Answer to an Enemy of Islam

number of rak’as in each salât, the rules, cases and amount of
nisâb, the conditions and fard and sunna acts of fasting,
pilgrimage and zakât could not have been inferred from the
Qur’ân al-kerîm. None of the symbolically revealed Qur’ânic
rules would have been understood if they had not been explained
in the hadîth ash-sherîf.
“It is a symptom of faction (nifâq) to struggle against the
’ulamâ’ of Islam since it means to struggle to oppose and reject
their proofs (dalâ’il). Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in the 46th âyat of the
Sûrat an-Nisâ of the Qur’ân al-kerîm, ‘For having believed, they
have to appoint you to be an arbitrator to settle the disputes
among them, admit your decision and surrender.’ This âyat
signifies that those who are not pleased with Rasûlulah’s (’alaihi ’ssalâm)
decision or with the commandments of Islam do not have
îmân. A hadîth sherîf declares, ‘Do not quarrel or dispute in the
Messenger’s presence!’ Since the ’ulamâ’ are Rasûlullah’s (sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) inheritors, to quarrel or to dispute with
the ’ulamâ’ of his religion, to attempt to criticize their ijtihâds,
which are correct, means to dispute with him. As we have to
believe and confirm all the revelations which he brought even if we
cannot understand their ultimate divine causes and evidences, so
we have to believe and confirm the knowledge conveyed from our
aimmat al-madhâhib, even if we do not understand their
documentary evidences, since they are not against Islam. Despite
the fact that there are different, even opposite principles in the
religions of all prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salâtu wa ’s-salâm), we
Muslims have to believe and acknowledge all of them as Prophets
of Allâhu ta’âlâ, since the ’ulamâ’ declared it unanimously. The
case is the same with the madhhabs. Non-mujtahids have to
believe and acknowledge all the four madhhabs though they see
that there are differences between them. A non-mujtahid’s finding
a madhhab as erroneous does not show that the madhhab is
erroneous. Instead, it shows that he understands little and that he
himself is erroneous. Al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î said, ‘To surrender
oneself is half of îmân.’ Upon this, Hadrat Rabî’ said, ‘Nay, it is the
whole of îmân,’ and al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î admitted it. Again, al-
Imâm ash-Shâfi’î said, ‘A person with perfect îmân does not speak
on the knowledge of usûl. That is, he does not ask why it is that
way and not this way.’ When asked what was the knowledge of
usûl, he said it covered the Book, the Sunna and ijmâ’ al-Umma.
This remark of his shows that we have to say that we believe all
knowledge that has come from Allâhu ta’âlâ and the Prophet as
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