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

In that work, he quoted ibn al-Salaah, a previous Shafi'eefaqeeh and muhaddith, who said, If a follower of the Shafi'ee school finds a hadith that contradicts his madhab, then if he possesses the qualifications of an absolute mujtahid, or a mujtahid on that particular subject or issue, then he should research the matter and he has the right to independently follow that hadith. If he does not have those qualifications and it is hard upon him to go against what is stated in the hadith, after he researched the matter and did not find a satisfying response to [why his madhab did not follow that] hadith, then he may act in accord with that hadith if an Imam other than al-Shafi'ee has acted on the basis of that hadith. In that case, he will be excused for not following the Imam of his madhab. 1 Muhammad ibn Uthaimeen, Kitaab al-Ilm (Riyadh: Daar al-Tharayaa, 1996), pp. 212-213. 2 Quoted in al-Diqr, p. 50. The Life of Imam al-Nawawi Al-Nawawi stated that this was an excellent observation on the part of ibn al­ Salaah.1 In al-Nawawi's commentary to Sahih Muslim and in his Majmoo' one can spot many examples of Imam al-Nawawi following what the hadith states instead of following the Shafi'ee school's opinion. Indeed, his knowledge of .fiqh went well beyond knowing the Shafi'ee madhab. His student, ibn al­ Attaar once said, "He was a preserver of and one who memorized the Shafi'ee madhab, its principles, foundations and secondary issues. He was also knowledgeable of the opinions of the Companions and the Followers. He knew wherein the scholars agreed and wherein they differed. And, in all of that, he followed the path of the early scholars."2 Furthermore, he had a great love for the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was much better grounded in the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) than many of the other jurists. This, in the long run, made him a superior jurist also. Among the Shafi'ees, al-Nawawi and al-Rafi'ee became known as "the two Shaikhs" (al-shaikhain). There developed the question as to who should be followed when al-Nawawi and al-Rafi'ee had a difference of opinion. Some stated that al-Rafi'ee's opinion should be preferred because he was closer in his views to the basic foundations of the Shafi'ee madhab. However, many of the Shafi'ee jurists favored al-Nawawi's opinions because he was more in line with the authentic sunnah and more knowledgeable of hadith. The Shafi'ee jurist and historian al-Yafi 'ee wrote, In my opinion, whenever he [al-Nawawi] supports his view with authentic hadith, then his view takes precedence. This is certainly to be the case because Imam al-Shafi'ee himself once said, "If the hadith is authentic, then it is my madhab." Similar is the case if he does not support himself with a hadith and the forms of evidence they use are comparable to each other, [al-Nawawi's view is still accepted due to his advanced knowledge of the sunnah] he was guided, supported, blessed and correct. However, if one of their opinions is more supported by the evidence, then the one who has the stronger evidence is to be followed. 3 However, there may be one difference between al-Rafi'ee and al-Nawawi. It seems, Allah knows best, that al-Rafi'ee was more exacting and put more thought into his writings than al-Nawawi. Al-Nawawi's goal was to reproduce 1 Al-Nawawi, al-Majmoo, vol. 1 , p. 1 15. 2 Quoted in al-Diqr, pp. 49-50. 3 Quoted in al-Diqr, pp. 51-52. lmaam al-Ramaly also made a similar conclusion. See al­ Haddaad, p. 2 1 . Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi the knowledge that he had received and pass it on. Therefore, Al-Nawawi's writings were numerous and not as exacting as those of al-Rafi'ee.1 His Writings There are three aspects that definitely stand out concerning al­ Nawawi's writings. The first aspect is how accepted and appreciated his writings are. The second aspect is how much al-Nawawi was able to write in a fairly short period of time. The third aspect deals with al-Nawawi's clarity of expression, conciseness and comprehensiveness. Concerning the first aspect, Salmaan stated, Allah has made his writings appreciated and accepted among the people. Hundreds, in fact thousands, of scholars have compiled collections of forty hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but none of them have had the acceptance and approval like that of The Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi. Twenty, in fact, hundreds, of scholars have written commentaries on Sahih Muslim but never have had the fame of Sharh al-Imaam al-Nawawi, known as al-Minhaaj fl Sharh sahih Muslim ibn al-Hajaaj. The same is true for the remainder of his writings. Upon al-Nawawi be the mercy and pleasure of Allah.2 Concerning the second aspect, al-Nawawi died at the relatively young age of 44. He started writing in the year 663 or 664.3 Hence, in a span of twelve or thirteen years, he compiled some of the most important works in the history of Islam. One of these works, the commentary on Sahih Muslim, is in eighteen volumes.