Understanding Taqlid by Mufti Muhammad Sajaad

2: The Evolution Of Taqlīd
Imam Dhahabi was an undisputed expert in Hadith. Indeed he
was Hafiz al-Hadith (prolific memoriser of hadith). He was the
student of the Hadith Master Hafiz Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi and
justifiably can be considered his successor. He was appointed by
the scholars of Syria the head of several Hadith Schools, such as
the Madrasah al-Nafisiyyah and the Dar al-Hadith al-Fadiliyyah.
He has unparalleled works in Hadith and History that till today,
scholars rely upon. From his major works are the 40 volume Tarikh
al-Islam, the two volume Tazkira al-Huffaz, and the many volume
Siyar ‘Ālam al-Nubala. Altogether he has approximately 270 works
on a variety of subjects related to the Islamic sciences. One can
appreciate his lofty rank by the following saying of the famous
Shafi Muhadith, commentator of Sahih al-Bukhari, Ibn Hajr al-
‘Asqalani: “I drank the water of zamzam for three things, one was
to attain the rank of Hafiz Dhahabi (in memory)…”
The scholars of Ahl al-Sunna roundly certify him and confirm
his lofty rank as an authority of Islam. Imam Suyuti (died 911 AH)
says: “The Imam, the Hadith Master of the Age, the Seal of the
Memorisers of Hadith, Islam’s Historian, the unequalled of the
century, the one who carried the responsibilities of this craft (of
hadith)…” (Dhuyul Tazkirat al-Huffaz).
In al-Durrar al-Kaminah, Imam Ibn Hajr writes: “He was an expert
in the science of Hadith. He compiled many beneficial compilations
in it. He authored more books than any of his contemporaries.”
This is the rank of Imam Dhahabi and like the other Imams we
are about to cite, it is inconceivable that he would utter a thing that
was false or try to mislead the Muslims. And we see that he is, in
this statement, categorically rejecting the idea that a non-Scholar,
unable to perform ijtihād, must look at the evidences and decide for
himself what is the soundest position. How many Salafi youngsters
do we hear today echoing these words of Ibn Hazm?
In Imam Dhahabi’s time however this kind of leaving the four
schools was restricted to the odd example found in the minority
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