Mufti Abdur Raheem Lajpuri (rah) writes Merely knowing Ahadith from memory and remaining fixed on the apparent meaning is not enough for understanding the rulings of the Shari’ah. It is of vital importance to understand Fiqh (jurisprudence), the principles of Fiqh and to have a deep understanding of Deen. Reaching the true reality of the rulings is impossible without all of this. Those people who are mulish about the apparent meanings of the Ahadith are known to issue rulings that are unacceptable. Here follows a few examples: 1. The famous book of Ahadith Kanzul Ummaal contains the following narration: Mujahid says, “Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه was once performing Salah while ‘Ata, Tawoos and Ikramah and I, all his students, were sitting together. A man arrived and asked, ‘Is there a Mufti amongst you?’ ‘Ask your question,’ I said. He said, ‘Every time I urinate, a spurting liquid follows the urine out.’ We asked, ‘Is it the type of liquid from which a child is born?’ When he replied in the affirmative, we ruled that he should take a bath (each time it happened). The man then turned away saying, ‘Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon.’ Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه hastened with his Salah and as soon as he made the Salam, he said, ‘Ikramah! Go bring that man back.’ When Ikramah brought him back, Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه turned to us saying, ‘Tell me whether the verdict you gave this man was sourced from the Book of Allah?’ We admitted, ‘No’. ‘Then was it sourced from the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ?’ he asked further. When we again conceded that it was not, he asked, ‘Then was it from the Sahabah رضی ﷲ عنھم of Rasulullah ﷺ?’ Again we said no. ‘Then from who did you learn it?’ he asked. ‘We derived it from our own judgment,’ we replied. To this, he remarked, ‘It is for this reason that Rasulullah ﷺ said, ‘A single jurist is more difficult for Shaitan to contend with than a thousand worshippers.’ He then turned to the man and asked, ‘Tell me. Do you feel any lust in your heart when this happens to you?’ ‘No, I do not,’ the man replied. Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه asked further, ‘Then do you feel any weakness in your body (after it emerges)?’ When the man again replied negatively, Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه said, ‘This happens because of coldness (in the body) so wudhu would suffice for you (there is no need to take a bath).’” (Vol.5 pg 118) Research scholars have written that Abdullah bin Abbas رضي الله عنه realized that the students were fooled by the word ‘spurting liquid’, which refers to semen. They therefore ruled that a bath was necessary. Because they were not jurists, they failed to look at the reason that makes a bath necessary. Had they looked at factors that make a bath necessary, they would have noticed that since none of the factors accompanying the discharge of semen were found, the discharge could not be semen and therefore a bath would itself not be necessary. Now although Mujahid رحمة ﷲ علیه, ‘Ata رحمة ﷲ علیه, Tawoos رحمة ﷲ علیه, and Ikramah رحمة ﷲ علیه were all Muhadditheen of the highest caliber (and the teachers of almost all the others), they were really not jurists because they failed to look for the inner reasons. Because true jurists are such a rarity, Rasulullah ﷺ lauded them by saying that a single jurist is more difficult for Shaitan to contend with than a thousand worshippers. Shaitan’s objective is to make people do things that are against the Shari’ah and the worshipper does not have the time to delve into the reasons for various rulings. Even the Muhadditheen, because of their involvement in screening narrators, verifying chains of narrators and in doing so many other things, do not have this opportunity. It is the jurists who are specialists in their fields, who, together with keeping all the relevant verses of the Qur’an and Ahadith in front of them, are able to understand what the intent of the Shari’ah is. The adage is well said that states, “There is a specialist for every field.” (Haqeeqatil Fiqh Vol.1 pg 9) 2. Allamah Ibn Jowzi رحمة ﷲ علیه relates that when some people heard that Rasulullah ﷺ forbade people from watering other people’s fields, they said, “We seek Allah’s forgiveness because when we have excess water on our fields, we direct it to the fields of our neighbors.” None of them realized that Rasulullah ﷺ was referring to a person having intercourse with pregnant slave women. (Talbees Iblees pg 166) 3. Allamah Khattabi رحمة ﷲ علیه reports that a Shaykh did not have his hair shaved before the Jumu’ah Salah for forty years because he heard the Hadith that Rasulullah ﷺ forbade this. However, Allamah Khattabi رحمة ﷲ علیه explained to him that the word in the Hadith was حلق (with a fatha on the laam), meaning ‘forming groups’ and not (with a sukoon on the laam) meaning ‘shaving the head’. The prohibition was therefore from forming discussion groups in the Masjid before the Salah because at this time, people ought to perform Salah and then listen attentively to the Khutbah. (Talbees Iblees pg 166) 4. A Muhaddith once heard the Hadith in which Rasulullah ﷺ forbade using living things as targets. He, however, misunderstood the word Ruh to be Rawh because of which he thought Rasulullah ﷺ forbade. (Foreword of Muslim Vol.1 pg 18) 5. There was another Muhaddith who was in the habit of performing his Witr Salah only after cleaning himself in the toilet. When asked the reason, he said that he was following a Hadith in which Rasulullah ﷺ instructed people to perform Witr Salah only after cleaning themselves in the toilet. What he did not realize was that the word he understood as cleaning oneself in the toilet actually meant ‘to do in odd numbers’. The Hadith therefore meant that when a person cleaned himself in the toilet, he ought to clean himself an odd number of times i.e. three, five, or more times if necessary. Rasulullah ﷺ said, “May Allah keep fresh and healthy (in mind) the person who hears my words, remembers them and conveys them on. It often happens that the one to whom the words are passed on understands them better than the one conveying them.” (Mishkatul Masabih pg 35) 6. Allamah Dawood Zahiri رحمة ﷲ علیه, whom the Ghair Muqallideen look up to, once issued a fatwa that Rasulullah ﷺ only prohibited urinating in stagnant water because the water will become impure by this act. This he derived from the apparent words of a Hadith that states, “None of you should ever urinate in standing water.” Therefore, according to his fatwa, if a person urinated in a container and then emptied it into water, the water would not become impure. He also said that if a person urinated next to water and the urine flowed into the water, the water will also not be impure because in all these cases, he person did not urinate in the stagnant water itself. After recording this fatwa Imam Nawawi رحمة ﷲ علیه states that this is the worst of scenarios in a situation when people are mulish about sticking to the apparent meaning of narrations. (Nawawi’s commentary of Muslim Vol.1 pg 138; Fathul Bari Vol.2 pg 72) 7. Another Muhaddith whom the Ghair Muqallideen look up to is Hafidh Ibn Hazam رحمة ﷲ علیه, who was also a great Mufassir and Mutakallim (expert on matters of belief). He claimed that a person could shorten his Salah regardless of the distance he travels, even in his locality. This he derived from the apparent meaning of the verse: “When you travel on earth, there is no sin on you should you shorten your Salah.” (Surah Nisa verse 101) He was adamant about this ruling but failed to realize that in such a situation, every person leaving for the Masjid for Salah will then need to perform Qasr Salah. (Fadhlul Bari Vol.2 pg 73) 8. The Shaykhul Islam and Muhaddith of the Ghair Muqallideen Mawlana Abdul Jaleel Samrodi wrote in one of his booklets that according to the Hanafi Mathhab, a person’s fast will not be nullified by intercourse, regardless of whether ejaculation took place or not. He also asserts that according to the Hanafis, it will not be necessary to bath. All of this is contrary to the truth because he failed to understand the text of Durrul Mukhtar (Vol.2 pg 103). Now if he was unable to fathom the text of a book, how will he understand the Qur’an and Ahadith? Furthermore, if this is the condition of the Shaykhul Islam and Muhaddith of the Ghair Muqallideen, what must be the condition of the rest of them? An incident comes to mind about a Persian man who saw his friend being beaten up by a thug. He immediately went on to the scene an held his friend’s hands, because of which the poor man was unable to defend himself. Taking advantage of the situation, the thug beat the man up most severely. When someone asked the foolish friend why he had done so, he replied, “Did you not read Shaykh Saadi’s poem in which he says, ‘When you see your friend in trouble, hold his hand.’” “You fool!” the people cried, “The poem means that you ought to help him when he is in trouble and not to physically hold his hands.” The incident is similar to the one when Mirza Mazhar Jaane Jaan رحمة ﷲ علیه asked his servant, “Bring the flask, but hold the belly when you bring it.” By this he meant that the servant should not carry it by the neck because it could break off, but should carry it by the belly. Taking the instruction literally, the servant carried the flask in one hand and held his belly in the other hand. Because he was a sensitive man, Mazhar Jaane Jaan رحمة ﷲ علیه immediately got a headache when he saw this. This is what happens when statements are taken literally without any understanding and insight. This is exactly what the Ghair Muqallideen of our times are doing when they memorize some Ahadith and lack the proper understanding and perception of its meaning. They then claim that they are Mujtahideen and go a step further to criticize the true Mujtahideen. They fail to realize that opinions are of two types. The one is that which defies the clear instructions of Allah, which was what Shaitan presented when he said, “You have created me from fire and created him from sand.” He therefore reasoned that he was better than Adam علیه السلام and did not want to prostrate. This type of opinion and reasoning is wrong and worthy of condemnation. The second type of opinion and reasoning is that which does not defy clear commands and is used to elucidate the meanings of the Qur’an and the Ahadith. This type of opinion and reasoning is commendable and it is this that happened to the Sahabah رضی ﷲ عنھم when Rasulullah ﷺ said that they should not perform their ‘Asr Salah but at the settlement of the Banu Qurayzah tribe. Now while some Sahabah رضی ﷲ عنھم understood that Rasulullah’s ﷺ intention was to emphasize a speedy march, others took the direct meaning, meaning that they should not perform the ‘Asr Salah on the road (even if the time was running out). They therefore did not perform their ‘Asr Salah until they reached their destination. The first group however employed their faculties of Ijtihad and performed their Salah en route. When this was reported to Rasulullah ﷺ, he did not reprimand either party. The reasoning of the first group did not conflict with the instruction, but was merely an explanation of the same. Allamah Ibn Qayyim رحمة ﷲ علیه stated that this first group was the group of Fuqaha.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:28:58 +0000
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