. J i ? . .r--J i ? (cont.)

Some scholars do consider such acts on the part of the wife to be obligatory. The Life of Imam al-Nawawi In fact, al-Nawawi was once told that marriage is a great sunnah and it is perhaps the only sunnah that he had not fulfilled. His reply was, "I fear that I may follow one sunnah and thereby get involved in many forbidden acts."1 Al-Nawawi's Beliefs and Creed (Aqeedah) Introduction There is no question that the correct and only true form of Islam is that of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his Companions and those who follow their path. This can be proven from many verses of the Quran and hadith. 2 This path is also known as the way of the salaf or pious forefathers of Islam. This methodology has always been present but it has received more attention in recent years. More and more Muslims are recognizing the strengths of its premises and the weaknesses of the other schools, such as the Ashari school, for example. 3 With this re-emergence of the Salafi school, some people are confused concerning how to deal with and view many of the earlier scholars that held errant views on some matters related to faith and belief. In the writings of great scholars of Islam, such as ibn Hajr and al-Nawawi, there are numerous passages that go against the beliefs of the Salaf.4 The following questions arise: 1 Al-Haddaad, p. 92. There is a lesson in this for many of the young Muslim men of today, especially those living in non-Muslim societies. They find themselves looking at women, which is forbidden, and therefore they think that the only solution is to get married. However, they are neither financially, emotionally or mentally ready for marriage-- they are only physically ready to get married. They then get married but since they were not ready for marriage, they end up wronging their wives. Many times they beat their wives. Other times they force their wives to work and support the family when that is the responsibility of the husband. Such marriages often end up in divorce-- many times after children have arrived. Hence, instead of correcting themselves by fasting and other means, they get married. They end up hurting their wives, their communities who are usually called in to solve the problems and the children who grow up in broken homes or in a confused state. All of this is because they do not realize that they may be avoiding one sin by marriage, but they end up committing many others, as al-Nawawi astutely realized about himself. 2 This is not the proper place to go into details concerning this matter. The interested reader may consult Abdul Qaadir al-Ama'oot, A Glimpse at the Way of the Companions (Birmingham, UK: al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution, 1994), passim. 3 The Asharis claim to be the followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari (260/874-324/936). Unfortunately, the term "Ashari" can cover a broad spectrum of beliefs. One of the novel ideas that the Asharis introduced was to give figurative interpretations for many of the attributes of Allah. This approach differed from the approach that was handed down from the time of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). 4 Some modem-day Asharis criticize scholars such as Abdulazeez ibn Baaz and numerous others for "correcting" the views of the great scholars such as al-Nawawi and ibn Hajr. However, the standard by which to judge is not Abdulazeez ibn Baaz, nor al-Nawawi, nor ibn Hajr. It is the Quran, sunnah and the understanding that the Prophet (peace be upon him) conveyed to his Companions. If something is correct according to that standard, it is to be accepted regardless of who says it. If something is incorrect according to that standard, it is to be rejected regardless of 1 7 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi How is it that these great scholars held such views? What should be one's attitude towards these scholars? It is due to the appearance of questions like these that al-Nawawi's creed or beliefs will be discussed in some detail here. Before discussing al-Nawawi's views, it is proper to mention the correct approach to the attributes of Allah. The correct approach coming from the Salaf is that whatever Allah has stated about Himself or whatever the Prophet (peace be upon him) has stated about Him is accepted as true and stated clearly, without any need for reinterpretation. (This reinterpretation is known as taweel.) For example, if Allah states that He has a hand, then it is believed that He has a hand. It is not to be understood that "hand" here stands for power, mercy or any other kind of interpretation. At the same time, though, it is understood that, as Allah has made clear in the Quran, there is none like unto Allah. Therefore, if Allah has a hand, it is not like a human hand.