Understanding Taqlid by Mufti Muhammad Sajaad

understanding taqlīd
the Holy Qur’an and Hadith and they of course are unquestionably
classical texts) which has its roots in Eighteenth Century Arabia.
Before this, if a traveller travelled the length and breadth of the
Ummah, from China on one side to North Africa on the other,
the only scholars or seminaries he would find would be those
belonging to and teaching one of the four schools. An obvious
proof of the immaturity of this movement is the fact that when it
comes to delving into serious further study of the Shariah (beyond
basic booklets on Salah, Hajj and Fasting), that is, into the detailed
rulings pertaining to the chapters of marriage & divorce, leasing,
buying & selling, trusts, partnerships, inheritance law, international
law etc. one comes across a somewhat uncomfortable reality for
those who advocate not following the four Imams and their schools;
namely, they are forced to acknowledge that they have no detailed
compilation of such laws, systematically presented with explanation
and evidences. Rather, at this juncture, they too are forced to turn
to the classical works of the four schools. It is for this reason in
Saudi Arabia today students of knowledge, study standard works in
the Hanbali madh-hab, such as Zād al-Mustaqna‘ and Rawdat al-Nāzir.
Had the six books of hadith been sufficient for students, why
are these classic madh-hab-based texts being studied so diligently?
Thus, clearly the perpetuation of the claim that all one needs is the
Holy Qur’an and six books of Hadith is based upon nothing more
than ignorance of the facts and the reality that the non-Scholars
must follow the scholars. This being the state of non-Madhabism,
if the movement gains followers today it is sadly only due to lack of
awareness of facts and the great heritage of the Ummah.
Hence, a claim of such a nature, that ends up leaving the vast
billions of sunni Muslims, throughout the centuries, as having been
taught a mistaken methodology, and renders the accomplishments
of the crest of Islamic scholarship as inferior and defunct, definitely
demands deeper probing that goes beyond superficial slogans.
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