunnah of His Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), and that which these two sources indicate towards such as consensus (ijma‘) and legal analogy (al-qiyas al-shar‘i) etc.
The knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah are the basis of ijtihad and the process of deriving rules; it is because of this that the mujtahid jurists were leaders in the knowledge of the Noble Qur’an and the pure Sunnah because without these two core sciences it would not be possible for them to carry out ijtihad and derive rulings and masa’il.
If they did not have the knowledge of the Noble Qur’an and the pure Sunnah then how would they have been able to carry out ijtihad? How would they have been able to derive Shar‘i rulings and from where did they bring these religious masa’il? Without the knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah, the religion cannot be visualized, and nor can the Shari‘ah, its rulings and masa’il.
It is because of this that when any person is designated as a mujtahid, then everyone understands that this person has a large amount and great portion of the knowledge of the Qur’an and Sunnah, such that he is able to perform ijtihad and has been designated as a mujtahid.
However, in spite of all of this, we see some people speaking ill regarding the imam of the fuqaha and mujtahids Imam Abu Hanifah Nu‘man, the great tabi‘i (may Allah mercy him). They falsely and lyingly say, “Surely, he had no knowledge of the pure Sunnah and the hadiths of the Noble Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and, even if he did, then it was very little.”
These people, even though they were very few in previous times, were refuted by the imams of hadith and Sunnah and the great notable individuals of this science in every age and place. However, a group known for its excesses and extremism, and for calling others heretics and innovators, has increased in recent times. We see some individuals among them in various lands making denigrating remarks regarding this great imam and flaunting unsound treatises, baseless views and malicious lies saying he was ignorant of the science of hadith and the Sunnah (we seek refuge with Allah) while calling themselves the Ansar al-Sunnah, the Ahl al-Hadith, the Salafiyyah and the Muhammadiyyah, as the situation demands. The real people of Sunnah and hadith, the pious predecessors and beloveds of Sayyiduna Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace) are innocent of the vileness of what they say and do.
The senior imams of hadith and those notable individuals of this science have refuted these disgraceful lies in every age, and wrote hadiths and their commentaries; and there are many that did this.
Many of them devoted books and specific treatises explaining the virtues (manaqib) of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy him) because of this. Among them were Imam Ibn Abi al-‘Awwam al-Sa‘di,[1] Imam Hafiz Ibn Abd al-Barr al-Maliki, the hadith scholar Imam Yusuf ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Hanbali, Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi, Imam Hafiz al-Zayla‘i, Imam Hafiz ‘Ali al-Qari, Imam Hafiz al-Kirmani, Imam al-Kardari, Imam Ibn Hajar al-Makki, Imam Hafiz al-Suyuti, Imam Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Salihi, Imam Mawfaq ibn Ahmad al-Makki and others.
We shall suffice here in this short introduction by mentioning what the researcher Imam Hafiz Shams al-Din Muhammad al-Dhahabi has mentioned in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, an excellent book containing only details of the imams and notable hafizs[2] of hadith. Al-Dhahabi himself mentions regarding this book in his introduction:
“This Tadhkirah is of the names of those trusted (mu‘addal) bearers of the prophetic sciences and those who refer to their [own] ijtihad in considering [narrations to be] reliable, weak, correct and fabricated. It is upon Allah that I hold fast to, upon Him I rely and to Him I turn to.”
In this excellent and wonderful book, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi mentions Imam Abu Hanifah among those major hafizs of hadith of the fifth rank (al-tabaqat al-khamisah). He writes:
“Abu Hanifah, the great imam (imam al-a‘zam), the jurist of Iraq, Nu‘man ibn Thabit ibn Zuta al-Taymi (who were their masters) al-Kufi. He was born in 80 AH and saw Anas ibn Malik more than once when he came to them in Kufa. Ibn Sa‘d has narrated this from Sayf ibn Jabir that he heard Abu Hanifah say this. He narrated from ‘Ata’a, Nafi‘, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A‘raj, ‘Adi ibn Thabit, Salamah ibn Kuhayl, Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, Qatadah, ‘Amr ibn Dinar, Abu Ishaq and many others. Zufar ibn Hudhayl, Dawud al-Ta’i, Qadi Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, Asad ibn ‘Amr, Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Lu’lui, Nuh al-Jami‘, Abu Muti‘ al-Balkhi and others learned fiqh from him. He learned fiqh from Hammad ibn Abu Sulayman and others. Waki‘, Yazid ibn Harun, Sa‘d ibn al-Sult, Abu ‘Asim, ‘Abd al-Razzaq, ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Musa, Abu Na‘im, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri and others narrated from him. He was an imam, pious, knowledgeable, someone who practiced, someone who indulged in great worship and a man of great ranking; he would not accept the sultan’s gifts but would trade and earn a living.
“Dirar ibn Sard said, Yazid ibn Harun was asked, ‘Who is a greater faqih, al-Thawri or Abu Hanifah?’ He replied, ‘Abu Hanifah was a greater faqih and Sufyan was greater in remembering hadith.’ Ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘Abu Hanifah was the greatest faqih among the people.’ Al-Shafi‘i said, ‘People are children to Abu Hanifah in fiqh.’ Yazid said, ‘I never saw anyone more god fearing and more intelligent than Abu Hanifah.’ Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Mihraz narrated from Yahya ibn Ma‘in who said, ‘There is no issue with him; he was not accused of anything. Yazid ibn ‘Umar ibn Hubayrah imposed on him to take up the judiciary but he refused to be qadi.’ Abu Dawud (may Allah mercy him) said, ‘Imam Abu Hanifah was an imam.’
“Bishr ibn al-Walid narrates from Abu Yusuf who said, ‘I was walking with Abu Hanifah when a man said to another, “This is Abu Hanifah, he does not sleep at night.” Imam Abu Hanifah said, “I swear by Allah, people do not speak of me regarding that which I have not done.” He used to keep awake the night in prayer, du‘a and supplication.’ I (Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi) say: I have devoted a chapter to the virtues of this imam. He died in Rajab, 150AH. May Allah be pleased with him.”
Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi has written under the biography of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy him) in Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala:
“And he took an interest in seeking hadiths and travelled for this. As for fiqh and being precise in providing an opinion and its innermost points, he was at the top. And people are his children in that…”
With his chain of transmission he writes:
“Isma‘il ibn Hammad ibn Abu Hanifah informed us, ‘Nu‘man ibn Thabit ibn al-Marzaban was from among the free people of Persia. I swear by Allah, we were never enslaved. My grandfather was born in the eightieth year. Thabit went to ‘Ali when he was small and he prayed for barakah for him and his children. We hope to see Allah accept ‘Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) prayer for us…’
“Muhammad Sa‘d al-‘Uwfi said, I heard Yahya ibn Ma‘in say, ‘Abu Hanifah was reliable (thiqah), he did not narrate a hadith except that which he remembered and did not narrate that which he did not.’
“Salih ibn Muhammad said, I heard Yahya ibn Ma‘in say, ‘Abu Hanifah was reliable in hadith.’ Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Mihraz narrated from Ibn Ma‘in, ‘There is nothing wrong with Abu Hanifah.’ And he said once, ‘He is according to us from among the people of truth and was never accused of lying. Ibn Hubayrah imposed on him to take up the judiciary, but he refused to be a qadi…’
“Shu‘ayb ibn Ayyub al-Sarifini said, Abu Yahya al-Himmani narrated to us, ‘I heard Abu Hanifah say, “I saw a dream that scared me. I saw I was digging up the grave of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). I came to Basrah and ordered a man to ask Muhammad ibn Sirin and he asked him. He said, ‘This man shall uncover the hadiths of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).’”’
“The hadith scholar Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Marwazi said that Hamid ibn Adam narrated to us that Abu Wahb Muhammad ibn Muzahim narrated to us that, ‘I heard ‘Abd Allah ibn Mubarak say, “If Allah had not aided me with Abu Hanifah and Sufyan, then I would have been like the rest of the people.”’
“Ahmad ibn Zuhayr said that Sulayman ibn Abu Shaykh narrated to us that Hujr ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar narrated to me who said, Al-Qasim ibn Ma‘n was asked, ‘Does it please you to be the servants of Abu Hanifah?’ He replied, ‘The people have not sat with anyone more beneficial than Abu Hanifah.’ Al-Qasim then said to him, ‘Come with me to him.’ When he (the man who asked) came to him, he stayed with him and said, ‘I have not seen anyone like him.’
“Muhammad ibn Ayyub al-Duris said Ahmad ibn al-Sabah narrated to us, ‘I heard al-Shafi‘i say that Malik was asked, “Did you see Abu Hanifah?” He replied, “Yes, I saw a man if he were to speak to you regarding this pillar that he will make it gold then it would happen through his proofs.”’
“Asad ibn ‘Amr narrates, ‘Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy him) performed ‘Isha and the morning prayer with one wudu for forty years.’
“Bishr ibn al-Walid narrates from Qadi Abu Yusuf who said, ‘While I was walking with Abu Hanifah I heard a man saying to another, “This is Abu Hanifah, he does not sleep at night.” So Abu Hanifah said, “I swear by Allah, it is not spoken of me that which I have not done.” He used to keep awake the night in prayer, supplication and du‘a.’
“It has been narrated through two chains that Abu Hanifah recited the entire Qur’an in one rak‘ah…
“Ibn al-Mubarak narrates, ‘I have never seen a man commanding so much respect in his gathering, and nor more beautiful in manners and gentleness than Abu Hanifah…’
“Sharik narrates, ‘Abu Hanifah is someone who would remain quiet for a long time and was someone of great intelligence.’ Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil said, ‘Abu Hanifah would be called al-watd (the pole) due to performing so many salah.’ Ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi narrates from Qadi Abu Yusuf who said, ‘Abu Hanifah used to complete the Qur’an every night in one rak‘ah.’
“Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani narrates from his father that he remained with Abu Hanifah for six months. He said, ‘I never saw him offer the morning prayer except with the wudu of the ‘Isha of the previous night. He would complete the Qur’an every night at dawn…’
“Nuh al-Jami‘ narrates from Abu Hanifah that he said, ‘What is from the Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), then that will gladly be given priority (‘ala al-ra’s wa al-‘ayn); what comes from the Companions, we shall choose, and what is apart from that, then they are men and we are men.’
“Waki‘ said, ‘I heard Abu Hanifah say, “Urinating in the masjid is better than some types of analogy.”’
“Abu Yusuf said that Abu Hanifah said, ‘It is not appropriate for a man to narrate except that which he has remembered at the time when he heard it.’
“Abu Mu‘awiyah al-Dharir narrates, ‘Loving Abu Hanifah is from the Sunnah.’
“Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Zuhri narrates from Bishr ibn al-Walid who said, ‘Mansur called for Abu Hanifah and wanted him to take up the judiciary and he swore that he will definitely take it. Imam Abu Hanifah refused and vowed, “I will not.” Al-Rabi‘ al-Hajib said, “You see the commander of the faithful taking an oath and you then also take an oath?” He replied, “The commander of the faithful is more capable of fulfilling the compensation for his oath than I.” He was sent to prison; he died there in Baghdad…’
“The jurist Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Saymari said, ‘He did not accept the position of qadi, so he was beaten, imprisoned and died in jail.’ Hayyan ibn Musa al-Marwazi said that Ibn al-Mubarak was asked, ‘Is Malik a greater jurist or Abu Hanifah?’ He replied, ‘Abu Hanifah.’ Al-Khuraybi said, ‘Only the jealous or ignorant disparages Abu Hanifah.’
“Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan said, ‘We do not lie in front of Allah. We have not heard any better opinion than that of Abu Hanifah. We have taken the majority of his opinions.’
“‘Ali ibn ‘Asim said, ‘If the knowledge of Imam Abu Hanifah were to be weighed against the knowledge of the people of his era, then he would surpass them.’
“Hafs ibn Ghiyath said, ‘The speech of Abu Hanifah in fiqh is finer than a hair; only an ignoramus finds fault in it.’
“It has been narrated from A‘mash that he was asked regarding an issue, so he said, ‘Only Nu‘man ibn Thabit al-Khazzaz would be able to answer that expertly. I think he was blessed in his knowledge.’
“Jarir said, ‘Mughayrah said to me, “Sit with Abu Hanifah, you will gain insight in fiqh. If Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i were alive then he would have sat with him.”’
“Ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘Abu Hanifah is the greatest faqih amongst the people.’
“Al-Shafi‘i said, ‘People are children to Abu Hanifah in fiqh.’ I (Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi) say: leadership (imamat) in fiqh and its subtleties is resigned to this imam. And this is an issue in which there is no doubt.’
“And nothing will be correct in the minds,
“When even the day asks for proof that it is day.
“It is possible that his biography can be separated into two volumes. May Allah be pleased with him and mercy him. He died a martyr having been given poison to drink in 150AH; he was 70 years old. Upon his grave are a large dome and a splendid tomb in Baghdad. And Allah is the most knowledgeable.”
Our shaykh al-hadith, the imam of the hadith scholars, the a‘rif of Allah, the hafiz, the researcher, ‘Allamah Muhammad Zakariyya al-Kandhalwi then al-Madani (may Allah mercy him) writes in his introduction to Awjaz al-Masalik ila Muwatta Malik,
“The fourth beneficial lesson regarding his (i.e. Imam Abu Hanifah) lofty rank in hadith: And there is no need for this lesson because the imam (may Allah be pleased with him) was a mujtahid by consensus, rather he was from among the senior mujtahids and no one has rejected that from those of the earlier and latter times. A man can only be a mujtahid after he has become an expert in the Noble Qur’an, the noble hadiths, the athars,[3] history, lexicography and analogy, as has been explained by the previous and contemporary imams of the principles of fiqh (usul). After all this, rejecting the imamat of an imam in hadith is nothing but scepticism.
“In spite of this, we feel it is appropriate to mention some of the statements of experts on this issue. Ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘He — may Allah be pleased with him — was, I swear by Allah, someone who would firmly grasp knowledge, avoid that which is forbidden, follow the ‘ulama of his city (Kufa), only permit taking that which has been correctly transmitted from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), and he knew extremely well those hadiths that are nasikh from those which are mansukh.[4] He would seek reliable hadiths and those that show the action of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace). He would hold on to that which he found the ‘ulama of Kufa on in following the truth and making it his religion. A group has slandered him and we have not answered, seeking forgiveness for him from Allah Most High.’
“Makki ibn Ibrahim said, ‘Abu Hanifah — may Allah be pleased with him — was the most knowledgeable person of his era. . Mansur said to him, “From whom have you taken knowledge?” He replied, “From the companions of ‘Umar who took from ‘Umar, the companions of ‘Ali who took from ‘Ali and the companions of Ibn Mas‘ud who took from Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with them).” Mansur said, “You are confident.”’ Al-Suyuti has also narrated this and added some words: ‘… and the companions of ‘Abd Allah who took from ‘Abd Allah. There was, on the face of the earth in the time of Ibn ‘Abbas, no one more knowledgeable than he. He said, ‘You are confident of yourself.’
“Ibn Hajr said, ‘Avoid being under the delusion that Abu Hanifah did not have full knowledge apart from fiqh. Allah forbid. He was in the sciences of Shari‘ah — such as exegesis (tafsir) and hadith — the auxiliary sciences relating to literature etc and legal intuition an ocean that could not be surpassed and an imam who could not be contested. The speech of some of his enemies regarding him is different to this; it is rooted in jealousy. The proof of this lies in his being superior to his contemporaries and their accusing him of falsities.’
“Abu Yusuf said, ‘I never saw anyone more knowledgeable in explaining hadiths than him. He had greater insight in sahih hadiths than me.’ It is in Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi regarding him, ‘I never saw a greater liar than Jabir al-Ja‘fi and nor anyone more superior than ‘Ata ibn Abu Rabah. Al-Bayhaqi has narrated regarding Abu Hanifah that he was asked about taking knowledge from Sufyan al-Thawri, he replied, “Write from him for he is reliable except those hadiths from Abu Ishaq narrating from Jabir al-Ja‘fi.”’
“Al-Khatib has narrated from Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah that he said, ‘The first to sit me down for hadith in Kufa was Abu Hanifah.’ Sufyan said, ‘He is the most knowledgeable of the people with regards to the hadiths of ‘Amr ibn Dinar.’ From this, his high worth in hadiths can also be understood. And why not? He was consulted regarding al-Thawri and would sit Ibn ‘Uyaynah down. It is narrated from Hasan ibn Salih that ‘Abu Hanifah — may Allah be pleased with him — would thoroughly investigate the abrogater (nasikh) from the abrogated (mansukh), he knew the hadiths of the ‘ulama of Kufa, he stringently followed that which the scholars did, and he knew well that which reached him through the ‘ulama of his city.’
“Yahya ibn Adam said, ‘Nu‘man gathered all of the hadiths of his city, he even saw the final hadiths narrating the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) passing away.’ Al-Khatib has narrated from some of the imams of zuhd (ascetics) that they said, ‘People should supplicate for Abu Hanifah in their prayers for protecting the Sunnah and fiqh for them.’ He also said, ‘People are jealous and ignorant regarding him. According to me, he is better than them all.’
“Mu‘ammar said, ‘I have not seen a man speaking so well in fiqh, having such vastness in the acquisition of knowledge and explaining hadiths with greater insight than Abu Hanifah; and nor [have I seen] anyone who would be so cautious that anything doubtful enters the religion of Allah than Abu Hanifah.’ Yahya ibn Ma‘in was asked, ‘Has Sufyan narrated from him?’ He said, ‘Yes, he was reliable and truthful in fiqh and hadith. He was trustworthy in [matters relating] to the religion of Allah.’ He was asked again and said, ‘He was reliable, I have never heard of anyone considering him weak. This is Shu‘bah who writes that he would narrate hadiths, was experienced and surpassed him.’ Hammad ibn Zayd said, ‘We used to go to ‘Amr ibn Dinar. When Abu Hanifah would come, he (‘Amr) would turn to him and we would begin asking Abu Hanifah. We would ask him and he would narrate to us.’ Isra’il ibn Yunus said, ‘What a great man is Nu‘man. There was none who had retained every hadith in which there is fiqh more than he, scrutinised hadith more than he, and was more knowledgeable of the fiqh inside them than he.’
“Abu Yusuf narrates, ‘I did not differ with him in anything ever except that I pondered over it and found the tract that he followed was more safe in terms of the hereafter. Sometimes, I would be inclined to a hadith and he had more insight in sahih hadiths than me.’ He added, ‘When he had made up his mind with regards to an opinion, I would visit the shaykhs of Kufa to see if I could find a hadith or athar supporting his view. Sometimes, I would find two or three hadiths, which I would take to him and from among that which he would say was this, “This is not sahih, or not ma‘ruf.” So I would say to him, “What do you know of it? Not withstanding, it agrees with your opinion.” He would say, “I know the knowledge of the ‘ulama of Kufa.”’
“Abu Hanifah was with A‘mash who was asked about some juristic issues. A‘mash said to Abu Hanifah, ‘What do you say regarding this?’ He replied and A‘mash said, ‘Where did you get this from?’ Abu Hanifah said, ‘From your hadiths which I have narrated from you.’ He then narrated to him a number of hadiths along with their chains of narration consecutively. A‘mash said to him. ‘That’s enough. What I narrated to you in a hundred days you narrate to me in an hour. I did not know you were acting on these hadiths. Oh community of jurists (fuqaha), you are the physicians and we are the pharmacists. And you fellow, you have taken both.’
“Hafiz has derived (takhrij) from his hadiths many musnad[5] hadiths, many of which that have reached us are mentioned in the musnad compilations of our shaykhs.”
Abu al-Mahasin al-Dimashqi al-Shafi‘i has established that the imam possessed a vast number of hadiths and was among the eminent hafizs; he has written individual chapters on both issues in ‘Uqud al-Juman. Al-Suyuti has narrated that while explaining the hadith, “The Day of Judgment will not come until knowledge appears,” Hasan ibn Sulayman said, “It is the knowledge of Abu Hanifah and his explanation of the hadiths.” Al-Suyuti also narrates from Ibn al-Mubarak who recited the following poem:
The imam of the Muslims, Abu Hanifah, has surely decorated the lands and those in them, With traditions and understanding of hadiths, the effects of which are like characters on a page, There is none like him in the lands of the east and the lands of the west, and nor in Kufa, I saw those who belittle him foolish, they are in opposition of the truth equipped with weak proofs. Al-Suyuti has mentioned him like this, and these verses are part of a long poem that historians have narrated from Ibn al-Mubarak. We have omitted the rest for the sake of brevity.
Al-Sha‘rani said:
“Allah Most High has favoured me with studying the musnads of Abu Hanifah from a correct manuscript containing the writings of hafizs of hadiths, the last of whom was Hafiz al-Dimyati. I saw him only narrating hadiths from the best of the Followers (Tabi‘), those who were honest and reliable and from the khayr al-qurun as testified by the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) such as Aswad, ‘Alqamah, ‘Ata, ‘Ikramah, Mujahid, Makhul, Hasan al-Basri and their group (may Allah be pleased with them). All narrators between him and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) were honest, reliable, and outstanding eminent personalities. There was none among them who was untruthful or had been accused of lying.”
It shall soon come in the writings of Ibn Khaldun that he said:
“This is proof that he was from among the major mujtahids in the science of hadith, that his madhhab was held with esteem among them…”
Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Musali mentioned at the end of Kitab al-Du‘afa:
“Yahya ibn Ma‘in said, ‘I have seen none who I can prefer over Waki‘. He used to issue fatwas according to the view of Abu Hanifah. He had memorised all of the hadiths and had heard many hadiths from Abu Hanifah. It was his — may Allah be pleased with him — habit that whenever a hadith scholar would enter Kufa he would pursue the hadiths that he would have.’ Al-Mawfaq has narrated hadiths with his chain until ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abu Razmah and has mentioned the knowledge of Abu Hanifah in hadith and said, ‘A hadith scholar would come to Kufa and Abu Hanifah would say to his companions, “See, does he have any hadiths that we don’t?” He said, “Another hadith scholar would come to them so Abu Hanifah would say the same.”’”
It is in Jami‘ Usul fi al-Awliya in the imam’s counsel to his son, Hammad:
“He selected five hadiths from five thousand; they are the four famous ones which Abu Dawud selected after him, and the fifth is, ‘The Muslim is he from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe.’ Al-Mawfaq said, ‘He — may Allah be pleased with him — selected hadiths from forty thousands hadiths.’ It has been narrated from Yahya ibn Nasr, ‘I heard Abu Hanifah say, “I have chests of hadiths; I have only taken some of them from which benefit can be derived.”’ Hasan ibn Ziyad said, ‘Abu Hanifah would narrate four thousand hadiths; two thousand from Hammad and two thousand from the rest of his shaykhs.’
“Abu Yusuf said, ‘When a question would come to Abu Hanifah, he would say, “Which athar do you have regarding this?” When we had narrated the athars, and he had mentioned what he had, he would examine. If the athars in support of one of the two views were more, then he would take that which is more, and if they were close then he would choose except if the analogy was wrong according to him, then he would leave it in favour of juristic preference (istihsan).’
“Waki‘ said, ‘Surely, that level of cautiousness in hadith was found in Abu Hanifah that is not found in others.’ Al-Mawfaq has narrated regarding Makki ibn Ibrahim al-Balkhi, the imam of Balkh and al-Bukhari’s shaykh, ‘He entered Kufa and remained in the company of Abu Hanifah and heard hadith and fiqh from him. He narrated much from him and loved him so much that Isma‘il ibn Bishr said, “We were in Makki’s gathering when he said, Abu Hanifah narrated to us. Then a stranger called out, ‘Narrate to us from Ibn Jurayj, don’t narrate from Abu Hanifah.’ Makki then said, ‘We don’t narrate to idiots. I forbid you from writing from me. Go from my gathering.’ He did not narrate anything until the man was taken away from his gathering. Then he said, ‘Abu Hanifah narrated to us…’ and continued.”’ There is another narration that the man said, ‘I repent and have made a mistake.’ But Makki refused to narrate to them. Ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘Abu Hanifah had the upper hand in the ability to remember (hifz), understanding, and being meticulous and extremely cautious.’ Khalf ibn Ayyub said, ‘I used to frequent the gatherings of the ‘ulama. At times I would hear something the meaning of which I did not understand which would distress me. When I would come to the gathering of Abu Hanifah, I would ask him about that which I did not know and he would explain it to me. Nur would enter my heart from his explanation and clarification.’
“Hafs ibn Ghiyath narrates, ‘I heard from Abu Hanifah his books and his hadiths. I never saw anyone with a more intelligent pen than he, and nor anyone more knowledgeable regarding that which is corrupt and right in matters relating to rulings than he.’ Muhammad ibn Sa‘d said, ‘I have heard from those who attended to Yazid ibn Harun, and with him was Yahya ibn Ma‘in, ‘Ali ibn al-Madini, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Zuhayr ibn Harb and a group of people, when a questioner came and asked him regarding an issue. Yazid said to him, “Go to the people of knowledge.” Ibn al-Madini then said to him, “Are the people of knowledge and hadith not besides you?” He said, “The people of knowledge are the companions of Abu Hanifah. You are the chemists.”’”
The erudite ‘allamah, hadith scholar and researcher Shaykh Latif al-Rahman al-Bahraichi al-Qasmi (may Allah protect him with goodness and blessings) has been working on an encyclopaedia of the hadiths of the Prophet transmitted by Imam Azam Abu Hanifah Nu‘man (may Allah mercy him and be pleased with him) which will consist of, insha Allah, all of the imam’s narrations that are present in all of his musnad compilations that have been printed and are in manuscript form, and likewise all of his narrations that are in various collections of pure hadiths, the books of rijal, rankings (tabaqat), biographies (tarajim), history, life history (siyar) etc.
It was while working on this that we stumbled upon three short manuscripts relating to the narrations of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy him):
Kitab al-Arba‘in al-Mukhtarah min Hadith al-Imam Abi Hanifah Rahim Allah (Book of Forty Selected Narrations from the Hadiths of Imam Abu Hanifah May Allah Mercy Him) by the imam, the ‘allamah, the hadith scholar, the faqih Shaykh Yusuf ibn Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Hadi al-Salihi al-Hanbali, who was famously known as Ibn al-Mabrad and died in 909AH (may Allah mercy him); ‘Awaliy al-Imam Abi Hanifah (The ‘Awaliy[6] of Imam Abu Hanifah) by Imam Hafiz Shams al-Din Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Khalil ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Dimashqi al-Hanbali, who died in 648AH (may Allah mercy him); Al-Ahadith al-Sab‘ah ‘an Sab‘ah min al-Sahabah alladhina Rawa ‘anhum al-Imam Abu Hanifah Rahim Allah (The Seven Hadiths from Seven Companions may Allah be pleased with him from whom Imam Abu Hanifah May Allah Mercy Him Narrated) by Imam Shaykh Nasir al-Sunnah Abu al-Makarim ‘Abd Allah Ibn Husayn al-Nisapuri al-Hanafi. Because these manuscripts have never been published before, in fact the majority people of knowledge have also never heard of them, we decided to publish them separately before including them in the above mentioned encyclopaedia of hadith to make their benefit widespread, and earn the reward of propagating the pure Sunnah, serving the noble hadiths and defending one of the most eminent personalities of the Prophet’s Ummah: the imam of the imams, fuqaha and mujtahids Abu Hanifah Nu‘man ibn Thabit (may Allah mercy him and be pleased with him). We have also placed them in one book due to their brevity and their all being related to Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy him) as they are all his hadiths.
We hope that the Noble Creator — on behalf of the authors, the researcher, the publisher and all readers — accepts this blessed effort; spreads benefit and goodness far on account of it; and makes it a treasure for the hereafter, a source of reward, and a means of gaining He Who is Gloried and Most High’s proximity and acceptance.
May Allah Most High send salutations upon the best of His creation, the seal of His prophets, the master of His messengers, our chief, our master, our beloved, our exemplar Muhammad, and also upon his family, Companions, wives and followers, all of them. May He bless them, and send much peace.
And all praise is for Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Written by he who is in need of his noble lord
‘Abd al-Hafiz Malik ‘Abd al-Haqq
Thursday 13/01/1425
Makkah al-Mukarramah
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Ibn Abi al-‘Awwam’s Fadail Abi Hanifah wa Akhbaruhu wa Manaqibuhu was also recently published by Al-Maktabah al-Imdadiyyah, Makkah al-Mukarramah, with additional footnotes by Shaykh Latif al-Rahman al-Bahraichi. [↩] Mufti Husain Kadodia writes on Sunni Forum that a hafiz is a hadith scholar who has memorised many hadiths and is accepted by the people of his time as a hafiz (Qawa‘id fi ‘Ulum al-Hadith, page 28). [↩] Athar: That statement or act which is attributed to the Companions. [↩] In other words that hadith that has abrogated another. The one that abrogates is known as the nasikh while the one that has been abrogated is known as the mansukh. [↩] A hadith traced up, ascribed or attributed to the author thereof by the mention uninterruptedly, in ascending order, of the persons by whom it has been transmitted, up to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). [↩] Citing several hadith scholars, Shaykh Latif al-Rahman al-Bahraichi writes on page 132 of this book that in the terminology of the scholars of hadith, the ‘awaliy, which is the plural of ‘aliyah, are those hadiths that have a high chain of narration with few links. [↩]
translated by: Maulana Ismaeel Nakhuda
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Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2015 17:47:05 GMT
Title: Issuing Fatwa On The Ruling Of Another Mathab (school) Author: Mufti Taqi Usmani Db Translated by: Mufti Zameelur Rahman
The default rule for a mufti who is a muqallid is that he does not issue fatwa but on the madhhab of his Imam, according to the principles we discussed from ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti. However, that which we outlined in the discussion on taqlid and adopting a madhhab – that [the obligation of] taqlid of a specific Imam is a fatwa based on blocking the means and the interests of the Shari‘ah, in order that people do not fall into following desires, since collecting the concessions [i.e. the easiest positions] of the madhhabs due to desire and whim is prohibited – should not be forgotten. Otherwise, the truth is that all the madhhabs of the mujtahids are interpretations of the Shari‘ah itself, and there is no room to vilify any one of them, because every mujtahid expended all that is in his capacity of effort in arriving at the intent of the texts, and deriving the rules from them.
Thus, the Shari‘ah is not restricted to the madhhab of one Imam. Rather, every madhhab is a component from the components of the Shari‘ah and a path from the paths to practice upon it. Indeed, the Shari‘ah that was sent down revolves around all the madhhabs. Whoever thinks that the Shari‘ah is restricted to a single madhhab from these madhhabs, he is certainly mistaken. From this vantage point, it may be permissible for a mufti of one madhhab to give preference to the opinion of another madhhab for practice or fatwa, with the condition that this does not proceed from whim or following desires.
This is only permissible in three situations, which we will discuss in some detail in the following. We ask Allah (Glorified is He) for accordance towards accuracy and precision.
Issuing Fatwa on Another Madhhab for a Widespread Need
The first situation is necessity or need, which is that in the madhhab [one follows] there is an extreme and unbearable difficulty in a particular ruling, or an actual need to which there is no alternative, so it is allowed to act on another madhhab in order to avert the difficulty and fulfil the need. This is just as the ‘ulama’ of the Hanafis have issued fatwa on the madhhab of the Shafi‘is on the permissibility of taking salary for teaching the Qur’an, and on the madhhab of the Malikis in the issue of the wife of a lost man, impotent man and violent man (Radd al-Muhtar, 13:246-7). Similarly, that in which there is widespread affliction is included in this category. An example of this is that the later ‘ulama’ from the Hanafis issued fatwa on the madhhab of al-Shafi‘i in the issue of acquisition[1] in that it is permissible for the acquirer to take his right from any kind of wealth, whether it is from the kind of the obligation or from a different kind, and that was because of the change in people in terms of persisting on irresponsibility. Ibn ‘Abidin stated this explicitly in Kitab al-Hajr (Radd al-Muhtar, 6:151).
Similarly, the later Hanafis issued fatwa on the madhhab of Malik (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) in the issue of a person duped [in a monetary transaction] having the option [to revoke the sale] in that it is permissible for him to return the item due to being excessively duped when there is deception in it. Ibn ‘Abidin stated this explicitly in Radd al-Muhtar under Bab al-Murabahah wa l-Tawliyah (Radd al-Muhtar, 5:143) and Ibn Nujaym (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) in Sharh al-Ashbah wa l-Naza’ir under the rule, “Difficulty demands creating ease.” (al-Ashbah wa l-Naza’ir, 1:236)
Similarly, the Hanafi jurists issued fatwa on the madhhab of the Shafi‘is on [the obligation of] compensating for the immaterial benefits (manafi’) enjoyed on a usurped item, from the wealth of an orphan and endowed wealth and all [wealth] that is susceptible to exploitation. Rather, Ibn Amir al-Hajj (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) proposed that the fatwa [ought to] be issued on the [obligation of] compensating for the immaterial benefits enjoyed on all confiscated items (al-Taqrir wa al-Tahbir, 2:130).
In our age, monetary transactions have become complex, and the needs of people therein have multiplied, especially after the emergence of big industries, and the spread of trade between countries and continents, so it is necessary for the mufti to make it easy for the people in adopting that which is most lenient in those [matters] in which there is widespread affliction, even if it is from another madhhab from the four madhhabs. The teacher of our teachers, ‘Allamah Rashid Ahmad al-Gangohi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), instructed this to his student, Shaykh ‘Allamah Ashraf ‘Ali al-Thanawi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him). And Shaykh al-Thanawi (Allah sanctify his secret) acted on this in many of the rulings found in Imdad al-Fatawa. Thus, he issued fatwa on the opinion of the Shafi‘is on it not being a condition for the product in a delayed transaction (al-muslam fih) to be present up until the appointed time arrives, and the permissibility of paying a down-payment on a delayed transaction, and on the madhhab of the Malikis on the permissibility of partnership in movable items, and on the madhhab of the Hanbalis on the permissibility of profit-sharing partnership (mudarabah) in the immaterial benefits of animals (see for these rulings: Imdad al-Fatawa, 3:106, 21, 495, 343).
However, for the permissibility of issuing fatwa on another madhhab due to need or widespread affliction, it is necessary for the following conditions to be met:
(1) The need is severe, and the affliction is widespread, in actual reality, not mere speculation of it.
(2) The mufti is sure of the severity of the need, and that is by consulting other scholars of fatwa and people with experience in that field. And it is best to not hasten in issuing fatwa in isolation from others. Rather, he should try as far as possible to add to it the fatwa of other ‘ulama’, especially if he wants the fatwa to spread over a wide area.
(3) He should gain surety and investigate in verifying the madhhab on which he wishes to pass fatwa with an extensive verification, and it is best for him to consult the ‘ulama’ of that madhhab on it, and it is not enough to find the ruling in one or two books, because every madhhab has technical terms that are particular to it, and styles which distinguish it, and often only those who are experienced in these technical terms and styles will reach its true intent.
(4) The opinion that is adopted is not from the anomalous (shadhdhah) opinions which opposes the vast majority of the jurists of the ummah and on which they issued condemnation. ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him) narrated from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace): “Verily, Allah will not gather my ummah,” or he said: “the ummah of Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace) on misguidance. The hand of Allah is over the group. And whoever is isolated, is isolated in the Fire.” (Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi, 2167) And it was narrated from Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace), he said: “Verily, my ummah will not unite on misguidance, so when you see dissention, you must [adhere] to the vast majority.” (Sunan Ibn Majah, 395) Isolated opinions have occurred from some jurists which the majority of the people of knowledge have not accepted, rather condemnation of them have occurred from them, and indeed recourse to those isolated opinions, in order to create ease and collect concessions, is from that which the predecessors, both ancient and recent, despised.
Imam al-Awza‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said: “Whoever adopts the rarities of the ‘ulama’ has left Islam.” (Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, 1:180) Hafiz al-Dhahabi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said: “Whoever chases the concessions [i.e. the easiest positions] of the madhhabs and the slips of the mujtahids, then indeed his religion has become brittle, as al-Awza‘i and others said: ‘Whoever adopts the opinions of the Meccans on temporary marriage, the Kufans on nabidh, the Medinans on singing, the Levantines on the infallibility of the caliphs, he has gathered all evil.’ And likewise, whoever adopts in usurious transactions [the position] of those who find loopholes in them, and in divorce and the marriage of tahlil[2] [the position] of those who are lenient therein, and the like of that, he subjects himself to dissociation [from Islam].” (Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, 8:90)
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said: “If a man were to act on every concession, with the opinion of the people of Kufah in nabidh, the people of Madinah in audition, and the people of Makkah in temporary marriage, he will become a wicked person (fasiq).” Ma‘mar said: “If a man was to adopt the opinion of the people of Madinah on listening to songs and approaching women from their behinds, and the opinion of the people of Makkah on temporary marriage and barter, and the opinion of the people of Kufah on intoxicating substances, he would be from the worst of the slaves of Allah.” Sulayman al-Taymi said: “If you were to take the concession of every scholar,” or he said: “the slip of every scholar, all evil with gather in you.” (See for these all these quotes Lawami‘ al-Anwar al-Bahiyyah by al-Safarini, 2:466) ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said: “The one who adopts the isolated opinion is not an imam in knowledge, nor is he an imam in knowledge who narrates from everyone, and nor is he an imam who relates all that he hears.” (Jami‘ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadlih by Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, 3:35)
This is what they believed regarding marginal opinions which were issued by eminent trustworthy jurists regarding whom the people of knowledge attested to their deep insight and scrupulousness, so what is your opinion of the marginal opinions that issue from some of those who have no connection to knowledge and jurisprudence, but he only said what he said based on his extreme views or his personal inclinations or on foreign cultures which have no relation at all to Islam?! Thus it is necessary to adopt that which is weightiest in terms of evidence and strongest in terms of proof by investigating the sources of the Islamic Shari‘ah and its noble goals and the opinions of the vast majority of the jurists.
(5) That madhhab is adopted with all of its conditions that are recognised therein, so that this does not lead to talfiq in a single matter. It will be apt that we discuss here with some detail the issue of talfiq, and Allah (Glorified is He) is the Guardian of Success.
The Ruling of Talfiq
That which was summed up by me on the topic of talfiq is that by this term is intended – in the general speech of the jurists – that two madhhabs are selected in a single issue whereby a compound situation is created that is not permitted in either of the two madhhabs. For example, a man adopts the opinion of the Hanafis on wudu’ not breaking upon touching a woman, and the madhhab of the Shafi‘is on it not [breaking] with flowing blood, so he prays after having touched a woman and blood having flowed from him, as this Salah is not valid according to either of the two madhhabs.
Al-Qarafi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) (d. 684 H) said:
It is stipulated for the mufti – when he allows transfer between madhhabs in individual issues – to ponder carefully in what he issues fatwa on, whether there is something in the madhhab that is switched from that rejects it or not?
An example of this is when a Shafi‘i mufti allows transfer, for example, from the madhhab of Malik to the madhhab of al-Shafi‘i, and he is asked about omitting rubbing (tadlik) in the ritual bath (ghusl) for a Maliki. It is stipulated for him to not allow it as the prayer from the Maliki will become invalid by consensus of the two Imams, because the Maliki does not say basmalah. Therefore, Malik believes it invalid due to the absence of rubbing [in ghusl] and al-Shafi‘i believes it invalid due to the absence of saying the basmalah [in the prayer].
I was once asked about wudu’ [with water] in socks sewn with the hair of swine, whether it is permissible to pray with the traces of such water that touched areas of the thread? The questioner was a Shafi‘i, so I said to him: “In the madhhab of Malik, the hair of swine is pure, but you are Shafi‘i, you wipe [only] a part of your head [for wudu’]. Therefore, the two Imams will agree on the invalidity of your prayer: Malik because of not wiping the entire head, and al-Shafi‘i because of the hair of swine being impure according to him.”
Examples of these matters must be understood, because they occur frequently. (al-Ihkam, 233-5)
Our teacher, the learned scholar, the hadith-master, the great imam, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), commented on this with his statement:
This, from the author, is based on the widespread, famous [opinion] that talfiq is invalid, while Imam Ibn al-Humam in al-Tahrir and his student Ibn Amir al-Hajj in his commentary (3:350-3) concluded that talfiq is permissible, and he offered for it evident proofs, and he quoted this statement of al-Qarafi, and he followed it up with his statement: “A later scholar qualified it [i.e. following two madhhabs in one issue] with [the condition] that that which is rejected by both of them is not consequential on it,”…He indicated by his statement, “later scholar” that the prohibition of it is not established from any of the early scholars.
The attribution of the permissibility of talfiq to Ibn al-Humam and Ibn Amir al-Hajj also occurs in a number of books from the people of knowledge, but it becomes clear in checking their texts in al-Tahrir and its commentary that they do not support its permissibility, and they only deemed taqlid of another madhhab permissible with the condition of no talfiq, and indeed Ibn Amir al-Hajj understood the declaration of open iniquity (fisq) for the one who chases the concessions of the madhhabs as applying to the one who perpetrates talfiq, and he supported the prohibition of talfiq using the statement of al-Ruyani (Allah have mercy on them all) and did not follow it up with anything, which proves that he agrees with him. Thus, it is apparent that the attribution of the permissibility of talfiq to them is not clear.
As for adducing proof from his statement “later scholar” that the prohibition of it is not established from any of the early scholars, the most that can be proved from this is that its prohibition is not found clearly before the seventh century, and this does not prove the early scholars did not prohibit talfiq, for it is possible that it was narrated from some of them and we did not see it, or they did not prohibit it explicitly due to there being no need. Furthermore, just as its prohibition is not transmitted from them, its permissibility is also not established from them.
Then, our teacher (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) mentioned that “there were books authored on the permissibility of talfiq, and from the best of them is al-Qawl al-Sadid fi Ba‘d Masa’il al-Ijtihad wa l-Taqlid by Muhammad ‘Abd al-‘Azim ibn Munla Farrukh al-Makki, one of the scholars of the eleventh century.”
This treatise was compiled by Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azim al-Makki al-Rumi al-Muri al-Hanafi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), nicknamed Ibn Mulla Farrukh, and in it he transmitted the permissibility of talfiq from a number of Hanafi and other ‘ulama’. From them is ‘Allamah Ibn Nujaym (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) where he said in his thirty second treatise from al-Rasa’il al-Zayniyyah in the situation of selling an endowment (waqf) not in the form of substitution (istibdal)[3]: “It is possible to take the validity of substitution from the opinion of Abu Yusuf, and the validity of a sale with excessive duping from the opinion of Abu Hanifah, based on the validity of mixing (talfiq) two opinions in a ruling.” Then Ibn Nujaym (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) quoted from al-Fatawa al-Bazzaziyyah that which indicates the permissibility of talfiq and he said: “That which occurred towards the end of Tahrir by Ibn al-Humam of prohibiting talfiq, he only ascribed it to one of the later scholars, and that is not the madhhab.” (al-Rasa’il al-Zayniyyah, pp. 246-7)
From the greatest of what Ibn al-Mulla Farrukh drew evidence from is what was narrated from Abu Yusuf (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) that he prayed Jumu‘ah with the people, and then he was informed of the presence of a rat in the well of the public bath in which he had taken a bath, and that was after the people had dispersed, so he said: “We adopt the opinion of our brothers, the people of Madinah, that water does not hold impurity when it reaches two qullahs.” This story became famous from Imam Abu Yusuf (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) and a number of the Hanafi jurists related it. It was related in al-Muhit al-Burhani transmitting from Majmu‘ al-Nawazil of Ahmad al-Kashshi (d. 550 H), as mentioned in Kashf al-Zunun. Its chain of transmission is unknown, while also the people of Madinah do not limit purity to two qullahs; rather, that is the madhhab of al-Shafi‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him). Even if it is established, the most that can be established from it is the permissibility of acting on the opinion of another mujtahid, and it is not necessary from it that Imam Abu Yusuf (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) mixed between two opinions, because in this story there is no mention of him opposing the madhhab of the Malikis or Shafi‘is in the ritual bath, and apparently he had observed the disagreement due to leading the Jumu‘ah. Thus, the permissibility of talfiq according to him is not established by it.
Then our teacher (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) related from ‘Allamah Ahmad al-Tahtawi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) that “he approved of the statement of ‘Allamah Ibn Farrukh in the matter of talfiq and deemed it good, in imitation of Mufti Abu al-Su‘ud’s (d. 982 H) preference of it also.” However, the statement of al-Tahtawi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) in [the commentary] on al-Durr al-Mukhtar is as follows:
Know that issuing fatwa on the opinion of Malik is the essence of taqlid, and there is no disagreement on its permissibility with the condition of no talfiq, according to what Shaykh Hasan mentioned, and he devoted a treatise to it, and that which ‘Allamah Ibn al-Munla Farrukh mentioned opposes it, since he stated explicitly the permissibility of an action with talfiq, and he expanded on that in the manner of verification, and he devoted a treatise to it also, and he attributed the opinion of the permissibility of talfiq to Ibn al-Humam in al-Tahrir, and the author of al-Bahr in one of his treatises, and that he, i.e. the author of al-Bahr, said: “Prohibiting an action with talfiq is against the madhhab,” and [he attributed this opinion ] to [authors] besides the author of al-Bahr from the scholars of Khawarizm, and he even attributed acting on talfiq to Abu Yusuf. However, the speech of ‘Allamah Nuh Afindi in his treatise related to the rulings of a latecomer [to prayer] supports what Shaykh Hasan mentioned. End from Abu al-Su‘ud. (Hashiyat al-Tahtawi ‘ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 2:217)
Thus it is clear from this that after transmitting the position of Ibn al-Munla Farrukh, he followed it up by quoting ‘Allamah Nuh Afindi in his opposition [to him] and support for the opinion of the prohibition of talfiq, and he transmitted this support from Abu al-Su‘ud. Thus, it is apparent that Abu al-Su‘ud (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) supported prohibition, not permission, and Allah (Glorified is He) knows best.
The outcome of these transmissions is that Ibn Nujaym and Ibn al-Munla Farrukh (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them) permitted talfiq, and it is understood from the speech of Ibn al-Humam that the prohibition came from the later scholars, but the majority of the later scholars from the four madhhabs forbade it, since you are aware of what al-Qarafi al-Maliki said, and Ibn al-‘Attar from the Shafi‘is approved of it.
That which is apparent to me – and Allah (Glorified is He) knows best – is that the prohibition of talfiq is weightier, because that which everybody agrees on is that playing with the madhhabs on whim is [equivalent to] following desires and this is prohibited by the clear injunction of the Noble Qur’an. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: “So judge between people with truth, and do not follow desire, lest it should lead you astray from Allah’s path. Surely those who go astray from Allah’s path will have a severe punishment, because they had forgotten the Day of Reckoning.” (37:26). And if the door of talfiq was opened fully that would lead to following desires and releasing the noose of moral responsibility.
However, the talfiq that is prohibited is that a person chooses in a single issue two madhhabs in such a way that leads to a situation not allowed by either in that particular case. But if a man chooses in a matter an opinion opposing his madhhab, it is not necessary for him to make that madhhab duty-bound in other matters also. An example of this is what ‘Allamah Ibn Farrukh (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) produced as evidence, that many of the later Hanafis issued fatwa on the permissibility of passing a judicial decree on an absentee, adopting the opinion of the three Imams [Malik, al-Shafi‘i and Ahmad] due to an expediency that appears to the Qadi. Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said, transmitting from Jami‘ al-Fusulayn:
“So in such as this (i.e. in cases of it being difficult to make the absent person attend), if one were to produce evidence against the absentee, and it dominates the mind of the Qadi that it is true and not forged, and there is no fraud in it, he should pass judgement against him [i.e. the absentee] and in favour of him [i.e. the one who brought the evidence]. Likewise it is permissible for the mufti to pass fatwa on its permissibility to avert the difficulty and needs, and to preserve the rights from being infringed, while also it is a place of ijtihad (mujtahid fih), which the three Imams adopted, and there are two narrations therein from our companions. There should be an advocate appointed for the absentee who is known will he observant of the side of the absentee and will not be negligent of his right.” End . And it is endorsed in Nur al-‘Ayn.
I say: It is supported by that which will come shortly regarding the advocate, and likewise what is in al-Fath in Bab al-Mafqud: “A judicial decree over an absentee is not allowed unless the Qadi sees an expediency in ruling in favour of him and against him, so he passes a decree, as it will be enforced, because it is a place of ijtihad.” I say: The outward [purport] of it is even if the Qadi is Hanafi and even if in our time. And this does not negate what has preceded[4] because its permission is for expediency and necessity. (Radd al-Muhtar, 5:414)
Based on this, if the Qadi selects the madhhab of the majority in decreeing over the absentee, it is not necessary for him to adhere to their madhhab in all decrees, so if he was to pass judgement on the right of pre-emption for a neighbour [which is only viable in the Hanafi school], for example, and the defendant was absent, that would not lead to the prohibited talfiq, because the issue of decreeing over an absentee and the issue of pre-emption of the neighbour are two separate issues from two chapters, and it is not necessary that if one adopts the opinion of al-Shafi‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy him) in one chapter he does not adopt the madhhab of the Hanafis in another chapter. This is supported by what appears in al-Hindiyyah from al-Dhakhirah:
An example of this is what we said about one who issues a decree based on the testimony of open sinners (fussaq) over an absentee, or with the testimony of a man and two women of marriage over an absentee, his decree will be enforced, even though those who allow judging over an absentee say women do not have the right of testimony in the chapter of marriage, and open sinners do not have the right of testimony at all, but it will be said, each one of the two issues are open to differences of ijtihad, so the decree from the Qadi will be enforced based on his ijtihad in both of them. (al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah, 3:359)
This is different from one who adopts the madhhab of the Shafi‘is in wudu’ not breaking with flowing blood, and the madhhab of the Hanafis in it not [breaking] by touching a woman, since the two rulings are from one door, so he will not be deemed to be in the state of wudu’ according to either of the two madhhabs. This is what the teacher of our teachers, al-Thanawi, deemed the most balanced of opinions in the issue of talfiq where he said, the translation of which is:
The most balanced of opinions from amongst these opinions according to us is talfiq is not permissible in one action which violates consensus. But when they are two different actions, talfiq (mixing) is permissible, even if it necessitates violation of consensus outwardly, so whoever performs wudu’ non-sequentially, his wudu’ is not valid according the Shafi‘is, and if he wipes less than a quarter of the head in that wudu’, his wudu is not valid according to the Hanafis, so if he performs wudu’ non-sequentially and wipes less than a quarter of the head, his wudu’ is not valid according to anyone, and this talfiq violates consensus. And the one who wipes less than a quarter of the head in wudu’ and then prayed behind the imam and did not read Fatihah, then although this necessitates violating consensus outwardly since he performed wudu’ on the madhhab of the Shafi‘is and prayed on the madhhab of the Hanafis, but since wudu is one act and prayer another act, it is not from the prohibited talfiq. (al-Hilat al-Najizah li l-Halilat al-‘Ajizah, p. 15)
Similarly, Imam al-Thanawi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) issued fatwa on the Hanafi madhhab on the status of in-laws being established [by unlawful sexual relations], and on the madhhab of the Malikis on the permissibility of annulling a marriage by a group of Muslims, because they are two separate issues (al-Hilat al-Najizah, p. 88). Thus, the prohibited talfiq will not be necessitated by it. And Allah (Glorified is He) knows best and His knowledge is most complete and firmest.
A resolution similar to this was issued by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in its second session, the text of which is as follows:
The reality of talfiq in the taqlid of madhhabs is that a muqallid approaches one matter with two or more connected branches in a manner which was not sanctioned by any mujtahid from those he does taqlid of in that matter. Talfiq is prohibited in the following circumstances: when it leads to adopting concessions by mere desire, or coming short in one of the clear regulations in the matter of adopting concessions; when it leads to breaking the ruling of a judicial decree; when it leads to violating what is acted upon in taqlid [of a mujtahid] in one incident; when it leads to opposing consensus or what necessitates it; when it leads to a compound situation not agreed to by any of the mujtahids.
Issuing Fatwa on Another Madhhab due to the Strength of its Evidence
The second situation in which it is permissible to act and issue fatwa on another madhhab is that the mufti has mastered the madhhab and knows its evidences, who has deep insight into the Qur’an and Sunnah, even if he has not reached the level of ijtihad; however, he is aware of an authentic hadith with a clear indication, and he does not find anything that opposes it besides the opinion of his Imam; in that case it is permissible for him to adopt the opinion of a mujtahid who acted on that hadith, as we detailed in the discussion of taqlid and adopting a madhhab.
And this – what we mentioned – is in agreement with what ‘Allamah Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) transmitted in Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti from Sharh al-Ashbah by al-Biri from Sharh al-Hidayah by Ibn al-Shahnah al-Kabir:
When a hadith is authentic, and is against the madhhab, the hadith will be acted upon, and that will be his madhhab, and his muqallid will not be excluded from being a Hanafi by acting on it, for indeed it is authentic from Abu Hanifah that he said: “When a hadith is authentic, it is my madhhab.” ‘Allamah Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr related it from Abu Hanifah and other Imams, and Imam al-Sha‘rani also transmitted it from the four Imams.
I say: It is not hidden that this is for one who is qualified to examine the texts and has knowledge of the decisive from them and the abrogated, so when the people of insight examine the evidence and act on it, it is proper to attribute it to the madhhab, in that it was issued with permission from the founder of the madhhab, as there is no doubt that if he knew the weakness of his evidence, he would retract from it, and would follow the stronger evidence. (Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti, p. 44)
Strangely, ‘Allamah Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) followed this up with his statement:
I say: Furthermore, that should be limited to what agrees with an opinion of the madhhab, since they did not allow what is completely outside of the madhhab of that which our imams are agreed upon within [the remits of] ijtihad, because their ijtihad is stronger than his ijtihad, so apparently they saw an evidence stronger than what he saw, thus they did not act upon it. This is why ‘Allamah Qasim said with respect to his teacher, the seal of the verifying scholars, al-Kamal Ibn al-Humam: “The researches of our teacher that oppose the madhhab will not be acted upon.” And he said in his Tashih on al-Quduri: “Imam ‘Allamah al-Hasan ibn Mansur ibn Mahmud al-Awzjandi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), better known as Qadi Khan, said in Kitab al-Fatawa: ‘The function of the mufti in our time, from our companions, is when he is asked about an issue, if it is narrated from our companions in the apparent transmissions without any disagreement between them, he will tend towards it, and he will issue fatwa on their opinion, and he will not oppose them with his opinion even if he is a skilled mujtahid, because it is apparent that the truth is with our companions and does not surpass them, and his ijtihad does not measure up to their ijtihad, and the opinion of those who go against them will not be given any attention, and his proof will not be accepted also, because they knew the evidences and distinguished between what is authentic and established and what is its opposite.’” (Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti, p. 48)
‘Allamah Ibn Qadi Samawah al-Hanafi (d. 818 H) (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) refuted him [i.e. Qadi Khan] in Jami‘ al-Fusulayn, and he said:
I say: This is from his good opinion, for otherwise, Malik (Allah have mercy on him) is earlier than them, and there is no evidence that they were more precise, more careful, and stronger in following reports and narrations than al-Shafi‘i and Malik, and hadith was not codified in the time of Abu Hanifah (Allah have mercy on him) and his two companions in the way it was codified after them, since the six books were composed after them. Furthermore, if the opinion of a mujtahid opposed their opinion, not the Book, nor the Sunnah, nor consensus, nor the Sahabah, nor a Tabi‘i, his fatwa would be accepted in the time of the Sahabah, like Shurayh, for example. Thus, it is necessary for him [i.e. the mujtahid] to act on his personal opinion, not on the opinion of another. If he believes that it is the truth weightier than [other opinions] besides it, how can it be permissible for him to act on another [opinion]? And it is mentioned in al-Muhit: “It is necessary for the mujtahid to act on his ijtihad and it is forbidden for him to do taqlid of another.” (Jami‘ al-Fusulayn, 1:15)
This is why Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) himself said after quoting the statement of Qadi Khan that has passed on which Ibn Qadi Samawah issued a refutation: “However, often they would divert from what our Imams have agreed upon for necessity or its like, as has preceded in [the issue of] taking wages for teaching the Qur’an…and in that case, it is permissible to issue fatwa against their opinion, as we will mention soon from al-Hawi al-Qudsi.”
Then, in the matter of issuing fatwa on a weak opinion, Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) authenticated [the position] that it is permissible for a scholar who knows the meaning of the texts and the opinions [of different mujtahids], and he is from the people of understanding, to act for himself in such as this, on the opinion of another Imam, but it is not permissible to issue fatwa on that in all of these situations, and that is because the questioner only came to him to ask him about what the Hanafi Imams adopted, not his personal opinion. And the consequence of this explanation is that if he was to clarify to the questioner that he is not issuing fatwa in this matter on the madhhab of Abu Hanifah (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), but he is issuing fatwa on the opinion of another, that should be permissible, because ‘Allamah Ibn ‘Abidin related from al-Qaffal (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them) from the imams of the Shafi‘is that when someone would seek fatwa from him about selling an unmeasured heap [of food], he said to him: “Are you asking me about my opinion or about the madhhab of al-Shafi‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him)?” And at times he would say: “If I were to perform ijtihad, and my ijtihad led me to the madhhab of Abu Hanifah (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), I may say: ‘The madhhab of al-Shafi‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) is such and such,’ even though I adopt the madhhab of Abu Hanifah (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him).’” (Sharh ‘Uqud Rasm al-Mufti, p. 94)
When a Qadi Passes a Judicial Decree on another Madhhab
When the Imam [of an Islamic state] appoints a Qadi and does not tie him down to a particular madhhab, and the Qadi is a mujtahid, so he passes judgement on what is against the madhhab of another, his decree will be enforced as long as the matter is a place of ijtihad. Thus, if a mufti is asked, he answers that the decree is to be enforced even if the decree is against his madhhab. This third situation is from the situations in which the mufti issues fatwa on another madhhab, and that is due to what the jurists are agreed upon, that the decree of a ruler or the judgement of a Qadi eliminates disagreement.
The basis of this is what is narrated that ‘Umar (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him) appointed Abu al-Darda’ (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him) as Qadi, and two men disputed before him, so he issued a decree in favour of one of them. Then the one who was sentenced unfavourably met ‘Umar (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him), and asked him about his state, and he said: “The decree was issued against me.” So ‘Umar (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him) said: “If I was in his place, I would have passed judgement in your favour.” The one against whom judgement was made said: “What prevents you from passing a decree?” He said: “There is no clear text here, and personal preference is shared [between me and Abu l-Darda’].” (Tabyin al-Haqa’iq, 5:108)
Likewise, Ibn Abi Shaybah and others transmitted from al-Hakam ibn Mas‘ud, he said: “I saw ‘Umar make full brothers share with half brothers in the third [of the inheritance that is allotted for half brothers],” so a man said to him: “You had decreed in this [issue] in the first year on [something] besides this.” He said: “How did I decree?” He said: “You allocated it for the half brothers, and you did not allocate anything for the full brothers.” He said: “That is according what we had decreed, and this is according what we [now] decree.” (Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, 16:232)
Since ‘Umar (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him) did not change his previous decree, despite a change in his earlier opinion because the matter is a place of ijtihad, a new Qadi not altering the decree of an earlier Qadi is therefore more worthy.
The wisdom in this is that judicial decree was instituted in the Shari‘ah to end dispute, so it is necessary for it to eliminate dispute as much as possible. And when the issue is one in which the opinions of mujtahids differ, if we were to open the door of revoking decrees on the basis of differing opinions, the dispute will remain endlessly, as every new Qadi can potentially revoke a previous decree on the basis of his opinion. And since it cannot be said with certainty that any of the different madhhabs are completely baseless, the opinion on which the decree was passed is given weight over [opinions] besides it by the decree which eliminates dispute. Hence, it remains as it is, unless it is contrary to a decisive texts or consensus, in which case there is no room to endorse it, because then it is included in “a judgement against what Allah (Exalted is He) sent down.” However, there is detail to this issue, scattered in the books of jurisprudence in various cases, so we should discuss it in some detail. And Allah (Glorified is He) is the One Who grants accordance to exactitude.
Malik al-‘Ulama’ al-Kasani (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) detailed this matter, so we will firstly relate his passage in its entirety, and then we will – if Allah (Exalted is He) wills – discuss what can be summed up from it with some clarification and detail. He (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said in al-Bada’i‘:
As for the exposition of what must be enforced from judicial decrees and what may be revoked from them when [the case] is raised to another Qadi, we say – and accordance is from Allah:
The decree of the first Qadi either occurs in a matter in which there is an explained (mufassar) text from the Mighty Book and the mass-transmitted Sunnah and consensus, or it occurs in an issue that is a place of ijtihad from apparent (zahir) texts and analogy.
If it occurs in a matter in which there is an explained text from the Book or a mass-transmitted report or consensus, if his decree agrees with that, it will be enforced, and it is not permissible for another to revoke [it], because it occurred absolutely correctly. But if it opposes any of them [i.e. an explained text from the Book or mass-transmitted report or consensus], he rejects it, because it is absolutely invalid.
If it occurred in a matter open to difference in ijtihad, it is either agreed-upon that it is a place of ijtihad or there is disagreement that it is place of ijtihad. If there is consensus that it is a place of ijtihad, the place of ijtihad is either what was decreed or the decree itself. If the place of ijtihad is what was decreed and his decree was raised to another Qadi, the latter will not revoke it, rather he will enforce it because it is a decree on which there is agreement on its soundness, due to what is known that the people, despite their disagreement on a matter, agree that a Qadi may pass judgement on whichever opinion his ijtihad inclines towards. Thus, there is agreement on the soundness of his decree. If another were to revoke it, he would revoke it based on his opinion, and there is disagreement over its soundness amongst the people [i.e. the scholars]. Therefore, it is not permissible to revoke what is right by agreement for an opinion on which there is disagreement over its accuracy. Furthermore, the second [Qadi] does not have decisive evidence, but speculative [evidence], and the correctness of the decree of the first Qadi is established by decisive evidence which is their consensus on the permissibility of the decree on whatever becomes evident to him. Thus, it is not permissible to revoke what has been issued on decisive evidence for that in which there is doubt.
Furthermore, necessity demands the view of the enforcement of the decree based on ijtihad, and that it is not permissible to revoke it, because if revoking it were permissible, the defendant would raise it to another Qadi who held a different view to the first, so he will revoke it, and then the claimant would raise it to another Qadi who holds a different opinion to the second Qadi, so he will revoke his annulment and will decree as the first decreed, and it will lead to an endless dispute and argument, and argumentation is a cause of corruption, and whatever leads to corruption is corruption. If the second Qadi had rejected it, and it was raised to a third Qadi, he should enforce the decree of the first Qadi and ignore the decree of the second Qadi, because the decree of the first was sound and the decree of the second void.
…
If the decree itself is a place of ijtihad, is it valid or not? For example, if one were to decree on the detainment of a freeman or pass judgement over an absentee. It is permissible for the second Qadi to revoke the decree of the first when his ijtihad inclines towards a different opinion to the first, because his decree here is not valid according to the opinion of everyone. Rather, [it is valid] according to the opinion of some and not others, so its validity is not agreed-upon. Hence, it can be revoked by something equivalent to it [in the strength of its validity]. [This is] distinguished from the first scenario, because the validity of the decree there is established according to the opinion of everyone so is agreed-upon, thus it cannot be revoked based on the opinion of some. Furthermore, when the issue is disputed, the Qadi eliminates one of the different opinions by his decree and he makes it agreed upon by decreeing with a judgement that is valid by agreement. And when the decree itself is disputed, the disagreement is eliminated by disagreement [hence, the disagreement remains].
This is when the decree is in a place on which they agree it is a place of ijtihad. But when it is a place they disagree over whether it is place of ijtihad or not, like the sale of an umm al-walad (a slave-woman who bore her master’s child), will the decree of the Qadi be enforced or not? According to Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf (Allah have mercy on them), it will be enforced, because it is a place of ijtihad according to them, due to the disagreement of the Sahabah on the permissibility of selling her. According to Muhammad, it will not be enforced due to the consensus that arose after that from the Sahabah and others that selling her is not permissible, so it is excluded from a place of ijtihad. This goes back to the question of whether a later consensus eliminates an earlier disagreement? According to them [i.e. Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf], it does not eliminate it and according to him [i.e. Muhammad] it does eliminate it. Thus, this scenario is disputed in its being a place of ijtihad. Hence, it will be examined: If it is the opinion of the second Qadi that it is a place of ijtihad, his decree will be enforced, and he will not revoke it, as we mentioned in all agreed-upon places of ijtihad. And if it is his opinion that it is outside of the place of ijtihad, and it had become agreed-upon, it will not be enforced; rather, he will revoke it because according to him the decree of the first Qadi occurred in contravention of consensus so was void.
Some of our mashayikh gave another explanation regarding places of ijtihad: If the ijtihad is disgusting and repulsive, the second Qadi may revoke the decree of the first. There is doubt in this, since when it is sound that it is a place of ijtihad, there is no meaning to distinguish between one mujtahid and another mujtahid, because what we mentioned of the reason [for the enforcement of the decree] does not necessitate distinguishing between them, so it should not be permissible for the second to revoke the decree of the first because his decree coincides with a place of ijtihad. (Bada’i‘ al-Sana’i‘, 5:457-8)
The upshot of what al-Kasani (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) explained is what follows:
If the decree is in an agreed-upon issue, what agrees with consensus will be enforced, and what opposes it will be null and void. If what was decreed is in a place of ijtihad, and there is no disagreement in it being a place of ijtihad, the decree will be enforced by agreement. If there is disagreement over what was decreed being a place of ijtihad, the decree will be enforced according to Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf, and it will not be enforced according to Muhammad (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them). If the decree itself is a place of ijtihad, like decreeing over an absentee and detaining a freeman, the decree will not be enforced according to the one who does not allow it. The first and second from these points are not in need of explanation and clarification, as is apparent.
Does a Later Consensus Eliminate an Earlier Disagreement?
As for the third point, it is related to when there is disagreement in a matter in the time of the Sahabah and Tabi‘in, and then consensus occurred on one of the two madhhabs, like the sale of umm al-walad, in which there was disagreement in the time of the Sahabah, whether it is permissible or not, and ‘Umar (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him) would opine her sale is not permissible and ‘Ali (Allah – Exalted is He be pleased with him) would opine her sale is permissible. And then consensus occurred in the time of the Tabi‘in on its impermissibility. Imams Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them) said that the later consensus does not eliminate the earlier disagreement, so the matter remains a place of ijtihad, despite the consensus that occurred later. Al-Sarakhsi (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) reasoned that the consensus of the Tabi‘in does not have the power to eliminate the disagreement which occurred between the Sahabah (Allah’s pleasure be upon them), so if a Qadi were to pass judgement on the permissibility of selling an umm al-walad, it would be enforced according to the two Shaykhs [Abu Hanifah and Abu Yusuf], because it is a decree in a matter that is a place of ijtihad. (al-Mabsut, 5:13)
As for Imam Muhammad (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), he says that the later consensus does eliminate the earlier disagreement, so the matter no longer remains a place of ijtihad after consensus has occurred on one of the two madhhabs. This is why if a Qadi was to pass a judgement on the permissibility of selling an umm al-walad, it would not be enforced because it violates consensus.
Since many Hanafi jurists issued fatwa on the enforcement of a decree, based on the opinion of Shurayh, with the acceptance of the testimony of women in corporeal punishments (hudud) and laws of retaliation (qisas), as will come, after consensus occurred on it not being accepted, it is apparent that this entails that the fatwa is on the opinion of the two Shaykhs (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them).
The opinion of the two Shaykhs is stronger in terms of evidence, due to what many of the jurists have mentioned, and from them, Imam Muhammad (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), in that the consideration in a place being a locus of ijtihad is the ambiguity of the evidence, not actual disagreement. It appears in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah:
And in al-Muntaqa it points to [the reality] that the consideration is of the ambiguity of the evidence not actual disagreement, and this is what Muhammad (Allah – Exalted is He –have mercy on him) mentioned in al-Jami‘ and in al-Siyar al-Kabir, and this is what the author of al-Aqdiyah mentioned. The text of what is mentioned in al-Siyar is: “If an imam from the imams of the Muslims opines that the jizyah is accepted from the idolaters of the Arabs and he accepts [it from them], it is valid, even if this is incorrect according to all [the scholars], because it is a locus of ijtihad.” This is how it is in al-Dhakhirah. (al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah 3:357)
We cannot say that what some Sahabah or Tabi‘in adopted, against the consensus that occurred later, is not based on evidence, or was not a place of ambiguity, because issuing an opinion without evidence or in an unambiguous place is misguidance, inconceivable from the best of generations. And Allah (Glorified is He) knows best.
When the Decree itself is a Place of Ijtihad
The fourth point which al-Kasani (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) mentioned is that if the decree itself is a place of ijtihad like passing judgement over an absentee and detaining a freeman, the decree will not be executed according to the one who does not allow it. There are two criticisms of what al-Kasani (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said, which must be alerted to:
The first criticism is that we had mentioned in the discussion of talfiq from Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) that the late Hanafis permitted passing judgement over an absentee for necessity and expediency, so using this as an illustration is not appropriate because passing judgement [over an absentee] based on this opinion became unanimous due to the circumstance of necessity and expediency. Probably the examples fitting to this category are the ones Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) mentioned, where he said: “Like if he were to decree in favour of his son over a stranger or in favour of his wife, or the judge was punished for slander because the decree itself is differed over.”
The second criticism is that al-Kasani (Allah – Exalted is He –have mercy on him) mentioned the ruling of this category as though it is agreed-upon amongst the Hanafis and that they agree that if the decree itself is a place of ijtihad, this decree will not pass according to those who do not regard it as a decree, so it is allowed for a second Qadi, if he is from those who do not regard it as a [valid] decree, to revoke it. But it appears from checking other books from the Hanafi madhhab that this ruling is not agreed-upon by the Hanafis themselves, even if its non-enforcement is declared authentic in al-Khaniyyah and al-Zayla‘i and others, but that does not mean it is not differed-upon, as some Hanafis have preferred [the view] that it is enforced in this situation also, as Ibn ‘Abidin transmitted from Ibn al-Shahnah from his grandfather (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him).
Thus the difference between the two opinions is that based on the opinion of al-Kasani and Qadi Khan and al-Zayla‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), the second Qadi will not implement the first decree, but if he were to implement it, it will be enforced, because the second Qadi decreed in a place of ijtihad. The upshot of this is that the authenticity of the first decree depends on the decree of the second. But on the opinion of Ibn al-Shahnah, the decree of the first will be executed directly, without depending on the other Qadi implementing it. (See Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Qada, Fasl fi al-Habs, 16:417)
Is it a Condition that the Issue is a Place of Ijtihad in the First Generation?
Some of the Hanafi jurists took the position that the decree will only be executed if there is a disagreement in the time of the Sahabah and Tabi‘in. However, when a disagreement occurs after that, the issue will not be regarded as a place of ijtihad. Thus, it appears in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah from al-Khassaf (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) that he did not take into consideration the disagreement between us and al-Shafi‘i, and he only took the disagreement amongst the early ones into consideration, and the intent of the “early ones” is the Sahabah (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) and those with them and those after them from the Salaf (al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah 3:357).
However the late Hanafis did not adopt this opinion. Thus, al-Haskafi said in al-Durr al-Mukhtar: “Is the disagreement of al-Shafi‘i taken into consideration? The most correct view is, yes, as stated by Sadr al-Shari‘ah.” Ibn ‘Abidin said under it:
It was said disagreement is only taken into consideration in the first generation. It says in al-Fath: “According to me this is not relied upon, because if it is authentic that Malik, Abu Hanifah and al-Shafi‘i were mujtahids, there is no doubt in the locus being one of ijtihad, and otherwise not. And there is no doubt that they were people of ijtihad and great rank, and this is supported by what is in al-Dhakhirah: ‘The father divorcing a minor girl on condition of [returning her] dowry which he saw to be best for her is valid according to Malik, and the husband is innocent of it. So if a Qadi was to decree by it, it will be enforced.’” (Radd al-Muhtar, 16:450-1)
It should be noted that some Hanafi texts, from them al-Durr al-Mukhtar, mention in a number of disputed issues amongst the four Imams that a judicial decree therein on the opinion of al-Shafi‘i will not be enforced according to the madhhab of the Hanafis, like a decree on the lawfulness of an animal over which bismillah was omitted deliberately and a decree using one witness and an oath and [other controversial issues] besides these.
However, Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said:
What the scholars of fatwa mentioned regarding the following issues in which the decree of a Qadi will not be enforced is based on a text of al-Quduri, not on what is in al-Jami‘, and whoever said: “There is no consideration of the disagreement of Malik and Shafi‘i” relied on the statement of al-Quduri, and whoever said there is consideration of them relied on what is in al-Jami‘. And it says in al-Waqi‘at al-Husamiyyah “According to Faqih Abu al-Layth: ‘We adopt what is in it, i.e. al-Jami‘.’ However it is mentioned in Sharh Adab al-Qada that the fatwa is on what is in al-Quduri.’” Thus it is clear that they are two authenticated opinions, and the primers (mutun) are in accordance with what is in al-Quduri, and al-Jami‘ is more sound, which is why it is preferred in al-Fath. (Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Qada’, Fasl fi l-Habs 16:434)
The weak slave (Allah pardon him) says:
It is apparent that there is no conflict between the statement of al-Quduri and what is in al-Jami‘ al-Saghir, since the statement of al-Jami‘ al-Saghir is as follows: “And that which the jurists differed over, and the Qadi issues a judicial decree on it, and then another Qadi comes holding a different opinion, he implements it [i.e. the original decree].”
And the statement of al-Quduri (Allah Exalted is He have mercy on him) is as follows: “And when the decree of a ruler is raised to a [second] Qadi, he implements it, unless it opposes the Book or Sunnah or consensus, in that it is an opinion without any proof.” (See al-Hidayah with Fath al-Qadir 6:393)
There is no substantial difference there between the two statements. Rather, al-Quduri only added a known condition, that the decree of a Qadi must not be against the Book or Sunnah or consensus, and there is no doubt that this condition is taken into consideration by everybody, and al-Quduri (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) did not mention a specific issue in which the a decree therein will not be enforced; and he did not mention that it will not be enforced in [the case of] an animal over which bismillah was omitted deliberately, or in a decree using one witness and an oath or in another issue. Rather, he only explained a well-known rule, and it is apparent that his intent is that the ijtihad of the Qadi is not in a place of ijtihad or the opinion is anomalous on which condemnation of it has occurred from all jurists; e.g. permission of mut‘ah (temporary marriage) or the permissibility of disparity (tafadul) in usurious properties without delay (nasi’ah), and their likes. And it is apparent that he did not intend the opinions of the authoritative jurists. However, those who came after him inserted the lawfulness of an animal over which bismillah was omitted deliberately and a decree using one witness and an oath from those [issues] which opposed the Book and Sunnah, so they applied the opinion of al-Quduri to these cases, and this was then attributed to al-Quduri, although we cannot say that these issues contradict the decisive texts in terms of their indication, and it is inconceivable from Imam al-Shafi‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) that he opposes the decisive texts. And it is established in its place that he drew evidence from hadiths even if there is disagreement over their interpretation. Therefore, the non enforcement of the decree in these issues should not be attributed to al-Quduri (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him), and Allah (Glorified is He) knows best.
Decreeing by other than the Four Madhhabs
Furthermore, if the Qadi issues a decree in which he leaves the four madhhabs, will his decree be enforced? It is apparent from the statement of Ibn Nujaym in al-Ashbah wa l-Naza’ir that it will not be enforced, as he says: “From that which a judicial decree therein will not be enforced is when a decree is issued against consensus, even if there is disagreement from others, as it states in al-Tahrir that consensus has occurred on a madhhab against the four not being practiced, due to the regulation of their madhhabs and their spread and the abundance of their followers.”
However, there is doubt over what Ibn Nujaym (Allah Exalted is He have mercy on him) said from perspectives:
(1) This is contrary to what we mentioned from the opinion of the two Shaykhs (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them) that a later consensus does not eliminate an earlier disagreement, and it is apparent is that this [is the opinion that is] is practiced upon, as has preceded in what came earlier.
(2) Ibn Nujaym (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) only relied in this opinion on al-Tahrir by Ibn al-Humam. However, Ibn al-Humam (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) did not say that a decree by other than the four maddhabs is not enforced. Rather, he only said that it is not permissible to do taqlid of other than the four Imams today as a general statement, because the madhhabs of others have not been codified. This does not entail that the opinion of others is not taken into consideration in terms of the issue being a matter of ijtihad. The text of Ibn al-Humam at the end of his book al-Tahrir is as follows:
Imam al-Burhan transmitted consensus of the verifiers on the prohibition of the commoners doing talqid of individual Sahabah. Rather, [they must do taqlid of] those who came after them who examined, instituted and codified. It is based on this that some of the later scholars opined that taqlid of other than the four [madhhabs] is prohibited due to the regulation of their madhhabs and the compilation of their rulings and the specification of their generalities, the like of which is not known in other than them now, due to the loss of their followers. And this is correct.
Ibn Amir al-Hajj said beneath it: “And the upshot of this is that it is forbidden to do taqlid of other than the [four] Imams due to the difficulty in transmitting their actual madhhab, and it not being properly established, not that it is not [deserving of being] imitated.”
This is why Shaykh ‘Izz al-Din ibn ‘Abd al-Salam said: “There is no dispute between the two groups in reality. Rather, if the establishment of a madhhab from one of them is ascertained, taqlid of him is permissible by agreement, and otherwise not.” (al-Taqrir wa al-Tahbir, 3:353-4) Thus, it is manifest that that which Ibn al-Humam (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) discussed has no bearing on the issue of a judicial decree being enforced which we are discussing.
(3) A number of the Hanafi jurists have stated explicitly that a judicial decree will be enforced when it coincides with an opinion of one of the early mujtahids, even if it is against the four madhhabs, because the four Imams are agreed that the testimony of a woman is not accepted in corporeal punishments, and it was narrated from Shurayh (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) that it is accepted with the minimum number [i.e. 2 women], and Shaykh Abu al-Mu‘in al-Nasafi in Sharh al-Jami‘ al-Kabir said: “If a Qadi was to pass a judgement in corporeal punishments with the testimony of a man and two women, his decree would be enforced, and another [Qadi] does not have the right to revoke it because it is a decree in a matter that is a place of ijtihad.” (Radd al-Muhtar, 5:441) The later Hanafis issued fatwa on this. It appears in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah:
The Qadi who is free [from being tied down to a specific madhhab by the ruler], when he decrees by the testimony of a man and two women in corporeal punishments and laws of retaliation and he holds the opinion of its validity, it will be enforced because there is disagreement on the proof on which the decree was based, and from the people are those who allow that – and that is Shurayh. This is what is mentioned in al-Tatar Khaniyyah. And in Fatawa al-Qadi Zahir al-Din [it is mentioned]: “If he was to issue a decree based on the testimony of women in corporeal punishments or retaliation, his decree will be enforced, and another [Qadi] cannot annul it when the [issue] is raised to him, because it was narrated from Shurayh and a group of the Tabi‘in (Allah Exalted is He have mercy on them) that they allowed it.” This is what is mentioned in al-Fusul al-‘Imadiyyah.
It appears in al-Durr al-Mukhtar: “If (a woman) was to decree in a corporeal punishment or retaliation and then it was raised to another Qadi who opines its validity so he implements it, another [Qadi] cannot annul it, due to the disagreement of Shurayh. ‘Ayni.” (Radd al-Muhtar 5:441).
All of these statements prove that the enforcement of a decree is not restricted to the four madhhabs. Rather, it is enforced when it agrees with one of the authoritative mujtahids, with the condition that their opinion is established by a reliable route. And Allah (Glorified is He) knows best.
Is it a Condition that the Qadi be Aware of the Disagreement?
Is it a condition for the decree to be enforced that the Qadi is aware of the disagreement? There are two narrations on this [issue]. It appears in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah:
The decree of a Qadi in places of ijtihad is enforced, but he should be aware of the places of disagreement, so he leaves the opinion of his opponent and decrees in accordance with his own opinion, in order that it [i.e. the decree] is sound according to the opinion of all scholars. And if he is unaware of the places of ijtihad and disagreement, there are two opinions on the enforcement of his decree, and the most correct opinion is that it will be enforced. This is mentioned in Khizanat al-Muftin. (al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah, 3:357)
Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) commented on this issue at length and he mentioned that ‘Allamah Qasim (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) compiled a treatise on it, and he mentioned its summary and added support to it by [saying] that “his speech is at the peak of verification,” but what al-Rafi‘i (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) commented on it is more concise and more sound, so that should be referred to for verification of this issue. (See Radd al-Muhtar, 16:417, and the speech of al-Rafi‘i under his statement: “his speech is at the peak of verification.”) And this is not the place to expand on it.
The Decree of a Qadi who is a Muqallid against the Madhhab of his Imam
All the details that have passed relating to the enforcement of the decree in places of ijtihad apply to two situations by agreement: the first situation is that the Qadi is a mujtahid and his decree occurred in accordance with his ijtihad; and the second situation is that he is a muqallid and he decreed in accordance with the madhhab of his Imam, so his decree will be enforced on everybody, whether the one on whom judgement is passed is a mujtahid and his opinion opposes the opinion of the Imam of the Qadi or a muqallid of another Imam.
But when the Qadi is a muqallid of a specific Imam and then issues a decree against his madhhab, they have mentioned that it will not be enforced, and the statements of the group have differed over its reason. Thus in Fath al-Qadir, he provided its reason by his statement: “As for the muqallid, he was only appointed to decree in accordance with the madhhab of Abu Hanifah, for example, so he does not own [the right to] disagree. Hence, he will be withheld from that decree [which opposes the Hanafi madhhab].” Based on this, his decree not being enforced is based on the Imam having appointed him as a Qadi on the condition that he decrees in accordance with the madhhab of Abu Hanifah, so if he leaves his madhhab, he will be withheld from that decree so it will not be enforced. The outcome of this reasoning is that if the Imam did not tie him down to a specific madhhab, his decree would be enforced in places of ijtihad, even if it opposes the madhhab of his Imam.
However, Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said:
I say: The Sultan’s restriction of him to those [terms] is not [the reason for its] restriction, due to what ‘Allamah Qasim said in his Tashih that the decree and fatwa on what is weak is against consensus. And ‘Allamah Qasim said in his Fatawa: “It is not allowed for the Qadi to issue a decree on a weak opinion, because he is not from the scholars of tarjih, so he will not divert from the sound opinions except for a unpleasant objective, and were he to issue a decree, it will not be enforced because his decree is an unjustified decree because what is justified is the sound opinion. That which was said that a weak opinion is strengthened by a judicial decree, its intent is the decree of a mujtahid, as is explained in its place.” (Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Qada, Fasl fi l-Habs, 16:467)
This proves the decree of the muqallid not being enforced is not based on him being appointed by the Sultan to decree in accordance with a specific madhhab. Rather, the rule is so even if the Sultan does not tie him down to the [madhhab]. The reason for it not being enforced is that, because of his status as a muqallid, he is ordered to issue decree on the sound [positions of] his madhhab. However, this is when the Qadi makes a specific madhhab binding on himself, and believes it is true, and then he decrees on the madhhab of another intentionally against what he believes to be true, because this decree will not be enforced despite it being in a place of ijtihad, and that is because he is in the ruling of the mujtahid who has issued a decree against his personal opinion, and such a decree will not be enforced according to our three companions [Abu Hanifah, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad], because it is a decree on what is not true according to him, so he is following his desires in that, so the muqallid of a specific madhhab is the same.
But, when he decrees on the madhhab of another [Imam], in forgetfulness of his maddhab, it will be enforced according to Abu Hanifah (Allah have mercy on him), and will not be enforced according to the two companions [Abu Yusuf and Muhammad], because it is wrong according to him. The author of al-Hidayah mentioned that the fatwa is on their opinion, and in al-Fatawa al-Sughra [it states] that the fatwa is on the opinion of Abu Hanifah, and Ibn al-Humam (Allah Exalted is He have mercy on him) mentioned that the correct view in this time is that fatwa is issued on the opinion of the two companions because the one who leaves his madhhab does not do so but for vain desire, not for a pleasant objective (Fath al-Qadir, Bab Kitab al-Qadi ila l-Qadi, 6:397).
However, when the Qadi is not a mujtahid and the Sultan did not tie him down to a specific madhhab, nor did he make a particular madhhab binding on himself, so he passes judgement on an issue based on the taqlid of any authoritative jurist, it is apparent that his decree will be enforced. This is because of what is mentioned in al-Fatawa al-Hindiyyah:
It states in Sharh al-Tahawi and Jami‘ al-Fatawa: “When the Qadi is not a mujtahid but he issued a decree based on the taqlid of a jurist, and then it becomes evident that it is contrary to his madhhab, it will be enforced and another [Qadi] cannot revoke it, although he [i.e. the first Qadi] may revoke it. This is what was narrated from Muhammad (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him). Abu Yusuf (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said: ‘That which another cannot revoke he cannot revoke.’ Furthermore, the later Hanafi jurists allowed the unlearned to be appointed as Qadi, so he issues decrees based on the fatwa of others, as mentioned in al-Hidayah, and they did not require him to follow a specific madhhab.” (al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 3:357)
Likewise, if a Qadi that is a muqallid has made a specific madhhab binding on himself, but he is a learned scholar, so what we mentioned about the mufti that is a muqallid who issues fatwa on another madhhab in some situations with the conditions we mentioned in the issue of issuing fatwa on another madhhab, will apply to him. That will not exclude him from being a muqallid. Thus, it is apparent that if he were to issue a decree in a specific issue against the opinion of his Imam, and in accordance with the opinion of another jurist which he believes to be true in that issue, with the conditions we have stated earlier, his decree will be enforced; and what Ibn al-Humam and others mentioned that the one leaving his madhhab does not do so but for vain desire does not apply to him. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) knows best.
The Command of a Sultan or Emir in an Issue that is a Place of Ijtihad
What we mentioned about the enforcement of the decree of a Qadi in places of ijtihad is based on his having been appointed by the Sultan, and the principle in this is that obedience to the Sultan is obligatory in that which there is no sin, so if he issued a command from matters of ijtihad, it is necessary to obey him. This is why it was narrated from Imam Abu Yusuf and Muhammad (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on them) that they said takbir in Salat al-‘Id seven times in the first rak‘ah and six times in the second rak‘ah based on the madhhab of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him), although their madhhab is that the extra takbirs in ‘Id is six based on the madhhab of ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas ‘ud (Allah – Exalted is He – be pleased with him).
Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He have – mercy on him) said:
It says in al-Zahiriyyah: “And this is the explanation of what is narrated from Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, as they did this because Harun ordered them to do takbir with the takbir of his ancestor [‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas] so they did so in obedience to him, not as a madhhab and conviction. It says in al-Mi‘raj: ‘Because obedience of the Imam in that which is not sin is obligatory.’” (Radd al-Muhtar, 5:121)
It is apparent from this that if a command or law was issued by a Muslim ruler in an issue that is a place of ijtihad, obedience to him is obligatory for the masses, even if it is against their jurisprudential school. Thus, the mufti should issue fatwa on [the obligation of] obedience to him. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) knows best.
As for the emir who the Sultan has appointed in a particular area, or appointed him for the leadership of an army from the armies of the Muslims, [the ruling of] his decree is the same [as the Sultan’s] for whoever is under his authority. Al-Haskafi said in al-Durr al-Mukhtar: “As for the emir, whenever he agrees with an issue that is a place of ijtihad, his command will pass, as we have stated previously from Siyar al-Tatarkhaniyyah.” Ibn ‘Abidin (Allah – Exalted is He – have mercy on him) said under it: “That which I saw in Siyar al-Tatarkhaniyyah is: ‘Muhammad said: When an emir commands the army with something, the army must follow him, unless that which was commanded is a sin.’ Thus, the statement of the commentator that ‘his command will pass’ is in the meaning of ‘his obedience is necessary.’ Understand!” (Radd al-Muhtar, 16:468)
(Usul al-Ifta’ wa Adabuh, Mufti Taqi Usmani, pp. 201 – 238)
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That is, a creditor acquires the wealth of a procrastinating debtor, so is it permissible for him to fulfil his right with the wealth he has acquired from him? The madhhab of the Hanafis in principle is that it is permissible if the wealth that is acquired is from the kind of what is due to him. For example, the debt was dirhams and he acquires dirhams from the debtor. But if the wealth acquired is from another kind, for example he is due dirhams and he acquired dinars from the debtor, it is not permissible for him to fulfil his right from it, because that will lead to selling what one does not own. (Muft Taqi Usmani) That is a marriage performed for the express reason of making a woman lawful for her previous husband after a permanent irrevocable divorce, as the only way to undo the impermissibility of marriage between them is by marrying another man and then divorcing him after the marriage was consummated. “Substitution” means to exchange an endowed land or property for another. This is a reference to what was stated earlier that the Qadi in Ibn ‘Abidin’s time was tied down by the emir to not leave the Hanafi madhhab so if he were to pass a decree based on another madhhab it would not be enforced because he was withheld from passing a decree on another madhhab. (Mufti Taqi Usmani)
Translated by Mufti Zameelur Rahman
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Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2015 17:39:50 GMT
Question
As-salamu ‘alaykum: Can the ‘ulama comment on the issue as to why we read al-salamu ‘alayka ayyuhannabiy (peace be upon you, O Prophet) in tashahhud and not al-salamu ‘alannabiy (peace be upon the Prophet) with the sayings of the Islamic jurists and hadith scholars please? Answer
Qutb al-‘Alam Mawlana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in his fatawa (legal rulings) concerning the issue of reciting the tashahhud with sighah al-khitab (second person wording): “…to read in both ways is permissible … but understand this fact that if ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (Allah be well pleased with him) changed the sighah (words) [from the second person to the third person] after the demise of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) then there is no harm in this, he must have done so due to some expediency (maslaha) he saw therein. And if a person reads according to the way it was taught by Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) then there is also no harm in this because the purpose behind this is hikayah (reiteration of the original utterance of the Messenger [Allah bless him and give peace]). If one closely observes, one will realize that even in the time of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) people would recite this tashahhud [with sighah al-khitab] from their homes and from far-off places such as Makkah and elsewhere. If it was permissible to recite with sighah al-khitab then, what reason would not make it permissible to do so now? There was no claim of knowledge of the unseen then, neither is there any claim of that now. At that time the angels would convey the salams and now the angels are doing so also. Therefore there is no need for changing the sighah. Neither is there a need to make taqlid of some of the Companions (Allah be well pleased with them) in this. [If it was so necessary] the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) would have himself ordered that: after I leave this world, it is better for you to change the tashahhud. Nevertheless, to read with sighah al-khitab is more preferred because it is in accordance with the original way taught to us by the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace). The reason behind the change brought about by some of the Noble Companions was most likely based on some maslaha (expediency) or out of ijtihad (inference) or due to considering it better and not because it was wajib (compulsory). It is for this reason that all the jurists, who follow the four Imams, relate the tashahhud with the sighah al-khitab and do not consider changing of the sighah to be necessary. And Allah knows best.” (Fatawa Rashidiyyah, Kitab al-‘Aqa’id; pg.243) Translated by Tameem Ahmadi Courtesy of www.deoband.org
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Post by Admin on Jan 21, 2015 16:30:09 GMT
الجامع المسند الصحيح المختصر من أمور رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وسننه وأيامه - صحيح البخاري al-Jaami’ al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar min Umuri Rasuli-llahi alayhi wa sallam wa sunanihi wa Ayyaamihi عربي Englishالمسند الصحيح المختصر من السنن بنقل العدل عن العدل إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم - صحيح المسلم al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar min as-Sunan bi Naklil Adl anil Adl ila Rasuli-llahi salla-llahu alayhi wa Sallam عربي English سنن ابي داود Sunan Abi Dawud عربي Englishجامع الترمذي Jami' at-Tirmithi عربي English سنن النسائي Sunan an-Nasa'i عربي Englishسنن ابن ماجة Sunan ibn Majah عربي English
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Post by Admin on Jan 20, 2015 17:18:16 GMT
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Quran Kareem English Translation Justice Mufti Taqi Usmani Db link 1 link 2
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