The eighth malady of the heart
is to imitate people you do not know. It is not permissible to follow teachings
of someone only on the basis of his fame and celebrity or on the basis of
intense propaganda which promotes his books or speeches without knowing whether
he is known as an “Ahl as-sunnat scholar.” One will be ruined and led to
spiritual disasters if one follows someone with respect to belief and worships
without investigating him from dependable “Ahl as-sunnat sources.” One does not
have to imitate anyone in order to be a Muslim or in order to understand the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ, His
Oneness, His Power and His other Attributes. Anyone who develops his mind to a
level to understand knowledge of science can easily understand His existence
and thus obtain belief by only contemplating. It is foolishness not to
understand the existence of a Creator while one sees His creation. Islam
commands everyone to contemplate in this fashion and thus obtain belief. Pious
people (Salaf as-sâlihîn) who lived in the first few centuries following the
time of our Prophet conveyed to us unanimously that we should believe by
contemplating. Some aberrant people who belonged to one of the seventy-two
deviated groups that appeared after the fourth century of Islamic calendar said
that one does not need to observe and contemplate about Him and His creation.
Their deviant ideas do not carry any weight because the negative ideas
generated by later generations do not invalidate the unanimous teachings of the
earlier scholars and pious Muslims. A correct belief which is acquired by only
imitating parents or teachers is judged as valid. Yet a person who acquires his
belief in this fashion is considered a sinner on account of his desertion of
the
necessary studies, i.e., his not studying and learning the
scientific knowledge and not developing his mind to contemplate and understand
the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ. There are other scholars,
however, who say that a person’s lack of scientific knowledge does not
constitute a sin if he is able to obtain belief from his parents or by reading
books or by contemplating.
Everyone should select one of those
scholars, who are at the level of deriving rules, i.e. doing (ijtihâd)
regarding religious issues, and imitate him in all of his matters. Ijtihâd
means understanding the meaning of a vaguely defined information and reaching
conclusions in circumstances about which there are no clearly understood
commands (Nass) in the Qur’ân al-kerîm
or in hadîth-i-sherîfs. Âyats of the Qur’ân and
hadîths are called “Nass.” Scholars who possess the qualifications to perform
ijtihâd are called “mujtahid”. No mujtahid has been raised since
four hundred years after our blessed Prophet’s
migration (Hijrat) from Mekka to Medîna. Nor has it ever been necessary, for Allâhu ta’âlâ and His Messenger Prophet Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ explained all the
rules (ahkâm)
or information which would be applicable to all kinds of life styles and all
kinds of scientific and technical changes and circumstances which would emerge
till the end of the world. The Mujtahids understood these teachings and
explained them to others. Scholars who came later learned how these teachings
could be applied to new circumstances and wrote them in their books of Tafsîr
(exegesis of the Qur’ân al-kerîm) and Fiqh
(branch of Islamic knowledge teaching Islam’s tenets on practices). These
scholars are called mujaddids (restorers). They will exist till the end
of the world. Hence, those who propose the necessity of modifying the religion
by adding new things to “Nass” are enemies of Islam. They make such assertions
as, “Scientific media have changed. We are facing new events. Religious men
should gather and write new interpretations. New ijtihâds should be performed”.
They are enemies of Islam . They are disbelievers (zindiqs).
The most harmful enemies of Islam are of British origin. Please read the book Confessions of a
British Spy which is published by Waqf Ikhlas. While
one is following one of the true four Madhhabs as long as there is no necessity
to follow another Madhhab, one should adhere to the Madhhab one has been
following.
But, if there is a difficulty regarding performance of a specific case or if
one cannot perform a certain deed according to one’s Madhhab because of one’s
own circumstances, in that instance, one can follow another Madhhab in which it
is permissible to do that specific deed. But there is a caveat in this. One is
not allowed to collect the easiest ijtihâds of the four Madhhabs in order to
perform a certain deed or worship.[1]
Any deed or worship done in this manner would not be an acceptable (valid)
worship. After the fourth century of Islamic calendar no scholar with the
capacity of Mujtahid Mutlaq, i.e. one who is capable of doing ijtihâd by way of
qiyâs (analogy, comparison), was raised. Therefore, it is not permissible to
follow any scholar who lived after the fourth century of Islamic calendar or
any “Madhhab” beyond the four established “Madhhabs”. To learn Islamic
knowledge in accordance with one of the well known four Madhhabs of the
scholars who lived before the fourth century, one should read books of fiqh
advised unanimously by the scholars of that Madhhab. One should not try to
attempt to learn religious knowledge from the books or speeches of those who
are not authorized by true “Ahl as-sunnat scholars”. Islam does not accept acts
of worship performed in accordance with instructions acquired from religious
books chosen on a haphazard basis. One should not adapt oneself, for instance,
to the books and speeches of non-Sunnî men of religion. The following religious
(Fatwâ)
books of the “Hanafî Madhhab” are widely accepted and dependable: Kâdihân,
Hâniyya,
Hulâsa,
Bezzâziyya,
Zahîriyya
and [Ibn
al-Âbidîn.] The book Muhtasar al-Khalîl is
written according to “Mâlikî Madhhab”, the book al Anwâr li-a’mâli
abrâr and the book Tuhfa-t-ul-muhtâj are written according
to “Shâfi’î Madhhab”. The book Al fiqh-u alal-madhâhib-il-arba’a
is written according to four Madhhabs. All of these books are correct and
dependable. Books of Hadîth are not an easy source wherefrom to learn the
teachings pertaining to acts of worship or ‘ahkâm’, which means ‘teachings
based on halâls and harâms’. The most dependable books of Hadîth are Sahîh al-Bukhârî,
Sahîh
al-Muslim and the other four books of Hadîth which are
called Kutub
al-Sitta.
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[1] This collection of the easiest
aspects of the four Madhhabs is called telfîq. Lexical
meaning of telfîq is ‘eclecticism’.
The most valuable book which
explains sufism (Tarîqat) is the Mathnawî of the
great sufi master Mawlânâ Jalâl-ad-dîn Rûmî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ [The most
valuable book which explains both the “tariqat” and the “Sharî’at” is the book Maktûbât written by great sufi master Imâm ar-Rabbânî ‘rahimahullâhu
ta’âlâ’.]
It is not permissible to perform
acts of worship according to the books or speeches of any person only because
he pretends to be, or is known as, a scholar or a religious man. One should
read books of ’ilm al-hâl compiled or translated
from the aforesaid valuable books. Reading books containing falsely
choreographed teachings and interpretations instead of translations from these
authentic books, will lead a person into disasters in this world and perdition
in the Hereafter.
The second gravest sin after disbelief is to hold a heretical belief. The opposite of every heretical belief is the Sunnî belief. The most valuable worship and the highest of all virtues after having belief in Allâhu ta’âlâ is to hold “Ahl as-sunnat (or the Sunnî) belief”. The gist of “Ahl as-sunnat” is as follows: To adapt yourself to the Sunnat of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, i.e. to the way guided by him and his Sahâba, –which has been conveyed to us by the Tâbi’în and by the ijmâ’ (unanimity, consensus) of the Islamic scholars who succeeded them ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’– in matters of belief and worship, in everything you do and say, in all your daily chores and business interactions. The way guided by those blessed people should be learned by reading their books. Most Muslims have deviated from this way of salvation and become ahl-i-bid’at as a result of indulging in their sensuous desires, following their own reason, or being misguided by the scientific teachings of their time.