Madhhab المذهب

Why is it necessary to follow one?

The topic 'Madhab' is one of the important topics each Muslim should be aware of, especially in this age of careless behavior from some corners of The community to present the beautiful past of this sacred Ummah in the dim light of Shirk and Bid’a solely because of their love and respect for the great Ulamas and leaders of the community who paved the path for the real understanding of Quraan and Sunnah, the two important sources of the Islamic Jurisprudence. By taking the sword against the Madhahib and their followers, one is really negating the age long tradition of knowledge and wisdom by which this Ummah is particularly honored by The Almighty Allah. And the undistorted message of Quraan and Sunnah is really kept not by the wild misinterpretation of the modern Mujtahids, but it is kept by the careful and wise Ittiba’a of the Salaf who drew clear white lines for those who would come later till the last moment of the universe. The magnificent attempt of the respected Mujtahids for the compilation of the rules and regulations for the whole generations to come is really wondering. The works of the Mutlaq Mujtahids and their followers construed as showing their high intelligence and care which are now rare or near to impossible. The pure lives of Imams are really clear indicators to their holy intention of their attempt. No other religion or community could contribute such a stream of scholars who sacrificed their lives and everything for the protection of the tradition of Their Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم without any harm. It is our honor which no one can claim. And by negating such scholars, where do we want to go?

The word madhhab derived from an Arabic word meaning "to go" or "to take as a way", and refers to a mujtahid's choice in regard to a number of interpretive possibilities in deriving the rule of Allah from the primary texts of the Qur'aan and Hadith on a particular question. In a larger sense, a madhhab represents the entire school of thought of a particular mujtahid Imam, such as Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, or Ahmad--together with many first-rank scholars that came after each of these in their respective schools, who checked their evidences and refined and upgraded their work. The mujtahid Imams were thus explainers, who operationalied the Qur'aan and Sunna in the specific Shari'a rulings in our lives that are collectively known as Fiqh or "jurisprudence". In relation to our din or "religion", this Fiqh is only part of it, for the religious knowledge each of us possesses is of three types. The first type is the general knowledge of tenets of Islamic belief in the oneness of Allah, in His Angels, Books, messengers, the prophethood of Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), and so on. All of us may derive this knowledge directly from the Qur'an and Hadith, as is also the case with a second type of knowledge, that of general Islamic ethical principles to do good, avoid evil, cooperate with others in good works, and so forth. Every Muslim can take these general principles, which form the largest and most important part of his religion, from the Qur'an and Hadith.

The third type of knowledge is that of the specific understanding of particular divine commands and prohibitions that make up the shari'a. Here, because of both the nature and the sheer number of the Qur'an and hadith texts involved, people differ in the scholarly capacity to understand and deduce rulings from them. But all of us have been commanded to live them in our lives, in obedience to Allah, and so Muslims are of two types, those who can do this by themselves, and they are the Mujtahid Imams; and those who must do so by means of another, that is, by following a mujtahid Imam, in accordance with Allah's word in Surat al-Nahl, 

فاسئلوا أهل الذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمون

"Ask those who recall, if you know not" (Qur'an 16:43), 

and in Surat al-Nisa,

ولو ردوه إلى الرسول وإلى أولي الأمر منهم لعلمه الذين يستنبطونه منهم

"If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those of authority among them, then those of them whose task it is to find it out would have known the matter" (Qur'an 4:83), 

in which the phrase those of them whose task it is to find it out, expresses the words "الذين يستنبطونه منهم", referring to those possessing the capacity to draw inferences directly from the evidence, which is called in Arabic Istinbat.

These and other verses and hadiths oblige the believer who is not at the level of Istinbat or directly deriving rulings from the Qur'an and Hadith to ask and follow someone in such rulings who is at this level. It is not difficult to see why Allah has obliged us to ask experts, for if each of us were personally responsible for evaluating all the primary texts relating to each question, a lifetime of study would hardly be enough for it, and one would either have to give up earning a living or give up ones Deen, which is why Allah says in surat al-Tawba, in the context of jihad: 

وَمَا كَانَ المُؤْمِنُونَ لِيَنْفِرُوا كَافَةًً فَلَولا نفَرَ مِنْ كُلِ فِرْقَةَ مِنْهُمْ طَائِفَةٌ لِيَتَفَقُهُوا فِي الدِينِ وَلِيُنْذِرُِوا قَوْمَهُمْ إِذَا رَجَعُوا إِلَيهِمْ لَعَلَهُمْ يَحْذَرُونَ

"Not all of the believers should go to fight. Of every section of them, why does not one part alone go forth, that the rest may gain knowledge of the religion and admonish their people when they return, that perhaps they may take warning" (Qur'an 9:122). 

The slogans we hear today about "following the Qur'an and Sunnah instead of following the Madhhabs" are wide off the mark, for everyone agrees that we must follow the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم). The point is that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) is no longer alive to personally teach us, and everything we have from him, whether the Hadith or the Qur'an, has been conveyed to us through Islamic scholars. So it is not a question of whether or not to take our Deen from scholars, but rather, from which scholars. And this is the reason we have Madhhabs in Islam: because the excellence and superiority of the scholarship of the Mujtahid Imams--together with the traditional scholars who followed in each of their schools and evaluated and upgraded their work after them--have met the test of scholarly investigation and won the confidence of thinking and practicing Muslims for all the centuries of Islamic greatness. The reason why Madhhabs exist, the benefit of them, past, present, and future, is that they furnish thousands of sound, knowledge-based answers to Muslims questions on how to obey Allah. Muslims have realized that to follow a Madhhab means to follow a super scholar who not only had a comprehensive knowledge of the Qur'an and Hadith texts relating to each issue he gave judgements on, but also lived in an age a millennium closer to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) and his Companions, when Taqwa or "godfearingness" was the norm--both of which conditions are in striking contrast to the scholarship available today. 

While the call for a return to the Qur'an and Sunnah is an attractive slogan, in reality it is a great leap backward, a call to abandon centuries of detailed, case-by-case Islamic scholarship in finding and spelling out the commands of the Qur'an and Sunnah, a highly sophisticated, interdisciplinary effort by Mujtahids, Hadith specialists, Qur'anic exegetes, lexicographers, and other masters of the Islamic legal sciences. To abandon the fruits of this research, the Islamic Shari'a, for the following of contemporary sheikhs who, despite the claims, are not at the level of their predecessors, is a replacement of something tried and proven for something at best tentative.

The rhetoric of following the Shari'a without following a particular Madhhab is like a person going down to a car dealer to buy a car, but insisting it not be any known make--neither a Volkswagen nor Rolls- Royce nor Chevrolet--but rather "a car, pure and simple". Such a person does not really know what he wants; the cars on the lot do not come like that, but only in kinds. The salesman may be forgiven a slight smile, and can only point out that sophisticated products come from sophisticated means of production, from factories with a division of labor among those who test, produce, and assemble the many parts of the finished product. It is the nature of such collective human efforts to produce something far better than any of us alone could produce from scratch, even if given a forge and tools, and fifty years, or even a thousand. And so it is with the Shari'a, which is more complex than any car because it deals with the universe of human actions and a wide interpretive range of sacred texts. This is why discarding the monumental scholarship of the Madhhabs in operationalizing the Qur'an and Sunnah in order to adopt the understanding of a contemporary sheikh is not just a mistaken opinion. It is scrapping a Mercedes for a go-cart.

 

The questions paused by the anti-Taqleedians

The anti-Taqleedians are posing some ‘gigantic’ questions against Taqleed. The important evidences against Taqleed are the following:

1- The word of Allah:

 ٱتَّبِعُواْ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُواْ مِن دُونِهِۦۤ أَوۡلِيَآءَ‌ۗ قَلِيلاً۬ مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ

 (الأعراف:3)  “You follow what is revealed from your Lord. And don’t follow the Auliyaa other than him. And you are thinking a little”

        2- The verse from Quraan:

 وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّبِعُواْ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُواْ بَلۡ نَتَّبِعُ مَآ أَلۡفَيۡنَا عَلَيۡهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ‌ۗ أَوَلَوۡ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمۡ لَا يَعۡقِلُونَ شَيۡـًٔ۬ا وَلَا يَهۡتَدُونَ (البقرة:170)  

“If they are told: you follow what Allah has revealed they will say but we will follow what we found from out forefathers”

        3- Allah says:

        ٱتَّخَذُوٓاْ أَحۡبَارَهُمۡ وَرُهۡبَـٰنَهُمۡ أَرۡبَابً۬ا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡمَسِيحَ ٱبۡنَ مَرۡيَمَ وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓاْ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَـٰهً۬ا وَٲحِدً۬ا‌ۖ لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۚ سُبۡحَـٰنَهُ ۥ عَمَّا يُشۡرِڪُونَ

        They took their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah: there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him)

        4- Allah says:

        فَإِن تَنَـٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِى شَىۡءٍ۬ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ وَأَحۡسَنُ تَأۡوِيلاً

        If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if ye do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination

Answers to the Questions

1- The source of the first question is the utter ignorance of the meaning of Qur’aan. Really the evidence brought against the following of the four Madhab is out of context. For every one of who has the basic knowledge about the Islamic principles knows that there are two kinds of Taqleed. First is the cursed Taqleed like that of the unbelievers who follow their fathers blindly in the worship of idols and others except Allah. This type of Taqleed is mentioned in the verse

 ٱتَّبِعُواْ مَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُواْ مِن دُونِهِۦۤ أَوۡلِيَآءَ‌ۗ قَلِيلاً۬ مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ (الأعراف:3)

The exegetes of Qur'aan described it clearly. Imam Baghwee says “that is, you don’t follow Auliya other than Allah in disobedience to Allah”. And it is known that the four Imams of the Madhabs and others did not command the people to disobey Allah. What did they do was to obey the Almighty and they described to them the Book of Allah and the way of The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم. And the people followed them only because they are able people to be followed.

And the second type of the Taqleed is that which is praised. This Taqleed is to follow the good people in good deeds. The followers of the four Madhabs fall in this category, because we follow them only by the reason that they are worthy to be followed with their excessive knowledge of Qur’aan and Sunnah of The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم and their piety to The Almighty Allah. But this position now is near to impossible.

2- The second Ayat is similar to the first one.

 وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّبِعُواْ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ قَالُواْ بَلۡ نَتَّبِعُ مَآ أَلۡفَيۡنَا عَلَيۡهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ‌ۗ أَوَلَوۡ كَانَ ءَابَآؤُهُمۡ لَا يَعۡقِلُونَ شَيۡـًٔ۬ا وَلَا يَهۡتَدُونَ (البقرة:170

This verse also is revealed in the case of the Kuffar who followed their fathers in the case of disobedience to Allah (may Allah protect us from such a state). This falls under the cursed category of the Taqleed.

3- The third verse

ٱتَّخَذُوٓاْ أَحۡبَارَهُمۡ وَرُهۡبَـٰنَهُمۡ أَرۡبَابً۬ا مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡمَسِيحَ ٱبۡنَ مَرۡيَمَ وَمَآ أُمِرُوٓاْ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَـٰهً۬ا وَٲحِدً۬ا‌ۖ لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۚ سُبۡحَـٰنَهُ ۥ عَمَّا يُشۡرِڪُونَ

           was revealed in the case of the Christian and Jewish who changed the God’s religion according to their whims and fancies. They presented the permissibles of Allah as the forbidden and the forbidden things of Allah as the permissible. Those priests made their own rules in the name of religion. And the Anti Taqleedians are applying these kinds of verses to the pious and careful Imams of the Islam. Really the Imams of the four Madhabs of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii and Hanbali did not make their own rules and regulations in the religion. But they were most pious and careful and they did not forbid what Allah commanded and they did not command what Allah forbade. They are competent to reach the positions near Allah by obeying them at every level and they tried to be the real inheritors of the messengers of Allah. Then how can we apply this shameful remonstration against them?

4-The anti-Taqleedians take the verse

 فَإِن تَنَـٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِى شَىۡءٍ۬ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِ‌ۚ ذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ وَأَحۡسَنُ تَأۡوِيلاً

      for the establishment of their feeble argument. The answer to this question is of two kinds. 1- In the verse it is told that if there is a dispute among the people in any thing we should return to the Allah and The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم. But this is able only to those people who are legitimate for looking to the Qur'aan and the Sunnah. So it is applicable to those wise people who can deduce the rules from the Qur’aan and Sunnah. It is not applicable to the mad and those who can not take the mammoth attempt of researching the two sources. Then if one is not able to deduce the laws from Qur’aan and Sunnah he has no way but to follow one who is able to do the same.  2- The above mentioned verse is of general kind and is described in other verses. The people of the truth are unanimous that there are many verses in which general verdict is given and some other verses will particularize them. At that time the Ulamas will take the verdict of the particular in the particular case. But this power is not possible to all the common men.

Another verse itself particularizes the above verse.

 وَلَوۡ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱلرَّسُولِ وَإِلَىٰٓ أُوْلِى ٱلۡأَمۡرِ مِنۡہُمۡ لَعَلِمَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَنۢبِطُونَهُ ۥ مِنۡہُمۡ‌ۗ وَلَوۡلَا فَضۡلُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَيۡڪُمۡ وَرَحۡمَتُهُ ۥ لَٱتَّبَعۡتُمُ ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنَ إِلَّا قَلِيلاً۬  

        If they had only referred it to the Messenger, or to those charged with authority among them, the proper investigators would have Tested it from them (direct). Were it not for the Grace and Mercy of Allah unto you, all but a few of you would have fallen into the clutches of Satan.

Then the return of the disputes is to the scholars who can investigate and find out the rules from the Qur'aan. And this verse is one of the evidences for the Qiyas (Analogy) as Imam Razi Rahmatullahi alaihi and others among the Qur'aan exegetes told.