Post by StudentOfTheDeen on Mar 13, 2019 14:23:13 GMT
﷽
Review: Ḥukm al-Iqtidā’ bi l-Mukhālif fi l-Madhhab
Note: Just to ensure everything is clear from the start, this is not your usual book review, nor will we be discussing the paper quality, the typesetting, etc. The purpose of writing this brief review is to inform the readers (whether they are students or scholars) of the disingenuous nature of the “taḥqīq” of this risālah.
Dār al-Moqtabas (Beirut, Lebanon) has recently published[1] a risālah of the great ḥanafī scholar, Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī: Ḥukm al-Iqitidā’ bi l-Mukhālif fi l-Madhhab. The risālah discusses the ḥanafī stance on performing ṣalāh behind an imām who adheres to another madhhab. We will not go into details on the mas’alah. One may read the risālah itself to find out more. The “muḥaqqiq” of the book is: Aḥmad Manṣūr al-Shabīb al-Jabūrī. Not much is known about him. One of the contributors to this review has requested Dār al-Moqtabas to provide a detailed biography, but they have not yet responded. However, we understand that he is from ‘Irāq[2] and he seems to be pushing for an anti-ḥanafi/pro-salafī agenda in his “taḥqīq” of the risālah. In his muqaddimah, he clearly gave away his stance by stating that one should not be too “narrow-minded” in this mas’alah.
Hereunder are some examples of the “muḥaqqiq’s” disingenuous agenda in publishing the work:
1. Page 32, footnote 2: Shaykh Raḥmatullah al-Sindhī points out that by adopting a contrary position one has left the ḥanafī madhhab (i.e. on this issue). In the footnote, the “muḥaqqiq” attempts to refute Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī by forwarding a very simple-minded objection, asking: “Does someone leave the madhhab by opposing it in a few masā’il?” He answers: “If a shaykh reaches a level of ijtihād and realises that what is correct regarding a mas’alah and in accordance with the sunnah is what opposes the madhhab, then the madhhab is what is in accordance with the sunnah and by doing so he supports the opinion of his imām.” This is similar to the silly lay-salafi argument where they believe it is incumbent for a madhhab to abandon a stance because there is an evidence which seemingly contradicts the madhhab. This argument is based on ignorance of the fact that the imāms of the madhhab are well aware of such evidences but have their own evidences, which they deem stronger, to the contrary.
2. Page 35-36, footnote 2: The “muḥaqqiq” opposes the ḥanafī view on Raf‘ al-Yadayn and proceeds to educate the ḥanafīs on why their madhhab got it wrong for over a millennium by narrating two narrations from al-Bukhārī and Muslim. He then alleges that the ḥanafīs have abandoned the sunnah for the statement of a faqīh, who we should have made an “excuse” for and assumed he had not come across those narrations.
3. Page 38-41, footnote 5: The “muḥaqqiq” accuses the ḥanafīs of opposing the Ahl al-Sunnah and being in line with the murji’ah on the mas’alah of al-‘Amal min al-Īmān and saying: Ana Mu’minun in-shā Allāh. This is standard salafī rhetoric against the ḥanafīs. The “muḥaqqiq” dedicates over three full pages of nothing but footnotes in an ill-attempt to refute Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī and all ḥanafīs in general by claiming they oppose ijmā‘ (i.e. what he falsely claims to be ijmā‘) and asserts that they are nothing but muta‘aṣṣib (fanatics).
4. Page 42, footnote 1: Once again refers to a ḥanafī stance as ta‘aṣsub (fanaticism).
5. Page 42, footnote 2: Here he decides to throw a mini tantrum and presents a childish attack on Faqīh Abū l-Layth al-Samarqandī for (as quoted by Shaykh Rahmatullāh al-Sindhī) making it a condition to not act contrary to the ḥanafī madhhab. From his little rant, it is crystal clear that he does not understand the framework of the madhhab.
6. Page 43, footnote 1: Another false claim. This time he criticises the ḥanafī view on shakk in īmān and claims that it contradicts the “ijmā‘” of the salaf and takes this opportunity to promote ibn Abī l-‘Izz’s unreliable sharḥ on al-Aqīdah al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah.
7. Page 48, footnote 2: He attacks the author on the issue of tamadhhub and seizes the opportunity to once again educate the ḥanafīs on how they oppose the sunnah by not doing Raf‘ al-Yadayn.
8. Page 49, footnote 3: Yet again, he accuses the ḥanafīs of ta‘aṣṣub madhmūm (reprehensible fanaticism) because Shaykh Raḥmataullāh al-Sindhī mentions a number of ḥanafī imāms who did not practice Raf‘ al-Yadayn.
9. Page 52, footnote 1: Dedicates almost a full page of “footnotes” in an attempt to refute Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī’s entire book, promoting Abū Bakr al-Rāzī’s isolated opinion on a ḥanafī performing witr behind a shāfi‘ī despite Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī explaining why this opinion cannot be accepted.
10. Page 54, footnote 5: He attacks Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī for his conclusion on what is the aḥwaṭ (most cautious) view.
11. Page 55, footnote 1: Boldly claims: “We shall refute him … (naruddu ‘alayh)” because Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī concludes: “Thus it is apparent that cautiousness lies in not praying behind him, under any circumstance, without any disagreement”.
Besides the above issues, there are also numerous i‘rāb (diacritical) mistakes and some typing errors.
Despite the obviously disingenuous “taḥqīq” of this book with its not-so-hidden agenda, the muḥaqqiq deserves some amount of credit for providing:
- A brief biography of the author: Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī
- Brief biographies of the scholars that have been mentioned
- Nuqūl (texts) from some ḥanafī books
In conclusion, if one wishes to benefit from the work, then they must be careful when it comes to the muḥaqqiq’s kalam as he has clearly undertaken the task of publishing this book with an agenda to refute the author Shaykh Raḥmatullāh al-Sindhī and forward a very salafi-esque ideology. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident and there is a trend in the publishing world where reliable works are published with unreliable taḥqīq. We hope and pray that an actual reliable ḥanafī scholar decides to take up work on this risālah in the future and reprint it with some beneficial taḥqīq and do justice to this excellent work.
وما علينا الا البلاغ
Abu Nusaybah
Abu Dawud ibn 'Abd al-Karim
03 Rajab 1440 – 10 March 2019
This review can be downloaded as a pdf HERE
This review can be downloaded as a pdf HERE
For a detailed read up on the issue of “al-Iqtidā’ bi l-Mukhālif” (by Mufti Zameelur Rahman) refer to:
An English summary HERE
The complete Arabic article can be found HERE
[1] Printed in 1439 (H) - 2018
[2] On page 50, footnote 4 under the ibārah quoted from al-Fatāwā al-Ghiyāthiyyah on not performing ṣalāh behind the imām who does qunūt in fajr ṣalāh, he says: Alḥamdulillāh, we do not hear this from the ḥanafīs in Baghdad.