Your question
is a good one which is very important today. In truth the
'neo- self declared salafees' do follow a madh-hab, it is
called 'The monarchy of Saudi Arabia'. And you will see
them use the term "The Scholars of Ahlus Sunnah wal
Jama'ah" but they mean those who are cementing the
throne of the Saudi Monarchy which imprisons, tortures and
kills the true sincere scholars. The Saudi Salafi trick
of attacking following madh-habs is a plot to prevent people
from seeing how the classical scholars true knowledge of
Quran and Hadeeth is an utter condemnation and verdict of
kufr on the regimes of taaghoot today. However, they cover
this up and keep the people away from the classical Books
by saying 'Don't follow the madh-habs follow the words of
the Prophet that and the INTERPREATATIONS OF OUR SCHOLARS'
So let none us be fooled by this. Ahwas bin Hakeem reported
Nabi (saw) "…Beware surely the worst
evil is the evil of the u'lemaa' and surely the best good
is the good of the u'lemaa'" (DAARIMI)
Taqleed is
prohibited in the a'qeedah because we must believe with
certainty (yaqeenul imaan) "...and they believe
in the hereafter with certainty [yuqinoon] ..." (al
Baqarah 2:4) and not just because someone has told us to.
As for the issue of taqleed in fiqh, this is not prohibited
rather it is necessary for most people. This is because
we are either mujtahid, which means we possess the capability
to extract ahkaam from the sources of Quran and Sunnah or
we are muqallid, which means we will follow an opinion derived
by a mujtahid. Allah (swt) says "...so if you
do not know then ask those of remembrance" (an
Nahl 16:43) and "O you who believe! Obey Allah
obey the messenger and those in authority amongst you..." (an Nisaa' 4:59) The mufassireen (commentators) of the sahaabah
and salaf said that the oolil amr (people of authority)
are the umaraa' (i.e. leaders and their appointed deputies)
and the u'lemaa (people of knowledge).
However, we
can see that there are a vast amount of questions of fiqh
in Islam which are known from the deen by necessity (ma'loom
min ad deen bi-d duroorah) and this means that they are
known due to their clear evidence in Quran and Sunnah and
that they have been widely and successively transmitted
to all generations of Muslims from the salaf. Such things
that are necessarily known, include the prohibition of alcohol,
the prohibition of eating pigs, the obligation to pray,
fast, give zakah etc. The things known by necessity include
matters of belief (tawheed, angels, messengers etc.) , matters
of the heart (e.g. not to be arrogant, to be modest, to
have taqwa, patience etc) and matters of action, i.e. fiqh
such as not imitating the kufaar etc. These matters probably
number about three-hundred issues in all. The matters known
by necessity we can learn from any muslim and it is a scale
by which we can test the scholars, as if they don't know
these things then we can not call them a scholar who is
to be trusted.
We can see
from many ayaat and ahadeeth that the one who speaks without
knowledge and the one who gives fatwa without knowledge
are sinners, for instance "And say not that
concerning that which your tongues put forward falsely 'This
is halal and this is haram' So as to invent lies against
Allah. Verily those who invent lies against Allah will never
prosper" (an Nahl 16:116) and "Say:
'The things that my Lord has forbidden are al fawaahish
whether committed openly or secretly, ithm, rebellion without
right, shirk with Allah for which He has given no authority
(sultaanan) and saying things about Allah of which you have
no knowledge." (al A'raaf 7:33) and Buraydah
reported that Nabi (saw) said "There are three
types of qaadis (judges) one who will go to paradise and
the other two who will go to Hell. The one who goes to paradise
is the one who knows the truth and judges according to it.
The man who knows the truth and does not judge accordingly
will go to Hell and the man without knowledge who makes
judgement for people will go to Hell." (ABU
DAWOOD [no.3566]NASAA'I, IBN MAAJAH, TIRMIDHI graded Saheeh
by AL HAAKIM) and Abu Hurayrah reported that Nabi (saw)
said "Whoever attributes to me sayings that
I never uttered should prepare to take his seat in the Fire.
Whoever is asked for advice by a Muslim brother and gives
it without knowledge has effectively deceived him. The sin
of one who is given a fatwa without proof will fall upon
the one who gave him the fatwa." (IBN MAAJAH,
AHMAD, BUKHAARI in Adabul Mufrad [no.259]). Therefore not
everyone can make fataawa as this would lead to division
and error and Nabi (saw) warned that knowledge would dissappear
with the death of the u'lemaa' and then people would take
the ignorant as leaders and these false ignorant 'scholars'
would give fataawa (legal opinions) without knowledge and
they would be astray and lead others astray, A'bdullah ibn
A'mr reported that nabi (saw) said "Verily,
Allah will not destroy knowledge by snatching it away from
his slaves but he will destroy knowledge by taking away
the lives of the u'lemah until there will not even remain
a single a'lim, people will then take the illiterate as
leaders. They will be questioned and they will give fataawa
without knowledge. They will go astray and will lead others
astray." (BUKHAARI, MUSLIM) Also Nabi (saw)
mentioned that the qaadi who gave judgement without knowledge
would be in the Fire and Allah (swt) mentioned in suratul
A'raaf that from the major sins is speaking without knowledge.
All of this proved that there is a level of knowledge in
Islam that not all Muslims reach and that those who do not
reach it should refer to those who do, this is also proven
by the following two ahadeeth Ali reports Nabi (saw) "I'lm
is a treasure house whose keys are questions" (ABU
NA'EEM) and Jaabir reported 'We were on a journey and one
of us were hurt by a stone that injured his head. He asked
hi fellow travellers, 'Do you find concession for me to
do tayammum?' They said 'We do not find any concession for
you while you can find water.' He took a bath and died.
When we came to Nabi (saw) the event was reported to him,
he said "They killed him may Allah kill them.
Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for
ignorance is to ask. It was enough for him to perform tayammum
and to pour some drops of water or to bind a bandage over
the wound. Then he should have wiped over it and washed
the rest of his body." (ABU DAWOOD kitaabut
Tahaarah [no.336 and a shorter version from Ibn A'bbaas
no.337] IBN MAAJAH, AD DARAQUTNI, IBN AS SAKAN who said
'Saheeh')
It is clear
that fataawa will be erroneous for the one who does not
know the ayaat and ahadeeth of ahkaam (i.e. those which
are related to rules about action) as they would give judgement
on one hadeeth while not being aware of the relevant ayaat
and other ahadeeth. This is not as simple as looking at
the relevant chapters in hadeeth books due to the fact that
relevant ahadeeth are scattered in different hadeeth books
(approx. 300 books) and that often the haddeths contain
various topics and so are often not found in the expected
chapter by topic. However the chain of transmission of the
classical scholars and muhadditheen are aware of this.
The one giving
fatwaa would be in error if he did not know the a'mm from
the khass (general text from the specific) if he did not
know the ayaat and ahadeeth that were mansookh (abrogated
by later ayaat and ahadeeth) if he did not know the asbaabun
Nuzool (circumstances of revelatiion) and if he did not
know the tafseer bil riwaayah (the authenticated reports
of explanation from the Prophet [saw] and the sahaabah.
He would also contradict and err in his fataawa if he did
not have a basis of extraction of law and a consistent method
(usoolul fiqh) by which other people could test his fataawa
for consistency with his own principles. All of these things
take time to learn and we are dependent upon the previous
generations for this knowledge just bas we are dependent
upon the previous generations for the transmission of hadeeth
and the information about the hadeeth narrators and reporters.
The prohibition
in Islam with regards to taqleed is not following a juristic
opinion but rather it is to continue to follow an opinion
once you have been convinced that a contrary opinion is
correct and supported by superior interpretation of evidence.
This is proven by the following ayah and hadeeth, Adi bin
Haatim said that he heard Nabi (saw) recite the verse "They took their rabbis and their priests to be lords
besides Allah and the messiah Ibn Maryam, while they were
commanded to worship none but one ilaah, laa ilaha illa
huwa. Praise and Glory be to Him from having the partners
they associate." (at Tawbah 9:31) So I said
to him (saw) 'Verily, we did not worship them' to which
he (saw) replied, "Did they not make haraam
what Allah made halaal, so you then made it haraam. And
did they not make halaal what Allah made haraam and you
therefore made it halaal?" I said 'Yes' He
(saw) said, "That is worshipping them." (AHMAD, TIRMIDHI)Understand this and think over
it, for the majority of people simple minded as this society
makes them, have not understood and have instead said 'It
is haraam to follow a scholar when the hadeeth contradicts
it' This is a false dichotomy as the choice is not whether
to follow the classical scholar or the hadeeth, rather it
is whether to follow the interpretation of the classical
scholar or the interpretation of the modern scholar or worse
still whether to follow the interpreatation of the classical
scholar or the interpretation disasterous misguided and
misguiding jaahil. What I am saying is that people often
present the problem as though the classical scolars just
made up opinions in opposition to the sunnah, but this is
not the case although many many dumb dogs would tell you
it was. The classical scholars had a method of extracting
ahkaam (laws) from Quran and Sunnah, and this methodolgy
itself was based upon principles extracted from the Quran
and Sunnah. Therefore many people oppose classical scholars
when they don't even know what they are opposing because
they don't know the way the scholars extracted rules from
the Quran and Sunnah. This is a gigantic topic, and you
and the ummah would benefit from studying a few basics in
usoolul fiqh (the science of the foundations and principles
of Islamic law) whoever touches upon this subject will quickly
have his eyes opened and will start to realise the benefit
and importance of the saying of Nabi (saw) "Whoever
believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or
remain silent" (BUKHAARI, MUSLIM from Abu
Hurayrah) and "Whoever remains silent remains
safe" (AHMAD, TIRMIDHI, DAARIMI, BAYHAQI from
A'bdullah ibn A'mr) This is because it easy to attack a
scholar for what we falsely think has no evidence, but when
we grow in knowledge we realise our own errors and regret.
All of this
does not mean that we can not learn Quran and Hadeeth directly,
nor does it mean that we can't reflect about evidence and
fataawa. However, we must be cautious and not extract a
hukm and convey it when we do not possess the pre-requisites.
The Quran has come for all mankind and it is a guide to
the mutaqeen "This is the Book in which there
is no doubt a guidance to those who are mutaqeen" (al Baqarah 2:2) and "O Mankind! Verily there
has come to you a convincing proof from your Lord and We
sent down to you a manifest light." (an Nisaa'
4:174) Therefore anyone can learn directly from the Quran
and the Hadeeth especially those of imaan and taqwa who
will not only learn but also benefit and they can extract
knowledge and principles from it. However, we must always
verify the doubtful matters with the u'lemaa'.
One may ask
what is the reason for usoolul fiqh, when it did not exist
among the sahaabah? This is answered by the fact that usoolul
fiqh was present with the sahaabah but it was implicit and
not explicit. This is because verification of texts and
meanings was easier for them due to the presence of Nabi
(saw) and other sahaabah who were close companions and therefore
knew about abrogation, word meanings and circumstances of
revelation etc. However, there differences in method of
extraction were clear due to the fact that they differed
on interpreting commands of Nabi (saw) during his life time
and also after his (saw) life time they differed in their
ijtihaad (jusristic effort to extract a ruling). The fact
that there was scholarship and principles of interpretation
among the sahaabah is proven by the fact that the prophet
(saw) prayed for Ibn A'baas that he have knowledge of ta'weel
(interpretation) of the Quran... "O Allah teach
him wisdom [hikmah] and interpretation of the Book." (IBN MAAJAH [vol.1 no.166] there are many other similar
reports in BUKHAARI, MUSLIM etc.) this proves that knowledge
of the Quran is not just simply knowing the text but also
its meanings, circumstances etc. It is also proven by the
fact that only some of the sahaabah were prominent in giving
fataawa and were mostly referred to these special group
of fuqahaa' (those of deep understanding who could give
legal decisions) included A'li ibn Abi Talib, U'mar ibn
al Khattab, Aisha, Ubay bin Ka'b, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Ibn
U'mar, Abu Moosa al Ashari, Abdullah ibn Abbaas and Abdullah
ibn Masood.
The reason
why we need usoolul fiqh now is that we need to
i) Verify
the text is from Allah
This is supported by many ayaat and ahadeeth including Nabi
(saw) said "Whoever tells a lie in my name
will find his seat in the Fire." (BUKHAARI
[Eng. version vol.4 no.667], TIRMIDHI, ABU DAWOOD [no.3643]
IBN MAAJAH [no.30-37] In different versions from A'bdullah
ibn Masoo'd, A'li, Abu Hurayrah, Anaas bin Maalik, Jaabir,
Abu Qataadah, Abu Sa'eed and Zubayr ibn al A'wwaam, A'bdullah
ibn A'mru, Abdullah ibn A'bbaas) "And who does
more wrong than he who invents a lie against Allah or rejects
the Truth when it reaches Him? Is there not a home in Hell
for those who reject (kaafireen)?" (al Ankaboot
29:68)
ii) Understand
the text
This is also supported by many ayaat and ahadeeth including
that which is attributed to nabi (saw) "This
knowledge will be carried by the trustworthy ones of every
generation - they will expel from it the alterations made
by those going beyond bounds and the false claims of the
liars, and the false interpreations of the ignorant." (IBN A'DI, ABU NU'AYM, IBN A'SAAKIR, AL KHATEEB)
As we have
already said, this was easy for the companions but more
difficult as time goes on, however we do now have the much
knowledge and work of the previous scholars preserved in
order to assist us in all the various fields of knowledge
e.g. madh-habs (i'lmul fiqh), the scholars of usool (i'lmul
usoolul fiqh), the scholars of hadeeth (u'loomul hadeeth),
the scholars of tafseer (u'loomul Quran wal tafaaseer),
the scholars of language (i'lmul lughah)
As for the
question about taqleed then there is two types:-
i) Taqleed
fi'l Mas'alah (Following generally issue by issue)
ii) Taqleed fi'l Madh-hab (Following a school of law)
The first
is to follow by each individual issue. We can choose to
not follow a madh-hab and to instead follow different scholars
on different points due to being convinced of the evidence
they use. The danger though is that we may contradict ourselves
when we follow two different scolars when their difference
was in both cases was due to differing over the same principle
of fiqh, this must be guarded against. It should also be
mentioned that this type of taqleed is almost impossible
to follow all the time due to the fact that the non-scholar
will be unable to thoroughly investigate the evidence of
all issues. Some issues we may be aware of the evidence
and arguments of the scholars but in other issues we may
not know any evidence of the scholars or maybe we only know
the evidence of one scholar. So if we imagine a modern salafi
scolar who provides you with a hadeeth and you are unaware
of the evidence on the same issue of Imaam Abu Haneefa.
We can not in this situation say we are following the strongest
opi nion on evidence, because we simply don't know the evidence
of Imaam Abu Haneefah, it might well be the strongest evidence.
As for the
second type of taqleed, then this is based upon following
one madh-hab out of the fear of contradiction and talfeeq
(fabricating nonsensical opinions). This type of taqleed
is superior if it is based upon an understanding and preference
of one madh-hab over others due to a conviction in its usoolul
fiqh. This is because the fiqh is derived from the usool.
So the one who understand the foundations will better understand
the roots and will be better placed to understand the differences
of the scholars. It should be understood that not every
difference in fiqh is due to a difference in usoolul fiqh
and its general principles but it could be due to different
interpretation of foundations that they are agreed upon
e.g. this could be understanding the reality differently
(this is imporatant as every rule applies to a reality)
it could be due to multiple meanings of Arabic words etc.
So in conclusion
we must say :-
1 Taqleed
is haraam in a'qeedah and certainty of belief is necessary
for imaan to be valid.
2 Fiqh is
derived from the usoolul fiqh and few Muslims possess this
knowledge to the level being able to extract ahkaam in new
situations. It is haraam for a Muslim to give legal opinions
without knowledge.
3 Islam is
comprehensive and its texts deal with all matters that we
will come across and Allah gave us rules and principles
to facilitate the extraction of Islamic law in all times.
4 All Muslims
and people can learn directly from Quran and Sunnah.
5 It is prohibited
to follow a scholar when we are convinced that another opinion
is closer to the truth.
6 We should
not be fooled by simplistic statements such as 'We follow
evidence and not scholars' because the true scholars all
base themselves on evidence even if we do not know their
evidence or do not understand their process of extraction
or interpretation.
7 It is not
prohibited to follow a madh-hab, as long as we do not follow
matters that we are convinced contradict the truth.
8 The one
who does not follow a madh-hab must still ask those of knowledge
when he does not know unless he himself is fully competent
in all the tools of usoolul fiqh.
9 We should
always seek to know the evidence of a rule in order to worship
Allah with knowledge and to increase the possibility of
producing more scholars. This would also prevent false scholars
from leading people astray with insincere fataawa. However
it is not prohibited to follow a legal opinion without knowing
the evidence as long as we believe the scholar has tried
to be sincere and arrive at the truth while possessing the
necessary level of knowledge.
10 All Muslims
should seek i'lm (knowledge) and respect the u'lemaa' as
Abu Hurayrah reported that Nabi (saw) said "The
world and all its contents are accursed except the remembrance
of Allah and what supports it, the a'lim and the student
of knowledge." (TIRMIDHI, IBN MAAJAH, BAYHAQI)
and Anas reports that Nabi (saw) said "Seeking i'lm
is fard on every muslim and muslimah…" (IBN MAAJAH)
May Allah
guide us all to the balanced path of Islam and a deep knowledge
of the amazing deen of Islam.
