Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem
by Hadhrat Moulana Abdul Hamid Is’haq Sahib (Daamat Barakatuhum)
The knowledge of Deen is Qur’aan and Sunnah. The Sunnah is
the practical implementation and explanation of the Commandments of the Qur’aan
Shareef. …Allah Ta’ala reward our great Fuqaha. They sacrificed their entire
lives for this Deen. Day and night were spent in the services of Deen. Many
years were spent in learning, and many years in disseminating that knowledge,
for the benefit of the Ummah. Allah Ta'ala blessed them with knowledge, understanding, insight and wisdom. They structured and preserved Fiqh, taking from Qur’aan and
Sunnah.
Nowadays, we have people – Salafis - who criticise these
great Fuqaha and Imams. They openly reject the A’immah al-arba‘ah (the four
Imams) and denounce and mock those who follow them. They undermine the noble
status of the great Imams and create suspicions and reservations in the minds
of those who align themselves to a Madhab. These are people who increase the disunity
in the Ummah.
If anyone asks: “Do you follow an Imam?”
A simple, straightforward answer is: “We follow Qur’aan
and Sunnah as explained by Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh).”
When a person asks us this question, we should ask in
return: “Do you follow an Imam, or do you follow your own understanding of
Qur’aan and Hadith?”
If the person is not following an Imam, he is following
his own understanding. …Who is more preferable to follow? …You, a product of
this century - the 21st century – or the great Fuqaha who lived
closest to the time of Rasulullah Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam: Imam Abu
Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh), Imam Shafi’ee (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh), Imam Ahmad
Ibn Hambal (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) and Imam Maalik (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)?
Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)
was blessed with seeing and meeting some of the Sahabah (Radhiyallahu ‘anhum),
such as Hadhrat Anas Ibn Maalik (Radhiyallahu ‘anhu). He was thus a Tabi’ee. How
can a person of this day and age, place himself above those great Fuqaha who
belonged to “Khayrul Quroon” (the best of eras); who studied under the
Sahaba-e-Kiraam (Radhiyallahu ‘anhum) or their students?
The Salafis try to place us in a corner so that we suffer
from an inferiority complex. They want to make us think that we are not
following the Qur’aan and Sunnah – and that we are "ignorantly" and "blindly" following
an Imam. We follow what Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh) took from Qur’aan
and Sunnah. He made it easy for us: All the Masaa’il were taken from Qur’aan
and Sunnah and compiled and organised in their respective categories such as
Taharah, Salaah and so forth. We thus
follow Qur’aan and Sunnah. …A student of Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)
had said: “The Muslim Ummah should make Dua for Imam Abu Hanifa, since the
Sunan and the Fiqh were preserved for them, through him.”
The principles and method employed by Imam Abu Hanifa
(Rahmatullahi ‘alayh), towards Fiqh, was firstly, seeking guidance from the
Qur’aan Shareef. If further details were required and sought, he would direct
his attention to what is established of the Sunnah. The next source of knowledge was the practise of the Sahabah
(Radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and their teachings. If a matter could not be resolved,
then other means were adopted such as Qiyaas (deducing laws
on matters which are not explicitly covered by the Qur’aan or Sunnah).
Similarly, all the respected and honourable Imams have
done a great, immense favour to the Ummah – that is, for those who want to practise
Deen. The Madhaahib-e-Arba'a are all based on the Qur’aan and Sunnah. Only the
audacious and fool-hardy will try to negate the scholarly contributions of these
great masters in the field of Jurisprudence.
...A person appreciates food which is ready. The preparations,
arrangements and hard work have been done. Someone undertook the task of
preparing and cooking. All that is required, is to sit and eat. They – the Fuqaha
– have prepared the spiritual food and presented it to us. It is ready for us
to 'eat', so to speak. We do not have to re-invent the wheel and undertake the efforts that
they undertook. Their years of study and research, their teachings and
explanations are presented to us on a platter. All that is required from us, is
Amal – that is, we need to practise on what they have conveyed of the noble and pure teachings
of Deen; of Qur’aan and Sunnah.
We should read the authentic biographies of the four great
Imams. This will increase us in love, respect, reverence and appreciation for
their exceptional and extraordinary services and contributions to Deen. It will
give us confidence and conviction that our following is correct; that we are
following people who are people of Qur’aan and Sunnah. We should not allow
anyone to intimidate or bully us in respect to Taqleed and following a Madhab.
As for Ikhtilaaf (differences), then for those who want to
make Amal, choose one righteous, pious ‘Aalim and follow him.
May Allah Ta’ala grant us the understanding and
appreciation and the Taufeeq of practising correctly on Deen, as taught and
expounded by our great Imams.
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