The Devils Deception by Imam Ibn AL-Jawzi

Chapter Seven: Devil's Deception of the Scholars (al- 'uldma')
[ 7:3 ]
The Devil's Deception of the Jurists (al-Fuqahd)
In the days of old, scholars of Fiqh were knowledgeable in Qur'an
and }:iadith. However, this dwindled, as these days scholars say that
all we need is Qur'anic verses that pertain to jurisprudence, and to
rely on popular }:iadith books, such as Sunan Abu Dawud.
Sometimes they rely on reasoning that goes against authentic
}:iadiths. They do so because of their lack of knowledge in the science
of }:iadith. True fiqh requires extracting the rulings from Qur'an
and Sunnah, so how could someone do so without having adequate
knowledge of Qur'an and Sunnah?
In addition, it is improper to derive a ruling from a narration with
an uncertain authenticity. In the past it used to be difficult to make
such a determination. A person needed to travel long distances, but
later, books were written and authentic narrations were differentiated
from weak ones. Unfortunately, contemporary scholars are too
lazy to dwell into the science of }:iadith. One scholar commented on
a }:iadith saying: "This could not have been said by Allah's Messenger
(li) !" He said also: "Our proof is a narration that was said to
have been said by Allah's Messenger (li) !" And in response to a
}:iadith that was used by his opponent, he would say: "This narration
is unknown."
This is an atrocity against Islam. It is also from Ib!Is's deception
of Fiqh scholars that they spend most of their time in acquiring the
techniques of debate. They claim to seek to use them to properly
apply the proof to the ruling. Had this been their true objective,
they would have occupied themselves with all fiqh matters, not just
major issues that require much debate.
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