Chapter 81 of 986 min read

8. Reformation of Islamic Institutes (E.g. al-Azhar (in Egypt) and al-Qurawiyyoon (in North Africa))

٨. إصلاح المؤسسات التعليمية الإسلامية

During this Stage, efforts were introduced to improve the quality of the educational institutes by adding contemporary sciences, such as engineering, math and medicine. There was great resistance to this movement in the beginning; however, the movement was eventually successful, and many schools began teaching secular studies as well as Fiqh, Arabic etc. Although the purpose of this movement was to expose the fuqaha’ to issues and disciplines that were prevalent at the time, in the end, the schools produced fuqaha’ that were relatively weaker in their understanding of Islam than their predecessors who were more focused on only Islamic studies. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 104

Fiqh between Ijtihad and Taqleed Gems from the great Fuqaha’: Words of the great Imams: It is not permitted for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got those views. [Imam Abu Haneefah ,ر اfrom Hashi’yat Ibn ‘Abideen] Once a man came to Imam Abu Hanifa asking for an opinion, after he was given the opinion the man asked him "Is this the true opinion of which there is no doubt?" Imam Abu Hanifa said "I do not know this might be the false opinion of which there is no truth." Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes and I am correct sometimes. Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it and all that does not agree with the Book and Sunnah, ignore it. [Imam Malik ibn Anas ر اfrom Jami’ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadluh] When a hadith is found to be sahih, then that is my Madhab. [Imam ash-Shafi’ee ,ر اfrom Majmoo’ Al-Nawawi] "Do not follow my opinion, neither follow the opinion of Malik, nor ash-Sharfi’ee, nor Awza’I, nor athThawri, but take from where they took." [Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal ر اfrom I’lam al-Muqaqqi’een] Rulings of Taqleed • Definition: In the Arabic language, Taqleed literally means placing something around the neck. The word for necklace in Arabic is Qilaadah. Technically speaking, however, it means following a qualified scholarship. Some add to this "uncritical following of a qualified scholarship". Taqleed can also mean "following he whose sayings are not approved". In other words, the person providing the ruling is not giving a proof but he is relaying the information of what was given before by those who were the legal authority at one time. He is not a mujtahid so his statements are not Hujjah. The Hujjah is the source which comes from an authority e.g. Maliki, Shafi’ee, Hanbali etc. The person doing the following is basically saying, "I am circling my destiny around you". • Reasons for Taqleed Some of the reasons mentioned in the legal fatawa advocating Taqleed are: Taqleed dispels any confusion in Fiqh. Following a qualified scholarship is much easier for those who do not have the capacity to study and/or deduce laws for themselves. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 105

Nowadays, we do not have many individuals who are qualified to be mujtahideen, and by not following taqleed, we will be making ijtihad, which is outside of our capacity. So, there are only two options: either we are muqallid or mujtahid; if you are not qualified to be mujtahid, then you must be muqallid. There is ijma of the scholars that people should follow one of the madhahib and if one does not comply, then they are breaking ijma’ which is an innovation and a danger to the faith. If we do not follow one Madhab, then we are following our desires, which leads to sin/deviation. One explanation for this is that if one relies on one’s self to interpret legislation, then one’s nafs may influence the process by which the law is deduced. If you interpret an ayah and that interpretation is wrong then you are a Kaafir. However, this is an extreme view because of the following hadith: ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas narrated, "When the Hakim makes Ijtihad and is correct, he will receive two rewards; while he who does so and is incorrect will receive one reward." (alBukhari) • Is the Muslim obliged to adhere to one madhab? There are claims that, historically, all Muslims confined selves to one madhab. This statement may be valid more from a cultural standpoint than from a Fiqh (juristic) standpoint. It is true that the people in Pakistan will most likely be following the Hanafi madhab, and people from other cultures will follow another madhab; however, this cannot be considered as ijma’. The ‘ulema’ say that being obliged to adhere to one madhab depends on the status of the person. The layperson who is not knowledgeable in areas such as Shari’ah, Fiqh, usool, and who is not exposed to books of ahadeeth, Fiqh etc. and would therefore be confused greatly, should confine themselves to one madhab. But if a person sees of himself that he has a certain degree of knowledge, and that he is in the process of learning, then he should in the beginning make taqleed (i.e. follow an Imam that is still alive, or one of the five madhahib, including madhab ahl al-hadith), then begin to refine his practice until he eventually will not need to follow on particular madhab. It should be noted that the average person is not qualified to make his own ijtihad. Regarding which madhab to follow, we cannot say that all madhahib are correct; however, we can say that they are all valid to follow. If we say they are all correct, then we are saying that every element in each madhab is correct and accurate. This is not true; the opinions of the madhahib are based on legitimate reasons but they may be incorrect since RasulAllah said that there will be mistakes with the ijtihad of the mujtahid. Fiqh is similar to grading a math test in which the quality of the process is sometimes more important than the final answer. Thus, if a mujtahid used a good, sound process in deducing a law, Allah will reward him for his effort but it is still possible that his final opinion is wrong. We should study and follow the madhab of our communities or our localities. We do not have to practice every single opinion of that madhab if we know that there is another sunnah proven to be more authentic. The Madhab is like a general guideline which we can begin with, and then start to refine our practices in accordance with the authentic ahadeeth that reach us. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 106

• The advantages and disadvantages of Taqleed Advantages:

Chapter 81 of 986 min read

8. Reformation of Islamic Institutes (E.g. al-Azhar (in Egypt) and al-Qurawiyyoon (in North Africa))

٨. إصلاح المؤسسات التعليمية الإسلامية

During this Stage, efforts were introduced to improve the quality of the educational institutes by adding contemporary sciences, such as engineering, math and medicine. There was great resistance to this movement in the beginning; however, the movement was eventually successful, and many schools began teaching secular studies as well as Fiqh, Arabic etc. Although the purpose of this movement was to expose the fuqaha’ to issues and disciplines that were prevalent at the time, in the end, the schools produced fuqaha’ that were relatively weaker in their understanding of Islam than their predecessors who were more focused on only Islamic studies. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 104

Fiqh between Ijtihad and Taqleed Gems from the great Fuqaha’: Words of the great Imams: It is not permitted for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got those views. [Imam Abu Haneefah ,ر اfrom Hashi’yat Ibn ‘Abideen] Once a man came to Imam Abu Hanifa asking for an opinion, after he was given the opinion the man asked him "Is this the true opinion of which there is no doubt?" Imam Abu Hanifa said "I do not know this might be the false opinion of which there is no truth." Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes and I am correct sometimes. Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it and all that does not agree with the Book and Sunnah, ignore it. [Imam Malik ibn Anas ر اfrom Jami’ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadluh] When a hadith is found to be sahih, then that is my Madhab. [Imam ash-Shafi’ee ,ر اfrom Majmoo’ Al-Nawawi] "Do not follow my opinion, neither follow the opinion of Malik, nor ash-Sharfi’ee, nor Awza’I, nor athThawri, but take from where they took." [Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal ر اfrom I’lam al-Muqaqqi’een] Rulings of Taqleed • Definition: In the Arabic language, Taqleed literally means placing something around the neck. The word for necklace in Arabic is Qilaadah. Technically speaking, however, it means following a qualified scholarship. Some add to this "uncritical following of a qualified scholarship". Taqleed can also mean "following he whose sayings are not approved". In other words, the person providing the ruling is not giving a proof but he is relaying the information of what was given before by those who were the legal authority at one time. He is not a mujtahid so his statements are not Hujjah. The Hujjah is the source which comes from an authority e.g. Maliki, Shafi’ee, Hanbali etc. The person doing the following is basically saying, "I am circling my destiny around you". • Reasons for Taqleed Some of the reasons mentioned in the legal fatawa advocating Taqleed are: Taqleed dispels any confusion in Fiqh. Following a qualified scholarship is much easier for those who do not have the capacity to study and/or deduce laws for themselves. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 105

Nowadays, we do not have many individuals who are qualified to be mujtahideen, and by not following taqleed, we will be making ijtihad, which is outside of our capacity. So, there are only two options: either we are muqallid or mujtahid; if you are not qualified to be mujtahid, then you must be muqallid. There is ijma of the scholars that people should follow one of the madhahib and if one does not comply, then they are breaking ijma’ which is an innovation and a danger to the faith. If we do not follow one Madhab, then we are following our desires, which leads to sin/deviation. One explanation for this is that if one relies on one’s self to interpret legislation, then one’s nafs may influence the process by which the law is deduced. If you interpret an ayah and that interpretation is wrong then you are a Kaafir. However, this is an extreme view because of the following hadith: ‘Amr ibn Al-‘Aas narrated, "When the Hakim makes Ijtihad and is correct, he will receive two rewards; while he who does so and is incorrect will receive one reward." (alBukhari) • Is the Muslim obliged to adhere to one madhab? There are claims that, historically, all Muslims confined selves to one madhab. This statement may be valid more from a cultural standpoint than from a Fiqh (juristic) standpoint. It is true that the people in Pakistan will most likely be following the Hanafi madhab, and people from other cultures will follow another madhab; however, this cannot be considered as ijma’. The ‘ulema’ say that being obliged to adhere to one madhab depends on the status of the person. The layperson who is not knowledgeable in areas such as Shari’ah, Fiqh, usool, and who is not exposed to books of ahadeeth, Fiqh etc. and would therefore be confused greatly, should confine themselves to one madhab. But if a person sees of himself that he has a certain degree of knowledge, and that he is in the process of learning, then he should in the beginning make taqleed (i.e. follow an Imam that is still alive, or one of the five madhahib, including madhab ahl al-hadith), then begin to refine his practice until he eventually will not need to follow on particular madhab. It should be noted that the average person is not qualified to make his own ijtihad. Regarding which madhab to follow, we cannot say that all madhahib are correct; however, we can say that they are all valid to follow. If we say they are all correct, then we are saying that every element in each madhab is correct and accurate. This is not true; the opinions of the madhahib are based on legitimate reasons but they may be incorrect since RasulAllah said that there will be mistakes with the ijtihad of the mujtahid. Fiqh is similar to grading a math test in which the quality of the process is sometimes more important than the final answer. Thus, if a mujtahid used a good, sound process in deducing a law, Allah will reward him for his effort but it is still possible that his final opinion is wrong. We should study and follow the madhab of our communities or our localities. We do not have to practice every single opinion of that madhab if we know that there is another sunnah proven to be more authentic. The Madhab is like a general guideline which we can begin with, and then start to refine our practices in accordance with the authentic ahadeeth that reach us. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 106

• The advantages and disadvantages of Taqleed Advantages: