al-Taqlid

Following Qualified Scholars and Asking the People of Knowledge

قَالَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالَى: فَاسْئَلُوْا اَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَاتَعْلَمُوْنَ ۔ (النحل - آیت ۴۳)

Lughat (Vocabulary): فَ؛ then. سَئَلَ یَسْئَلُ سُؤَالًا ۔ اِسْئَلْ؛ to ask, to inquire, question. اِسْئَلُوْا؛ (plural imperative) you all ask, question. اَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ؛ people of knowledge, people of the Qur'an.

Translation: Allah Most High says: *"O people! Ask the people of knowledge if you do not know."* If you do not know, then ask someone who is aware, a scholar, and obtain correct knowledge because remaining unaware of something is ignorance, it is negligence. As the saying goes, *Be ilm boodan bood jahili* (To be without knowledge is ignorance).

عَنْ جَابِرٍ قَالَ خَرَجْنَا فِىْ سَفَرٍ فَاَصَابَ رَجُلًا مِّنَّا حَجَرٌ فَشَجَّهُ فِىْ رَاْسِهٖ فَاحْتَلَمَ فَسَاَلَ اَصْحَابَهُ هَلْ تَجِدُوْنَ لِىْ رُخْصَةً فِى التَّيَمُّمِ قَالُوْا مَا نَجِدُلَكَ رُخْصَةً وَّاَنْتَ تَقْدِرُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ ۔ فَاغْتَسَلَ فَمَاتَ فَلَمَّا قَدِمْنَا عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اُخْبِرَ بِذٰلِكَ قَالَ " قَتَلُوْهُ قَتَلَهُمُ اللّٰهُ اَلَّا سَئَلُوْا اِذَالَمْ يَعْلَمُوْا فَاِنَّمَا شِفَاءُ الْعَيِّ السُّؤَالُ ۔ اِنَّمَا كَانَ يَكْفِيْهِ اَنْ يَّتَيَمَّمَ وَيَعْصِبَ عَلٰى جُرْحِهٖ خِرْقَةً ثُمَّ يَمْسَحَ عَلَيْهَا وَيَغْسِلَ سَائِرَ جَسَدِهٖ ۔ (رَوَاهُ اَبُوْدَاوُدَ وَرَوَاهُ ابْنُ مَاجَةَ عَنْ عَطَاءِ بْنِ اَبِىْ رَبَاحٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ - مشكوة)

Lughat (Vocabulary): شَجَّ; broke the head, wounded the head. رُخْصَةً; permission. مَا نَجِدُ; we do not find. تَقْدِرُ; you are capable, you can do. قَدِمَ، یَقْدُمُ، قُدُوْمًا; to arrive, to come. اُخْبِرَ; was informed. اَلْعَيِّ; the one who cannot give an answer, one who is incapable (of speaking). عَصَبَ، یَعْصِبُ، تَعْصِیْبًا; to tie a bandage. عِصَابَةٌ; a cloth to tie on the head. تَعَصُّبٌ; invalid support (bigotry). جُرْحٌ; wound. جَرَحَ، یَجْرَحُ، جِرَاحَةً; to wound.

Translation: Hazrat Jabir (RA) narrates and says that we set out on a journey and a stone struck the head of a man among us. Then his head got wounded, then he had a wet dream (nocturnal emission), so he asked his companions, "Do you people find any permission for me regarding Tayammum?" The people said, "We do not find any such permission while you are capable (of using water)."

"We do not have knowledge of this, and you have power over water." So then he performed Ghusl, and he passed away. Then when we reached the Prophet ﷺ, and Hazrat was informed about it, Hazrat said, "These people killed him, may Allah also kill them. Why did these people not ask others when they did not know it? The cure for one who is unable to answer is asking, questioning. It was just enough for him that he performs Tayammum and ties a bandage on his wound, wipes over it, and washes the rest of his body." (Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah have narrated this Hadith from Ata bin Abi Rabah, and he has narrated it from Hazrat Ibn Abbas (RA) and this Hadith is also in Mishkat).

وَفِىْ حَدِيْثِ عَمْرِو بْنِ شُعَيْبٍ عَنْ اَبِيْهِ عَنْ جَدِّهٖ ”وَمَا عَلِمْتُمْ مِنْهُ فَقُوْلُوْا وَمَا جَهِلْتُمْ مِنْهُ فَكِلُوْهُ اِلٰى عَالِمِهٖ“ ۔

Lughat (Vocabulary): وَکَلَ، یَکِلُ، وِكَالَةً; to leave, to hand over. كِلْ; you leave, entrust. كِلُوْا; plural imperative form: you all leave.

Translation: And (in this chain) it is narrated from Hazrat Amr bin Shu'ayb (RA), he narrates from his father, and he narrates from his grandfather, that the noble Prophet ﷺ said, *"Whatever you know of it, say it, and whatever you are ignorant of, leave it to the one who knows it."*

O friends! This is a fact that a scholar and an ignorant person are not equal. The rank of a scholar is great. The job of the ignorant is that whatever they do not know, they should ask the scholars. They should ask them questions, trust them, and act upon their fatwas (rulings). Without verification, no matter is acceptable. Scholars should also do verification and scrutiny, whether they are verses of the Qur'an or Ahadeeth of the Messenger. If any situation of choice is adopted in the implementation of vague and obscure matters, then it is not wrong. A matter is left to discretionary choice, and its implementation by different people according to their own discretionary choice, then they will all be on the truth. It is not that one is on the truth and everyone else is on falsehood (Batil).

Remember this, that one will be on truth and all others on falsehood only at that time when an opinion is based on facts, because a matter which is according to facts is "Sadiq" (true), and that which is not according to facts is "Kadhib" (false). The matter that depends on discretionary choice, its matter does not have a reality reported (Mahka Anhu), so where is the scope for according and not according, true and false? Therefore, based on their respective confidence, all can be correct and true. This is my research.

Remember! Some deductions whose source is Qur'an and Hadith are correct and true. Some narrators' source is neither Qur'an nor Hadith, they are not true. Sometimes an Imam deduces a ruling from Qur'an and Hadith. People with less understanding...

...are unable to grasp it, they consider it to be just a mere opinion and that there is no source for it, although their sight is not that deep. Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifa (RH) considers the individuals within the general (Aam) and the absolute (Mutlaq) of the Qur'an as certain (Yaqeeni), and does not restrict the Noble Qur'an with a non-Mutawatir Hadith (Khabar al-Wahid), nor does he restrict it (Taqlid), because in his opinion the contradictory of a universal affirmative (Mujabah Kulliyyah) is a particular negative (Salibah Juz'iyyah). He considers acting against the general and absolute of the Qur'an, acting against its contradictory, as similar to denying the Qur'an. Some Imams do not consider the general of the Qur'an as definitive and certain. In their view, every general has some specification (Takhsees), therefore they make specifications and restrictions on the general of the Qur'an with Khabar-e-Ahad. They do not consider this as opposing the Hadith. وَلِكُلٍّ وِجْهَةٌ (And for each is a direction). Many of the Sahaba of the Prophet ﷺ like Zubair bin al-Awwam and others, if they had memorized the prophetic words, they would narrate, otherwise they would not narrate. Meaning, they did not consider narration by meaning (Riwayat bil-Ma'na) appropriate, and many Companions considered narration by meaning permissible. "Maliki" people used to consider a person who narrates something contrary to the continuous practice (Ta'amul-e-Aam) of the people of Madinah as an ignorant person, as if he considered all the rightly guided Caliphs and the center of Prophethood, meaning the residents of Madinah, as ignorant. Followers of other Madhhabs consider it permissible. Their reasoning is that it is possible that the people of Madinah remained unaware of it and the people of another city got informed of it. Hazrat Umar (RA) and others would ask for evidence according to the standard of testimony for every ruling, meaning they did not consider any ruling established without the narration of two men, or one man and two women. When any prophetic ruling was recited before Hazrat Ali (RA) and the standard of testimony was not met, he would give an oath and complete the testimony with the oath. The early scholars used to go to the Imams and ask them what the ruling is in this matter. They had such trust in the Imams that they did not ask for the Qur'an or Hadith; whatever ruling the Imam gave, they would act upon it. In the Hanafi Madhhab, a Mursal Hadith is acceptable as proof, provided the narrator or the Imam is reliable and agreeable, and even if its chain is not mentioned. (That Hadith in which the names of the narrators are not explicitly mentioned sequentially is called a Mursal Hadith). Remember this point very well! Whether it is the Imams of Hadith or the Imams of Fiqh, none of them oppose the divine commands and the rulings of the Prophet ﷺ. In superficial view (Badi al-Nazar) in some matters, there is such entanglement that people consider the decisions of the Imams to be against the will of God and His Messenger, it is absolutely not like that. These elders have extracted an outcome after deeply reflecting upon the intricacies of these issues. Also remember this! Hazrat Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlavi was a very great scholar. He had memorized thousands of Ahadeeth. He was aware of their intricacies, yet he remained a Hanafi. Therefore, considering his Fiqh or any of his decisions as opposing the Hadith is foolishness. The Ahadeeth upon which Hazrat Imam al-A'zam (RH) made decisions regarding issues, he did so with great caution. Considering a Hadith weak due to the weakness of some Muhaddith is one thing, but denying a Hadith entirely is wrong. However, hesitating to act upon a weak Hadith is correct.