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

This letter was once again filled with exhortations from the Quran and hadith. He stressed the importance of the scholars and how they are the heirs of the Prophets. He stated that many of them have families and cannot live off of just one salary. In any case, they are involved in spreading knowledge and they deserve to be supported. 2 Note that al-Nawawi, who was one of the scholars and one of the teachers, had no personal interest in this matter. He was teaching at only one school and he was not accepting his salary for teaching at that school. Hence, he was coming to the defense of his brethren scholars while not seeking any personal benefit. Al-Nawawi and Other Scholars Imam al-Nawawi had the greatest amount ofrespect for all of the other scholars throughout the history of Islam. This was very clearly shown in his writings of a biographical nature. He used to praise them for their services to Islam. At the same time, however, given the love he had for the scholars, the truth was definitely more beloved to him. He would not hesitate to point out a mistake or to disagree with a scholar if that scholar's views were not based on I Ibid., p. 39. 2 For the complete text of the letter, see ibn al-Attaar, pp. 1 15-1 16; Salmaan, al-Rudood, pp. 3 153 1 7; al-Diqr, pp. 166-168. The Life of Imam al-Nawawi sound evidence. This obviously did not mean that he did not have the greatest amount of love and respect for that scholar. Instead, he knew that it was his responsibility towards Allah to expose truth and oppose falsehood no matter what or who the source of that falsehood be. One of al-Nawawi's beloved shaikhs was al-Taaj al-Fazari. He gave a fatwa for the ruler al-Dhaahir that it was not necessary to give one-fifth of the booty for the sake of Allah, His Messenger, the poor and so forth. He tried to prove that from evidence from the Quran and sunnah. The ruler and the army were very happy with this ruling because they continued to receive large amounts of booty through their fighting. However, al-Nawawi noted the falsehood in his argument and, therefore, he could not remain silent. Al­ Nawawi stated that the shaikh had gone against the consensus of the Muslim scholars. The two debated this issue and there were harsh words between them. Al-Fazari was a better debater but al-Nawawi knew the madhab better than him, memorizing numerous texts, and he was able to confound him. He refuted him in detail and with stem words, this although he was a man who was beloved to him. But, again, Allah was more beloved to al-Nawawi.1 If al-Nawawi concluded that a person who was thought to be a scholar seemed to have a bad intention in some act he was doing, al-Nawawi would advise that person in stem words. There was a shaikh in Damascus known as ibn al-Najjaar. He tried to implement some things that went against the Quran and sunnah. He gave a fatwa (religious ruling) stating that the ruler could take the gardens from the citizens. Al-Nawawi wrote him a letter advising him to change his ways and stated that none of the earlier scholars had ever given such a fatwa. His response was to write a threatening and insulting letter back to al­ Nawawi. Al-Nawawi was forced to respond. He wrote him an extremely long letter. He kept referring to ibn al-Najjaar as "the one who wronged his own soul." He exhorted him with Quranic verses and hadith. The opening part of the letter, however, shows that al-Nawawi was not out to oppose ibn al-Najjaar until ibn al-Najjaar's own state was made very clear by his public actions. Here is the opening of that lengthy letter, All praises are due to Allah. From Yahya al-Nawawi. 0 you who are lacking in your preparation for returning to Him by leaving what is best for your own self ... I was not aware of your dislike for supporting the religion and advising the Sultan and Muslims. [I was not aware of that] because all believers should be treated with good thoughts. Every once in a while I would hear about how you were deceiving the Muslims. However, I rejected those reports with both my tongue and my heart, because such was backbiting and I did not know if those reports were true. And I continued to be in that state until these 1 For the details of that story, see al-Diqr, pp. 1 16-121. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi days. [He then goes on to explain how he had lied and tried to deceive the ruler.] 1 Al-Nawawi and the Masses In sum, one can see that al-Nawawi was a defender of the masses, a defender of the scholars and a defender of the truth. He would oppose anyone who went against the Quran and sunnah. He would not just oppose the little people and leave the powers that be alone.