Asalaamu'alaykum wa rahmatullah
Wanted to share some timely and insightful piece of information that continues to escape many of the ghulaat and unqualified people who think they have the ability to perform tarjeeh when adopting a viewpoint or a certain opinion, while simultaneously assuming the erroneous position of others. It is a fact that the mutaqaddimeen mujtahideen agreed that laypeople may NOT adhere to the madhahib of individual Imams and fuqaha from among the Sahabah (who were indeed more learned and higher in rank than those who came after them). This type of adherence and following is not directly possible anyway because their fiqh was preserved and conveyed by way of the their students and the very Imams who came after them.
The Sahabah did not devote themselves entirely to compiling knowledge and outlining its principles and its branches (furoo’). None of them had a refined, codified and approved “madhab” per se, and only those who came after them from the Imams who were affiliated to the madhahib of the Sahabah and the Tabi'een took up this task. It was for this reason that laymen were recommended that they simply follow the Imams who examined, verified, deliberated and arranged and described outcomes of juristic rulings, with diverse discussions from the madhahib of those before them (i.e. the As-hab of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Tabi'een).
The main reason for this came down to blocking the means that led to chasing concessions and following desires and (ignorantly) mixing various opinions and rulings (doing talfeeq), making them invalid and thus prohibited… As an example of this from the Shafi'ee, Imam an-Nawawi said (quoting Ibn Salah) in his monumental and valuable Majmu’ Sharh al-Muhadhab 1/106:
فمن وجد من الشافعية حديثا يخالف مذهبه نظر إن كملت آلات الاجتهاد فيه مطلقا ، أو في ذلك الباب أو المسألة كان له الاستقلال بالعمل به . وإن لم يكمل وشق عليه مخالفة الحديث بعد أن بحث . فلم يجد لمخالفته عنه جوابا شافيا ، فله العمل به إن كان عمل به
إمام مستقل غير الشافعي ، ويكون هذا عذرا له في ترك مذهب إمامه هنا
“‘If (Imam) ash-Shafi'ee found a hadeeth that conflicted with his Madhab, it would be seen’ (i.e. he would change his position). If he (the student of knowledge) has the tool for ijtihad, either fully (mutlaq), or in a particular category of fiqh (juz'i), or in a single issue, he has the autonomy to (follow and) act (with what he believes to be correct). And if he lacks the tool for ijtihad, and he finds it difficult to act contrary to the hadeeth after examining and discussing it (without finding a reasonable answer), he can act upon the hadeeth as long as another Imam apart from ash-Shafi'ee (accepted acting upon that particular hadeeth). This would serve as an excuse (for the student of knowledge) to leave the Madhab of his Imam…”
Bottom line: One either has the tools for ijtihad as a student of knowledge, or he does not. One can’t expect the awwam to weigh all sides of an argument or derive rulings based on reading a single hadeeth or by knowing a few masa'il surrounding it. A common lay person by its very definition would not be regarded as a “student of knowledge” in the first place, he should simply ask the ‘Ahlul Dhikr’ whose 'ilm and taqwah he trusts and accepts. Even the classical definition of what it means to be a “student of knowledge” is poorly understood by those who think or declare themselves to be so.
Ibn Uthaymeen رحمه الله تعالى for example, would often give a number of views for an issue and then conclude by “wa raajih” (i.e. and according to my tarjeeh) in his capacity as mujtahid - and how fast diminishing our scholarship is becoming today where even a junior student of knowledge claims to be holding a stronger (or the only true) opinion simply because he’s read a hadeeth or heard an explanation from a few contemporary scholars. It is only a matter of time before we see increase from the signs of the Day of Judgement when knowledge will be reduced and taken away, rampant ignorance will prevail (even) while many people continue to read from the books that are available.
This increase in knowledge does not necessitate fahm (understanding) and wisdom; rather it is lack of it despite the abundance of knowledge. People may read but neither do they wholly understand nor do they benefit from it appropriately.
Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majah (4048) recorded the following hadeeth on the authority of Ziyad bin Labeed رضي الله عنه who narrated that he remembers the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم say:
ذاك عند أوان ذهاب العلم قلت يا رسول الله وكيف يذهب العلم ونحن نقرأ القرآن ونقرئه أبناءنا ويقرئه أبناؤنا أبناءهم إلى يوم القيامة قال ثكلتك أمك زياد إن كنت لأراك من أفقه رجل بالمدينة أوليس هذه اليهود والنصارى يقرءون التوراة والإنجيل لا يعملون بشيء مما فيهما
“A time when knowledge is taken away.” I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, and how could knowledge be taken away when we read (have) the Qur'an, and teach it to our children and our children will teach it to theirs.” The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “May your mother be bereft of you O Ziyad, I saw you as a learned man of Madinah. Were not the Jews and Christians reading the Torah and the Injeel (yet they) did not have understanding of them?”
May Allah grant us the ability to realise our lay person status no matter how “intelligent” or “learned” we think we are.
And we seek Allah’s Help in granting us baseerah and facilitating our affairs in a way that Pleases Him. Ameen.
(Source unknown)
Wanted to share some timely and insightful piece of information that continues to escape many of the ghulaat and unqualified people who think they have the ability to perform tarjeeh when adopting a viewpoint or a certain opinion, while simultaneously assuming the erroneous position of others. It is a fact that the mutaqaddimeen mujtahideen agreed that laypeople may NOT adhere to the madhahib of individual Imams and fuqaha from among the Sahabah (who were indeed more learned and higher in rank than those who came after them). This type of adherence and following is not directly possible anyway because their fiqh was preserved and conveyed by way of the their students and the very Imams who came after them.
The Sahabah did not devote themselves entirely to compiling knowledge and outlining its principles and its branches (furoo’). None of them had a refined, codified and approved “madhab” per se, and only those who came after them from the Imams who were affiliated to the madhahib of the Sahabah and the Tabi'een took up this task. It was for this reason that laymen were recommended that they simply follow the Imams who examined, verified, deliberated and arranged and described outcomes of juristic rulings, with diverse discussions from the madhahib of those before them (i.e. the As-hab of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Tabi'een).
The main reason for this came down to blocking the means that led to chasing concessions and following desires and (ignorantly) mixing various opinions and rulings (doing talfeeq), making them invalid and thus prohibited… As an example of this from the Shafi'ee, Imam an-Nawawi said (quoting Ibn Salah) in his monumental and valuable Majmu’ Sharh al-Muhadhab 1/106:
فمن وجد من الشافعية حديثا يخالف مذهبه نظر إن كملت آلات الاجتهاد فيه مطلقا ، أو في ذلك الباب أو المسألة كان له الاستقلال بالعمل به . وإن لم يكمل وشق عليه مخالفة الحديث بعد أن بحث . فلم يجد لمخالفته عنه جوابا شافيا ، فله العمل به إن كان عمل به
إمام مستقل غير الشافعي ، ويكون هذا عذرا له في ترك مذهب إمامه هنا
“‘If (Imam) ash-Shafi'ee found a hadeeth that conflicted with his Madhab, it would be seen’ (i.e. he would change his position). If he (the student of knowledge) has the tool for ijtihad, either fully (mutlaq), or in a particular category of fiqh (juz'i), or in a single issue, he has the autonomy to (follow and) act (with what he believes to be correct). And if he lacks the tool for ijtihad, and he finds it difficult to act contrary to the hadeeth after examining and discussing it (without finding a reasonable answer), he can act upon the hadeeth as long as another Imam apart from ash-Shafi'ee (accepted acting upon that particular hadeeth). This would serve as an excuse (for the student of knowledge) to leave the Madhab of his Imam…”
Bottom line: One either has the tools for ijtihad as a student of knowledge, or he does not. One can’t expect the awwam to weigh all sides of an argument or derive rulings based on reading a single hadeeth or by knowing a few masa'il surrounding it. A common lay person by its very definition would not be regarded as a “student of knowledge” in the first place, he should simply ask the ‘Ahlul Dhikr’ whose 'ilm and taqwah he trusts and accepts. Even the classical definition of what it means to be a “student of knowledge” is poorly understood by those who think or declare themselves to be so.
Ibn Uthaymeen رحمه الله تعالى for example, would often give a number of views for an issue and then conclude by “wa raajih” (i.e. and according to my tarjeeh) in his capacity as mujtahid - and how fast diminishing our scholarship is becoming today where even a junior student of knowledge claims to be holding a stronger (or the only true) opinion simply because he’s read a hadeeth or heard an explanation from a few contemporary scholars. It is only a matter of time before we see increase from the signs of the Day of Judgement when knowledge will be reduced and taken away, rampant ignorance will prevail (even) while many people continue to read from the books that are available.
This increase in knowledge does not necessitate fahm (understanding) and wisdom; rather it is lack of it despite the abundance of knowledge. People may read but neither do they wholly understand nor do they benefit from it appropriately.
Imam Ahmad and Ibn Majah (4048) recorded the following hadeeth on the authority of Ziyad bin Labeed رضي الله عنه who narrated that he remembers the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم say:
ذاك عند أوان ذهاب العلم قلت يا رسول الله وكيف يذهب العلم ونحن نقرأ القرآن ونقرئه أبناءنا ويقرئه أبناؤنا أبناءهم إلى يوم القيامة قال ثكلتك أمك زياد إن كنت لأراك من أفقه رجل بالمدينة أوليس هذه اليهود والنصارى يقرءون التوراة والإنجيل لا يعملون بشيء مما فيهما
“A time when knowledge is taken away.” I asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, and how could knowledge be taken away when we read (have) the Qur'an, and teach it to our children and our children will teach it to theirs.” The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “May your mother be bereft of you O Ziyad, I saw you as a learned man of Madinah. Were not the Jews and Christians reading the Torah and the Injeel (yet they) did not have understanding of them?”
May Allah grant us the ability to realise our lay person status no matter how “intelligent” or “learned” we think we are.
And we seek Allah’s Help in granting us baseerah and facilitating our affairs in a way that Pleases Him. Ameen.
(Source unknown)
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