Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Second Fascicle

Even ’Âlûsî, who praises Ibni Taymiyya and Ibni Qayyim very
much, states as follows in his book entitled Ghâliyya: “Learning
and teaching knowledge is one of the highest acts of worship.
’Abdullah ibni ’Abbâs has communicated that savants are seven
hundred degrees higher than those Believers who are not learned.
A hadîth-i-sherîf states: “Savants are Prophets’ inheritors.” Since
there is no rank above the rank of prophethood, there cannot be
any honour superior to the honour of inheriting this rank. Most of
the Islamic savants reached this rank. The savants of Fiqh and
Hadîth, principally the four leaders of mujtahids, are the highest
of them. They revealed the concealed commandments and
prohibitions of Islam. They established the basis of knowledge.
They divided Islamic knowledge into classes and parts. We have
been honoured with knowing a few of the high values which they
had. Ahead of all of them is the flawless imâm Abû Hanîfa
Nu’mân bin Thâbit. We have hadîth-i-sherîfs describing his
greatness. They are quoted in Bukhârî and Muslim. ’Abdullah
ibni Mubârek reports that he performed the five daily prayers of
namâz with one ablution which he, (i.e. Imâm A’zam Abû
Hanîfe,) made daily for forty-five years. While washing the
valuable imâm after his death, Hasan bin Ammâra said, “You
fasted incessantly for thirty years. May Allâhu ta’âlâ have mercy
upon you.” No other savant has ever been seen to practise their
knowledge as precisely as he did. No savant superior to him has
been found. May Allâhu ta’âlâ honour us with following such
highly valuable savants. It is these mujtahids who conveyed
Rasûlullah’s utterances to us. And today, there is nobody not in
need of following one of the four Madhhabs or who could be
exempted from following one of them. A hadîth-i-sherîf quoted
by Ibni Mâja states: “My Ummat will part into seventy-three
groups, of which only one group will enter Paradise. They are
those who are on my and my Sahâba’s way.” This difference is a
difference which is in usûl, in îmân. It is not a difference similar to
that which is between the four Madhhabs. For, a hadîth-i-sherîf
states: “The difference in my Ummat is Allah’s compassion.”
And another hadîth-i-sherîf states: “Get what you cannot find in
Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Book or in my Sunnat from the words of my
Sahâba! My Sahâba are like the stars in the sky. If you follow any
one of them, you will find guidance to the right way. My Sahâba’s
disagreeing with one another is Allah’s compassion.”
The books al-Insâf and ’Iqd-ul-jayyid by the great savant Shâh
Waliyyullah-i Dahlawî were published in Egypt in 1327 A.H.
– 255 –