Reject THIS!
On an Islamic forum, a sister declared with shock and disdain that muqallids reject a hadeeth in favor of following a madhab.
The problem with this sister’s claim is that she has an erroneous conception of the process of following a madhab.
Neither the Qur’an nor Sunnah can be reduced to a simplistic atomistic dimension. Their are layers upon layers of understanding and implementation of a particular text is relative. In other words, when a faqih rejects a hadeeth or verse of the Qur’an, it is in favor of another piece of text or juristic principle. Thus, one does not reject a text in favor of a madhab, the madhab rejects a particular text in favor of another text.
The Qur’an and Sunnah are mere abstract terms that apply to a range of texts that need to be organized in a coherent fashion in order to be applied in a consistent manner. This is what usool al fiqh is all about.
Furthermore, the layperson is not in a position to authenticate the correct understanding of the text, so its merely a matter of one person’s blind faith over another.
Salafis don’t really call for ijtehad by the layperson, they call for following their own set of scholars. They hypocritically invoke weighing evidences to weaken the laymen’s taqleed of a madhab so that they can be convinced a handful of salafi scholars who are rarely recognized as authoritative figures in the various sciences.
If you let go of a madhab, you let go the best opportunity to follow the Qur’an and Sunnah and instead are choosing to follow the Salafi understanding of things.
Sphere: Related ContentPublished June 14, 2006 . Filed under: Polemics
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Here is my hadith vs. madhhab story in its shorten version:
I was at the masjid after work for asr prayer. I got there after the athan but figured I had enough time to pray my sunnah, so I started. Right as I began my 2nd rakat they called the iqamah so I hurriedly finished and joined.
After the salah another woman who had come during my sunnah but before the iqamah told me what I did was wrong and that I should have broken my salah to join the iqamah. She said she had proof. Of course I am one to seek truth and knowledge so I gave her my e-mail.
When I got home I also looked up the ruling on such situations and learned that indeed if one is in their 1st set of 2 rakats they finish that and then join the jama’a, but if they are going into 2nd set then finish that.
The sister sent me a hadith that said there is no prayer except the fard after the iqamah. I took this to mean that it means to INITIATE prayer after the iqamah which makes sense and again I found such confirmation.
When I e-mailed my response to her with the scholars’ ruling she brushed it off and said a madhhab should not be followed if the Qur’an or sunnah contradict it.
Well it wasn’t contraditing anything because she was the one who used ijtihad to incorrectly understand a hadith and apply its meaning. This is why we follow scholars and not our own ijtihad cause we do not have that depth of knowledge that these scholars/madhhabs have spent centuries learning and formulating into organized coherent law. How can one throw all of that away and regress into ignorance? SubhanAllah.
June 15, 2006 @ 12:55 am
Jazakallah khairun.
Alhumdulillah, I’ve never had anyone tell me that I pray incorrectly because most of the masajid where I live are Hanafi.
I think the hardest thing to conceptualize about following the madhaib is that their is ikhtilaaf and that multiple opinions, although different, can still be valid.
Once a person accepts this in the heart, following a madhab becomes easy.
June 15, 2006 @ 11:56 am
Very true.
June 15, 2006 @ 12:36 pm
But of course, AbdulHaqq, as soon as someone says he/she is a “Salafi” you will automatically think bad of him/her.
You know it too.
June 17, 2006 @ 1:20 pm
Salaam Bro,
Hey this is an interesting site I came across from a Latin American Convert studying in Egypt.
http://shaukani.wordpress.com/2006/06/
June 18, 2006 @ 1:25 am
jazakallah khairun.
my friend dawood (dezhen.wordpress.com) already hooked me up with that site.
:)
June 19, 2006 @ 12:06 pm
I don’t get why it is hypocritical to “invoke the weighing of evidences”. This is simply what the scholars within the madahab do as well is it not? How do you think these madhabs were established in the 1st place? Your simply saying that it is hypocritical for one group to do it, but completely valid for another.
July 14, 2006 @ 2:34 pm
Asalamu Alaikum,
Just a friendly reminder…
“when a faqih rejects a hadeeth or verse of the Qur’an…”
I don’t believe one can reject a verse of Qur’an…
-From your brother, Nihal :)
August 13, 2006 @ 1:30 pm