Islam's Reformers .pdf

’âlim can understand the Qur’ân and the Sunna. In the booksTahzîb by al-Baghawî, Hidâya by Imâm al-Haramain, Sharh alwajîzby ar-Râfi’î, Ghâya by ’Izzad-dîn ibn ’Abd-as Salâm,Sharh al-muhadhdhab by an-Nawawî, Adab al-futyâ by Abû’Amr ibn Salâh and in Kitâb al-bahr by Badr ad-dîn az-Zarkashî, knowledge is divided into two, one of which must belearned by everybody. Learning the other is a fard kifâya, and,therefore, an ’âlim who has become a mujtahid learns it; if thereis such an ’âlim in a town, others need not learn it and, if thereis no such ’âlim, all Muslims are sinful. If such an ’âlim candeduce rules from the Qur’ân, Hadîth, ijmâ’ and qiyâs withoutdepending upon a madhhab, he is called a mustaqil(independent) mujtahid. There has not been such a mujtahidfor a long time.“There are four groups of non-mustaqil mujtahids. Amujtahid in the first group does not follow the imâm of hismadhhab in searching for documents and deducing rules.Because he is on the way of an imâm, he is said to belong to animâm’s madhhab and is called a mujtahid muntasib. He is amujtahid mutlaq, and there must always be such a mujtahid.The as’hâb at-tarjîh, i.e. the second group, depend on themethods and documents of the imâm of the madhhab, andeach is called a mujtahid muqayyad. A mujtahid in the thirdgroup knows the documents of his madhhab. A mujtahidbelonging to the fourth group can understand the teachings ofhis madhhab and conveys them to others.“Ordinary Muslims who are not able to perform ijtihâd and donot study Islamic sciences are permitted to follow a madhhab.However, a scholar who has reached the capacity to performijtihâd is not allowed to follow a madhhab.” [1]Shâh Walî-Allah’s writings above clearly show the fact thatMawdûdî is a heretic who has not realized the greatness of theAhl as-Sunna scholars, all of whom were praised in the hadîth[1]Shâh Walî-Allah ad-Dahlawî, Al-intibâh, part III. The author ofIt’hâf, an annotation to Al-intibâh, wrote: “The person who saidthat a Muslim should give up following a madhhab and adapthimself directly to âyats and hadîths was Shawkânî, not Shâh WalîAllah ad-Dahlawî,” and added that ash-Shawkânî’s words werebetter and superior, thus confessing the fact that he was againstthe madhhabs.- 177 -