How To Distinguish Between Scholars The following is a Q&A I came across on tumblr and though I usually refrain from taking things from unknown sources, this was a general explanation, and I think the brother explained it quite nicely masha Allah. **** Anonymous asked: Assalamwalaykum, how do you know what scholar to take advice of? The answer though being simple Those who follow Quran and Sunnah but its not that easy. No one knows what kind of person. Mostly all scholars have a beard and all of them speak about the Quran. So how to distinguish/stay-safe? There are tons of legit fatwa sites online and Ive seen difference in opinions in each site. Like they Humans are prone to errors Its really not possible that a fatwa given by scholar is always right. Walaykumasalaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. If you read your question again you will see that you have missed one very vital piece of information which will aid you in distinguishing the truth from the falsehood. You said the simple answer being ‘Quraan and Sunnah’. And then you said ‘many speak about the Quraan’. You will see everyone claiming to follow the Quraan and the Sunnah and perhaps they may even quote you authentic ahadith. However, the deciding factor is the understanding of those texts. That understanding can only be taken from the ‘Salaf’ (The pious predecessors). I will give you some examples. Allaah سبحانه و تعالى states in Surah Al-Hijr - (15:99) “And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty.” The extreme Sufis claim that once certainty comes to you that Allaah is your Lord, you are in no need of worshiping Him, so you abandon the five daily prayers etc. Because you have gained a level of certainty which exempts you from worshiping Allaah because of this verse in the Quraan! And anyone with a sound intellect will not fall for such shenanigans. However, some people have fallen for them and do not worship Allaah thinking they have reached certainty, or worship these individuals because they have managed to attain this level. Now if we look at the way the Salaf were, you will see that they were at the foremost in worshiping Allaah سبحانه و تعالى correctly and spared no avenues of worship. Does it mean they did not reach certainty? And if we take it right to the top we will see that the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم worshiped his Lord till his last breath. So from there you can see the incorrect understanding of a verse of the Quraan. And remember they quoted the Quraan to you. And as for the understanding of the Salaf they said regarding this verse: (And worship your Lord until the certainty comes to you) (15: 99). Imaam Al-Bukhari said: “Salim said, (This means) death. This Salim is Salim bin `Abdullah bin `Umar ibn Al-Khattaab رضي الله عنهم. Ibn Jarir also recorded from Salim bin `Abdullah; (And worship your Lord until the Yaqin comes to you.) He said, “Death.” [Tafsir Ibn Katheer] So we have been commanded to worship Allaah سبحانه و تعالى as long as we are of sound mind and until death comes to us. If you look at the history of the Khawaarij (a deviant group which calls to the bloodshed of Muslims and revolting against the Muslims leaders) you will find that they used the verses of the Quraan to incite people against the fourth Khalifa Ali ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه and they ended up killing him. What did they use? The verses of the Quraan. However, their understanding was an understanding other than that of the Salaf (Sahabah, Tabi’een and the Taba Tabi’een). And the list goes on and on and on with examples of such misunderstandings and misinterpretation of the Speech of Allaah the Most High. Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said : there is no textual evidence that the people of deviation (ahl al-bidʿa) use to try to justify their deviation except that that very text can be used against them rather than for them. [Majmooʿ al-Fataawaa, v. 6, p. 254.] This is because they use the verses of the Quraan and they use authentic ahadith but without their correct understanding [understanding of the Salaf]. And All-Praise is for Allaah who has not left us to our own devices and has placed in every century trustworthy scholars who clarify the truth from the falsehood of the people. Stick to the elders scholars of the Islaamic Ummah. And from them in our time were (may Allah have mercy upon them all): Imaam Abdul Aziz Ibn Baaz Imaam Muhammad Naasir Uddin Al-Albaani Imaam Muhammad Ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen Imaam Muqbil ibn Haadi Al-Waadi’ee And from those still alive are the likes of: Shaykh Saalih Al-Luhaydaan Shaykh Saalih Al-Fawzaan Shaykh Rabee’ Ibn Haadi Al-Madhkhali Shaykh Abdul Muhsin Al-Abbaad, Shaykh Ubayd Ibn Abdillaah Al-Jaabiree Shaykh Yahyaa Al-Hajooree and many others that follow the blessed methodology of the Salaf (may Allah preserve them all). These are the Salafi mashaaykh (scholars). Stick to them. Their creed (belief) is one. You will see that they have the same beliefs as the Imaams of the past such as: Imaam Abu Haneefah, Imaam Malik, Imaam Shaafi’ee, Imaam Ahmed, Imaam Sufyaan Ath-Thawree, Imaam Hassan Al-Basri, Imaam Abdullaah Ibn Al-Mubaarak, Imaam Yahya Ibn Ma’een, Imaam Sufyaan ibn Uyainah, Imaam Ibn Abi Zaid Al-Qairwaani, Imaam At-Tahaawi, Imaam Bukhari, Imaam Muslims and the other Imaams who came all the way down to Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalaani, Adh-Dhahabee, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Salaah until this day. This is the reason Shaykh Fawzaan (may Allah preserve him) teaches books of Aqeedah (creed/belief) from the various Imaams to show you that no matter what school of thought they were from, they had the same beliefs but differed on issues of fiqh (which is permissible and the issue has scope), not like the misguided people of today claiming to stick to the Imaams of the Sunnah and in reality they are the furthest from them in beliefs. For example the Sufis of India and Pakistan, in fiqh they are hanafi (so they claim to follow the great Imaam Abu Haneefah) but in belief they are Matureedee, ‘Ash’aree, Jahmee etc. From those who distort the names of Allaah the Most High, some likening Him to the creation, some believing He resides in the creation, some negating His existence and the list goes on. SO are they really Hanafees? No, they are Matureedees, not Hanafees! They will also claim to follow the Sunnah but when the smallest and most clear issue will come to them of the Sunnah they will reject that Hadith and take the saying of an Imaam, as if Allaah has ordered us to follow the Imaam and not the Sunnah of our beloved Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. Don’t be fooled by a beard or dress sense, weigh up the opinions of the Imaams with the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger with the understanding of the Salaf and you will be able to distinguish the truth from the falsehood. The religion is clear, people try to make it murky but Allaah from His infinite wisdom has placed scholars on the earth to clarify the truth for those who want it. And every person makes a mistake, this is why we are humans, we make mistakes. But the scholars are there to rectify these mistakes, even those that take place by other scholars, so if a scholar gives a verdict and there is a mistake there, the others will speak up against it and rectify that mistake with evidence and with proof. If no proof is brought then you don’t take that. For example one scholar gave the example of treating magic with magic, and this is haraam, so the others spoke up against it and clarified the matter for the people, al-hamdulillaah. And they came with proof after proof to show the illegitimacy of such an act. And the proof of the Book and the Sunnah with the understanding of the Salaf overrides everything. As for issues of fiqh then difference will occur between the scholars and there is scope for that but after having seen what they bring as proof, you choose the strongest and stick to it. So the scholars are brothers who look out for each other, if one falls in to an error they rush to aid him in rectifying that error so people don’t follow him in this error and incur sin. This is why do not stick to one scholar, stick to the jamaa’ah (congregation/group) of the scholars who return you back to the understanding of the Salaf. And with Allaah lies all success. Taken from : Al-Fawaid. - See more at: xahu-writes.blogspot.in/2012/11/how-to-distinguish-between-scholars.html#sthash.ikAYlpWj.dpuf
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:48:06 +0000
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