Verdict of imam Shafei: “Yusuf ibn Yahya al-Buwayti said, ‘I asked al-Shaf’i (may Allah have mercy on him), ‘Can I pray behind a Rafidhi?’ He said, ‘Do not pray behind the Rafidhi, nor the Qadari, nor the Murjiyi’. I said, ‘describe them to me.’ He said, `The one who says that Iman is statement [only], then he is Murjiyi`. And whosoever says that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) are not the two imams, then he is a Rafidhi. And whosoever places the Will for himself, he is Qadari.” (Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’, 10:31) Verdict of imam Malik. Hafiz ibn Hajar Makki (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in Al-Sawaiq al-Muhriqah, p.294: “And from this verse, Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), as reported from him, had deduced the verdict of kufr of Rawafid as they show hatred towards the Sahabah. He further states because the Sahabah causes them anger and every individual who is angered by the Sahabah is a kafir. This extraction is excellent as the verse in itself bears testimony to it. Therefore Imam Shafi (may Allah have mercy on him) has agreed with him (Imam Malik) on the verdict of declaring them [Rawafid]kafir and a large group of Imams agreed with him too.” Imam Qurtubi al-Maliki (d: 671H / may Allah have mercy on him) comments after producing the fatwa of Imam Malik: “Indeed, Malik did well in his statement and he reached the correct explanation. So whoever belittles a single one of them or reviles him in his narration, then he has rejected Allah, the Lord of the worlds and he has nullified the Shari’ah of the Muslims.”(Tafsir Qurtubi, 16:297) This fatwa of Imam Malik was also quoted by: 1. Imam Al-Khilaal 2. Hafiz ibn Kathir 3. Imam Sayyid Alusi 4. Hafiz ibn Taymiyyah 5. Qadi ‘Iyad Maliki 6. ‘Allamah Abu Nu’aym and others (may Allah have mercy on them). Verdict from imam Ahmad: “Imam al-Khilaal said: ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid informed me saying: I heard Abu ‘Abd Allah [Imam Ahmad] say: ‘Whosoever reviles the Companions, then I fear disbelief for him like the Rawafid’. Then he said, ‘Whosoever reviles the Companions of the Prophet, then we do not believe he is safe from having rejected the Religion’.” (Sunnah lil-Khilaal, 3:493) “Abu Bakr mentions I asked Abu ‘Abd Allah concerning the individual that verbally abuses Abu Bakr, Umar and A’ishah. He replied ‘I do not regard them to be Muslim.’ He further says ‘I have heard Malik say, ‘Whoever verbally abuses the Sahabah of Rasul Allah he has no share in Islam’.” (Sunnah lil-Khilaal, 3:493) “Zakariyya bin Yahya mentions he has heard Abu Talib mention that he mentioned to Abu ‘Abd Allah concerning an individual who verbally abuses Uthman and people have mentioned this fact to me that he speaks ill of Uthman. He replied they [he ones who speak ill] are zindiqs.” (Sunnah lil-Khilaal, 3:493) “Yusuf bin Musa mentions that Abu ‘Abd Allah was asked – this was mentioned to me by Ali bin ‘Abd al-Samad – He replied I asked Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal concerning a Rafidi neighbor who greats me , should I answer his Salam? He replied ‘No’.” (Sunnah lil-Khilaal, 3:493) “Muhammad bin al-Hussain mentions Fadhal bin Ziyad narrates that Abu ‘Abd Allah said, ‘Don’t speak to Rawafid’.” (Sunnah lil-Khilaal, 3:494) Verdict from Abu Hanifah and imam Muhammad: Hafiz ibn Hajar Makki (may Allah have mercy on him) writes in Al-Sawaiq al-Muhriqah, p.362-363: “It was already mentioned that the Hanafi scholars condemned one with kufr who denies the caliphate of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). This ruling is mentioned in their books with detail as it is mentioned in Al-Asl by Imam Muhammad bin al-Hassan al-Shaybani (may Allah have mercy upon him). It is obvious that they have inherited it from their Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah be pleased with him) and he knows more about the Rawafid as he is from Kufa and Kufa was the origin and headquarter of the Rawafid. Among the Rawafid, there are many groups, some must be condemned with kufrwhile some not. So, when Imam Abu Hanifah regards the denier of caliphate of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) as kafir, so one who curses him will necessarily be called kafir except that if one makes some difference. As it is clear that the reason of declaring him as kafir is his opposition to theijma’ (consensus) based upon the ruling that one who denies a unanimous matter (of religion) will be called kafir. This is a general rule among the theologians. The caliphate of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) is a unanimous matter from the time when Sayyiduna Umar came forward for his ba’yah (solemn pledge of obedience), but it cannot be contradicted with the delay made by some Sahabah; since those who delayed in ba’yah they did not delay due to any disagreement about his eligibility of caliphate, therefore they used to take his bestowals and used to take their issues to him. So, ba’yah is something and ijma’ is something else, and one is not necessary for the other. You should understand this point, as some people commit mistake therein. If you object that calling anyone withkafir is conditioned with the rejection of a matter categorized as ‘necessary in religion’. I will say that the matter of his caliphate falls in the same category; since it is proved from widely reported traditions to the extent of ‘being necessary’ that the Sahabah took oath of allegiance (bayah) with him, so this matter turned like a unanimous matter known ‘necessarily’. And there is no doubt in the matter and there was no Rafidhi in the period of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, neither in the reign of Sayyiduna ‘Umar nor Sayyiduna ‘Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them) rather they emerged later on.” PS: By brother Saad.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 10:57:07 +0000