INTRODUCTON
Very often the following question is posed to many people: "Do you follow the
Deen of Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.) or the
Deen of Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam)?" "Obviously the
Deen of Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam)," comes the instant reply. The second question is then posed: "Why then do you call yourself a
Hanafi?" The person not well versed is perplexed by this question. Doubts are then created in his mind. He soon starts gradually drifting towards the abandoning of
taqleed i.e. following one of the four illustrious Imaams viz. Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.), Imaam Shafi'i (R.A.), Imaam Malik (R.A.) and Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (R.A.).
By means of the type of questions that have been mentioned above, a deliberate attempt is made to create a misconception in the minds of the unwary — that if you are a
Hanafi, you are following the
Deen of Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.),
NOT the
Deen of Muhammad (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam). This is an absolute fallacy. Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.), Imaam Shafi'i (R.A.) and the other Imaams did not invent any
Deen of their own. They strictly followed the one and only
Deen — the
Deen of Islam brought by Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam). Their followers are hence also following the same
Deen — the
Deen of Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
Why Follow an Imam?
The question that arises here is that why then should one follow any of the four Imaams? This can be answered by posing a counter-question: "Do you know all the various laws of
Deen? Are you capable of extracting and deriving the laws pertaining to
wudhu, salaah, zakaah, etc. directly from the Qur'an and Hadith? Do you know which
Hadith has abrogated another? Do you have the ability to reconcile between the various
Ahadith which apparently contradict each other? Do you know which verses of the Qur'an are general in their application and which verses are qualified by other texts? etc., etc." If one does not have the knowledge of these aspects, then one
definitely does not have the ability to derive the laws directly from the Qur'an and
Hadith. In that case the following
aayah applies directly to oneself:
"Ask those of knowledge if you do not know." (43:7) Hence when we do not have the enormous amount of knowledge and expertise that is necessary to derive the laws directly from the Qur'an and
Hadith, we have opted to follow one of those great people who had attained that distinguished mastery in this field, among whom is Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.). Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.) is a
Taabi'i (one who has seen a
Sahabi). He attained the knowledge of
Hadith from approximately 4000
ustaads. His piety was such that for 40 years he performed
fajr salaah with the
wudhu of
Isha salaah (i.e. he did not sleep the entire night) [
Tareekhul Baghdad]. His knowledge, brilliance and righteousness was such that all the great scholars of his time attested to his mastery. Thus one can be well assured that such a person is absolutely capable of deriving the laws directly from the Qur'an and
Hadith.
Another reason for adopting one of the Imaams as a guide is the following
aayah of the Qur'an: Allah Ta'ala says:
"And follow the path of those who turn to me" (31:15). In order to "turn" to Allah Ta'ala, two aspects are basic requisites — knowledge and practicing according to that knowledge. In this regard the four Imaams were in an extremely high category. Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.) was regarded by various
Ulama of his time as being the most knowledgeable of the people of that era (footnotes of Tahzeebut Tahzeeb vol. 1 pg. 451).
Makki bin Ibrahim, who was one of the renown
ustaads of Imaam Bukhari (R.A.), was a student of Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.). Imaam Abu Hanifa (R.A.) compiled a book of
Hadith entitled
"Kitaabul Aathaar" from among 40,000
Ahadith. Thus those who follow such a guide can be satisfied that they are strictly following the commands of Allah Ta'ala and His Rasul (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
Difference of Opinion
At this point somebody may ask: "If all the Imaams deduced the laws directly from the Qur'an and
Hadith, how is it possible for them to differ on various aspects?" In order to understand the reality of these differences, we will have to go back in history right upto the time of the Sahaaba (
radhiallahu anhum).
Once Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam) had just returned from a battle when he ordered the Sahaaba (
radhiallahu anhum) to immediately proceed to the place of Banu Quraizah — a clan of Jews who lived on the outskirts of Madina Munawwarah. The purpose was to lay a siege upon them for having broken the pact that they had made with the Muslims. In order to impress the urgency of the matter upon the Sahaaba (R.A.), Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said to them: "None of you should perform your
salaah al-Asr except in Banu Quraizah."
While the Sahaaba (R.A.) were still en-route, the time of
Asr arrived. Some Sahaaba (
radhiallahu anhum) felt that they should perform their
Asr immediately. They regarded the instruction of Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) as actually being a command to proceed very swiftly to their destination. It did not imply that the
Asr salaah could not be performed en-route. They thus performed their salaah there. Another group of Sahaaba (
radhiallahu anhum.) viewed the instruction literally. They therefore continued and only performed their Asr salaah after having reached Banu Quraizah. Later when Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was informed about this, he did not rebuke either group. [
Sahih Bukhaari]
Thus we find that the difference arose from a point of interpretation. However, this difference of interpretation is only entertained when it comes from a person who has in-depth knowledge of
Deen and has attained a mastery in the Qur'an and
Hadith and the other related aspects. At times a difference of opinion occurs due to the different narrations that are found with regards to a particular aspect. One Imaam gives preference to one narration on the basis of various criteria while the other Imaam, in the light of his knowledge, prefers the other narration. This is basically the manner in which these differences occur. However, just as Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam) did not rebuke either of the two groups in the incident mentioned above, similarly since the Imaams have attained the status of a
mujtahid (one who is capable of deriving the laws directly from the Qur'an and
Hadith), they will not be blame worthy even if they have erred. Rasulullah (
sallallahu alaihi wasallam) is reported to have said: "When a
haakim (ruler) passes judgement, and after having exerted his utmost effort he arrives at the correct solution, he gets a double reward. And if he errs after having exerted his utmost ability, he gets one reward." (
Bukhari vol. 2 pg. 1092). Ibn al-Munzir (R.A.) while commenting on this Hadith writes that a ruler will only get this reward if he has thorough knowledge and in the light of his knowledge he passed judgement. (see footnotes of
Sahih Bukhari; ibid). The four Imaams had the ability and necessary knowledge to practice
ijtihaad. Thus they fall under the ambit of this
Hadith.
Following One Imaam Only
Another point that often comes up is the following: Why is it necessary to follow one Imaam only? Why can one not follow a certain Imaam in one aspect and another Imaam in another aspect? The simple answer to this is: On what basis will one pick and choose, especially since one does not have the knowledge required to derive the laws. Thus one will not be in a position to evaluate the deductions of each Imaam. Hence it will obviously be on the basis of what suits one. This is nothing but following one's desires — regarding which Allah Ta'ala has issued severe warnings in the Qur'an. Following one's desires sometimes even leads a person to
kufr. Thus great jurists of latter times, among them Shah Waliullah (R.A.), have reaffirmed that it is
wajib for the masses to follow one Imaam only.
Authenticity of Hadith
Here one more point needs clarification with regards to the authenticity of
Ahadith. The general masses are made to believe that a
Hadith is only authentic if it is related in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. This is a misconception. The authenticity of the
Hadith is based on its chain of narrators, irrespective of whether it appears in any one of the
Sihah Sitta (the famous six authentic compilations of
Hadith) or in any other compilation besides these. Imaam Muslim has written in his
muqqadama (introduction to Sahih Muslim) that he has not recorded every authentic
Hadith in his
Sahih. Actually, according to Imaam Bukhari and imaam Muslim, there are more authentic
Ahadith which are not recorded in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim than the number of narrations contained in these two books. The
Hanafi madhhab is derived directly from the Qur'an and
Hadith, like all the other
madhhabs. However, to truly appreciate the conformity of the
Hanafi madhhab with the
Hadith, one will have to undertake a thorough study of the following books of
Hadith: (1)
Sharah Ma'anil Aathaar (2)
Aljawharan Naqi (3)
Nasbur Raayah (4)
I'la as-Sunan (5)
Bazlul Majhood (6)
Fathul Mulhim (7)
Awjazul Masaalik (8)
Aathaarus Sunan, etc
Topics on Taqleed and Gher Muqaalid's Rebuttal can be seen on link given below...
http://www.islamimehfil.info/index.php?showforum=81
for more information visit
www.dawatetislami.net library section's Book "ja al haq" wirrten by Mufti Ahmad Yaar Kahan sahab...
also check that! 1-)
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2-)
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