. V૤I< (cont.)

Indeed, the four caliphs sometimes differed from each other and did not always follow the opinions of their prede-cessors.4 This is a sign that the Companions themselves did not consider the statements of the four caliphs or of any of them as a final authority in Islamic law. Even those who would accept their statements as authority, based on this hadith, state that simply because their statement is an authority, it does not mean that it has the same rank as the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. Not everything which is an authority in Islamic law is of the same status or strength. Hence, if there is any conflict between what any of these four caliphs said and what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said or did, then the Prophet's sunnah would definitely take precedence.5 The question is more related to cases where the four caliphs did something that was not in contradiction to the Prophet's sunnah although it did not particularly form part of the Prophet's sunnah. In this case, is the statement or practice of the rightly-guided successors necessary to be followed? statement of the first three caliphs only is an authority; (7) The statement of a Companion is an authority only if it is in agreement with analogy; (8) The statement of a Companion is an authority only when it contradicts analogy. See al-Namlah, vol. 4, pp. 274-275; also see al-Alaai, Ijmaal, passim. Obviously, those who say that the statement of any Companion is unconditionally an authority will have no problem in saying that the statement of any of the four rightly-guided caliphs is an authority. 1 Quoted in ibn Rajah, Jaami, vol. 2, p. 123. 2 Al-Alaai, Ijmaal, p. 47. 3 Al-Namlah, vol. 4, p. 99. 4 For examples, see al-Alaai, Ijmaal, p. 48. 5 Cf., al-Alaai, Ijmaal, p. 49. Hadith #28: "I advise you to have taqwa . . . " Many of the commentators on this hadith understand the guidance given here in a qualified or restricted sense. lbn al-Arabi and ibn Daqeeq al­ Eid, for example, understood this hadith to mean that if a person is not a knowledgeable person, then, if he must blindly follow somebody else's opinion, he should follow the opinion of one of the four rightly-guided caliphs. They state, furthermore, that if there is a difference of opinion among the Companions, then more weight is to be given to the opinions of the four caliphs, based on this hadith. 1 Suhaaranfoori also says that this hadith is evidence that if one of the four rightly-guided caliphs held an opinion and other Companions differed with him, the opinion of the rightly-guided caliph would take precedence.2 He does not go on to say anything beyond that conclusion. Al-Shaukaani is one scholar who has taken this hadith to its furthest conclusion. He has, in essence, equated the sunnah of the rightly-guided successors with the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He stated, The scholars have had lengthy discussions on this point and have tried to reinterpret the hadith in ways that are mostly far­ fetched. What one must conclude and follow is [that we are] to act upon what these words mean in their context in Arabic. The sunnah is the path. It is as if he said, "Stick to my path and the path of the rightly-guided successors." It is as if their path is the same as his path. They were the people who were the strictest in guarding the sunnah and following it in everything. In any case, they were very careful about differing from the sunnah in even the smallest matter, not to speak of the larger matters. If they did not have any evidence from the Book of Allah or the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), they would act in accord with what was apparent to them of personal opinion, after searching, researching, consulting others and pondering the matter. This opinion, when there is no evidence, is also part of his [the Prophet's] sunnah . . . If you [the listener] say: If what they acted upon of personal opinion is also of his sunnah, then there is no point to him saying, "and the way of the rightly-guided successors." I respond: The benefit of this statement is that there are people who were not alive during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but were alive during the time of the rightly-guided caliphs or were alive during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and of the rightly-guided caliphs but something was done that was not done during the Prophet's time, but the caliphs did it. So directing one to the practice of the rightly-guided caliphs removes any doubt or confusion in the soul of the person and 1 Ibn al-Arabi, vol. 10, p. 147; ibn Daqeeq al-Eid, Sharh, p. 75. 2 Suhaaranfoori, vol. 18, p. 147. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi [this hadith] makes his mind clear to follow them.