Answer to an Enemy of Islam

He has revealed. So should be the case with what has been
conveyed through the ’ulamâ’ of Islam; that is, we should say that
we believe the words of our a’immat al-madhâhib without
pronouncing on them, without arguing. Therefore, Imâm Ibn ’Abd
al-Birr (d. 463/1071) said, ‘None of our a’imma has been heard to
command his disciples to follow a certain madhhab. They told
them to follow fatwâs of any madhhab they liked, for all the
madhhabs are Allâhu ta’âlâ’s compassion. It was not stated in any
hadîth, sahîh or da’îf, that our Prophet (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam) commanded anybody of his umma to recommend a certain
madhhab.’
“Al-Imâm al-Qurâfî says, ‘As it was witnessed unanimously by
as-Sahâbat al-kirâm, a person who followed Hadrat Abû Bakr and
Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ) by adopting their fatwâs
would also ask other Sahâbîs about his other manners and would
act upon what he learned. Nobody would ask for witnesses or
documents. [1] And by the unanimous declaration of the ’ulamâ’, it
is necessary today for a new Muslim to learn and do by asking the
scholars of a single madhhab without asking for proofs, and if he
cannot find scholars of the same madhhab, to ask any scholar but
later, to learn one of the four madhhabs and follow it. A stubborn
person who refuses this unanimity has to find proofs for his
refutation.’ ” [2]
’Allâma Sayyid Ahmad at-Tahtâwî, a great Hanafî fiqh scholar
of Egypt, wrote in the subject of ‘Zabâyih’ in his Hâshiyatu Durr
al-mukhtâr: “According to the majority of the scholars of tafsîr,
the âyat, ‘They parted into groups in the religion.’ referred to the
people of bid’a who would arise in this umma. In a hadîth sherîf
reported by Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-Allâhu ’anh), Rasûlullah (’alaihi
’s-salâm) said to Hadrat ’Â’isha (radiy-Allâhu anhâ), ‘The âyat
about the partition into groups in the religion refers to the people
of bid’a and to the followers of their nafses who would arise in this
[1] In other words, it was not possible for the new Muslims among the
Tâbi’ûn to follow the madhhab of only one Sahâbî, since the
madhhabs of as-Sahâbat al-kirâm were not codified or compiled in
books as great madhahbs. It was to a few persons’ lot to be in company
with a Sahâbî all the time and to ask him about everything, thus to act
upon what they heard. They needed to ask any Sahâbî they met and to
listen and act accordingly. When there is darûra (compulsory
necessity), one can follow any madhhab. The Tâbi’ûn never asked for
proof.
[2] al-Mîzân al-kubrâ, p. 41.
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