. V૤I< (cont.)

The least point that one can make from this hadith is that the personal opinion that comes from the caliphs, if it is to be considered from [the Prophet's] sunnah as was stated, must take precedence over other personal opinion when no evidence is present.1 On the other hand, al-Sanaani takes a much more restricted approach. He stated that all what is meant by following the sunnah of the rightly-guided caliphs is to follow them in that which they follow the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), concerning jihad against the unbelievers, establishing the practices of the religion and so forth. 2 Another View Not everyone is of the opinion that the "rightly-guided successors" as mentioned in this hadith are only Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmaan and Ali. Al-Qaari, for example, states that "it is said," that it is these four but later he says, "It is also said" that it refers to all of the scholars of Islam ( mujtahideen ), as they are the successors to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in that they revive the truth, guide the people and raise the banner of Islam. Al-Qaari himself does not state which view he prefers. 3 Al-Mudaabaghi states that the successors are first and foremost the Companions in general.4 The problem with this view is that it makes what the Prophet (peace be upon him) specifically told them almost meaningless. It would mean that the Prophet (peace be upon him) told his Companions, "You will see lots of differences, so follow my sunnah and your sunnah and stick to them . . . " Allah knows best, but this seems to be a strange bit of advice. One could understand him telling them that they should stick to the leaders of the Companions who are rightly-guided and sure to follow the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in their own personal rulings (ijtihaad). In his commentary to this hadith, al-Sindi makes no explicit mention of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmaan and Ali. He stated that the meaning of the rightly­ guided successors are the Imams who are followed and the respected scholars of deep knowledge.5 Hence, he is not restricting it to the above mentioned four caliphs. According to this understanding, during times of confusion and trials, one should follow the way of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as well as the way of the well-known accepted leaders and scholars of Islam. In his commentary to this hadith, ibn Uthaimeen wrote, 1 Quoted in al-Mubaarakfoori, vol. 7, pp. 440-441. 2 Quoted in al-Mubaarakfoori, vol. 3, pp. 50-51. 3 Al-Qaari, vol. I, pp. 242-243. 4 Al-Mudaabaghi, p. 220. 5 Al-Sindi, Sharh al-Arbaeen, p. 94. Hadith #28: "I advise you to have taqwa . . . " [The word] khulafaa is the plural of khaleejah: they are the people who succeed the Prophet (peace be upon him) among his Nation in knowledge, actions, calling to Islam, jihad and rule. At the head of them are the four rightly-guided caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthmaan and Ali, may Allah be pleased with them. May we be joined with them in the gardens of pleasure. These four caliphs and the successors of the Nation who come after them, those who succeed the Prophet (peace be upon him) in this Nation, they are the ones whose paths we are ordered to follow. But one must realize that the sunnah of these successors comes after the sunnah of the Messenger (peace be upon him). If there is any conflict between the sunnah of any of these successors with the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the rule is with the sunnah of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and with no one else. This is because their sunnah comes after or follows the sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him).1 As evidence for his last statement above, ibn Uthaimeen quotes ibn Abbaas who said, "Soon I would expect rocks to fall upon you from the sky when I say, 'The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said something,' and you answer, 'Abu Bakr and Umar said."' That is with respect to Abu Bakr and Umar. What then, says ibn Uthaimeen, must be the case with those who are less in stature than Abu Bakr and Umar?2 Elsewhere, while discussing the same point, ibn Uthaimeen stated that one must follow what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said and excuse any Companion who may have said anything that goes against what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said. Such a statement must be from his personal reasoning and judgment, for which he may be excused.3 Muhammad Al-Ashqar also does not agree that the rightly-guided successors are the four well-known caliphs. Al-Alaai had stated that there is a consensus that the rightly-guided caliphs are the four and only those four caliphs. Al-Ashqar wrote the following footnote to that statement of al-Alaai's, I do not know where that consensus came from.