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

2 That is, the person was not intentionally violating the laws of Allah but his understanding was that the plain, lexical meaning of the Quran and sunnah was not actually what Allah or the Prophet (peace be upon him) had meant by those words. 3 Ahmad lbn Taimiya, Iqtidhaa Siraat al-Mustaqeem (Published by Dr. Naasir al-Aql, 1404 A.H.), vol. 2, p. 580. 4 For whatever reason, Salmaan does not mention the name of the author of this work, as he failed to do so on many other occasions, and he did not include a bibliography to his work. The Life of Imam al-Nawawi Among the Asharis there are scholars who served Islam and the Shareeah, including Abu Bakr al-Baihaqi, al-Qaasim ibn Asaakir, Imam al-Izz ibn Abdul Salaam and other virtuous Asharis. We mention the good that they have done although we point out what heresies they fell into. Certainly, there is no partiality when it comes to the truth. However, we do not allow their innovations to prevent us from benefiting from their knowledge of the sunnah, fiqh, Quranic commentary, history and so forthalthough we stay cautious. We have an example in the Pious Forefathers and the leaders of Islam. They narrated from many of the innovators due to their knowledge that those people were honest. We avoid calling specific Muslims unbelievers, deviants or evildoers when it comes to those types of scholars. Such name­ calling or labeling is not the way of the Pious Forefathers. It is sufficient for us to make clear their innovation and refute it when it presents itself to us. This is the way in which one should deal with a scholar who is not overcome by innovations and desires, and for whom we know that he is very eager to follow in the footsteps of the Messenger (peace be upon him). [This is also the case when we] see him seeking to discover the truth from the Quran and sunnah but he does not reach that truth due to some misconception or other aspect. 1 Finally, ibn Uthaimeen was asked specifically about al-Nawawi and ibn Hajr and those people who were calling these two excellent scholars heretics. Ibn Uthaimeen gave a lengthy reply during which he stated, The two shaikhs and preservers of the religion have their place of prominence, honesty and great benefit for the Muslim nation. Even if they made some mistake in reinterpreting some of the texts mentioning the attributes [of Allah], such mistakes are covered and immersed by what they had of virtue and great benefit. We suspect that what they stated was only the result of their own personal ijtihaad and a permissible form of interpretation-- at least in their view. I hope from Allah that such are from the forgiven mistakes; and I hope that the good and benefit that came from them will be efforts that are rewarded and appreciated by Allah; and I hope that Allah's words will apply to them, "Verily, the good deeds remove the evil deeds" (Hood 1 14). We are of the opinion that they are both from the ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah and this is 1 Quoted in Salmaan, al-Rudood, p. 3 1 . Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi evidenced by their service to the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), their eagerness to purify it from the wrong that had been attributed to it and their implementation of its rulings. They differed from the leaders of the ahl al­ Sunnah with respect to some verses and hadith concerning attributes [of Allah] based on a mistaken ijtihaad and we hope that Allah will deal with them with forgiveness and pardon. 1 His School of Fiqh In the realm of fiqh, al-Nawawi was a follower of the Shafi'ee school and, in fact, one of the greatest Shafi' ee scholars to have ever lived. Of the later Shafi'ee scholars, al-Nawawi and, before him, al-Rafi'ee have had the greatest influence. Their influence and following was so great that it led Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdul Wahhaab, of the Eighth Century, to say, "Today, the people are Rafi'eeyah and not Shafi'eeya, as well as Nawawiya and not Nabawiyya (following the Prophet),"2 implying that people were following al-Rafi'ee instead of al-Shafi'ee, and following al-Nawawi instead of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Al-Nawawi was a great faqeeh or jurist. However, he was not muta'asib (a blind and patriotic follower of a specific school of fiqh). In other words, he did not have such an allegiance to his school of fiqh that he would continue to follow that school even if its views contradicted the Quran and sunnah. In fact, that is not the meaning of being a faqeeh or jurist whatsoever. Instead, it means to understand and derive the laws of the shareeah directly from the Quran and sunnah. Al-Nawawi's classic work on fiqh, al-Majmoo ', has an introduction about the importance of attaining knowledge and fiqh.