I often go into Jam`aat for 2-3 days with some (Hanafee) brothers, although they are very pious and very frinedly
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum
wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon
all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
I
often go into Jam`aat for 2-3 days with some (Hanafee) brothers, although they
are very pious and very frinedly, they often critisize me for not making up my
mind and following any aprticular school of thought. Now these brothers, are
extremly knowleable (and more so then me) however i really don`t know how to
respond to this, and would STORNLY appreciate your input as to how i should
respond to them, and Which interpretation (i.e. imaam) should i follow when
there is difference of opinion, when all claim to follow the Qur`aan and
Sunnah.
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Answer:
Which madhab to
follow
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
In light of the clear guidance
of the Quran and the Sunnah, there are six things which form the articles of
faith or ‘emaan’ in Islam; if one does not believe in even one amongst these
six articles of faith, he would leave the fold of Islam:
If one does not believe in one,
or even a part of one amongst the above listed six articles of faith, he would
leave the fold of Islam and be considered a disbeliever in the Sight of Allah
Subhanah.
Belief in the four imams or
their school of thought is neither an article of faith, nor compulsory for one
to be regarded as a believer in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.
The Truth is brother, the four eminent imams did not
invent or bring something new to the deen of Islam revealed on Prophet Mohamed
(saws), but simply gave their rulings and opinions upon issues of Islamic
Jurisprudence and Fiqh in light of the guidance of the Glorious Quran and the
authentic traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws). None of the ‘madhabs’ have any difference of
opinion in any of the foundational
matters in the deen. They are all
absolutely unanimous in the subjects like Tawheed, Message,
Hereafter, Imaan, etc. The
difference of opinion arose between the companions and between the scholars on
very small matters of Jurisprudence, and each amongst them gave rulings and
opinions on that matter in light of the evidence and guidance from the Quran
and the Sunnah.
Thus, regardless if one accepts and follows the opinion of
any one ‘Imam’, or the best ruling of any ‘Imam’ regarding a particular matter
amongst the four schools of thought, provided one’s intention is to follow the
guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, there is absolutely no harm. The difference between following any one of
the four schools of thought, would be the difference between following
something which is very good to something which is excellent! It was never a situation that one ‘imam’ was
right and the other was wrong, for each
and every one of these respected ‘imams’ based their opinion on nothing but the
Quran and the Sunnah. In our humble
opinion, rather than limiting oneself to only one of the schools of thought, it
would be best to take advantage of the knowledge of each of the four ‘imams’ on
the matter of Jurisprudence, and accept the opinion of the one which one
believes is closest to the guidance of the Quran and Sunnah.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan