differences of opinion amongst the scholars* salih uthaymeen

8/4/2019 Differences of Opinion Amongst the Scholars* Salih Uthaymeen

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Differencesof pinionAmongst theScholars- their ca uses ando r position towards them -

bySha kh Mhammad IbnSaalihai- 'U tha meen

translatedbyAb Safwan FaridI bn Abd ul wahid Ibn H aiba tan
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ISBN I 898649 64 2

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Pirst Edition, 1418 AH/l 997 CESecond Edition, 1428 AH/2007 CE

Copyright 2007 b AI-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution Ltd.

Al l rights reserved. No part o[th1s publication may bereproduced in any language, stored in a retrieval systemor transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise with-out the express permission of he copyright owner.

Typeset b: Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution

Published b: At-Hidaayah Publishing and DistributionP.O. Box 3332BirminghamUnited KingdomBIOOUH

Tel:0121 753 1889Fax: 0121 753 2422E-Mail: [email protected]


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Conten tsTranslite rationTable .. ............................................. ......................... 4Biograph ofSha ykh M uh ammad ibn S_aalihAl-'Utha ym een ......... 6Introd uction ................. ............................................................ ........ . 9

TheFirstCa us e : The relevant evidence wa s not known to the sc holarwho erred in his j ud gment. .. ................ ...................................... . 18 The Second Ca us e : The releva nt fladeeth is kno wn to the scholar,b ut he does not have an confidence nit's narrator and regards it o bein contradictiono a stronger evidence, so he holds on to that which hebelieve s is stronger ...................................................................... 21 TheThird a us e : The fladeeth wa s known to the scholarb ut he did ,not recollect t. ............ ............................................................ .... 23TheFourth Ca us e : The scholar is awa re of he evidence b ut under-stands it incorrectl y ................. ................. .................................. 26 The FifthCa us e : The scholar is aware ofhe fladeeth b ut it is inactual factabrogated . ............................. ................. ................... 31The Sixth Ca u se : The scholar believe s that the partic ular evidencein q uestion conflictsith either a stronger text or a consens us of hescholars .................................. ......................................... .......... 33TheSeven th Ca us e : The scholar give s a r uling on the basis ofaweak fladeeth, or his arg umentation and ded uc tion is poor ..... . 37

O ur Stance Towa rds the DifferencesAmongst the Scholars ........... 40


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TransliterationTable

Consonants

dtdb

ghfqk

m) iJ n

; : : : ! :l I: l:+==:i:==t== I..

Vowels


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Publisher's NoteAllpraise is forAllaah, Lord of he worlds. Peace and Prayersbe pon Muhammad, his famil, his Companions and all hosewho follow in their footsteps ntil the Last Da.This is the English translationofthe booklet "Al-KhilaafoBaynal 'Ulamaa Asbaabuhoo wa Mawqifunaa Minhoo" bythe great scholar Shaykh Muhammad Ibn S.aalih al-'Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve him and i_ncrease him ingood.It is hoped that this book, although small in size, will have animpact in explaining this vital subject. Inshaallaah one whostudies this book will increase in his respect for the scholarsand in his tolerance owards his brothers who hold alid opin-ions which may differ rom his.May Allaah reward all he brothers and sisters who helped inthe publication of his book, particularly the author for pro-viding useful clarificationsn a number ofpoints and alsothe translator for his hard work and ver useful footnotes.

Al-Hidaayah Publishing and Distribution

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BiographyofShaykhMuhammadibn .S.aalihAl-'UthaymeenHis lineage: He isAboo 'Abd ullaah, M uhammad ibn S.aalihibnM uhammad ibn'U thameen al-W uha ybee at-Tameemee.His birth: He was born in thetown ofUna ah on the27thofheblessedmonth ofRamadaan inthe year 1347H.

His earl life:He recitedhe Noble Q ur ' aan wi th his maternalgrandfather 'Abdr-Rahmaan ibnSlamaan Aal Daamigh,rah.imahullaah. He first memorised the entire Q ur 'aan , and thencontin ued to seek knowledge. He learnedriting, arithmeticandother disciplines.Also two stdents ofSha ykh 'Abd ur -Rahmaanas-Sa' dee,rah.imahullaah, tookp thetaskofeachingsmallchil-dren; oneofhem was Sha ykh 'Alee and theother wasShakh Mhammad ibn 'Abdl-' Aee al-M tawwa',rah.imahumullaah under whom Sha ykh Ibn'Utha ym een st ud ied theabridgement ofal- 'Aqeeda tu l-W aasit iyyah ofSha yk h 'Abdr-Rahmaan as-Sa' dee, andMinhaajus-Saalikeen inFiqh, also bySha ykh 'Abd ur -Rahmaan andal-A jroom iyyahandal-Alfiyyah.He st ud ied .fiqh andthe laws ofinheritanceith Sha ykh 'Abd r-Rahmaan ibn 'Aleeibn 'A wdaan. With Sha ykh 'A bd ur- Rahmaanibn as-Sa' dee, who isconsideredhis firstShaykh, since heremained with him for some time, he st ud ied tawbeed, tafseer,h.adeeth,.fiqh,theprincipleso f.fiqh (u$_oolul-.fiqh), laws ofinherit-ance, sciencesofh.adeeth, Arabic Grammar (nah.w) andmorphol-og ($_arj).Indeedhe nobleSha ykh was highl regardedb Sha ykh 'Abd ur -Rahmaan, rah.imahullaah, and when Sha ykh M hammad 's fathermoved toRi yadh he initiallexp ressed adesire thathis son sho ulddo like wi se . However Shakh 'Abdr-Rahmaan as-Sa'dee,rah.imahullaah, wrote tohim: "Thisis not possible, ratherwe hope


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thatMhammad will remain with us andbenefit." ShakhM uhammad, hafidhahullaah,himself aid:"I as greatl influencedb him in his manner ofeaching andpresenting knowledge andmaking it nderstandable to the st udents b use ofexamples andexplanations. Iwas alsogreatl infl uencedb his good manners.Indeed Sha yk h 'Abd ur -Rahmaan, rah_imahullaah, hadexcellentmanners andcharacteralong wi th a great dealofknowledge andworship. He wo uld jokepleasantl with the yo ung andla ugh wi ththeelders, and he wa s the most exc ellent person in manners that Ihave seen."He also st udied under theeminent and noble Sha ykh 'Abd ul - ' A zeeibn Baa who isconsideredis secondSha ykh. Hebegan st ud yingunder him b st ud ying S.a!leeh_al-Bukhaaree , some ofhewo rks ofSha ykh- ul -lslaam Ibn Taymi yyah andsome ofhe books offiqh.Sha ykh M uh ammad sas: "I was infl uenced b Sha ykh 'Abd ul -, A zee ibn Baa z, hajidhahullaah , with regard to thegreat attentionhe gave toh_adeeth, andIwa s alsoinfl uenced b hismanners andthe wa in which he makes himself available to and puts himself atthese rvice ofhe people."In the ear 1371 Hhe beganteaching in the congregationalmosq ue,andwh en theed ucational instittes were opened in Ri yadh he joinedthem in the year 1372H. T he Sha ykh, ha.fidhahullaah, sas: "I en-teredthe ed ucational institute inthe secondyear andtookp thest udies upon the adviceofSha ykh 'Alee a.s.-S.aaliheeandhavingbeen given permission for that b Sha ykh 'Abd ur -Rahmaan as-Sa'dee. The instit ute at that timehad two sections: ageneral sectionand ahigher level. Ijoined he higher level and it as also thecasethat anone who wanted tocomplete their stdies more qickl co ulddo so by st ud ying the following ears wo rk in theholiday period,and then take the exams at the start of he following ear. I f hepassed the e xam he co uldthen pass on to thenext year after hat. Sob this means Ist udied ina shorter time period."

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After t wo years he q ualified and was given a teaching position inthe ed uc ational instit ute of Una y zah , whilst contin uing his o wnst udies in affiliationith the College ofShar ee 'ah, and contin uinghis st udies under Sha ykh 'Abd ur- Rahmaan as-Sa' dee,When the noble Shaykh 'Abd ur-Rahmaan as-Sa'dee, rah.imahullaah,died,Sha ykh M uhammad wa s made im aam of he main congrega-tional mosq ue of Una y zah, and took up teaching in the nationallibrar of Unay zah, in additiono teaching in the ed uc ational insti -tute, H e latermo ved to teaching in the Collegeof haree'ah and theCollege of U!i_oolud-Deen (the F undamentals and Principles of heReligion)in the Qaseem branch ofImaam M u hammad ibn Sa' udIslamicUniversity, which he contin ues to this day. He is also a mem-ber of he co uncil ofeminent scholars of he Kingdom ofSa udiArabia, and the Sha ykh, haf idhahul laah, is ver y active in calling oAllaah, the Might y and Majestic, and in enlightening the callersinever y place. He has made great effortsin this field.It is also worth ofmention that the noble Sha ykh M uh ammad ibnlbraaheem, rah.im ahullaah, offered im and enco ur aged him to takethe position ofj udge. Indeedhe e ven sent o ut the decision hat hehad been gi ven the position as head of heSha ree 'ahcourt in Ahsaa,b ut he req uested that he sho uld be e xc u sed from taking the position.After a n umber ofreq uests and personall y speaking to him, theShaykh, rah.imahullaah, granted him his wish not to take up thepost.His wo rks: He has written aro und fort y differentorks, some largerbooks and some treatises. T hese will, ifllaah wills, be combinedin a single collection f is verdicts and treatises.

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In the name ofAllaah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower ofMercy.

IntroductionAll praise is for Allaah. We praise Him, seek His help and forgive-ness and turn to Him in repentance. We seek refuge in Allaah fromthe evil of or selves and the wickedness of our own deeds.Whomsoever Allaah guides, cannot be leadastray and whomsoeverAllaah misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that none hasthe right to be worshipped except Allaah, alone without partner,and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger;may Allaah praise him and send peace pon him, his household, hisCompanions and all hose who follow them in righteousness till heDa ofJudgement.

0 a . ~ ,...,_ /). ........ ,.... /- ' . , . . , , . - ~ . J . ~ ~ o o. ,. , - : ~ ,..._,,_:'/ .J.\ /' ' " . j \ ~ r ~ , l ' " t \ " ~ ; : : "" ' \ \ ~ ~ \ \ " : " \ " j\1 (!)0 .J ~ 0 ' - " ' J _ j . : . ~ \.A.) .ul i_JA-l !J-'-A U.._.. ';':.0 you who believe! Fear Allaah as He should befeared, 1 and die not except as Muslims.2

1 Ibn Mas'ood. rad_iyallaahu 'anhu, commentated:"He should be obeyed and notdisobeyed, remembered and not forgotten, and he should be thanked and not beshown ungratefulness."2 Soorah Aal 'Imraan (3): I02

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0 mankind !Fearo r Lo rd ,Who created o from a singleso ul , andfrom him, c rea ted his wife, andf rom them both, broght forthman men andwomen. FearAllaahthrogh Whom yo req ue s t or mtal rightsanddonot se ver relationsofhewomb (i.e.kinship). S urel y, A llaah is fore ver an ob ser ve r o ver yo a11. 3

0 & / / /,,.. .. - .'.J...r.J0 yo who believe! FearAllaahandalwa ys speakth e tr th. (Ifo doso) H e willdirec to towardsrighteo us actionsand yo or sins. Who -e ver obe ys Allaah andHis Messenger ha s indeedachieved a grea t s uccess. 4

This topicofdisc us sion ma ca us e man people toask q ue stions;some ma e ven qer, "Why this topic andthis title, when therecouldwell exist other mattersofhe Religionwhichare more im-portant?"B t this topic, especiall in this time ofo ur s, occ up iestheminds ofman people. Idonot onl impl the c ommon people,b t incl ud e amongst them st ud ents ofknowledge. Thishas arisen asa res ul t ofan increasein the dispersionoflegalr ul ings amidst thepeople via the man forms ofmedia. Conseq ue ntl y, thedifferencesbet ween the r ul ings ofhisperson and that person ha ve become aso urce ofconf sion, o r e ven more so: a so urce ofdobt, tomanpeople, especiall y thela man who does not comprehend the originsofhe differences.3 Soorah an-Nisaa ' (4): 14 Soorah a1-Ahaab (3 3):70-71


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D ue to this, I decided,and from Allaah I seek aid, to discuss thisiss ue which in m y opinion is ofgreat importance to the Muslims.From the blessings ofAllaah, the Most High, upon this ummah isthat the differing n this ummah didnot occ ur in the fundamentalsof he religion nd its primary sources 5 . Differingonl y occurred iniss ues which do not to uch upon the real ni t ofhe Muslims andthe presence ofdisagreement is a realit y which must be. Ihave strc-t ured and s ummarised the main points which I o uld like o discussas follows:Ever y M us lim knows , as a res ult ofcomprehending the Book ofAllaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger ~ ) , that Allaah sentM uh ammad ( ~ ) with the G uidance and R e l i ~ i ofTrth. 6

This tr uth embodies the fact hat the Messenger ofAllaah( ~ ) hasexplained this religion n a clearand s ufficient manner, which is inno need ofany f urther clarification.ecause the ver y meaning ofthe word 'guidance ' negates deviation and allits connotations, and5 It is well known that man of he sects of nnovation lik e he Mu 'tazilah and theAshaai 'rahcontested some of he so urces ofhe Sharee 'ah. This howe ver does notexpel them from being se cts within th is ummah as the y believe in these so urces ina general wa y and do not categoricall y den y them. Likewise ,their agreement onthe f undamentals s uch as the pillarsofhe religion eing five and so on. This is theintention of he Sha ykh here .6 Allaah says.

- . f l \ ~ ~ ~ . ; . H - ; : ; L > . J ; . . ~ : . j

I t is HeWho has sent His Messenger with the G u idance andthe ReligionofTr u th , to make it pre vail over all eligionseventho ugh the pol ytheists ha te it. [ Soorah at-Tawbah (9 ):33]

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likewise, the phrase 'religion of ruth' negates ever falsereligionwhich Allaah,the Most High, is not pleased with; the Messenger ofAllaah was sent wi th this G uidance and ReligionofTruth.Dring his life-time, he people sed to referdirectl to him whenin dispte, so he wo uld j ud ge between them andmake plain thetrth, regardless of hether the disp ute occ urred in connection tothe Q ur 'aan or in matters ofhich their j udgements hadnot etbeen revealed; there upon, verse s wo uld be reve aled clarif ying theisse.How often do we read in the Q ur ' aan, "The ask yoregarding.. " this and that. Allaah,the Most High, wo uld then replto His Prophet wi th a clearanswer andorder him to conve itto thepeople.Allaah, the Mo st High, sas,

T he a sk yo as towhat is la wf ul (food)fo r them .Sa, 'Lawfl nto yo are all hings goodandpre(l!a laal); and what yo ha ve taght or trainedhnting animals (to catch) in theproper mannerdirected oo b Allaah , eatwhat the catch fo ryo bt prono nce the name ofAllaah o ver it; andfearAllaah,fo rAllaah is i ndeed wift intakingac-co nt '.7

7 Soorah al-Maa 'idah (5 ):4

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~ / J \ ~ S ] o c / ~ \ ~ ~ ~ ~ _ ; / -

6,. _ , r - - - : ~ : : - = - ~ 1 - J - - ~ j ~ _ , t v .... . , ~ , . _ , ~ ~ - ; . . ~ c J J ~ r - - - - ~ , J \ 1 " " ' _ . 4 U \ ~ ~ ~ ~ And the y ask o as to what they should spend. Sa,'What is beyond yo ur needs.' Thus, Allaah makesclear o ou allHis laws in orderthat ou ma givethought. 8

They ask you about the spoils of ar. Say: 'Thespoils of ar are forAllaah and the Messenger.' SofearAllaah and set straight allmatters of differ-ence amongst yourselves. And obey Allaahand HisMessenger if ndeedou are believers. 9

8 Soorah al-Baqarah (2):2199 Soorah al-Anfaal 8):1

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T he ask yo abot the new moons. Sa, 'They aresigns to indicate ixed period s of ime formankindandforthe pilgrimage . ' I t is no t righteo us ness thatyo enter ho uses from the back bt righteo usne ssis (the q alit of) the one who fears Allaah; So en-ter ho us es throgh their proper d oors, and fearAllaah so that o ma be successf1. 10

10 Soorah al-Baqarah (2 ):189

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The ask o concerningf ighting in the sacredmonths . Say, 'Fightingherein is a great transgres-sion, bt preventing mankind from followingthewa of A llaah , to disbelieve in H im , toprevent ac-cess toAl-Masjid A l-Haraam (in Makkah) and to dri ve ot it's inhabitants are greatertransgressions;andfitnah iswo rse than fighting.Andthe will ne ver stop fightingo un til the t rn yo backfrom orreligionifhe can. And who soe ver amongst yot rns backfrom his religionanddies adisbeliever,then his d eeds will be lostin thislife ndinthe Here-after,and the will be d wellers of he F ire ,abidingthe rein forever.,Il

Howe ver, after the death ofhe Messenger the ummah dif-feredon legal ulings ofhe Sharee'ah. These r ulings, howe ver, didnot impose ontheprinciplesof heSharee 'ahnor it's root sorces. 12We allknow fordefinite hat none of he scholars who are tr ustedand reliedpon with respect to theirknowledge, tr ustworthinessand religion,intentionall oppose that which the Book ofAllaahand the Sunnah ofHis Messenger indicate.As, whoeve r ist ypified with knowledge and religion, hen their g uiding principlem ust be attainingthe trth , and whosoever 's intentionis to seek thetr uth then Allaah will make it eas for him; listen to the sa ying ofAllaah,theMost High,

" " ' ; , /,.

11 Soorah al-Baqarah (2):21712 i.e ., the existence ofdisagreement within s ub sid ua r iss ue s do not affect o r harm th ef undamentals ofhe religion orit'sroot so rces which are th e Qur ' aanandSunnah.

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Andwe have indeedmade theQ r'aan ea s ton-derstand andremember; then is therean thatiUremember (orreceive admonition).13

& . . . .As forhewho gives (in c hari t ) andkeeps his dtandfears (AIIaah),andbelieve s in al-Husnaa; 14Wewillmake smoo th forhim the pathof ease. 15

Nevertheless it is indeedpossible for the likesofhese scholars to commit mistakes in the Laws ofAllaah, the Most High, b ut not,howeve r, in the f undamentals aforementioned briefly. 16

T hese mistakes m us t occ ur ; the have to e xist beca us e the h man isjst as Allaah, the Most High,has describedhim in His sa ying,

13 Soorah al-Qamar (54): 1714 i.e., to believe in theShahaadah and wha t itcomprises ofelief nd it's re ward -ing conseq ue nces.IS Soorah al-La y! (92):5-716 T his is t he conditionofhe majorit of he scholars. Some sc holars have how-e ve r mentioned thata n um ber ofcholars fell nto error and stood in opposition tocertain f undamentals ofheAhlus-Sunnah d ue to their jtihaad.Sha yk h al-l slaam Ibn T a ym i y yah st ates as recordedin Majmoo 'al-Fataawa (19/191): " ...man ofheMujtahidoonofheSalaf and those later on have saidand performed deeds wh ich are innovations. T he howeve r, didnotkno w these deedsto be acts ofnno va tion d ue to weak b.adeeths wh ich th e believed to be a uthentic,o r incorrectl y understanding ve rse s of he Q ur 'aan or d ue to an opinion the ex-erted in an iss ue wh ich had text ua l e vidences the we re no t a wa re of..."

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-: / _}- / . '"' / !' /. ,.. ......

... and man wa s created eak. 17

Man is weak in his k no wledge and perception, and heis weak in hisun ders tanding and comprehension. As a res ult, mistakes will ema-nate from him in some matters.Here, I ill s ummarise what I ant to mention concerning the ca u sesbehindmistakes commit ted b the scholars into the following si x

18categories. Bear in mindhowever, that there are man reasons inreali t y, it is 'an ocean which ha s no shore'. Theonew ho ha s insightand kno wledge ofhe sa yings ofhe scholars kno w s these widelspread ca u se s for thedifferences .l9

17 Soorah an-Nisaa ' (4):2818 The Sh:.tykh in factmentioned t wo ca uses in the firstcategor y . The y have how-e ve r been


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The First Cause:The relevant evidence was not known to the scholar whoerred in his judgment.

This reason is not unique to those who came after the era of heCompanions, but it includes the Companions themselves as well. Iwill give two examples involving the Companions for his category:(i)We know due to the report established in S.ab.eeb. al-Bukhaareeand other sources, that when the Chiefof he Believers 'Umar Ibnal-Khattaab, rad.iyallaahu 'anhu, was travelling to Shaam; alongthe way, someone mentioned to him that a plague had broken outthere. So he stopped and started to seek counsel from the Compan-ions, radiyallaahu 'anhum. He counseled both theMuhaajiroon andthe A n ~ a a r and the Companions differed n this issue which re-sulted in two opinions, the correct one being that they should nottravel to Shaam but return to Madeenah. During this deliberationand consultation, 'Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn'Awf, who had been preoc-cupied and therefore not initiallypresent, turned up and remarked:"I have with me some knowledge on this matter. I heard the Mes-senger ofAllaahem) sa, 'If ou hear of t (i.e. a plague) being in aland, do not go there, and if t breaks out in a land which you are in,do not leave in flee of t ."20So, this ruling was unknown to the major Companions from theMuhaajiroon a n d A n ~ a a r ntil 'Abdur- Rahmaan Ibn Awf came andinformed them of his b.adeeth.(ii) Alee Ibn Abee Iaalib, ad_iyallaahu 'anhu, and 'Abdullaah Ibn'Abbaas, rad.iyallaahu 'anhumaa, were of he opinion that the woman20 S.ah.eeh. al-Bukhaaree [Eng. trans!. 4/452/no.679] and S.ah.ee!J. Muslim IEng.trans!. 4/1204/no.5504].

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wh ose h usband died during her pregnanc y, should complete thelonger aiting perioda !- 'Jddah ),21 whichever of he two itmabe:either for months and ten da ys or p ntil giving birth. Conse-qentl , if he was to give birth before the for months and tendas, her waiting period o uld not be complete ntil the for monthsand ten das elapse. Similarl ifhe four months and ten days passand she has not et delivered, she is to remain in her waiting perioduntil she does so.

This is because Allaah, the Most High, sa s,: \ ' " ~ :


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reconcile hem in a manner which will incl ude boththeir r ulings.There is no wa ofachieving this except b adopting theposition'A lee andIbn 'Abbaas, rad_iyallaahu 'anhum, took. However, theSunnahis ove r and above that; as it has been established from theProphet in theh.adeeth concerning S ba 'ah ai-Aslami yyah, thatshegave birth afterhe deathof er h usband b some nights and theMessenger ofAllaah permittedher toget married.25

The meaning ofhis is that we stick o andact b the general verdictfo und in the verse in S oorah at-I alaaq ,also known as Soorah anN isaa 'as-Sughra,26 where Allaah,the Most High, sas,

" ...and for those who are pregnant, their aiting periodis p un til the deliver.. "

I have no do ub t that ifhis h.adeeth was known to 'Alee and Ibn'Abbaas, the wo uld have most definitel y adhered toitand not heldthe opinion the did.25So, even tho ug h 'Aleeand Ibn 'A bbaas, rad_iyallaahu 'a nhum, pu t a so un d and correct rinciplento practi ce,itis no t acceptedhere d ue to the presence of directj ud gmen t from the Prophet on this i ss ue. T his is oneof um ero us e videncesfor a well established and ye t vi olated f undamental principle hich go verns theM u slim ' s attit ud e to wa rds his religions a whole, this principle eing: T he texts oftheSharee 'ahare gi ve n precedence ov er the h um an intellect.T his does not implthat the h um an intellect as no role to pla, as Allaah has blessed mankind and singled him o ut wi th this distinct ublime feature, Allaah has also praised thosewho use their intellect; ut the point here is that th e M us l im 's relationship to hisreligion s and alwa ys sho uld be vi a complete s ubmission. Or inte llect a we llsho w s wh so man things inI slaam are ver logical, ut it is not beca us e we have understood the wisdom behind a certainr uling that we then choose to follo wit. We s ubmit to Allaah 's laws because of he ve r fact hat the are His laws and we are His sl ave s.26 i.e. the smaller chapter, which deals with iss ues concerning wo men; tliemainchapter being Soorah an-Nisaa ' (4).

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TheSecond Ca se:The relevant l!adeeth is known to the scholar, b t hedoesnothave an confidence n it's narrator and regards it tobe incontradictionoa stronger evidence,so heholds onto thatwhich hebelieves is stronger.We will p ut forward another e xample involving the Companionsthemselves and not those after hem.Faatimah bint Qa ys, ragjyallaahu 'anhaa, wa s divorcedb y her h us-band for he thirdand final ime. He arranged for heat to be sent toher as a means ofus tenance d uring her waiting period. She, how-ever, belittled t and ref used to accept it. The then took their caseup with the Prophet (* ) , wh ereupon, he informed her that she infacthad no legalclaim to an y maintenance nor accommodation. 27This was so, because it was the last and finalirrevocable divo rce;and for a woman in s uch a position, their exists no binding d utiesupon the (former) h usband wi th respect to maintenance and ho us-ing, barring the case of he pregnant woman as Allaah sa ys,

Andif he are pregnant, thenmaintainthem n tilthe deli ve r..28

'Umar, to sa nothing ofhis knowledge and excellence, was una-ware of his sunnah and held the view that the woman in s uc h apredicament was entitled o maintenance and housing. He rejectedthe h.adeeth ofFaatimah on the basis that she ma y ha ve forgotten27 S.ab_eeb_Muslim [Eng. trans!. 21769-773].28 Soorah at-Ialaaq65):6

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' and remarked: "Are we tolea ve the sa ying 29 ofor Lord for the sa ying ofa woman, when we kno w not ifhe has remembered orforgotten?"

T he point in this, is thattheChiefofhe Belie vers 'Umar did no tha ve an confidencen the a uthenticit ofhis partic ul ar pieceofevidence. Sojst as thiscan happen to 'Umar oran other personfromamongst theCompanions and their s uccessors, itcaneq ua llhappen to thoseafterhem fromamongst the st ud ents ofhes ucces-sors and so on un til o ur pre sent time; infact, this will carr onreocc ur ring un til the Da ofJ ud gment, i.e., that a person holds notr us t in thea thenticit ofa partic lar evidence.T here are n um ero us e xamples from the statements ofhescholars;where we noticehat some scholarsregard a certainb_adeeth as a u-thentic, so the givejdgment in accordance o it. Whilst others seeit as being weak so dono t consider it, d ue to alack ofr us t as towhether it act ua ll is reported fromthe Messenger ofAllaah( ).

29 Theverse 'Umar, rad_iyallaahu 'anhu, is referringto is, " ...anddonott rnthem ot ofheir(husbands') homes, nor shall the (themselves) leave un lessthe areg ui lt ofopen le wd ness ... " [Soorah a t-Ialaaq 65):1]

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TheThirdCa use :The l!adeeth wa s kno wn to the scholar bt hedidno t rec-ollect t.How exalted isHe (Allaah) Who does not forget! How man peo-ple findah.adeeth has slippedfrom their minds or even a verse fromthe Q ur ' aan?The Messenger ofAllaah( ~ ) leadhis Companions in Pra yer oneday and he missed o ut a verse forgetfull. 'Uba y y Ibn K a 'b waspresent with him, so when the Prophet finished raying he said ( af-ter 'Uba informed him): "W hydid you not rem ind me oft (dur-ing prayer)?"30

Note that this incident nvolves the one to whom revelation is sentdown!Additionall, his Lord said to him,

We shall ca u se yo u to recite the Qr'aan so thatyo do not forget (it), e xcept what Allaah ills; H e knows what is evident andwhat is hidden.31

An example for this categor y is an incidentinvolving 'Umar Ibnal-Khattaab and 'Ammaar Ibn Yaasir, rafi.iyallaahu 'anhum. TheMessenger ofAllaah had sent them on an errand. On their jo urne yone morning, bothofhem awoke in a state o f janaab ah . 'Ammaarexe rcised his j udgment and sa w that the p urifying actionof he earth30 Musnad ofImaam Ahmad & Aboo Daawood [Eng. transl. 1!231/no.907].31 Soorah al-A'laa (87):6-7

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was the same as thatofater. So he rolled ro und ontheearthjstas an animal wo uld, in order to completel co ver himself ith theearthj st as it wo uld have been comp ul sor for him to cover hisentire bod with water; he then pra yed. As for 'Umar, he did notpra.T he laterapproached the Messenger of llaah ho informedthemofhe proper manner ofction.Hesaidto 'Ammaar: " It w ould havebeen enoughforyou todo this with your hands: the Prophet s truckthe ground with his hands once, w ipedhis left hand on topofhis right hand, thenhew iped his pa lm s andface."

32

'A mmaar us ed to relate his incident eforeand d uring the caliphateofUmar. One da, 'Umar s um moned for him andsaid: "What isthis b.adeeth wh ich yo keeprelating?" So'A mmaar informed him and said: 'Do yo notremember when we were sent b the Messen-ger on an errand and the stateo fjanaa bah befell othofs. As foro, yo did notpra, andI rolledbo ut on the earth (then pra yed)andthe Messenger told s: "It w ould have been enoughforyou todo soandso... " B ut 'Umar didnot recallhis and remarked: "FearAllaah 0 'Ammaar!" So'Ammaar said tohim: "Ifo so desire,asAllaah has made binding m obedience oo u, Iill stopnarratingthis incident."Umar replied: We leave yo tothat which yo haveadopted."i.e. relate it tothe people.So 'Umar had forgottenthatthe Prophet allowedtayammumfortheonein the stateofanaabah, jst as it is allowedfor the one who isin the stateofminor defilement.

32 S.ab.eeb. al-Bukhaaree [Eng. tra nsl. 11208/no.343] and S.ab.eeb. Muslim [E ng.transI. 11202/no. 716].

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'Abd ullaah Ibn Mas ' ood agreed with 'U mar in this issue. A disp uteon this s ubject broke out between him and Aboo Moosa . Duringthis dispute Aboo Moosa mentioned 'Ammaar 's statement to 'Umar,upon which Ibn Mas ' ood said: "Did o not see that 'Uma r was notconvinced with 'Ammaar ' s statement." To wh ich A bo o Moos a re-plied: "P ut aside 'A mmaar 's statement, what is your repl y to thisve rse 33 ?" At that, Ibn Mas' ood remained silent.There is no doubt, that the correct opinion is with the group whohold hat the one in a state ofanaabah performs tayammum, j u s t asthe one who is in a state ofminor defilementperforms tayammum.The point ofll his is that a person can forget, hereb y he becomesoblivious to the correct legalj udgment and therefore gives an in-correct udgment, which he is exc used for.However, the one who isaware ofhe e vidence is not excused.

33 i.e., the verse, " ...andifo u findno water, then perform tayammum wi thcleanearth .. " [Soorah al-Maa'idah (5):6].

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TheForth Ca use:Thescholaris aware oftheevidence b t nderstands itincorrectl y. We shallpt forward t wo e xamples: the firstfromthe Qr'aan and thesecond from theSunnah.

(i)Allaahsa ys ,

,.f., ...., / ..... ,->-: ...-:-:.!\.... \ -> -:: ;::....:::1- : ... - .J

...andifo arei l l , oron ajo ur ne y, orcome afteranswering the callofnatre, oro ha ve been incontact ith women and yo findno wa te r; then performtayammum with cleanearth..34

Thescholarsdifferednthenderstanding ofhewo rd :1 'con-tac t '. One gro up nderstood it o mean 'to ching ' in it'snrestricted sense. Another gro p stated thatita s a t ype ofcontac t hich in-d uc es se x ua l desire, and et others held hevie w thatitmeant se x ua l interco ur se; thislatteriew, beingthatofIbnAbbaas.

Ifo contemplate up on the verse, o will find hatthe correctvie w iswith the one who asserts that theintendedmeaning isse x ua l interco ur se. T his isbeca us e Allaah mentioned (earliern the verse)t wo categories for p ur ificationb water: m inor rital p ur ification(wudoo ') and major rit ua l p ur ification(ghusl). Thefirst is men-tioned hen H e said,

34Soorahal -Maa 'idah (5):6

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... th en wash or facesand hands (forearms) p tothe elbows, wipe yo ur head s and (wash) yo ur feetp to or ankle s ..35

As for the second categor (ghusl), Allaah sa ys,f ' ' ' ~ ~ . ~ , : /' - ' \ ! . . - - '

...andifo are in a state of anaabah, th en p u rifyo urself (i.e., perform ghusl ) ...

The mention, therefore, of he two categories for purification btayammum, wo uld be in keeping with the eloquence and elucida-tion oftheQ ur 'aan; so the phrase:

Jz.,t:;J\."' . ..- , . . ~ , N- ..... 't --........../ .,.,

" ...or come afterans wering the callofnature ... "

is a reference o what necessitates minor ritual p urification and thephrase :

" ...or o have been in contact ith women ... "is likewise, (regarded to be) a reference o whatnecessitates majorritual p urification.3635 Soorah al-Maa 'idah (5):636 Conseq uentl this wo uld onl y agree if e regarded the meaning to be se x ua linterco urse, as it is the onl y vi able explanation here wh ich necessitates ghusl.

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If,however, we were to e xplainthe word 'co ntac t ' to merel y m ean'toch', the (latterpartof he) verse wo u ld containt wo referencesto wha t necessitates minor rit ual p urification and wo uld be voidofan mention ofhat necessitates major ritual purification; his wo ul dbe contrar to the eloq uence of heQr' aan.Accordingl y, those who un derstood it to mean 'to uching ', stated:"If a man to uc hes a woman ' s skin, he nullifies his wudoo "';or "Ifhe to uched her with desire,he wo uld n ullif y it, an d iftas to o cc urwitho ut desire, then he wo uld still a ve his wudoo '."

T he correctopinion, tho ugh, is that ito uld no t n ullify his wudoo 'in bo th cases. F urthermore, it has been reported from the Prophet(;fj)that he kissed one ofis wives and then went to pra witho ut performing wudoo' ;thi s has beenreported ia man y narrations,eachone s up porting the other. 37

(ii)When the Messenger ofAllaah (;fj) ret ur ned from thebattle ofal-Ah zaab and took off is armo ur, Jibraa ' el came to him and said:"Jfe(i.e. the angels) have no t yetput down our weapons, so set ou tfor Banee Quraydhah. "T he Messenger ofAllaahorderedhis Com-panions to lea ve for battle and said: "None of ou should p ray A except at Banee Quraydhah."38T he Companions understood thisco mmand differently: ome tho ught that theMes senger ofAllaah 'sintention as forthem to make haste in settingoffo that when thetime for 'A.r praer arri ved , the wold alread be at BaneeQ ura ydhah. Conseq uentl y, when the timefor A.r pra yer set in and the y were in fact tillontheir a, the y p ra ed and didnot dela y it37 Musnadoflmaam Ahmad (6/21 0) & Aboo Daawo od, at-Tirmidhee,Ibn Maajahand an-Nasaa 'ee in their collectionsnder th e Book ofT.ahaarah.38 S.ab.eeb.al-Bukhaaree [Eng. transl. 2/34] andS.ab.eeb. Muslim [Eng. transl . 3/967/no.4374].

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out ofit's prescribed time. The other Companions understood theMessenger ofAllaah's order to mean that they should not pray 'until they reach Banee Quraydhah. Hence, they delayed their prayeruntil they reached Banee Quraydhah and thereforeprayed it outsideofit's time. 39

39 This lladeeth is a fundamental evidencefornot rebuking theMujtahid who fallsinto error when exercising his judgement. This however, is only true when certainconditionsare met, some of hem are:(i) The person performing ljtihaad is qualified to do so.(ii)The particular issue in which he errs in is open to ljtihaad.(iii)The person exherts his utmost in trying to arrive at the correct ruling. Thispoint is extracted from the originalmeaning of he word 'ljtihaad'.(iv) The person has some form ofevidence which he uses to justify his position.Only when such conditionsare met, is the following lladeeth of the Messenger( ~ ) applicable:"Ifa judge gives a ruling upon ljtihaad and is correct, he willattain two rewards and ifhe peiforms ljtihaad and errs in his ruling then he se-cures one reward." [Related by al-Bukhaaree, Muslim and others].With all this in mind however, it is not correct to use the b.adeeth of BaneeQuraydhah, as is commonly done, to justify a person's stance on a particular issue.This is an extremely important matter related to the subject area of Differing'mentioned by a number of cholars likeImaam ash-Shaa!ibee, al-Khat_taabee andIbn Taymiyyah, may Allaah have merc y upon them all.The notion that because there is a diffemce n a particular matter, e.g., with regardto the prohibitionofsomething, it therefore becomes permissible is completelyrejectedby the Sunnah. I f we were to accept this then we would declare lawfulriba, illegal arriages likemu 'tah and certainintoxicatingdrinks because the ummahdifferedn these issues!Allaah has ordered those in dispute to refer back to His Book and the Sunnah ofHis Messenger ( ~ ) . Thus, we recognise the existence ofdifferences nd takethem into account, but do not use it as proofbecause it is not an evidence in itself.

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T here isnodo ub t that the correct osition is with thosewhopra yed 'A.r inits time. This is beca use thetexts which make the pra ye rs attheir stated times obligator y, are clear and concl usi ve ; and this(b_adeeth) is a vag ue text. T he so un d and correct methodologadoptedin s uc h circ um stances isto referthe vag ue te xt back totheclearand concl usive text.Tos ummarise, a reason for thedifferences; s to understand a par-tic ular evidence in adifferentight othemeaning intendedb Allaahand His Messenger

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The FifthCause:The scholar is aware ofthel!adeeth but it is in actual factabrogated.The b.adeeth isauthentic, its meaning is understood correctl , b ut itis abrogated. The scholar, howe ver, does not know of ts abrogationand in s uch circ um stances is therefore exc used, beca use the basicr ule appliedis that a text is not j ud ged to be abrogated ntil thereisknowledge of second abrogating text.An example of his is Ibn Ma s 'ood 's opinion on the positionofaperson 's hands d uring rnkoo '.Atthe advent oflslaam, thepra yingperson wh en in rukoo ' used to p ut his hands togetherand placethem between his knees. This was the ruling in the earl days oflslaam. Howe ver, this was later abrogated andthe new r uling wasforonetoplacehishands on his knees. The evidenceof he abroga-tionis recorded inSab.eeb. a l-B ukhaaree and elsewhere. 40 IbnMas'ooddidnot know ofhis abrogation, so he always used toplacehis hands together bet ween his knees. Once Alqamah and al-Aswad41 pra yed at his side; the placed heir hands ontheir knees,where upon, he prohibited hem and ordered them to doas he did.Wh y? Beca use he hadnot known of he abrogationand a person isnot b urdened with more than he can bear, Allaah sas,

40 Al-B uk haaree and other so urces.41 Alqamah and al-A s wad are two scholars from the taab'ieen and famo us stu-dentsofAbd ul laah Ibn Mas'o od.

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Allaah burdens not a soul beyond it's scope. Itat-tains reward for he (good) which ithas earned andis punished for he (evil) ithas acquired. 'O ur Lord!Do not punish u s if e forgetor fall ntoerror. O r

Lord! Do not lay on us a burden likethat whichyo didlay on those before s. O r Lord! Do notburden us with that which we cannot bear, pardonus, forgive s and have mercy upon us. Yo are orMawlaa (Patron, Supporter and Protector) and give. h d" b 1 . I 42us v1ctory over t e IS e 1evmg peop e.

42 Soorah al-Baqarah (2):286

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The Sixth Cause:The scholar believes that the particular evidence in ques-tion conflicts with either a stronger text or a consensusofthe scholarsIn other words, he is aware ofhe evidence b ut he sees it to lieincontradictiono a stronger evidence whether it be another text or aconsens us ofhe scholars.This is frequentl found to be the reason for the differing etweenthe scholars.How oftendo we hear one asserting that there is a consens us of hescholars on a partic ular iss ue? B ut afterexamination, no such con-sens us has in fact aken place.One of he most amazing cases to have been recorded n relation othis, isthat a gro up related hat there was a consens us ofthe chol-ars on the acceptanceof slave's testimonial; whilst others, reportedthat there was a consens us on the rejectionf slave 's testimonial!Thisis indeeda most pec uliar recordingof vents.This occurs, because for a certain t ype ofindivid ual; if e is sur-ro unded b y people who agree with him on an issue, he believes thatnot a single person disagrees with him, because ofhis fll convic-tion that this j udgment is exactly what the texts imply. Therefore,two evidences form in his mind: the text and a consens us of hescholars. Furthermore, he ma even feel hat this j udgment is sup-ported by correctanalogical eduction (qiyaas) and so und reason-ing.So, in concluding, he j udges that no one differs n this text which tohim is aidedb correctanalogical eduction. However, the truth ofthe matter is the complete opposite.

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It is possible to pu t forward as an example for this category, theposition held by Ibn 'Abbaas on ribaa al-farl_l. 43The Messenger ofAllaah ( * ) has said: "Ribaa is only (earnt) in(transactions of) an-nasee 'ah. "44He has also been reported b 'Ubaadah Ibn as-Saamit and otherCompanions to have said: "Ribaa is (earnt) in (transactions of) annasee 'ah and az-ziyaadah"45The scholars afterIbn 'Abbaas have all agreed that ribaa is of wotypes: al-fad.l and an-nasee 'ah. As for Ibn 'Abbaas, he was ada-mant that ribaa only occurred in an-nasee 'ah.An example of ibaa a l ~ f a d . l is if person sells a measure of heatfor two measures and the exchange is made on the spot; this wouldnot be classifieds ribaa according o Ibn 'Abbaas, as he sees thatribaa is only in an-nasee 'ah.Similarly, ifone sells a gram ofgold for two grams and the ex-change is made on the spot, it ould not be ribaa according o Ibn'Abbaas; however, ifhe exchange did ot take place here and then,whereby the firstparty s urrenders the gram ofgoldand the secondparty does not hand over the two grams until later on after theyseparate, then this would be classified s ribaa.4643 Ribaa (illegal rofit)is of wo types:an-nasee 'ah (usury): Illegal rofitearnt on a lent commodity.al-fad.l (oraz-ziyaadah): Illegal rofitearnt b exchanging the same commoditydiffering n quality.44 Collected y Muslim.45 Collected y Muslim.46 As it now fallsnder the category ofan-nasee 'ah of hich, there is ncr differ-ence as to it's prohibitionbetween Ibn 'Abbaas and the rest of he scholars.

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This is beca us e Ibn 'Abbaas held that the limitation47 preventedribaa from occ ur ring in an other t yp e ofransaction besidesannasee'ah.

It is acommon fact ha t 'o nl ', does impl limitation nd thereforeindicates that an form ofransaction besides an-nasee 'ah is notribaa, b t the tr uth ofthe matter is that the h_adeeth related b'Ubaadah sho ws that transactionsofhe nat ure ofa l-fadl isindeedactuall a t yp e ofribaa, d ue to the Prophet 's statement: "W hosoeverincreasesorasks for an in crease, has in deed dealt w ith ribaa."Anyhow, what sho ul d o ur positionbe regarding the h_adeeth Ibn'Abbaas us ed as e vidence?O ur position is to nderstand it in a manner which will harmonise itwith the otherh_adeeth that incl udes al-fad.l to alsobe a t yp e ofribaa;so we hold: The severe form ofibaa which the people in theda ys ofgnorance sed to dealin, and which is stated inthe verse,

/:'- ..;-:/ / . / ' f l ' : " t \ . \ 1 :t Lt-::.:I. 01 .,.:ZA '.alY..J! .J 41-.....

0 yo who believe, donot cons um e ribaa do ub led and m ul tiplied ...48

47 i.e. the limitationmentioned b theProphet in the firstb.adeeth wh en he said:"Ribaais onl (earnt) in (transactions of)an-nasee 'ah" Accordingl y, Ibn'Abbaasheld hat ifhe same commodit wh ich differedn qualit wa s e xchanged, it o ul d notbe ribaa; b ut, if he e xchange did nothappen on the spot, then it wo uld benbaa as it fallsnder an-nasee 'ah d ue to the element ofime no w being intro-d uc ed.48 SoorahAal-'Imraan(3): 130

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isnone other thanribaa an-nasee'ah. As forribaa al-fadf, itsnotthe gross o rsevere form of ibaa.49This is wh Ibn al-Qa yyi m held the view in his bookI 'loam Al-Muwaqqi 'eenthat the prohibi-tionofibaa al-fad.l was from a preca utionar meas ure and not d ueto the type of ransaction itself.

49 i.e., relative l speaking as is clearfrom the context. T he man ve rse s ofheQur' aan andb_adeeths ofHis sho w the magnit ud e ofhis sin andit 's threatening conseqences and p un ishments. Tomention a few: T hose who dealin it ill be res ur rected from their graves and stand p from it likeinsane people,the have been threatened wi th Hell-Fire,labelled s e xtremel ungratef ul andsi nf ul people, and have been c ursed. Allaah and His Messenger have give n a no-ticeof ar to the perso n who deals in it as he is regardedto be an enem y. Allaahdeprive s the mone eam t from ribaaofan blessing and the Prophet liste dthis sin as oneof he seve n deadl y sins.

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The Seventh Cause:The scholar gives a ruling on the basis ofa w eak h.adeeth,or his argum entation and deduction is poor.This is also q uite common. An e xample ofsing a weak h_adeeth asevidence, is the recommendation gi ven b some scholars onS.alaahat-Tasbeeh5 0:

Itcomprises of wo units ofra yer (rak'ahs), al-Faatih_ahis recited in both ofhem, tasbeeh_ is mentioned fifteen imes and likewisewhen bowing andin p rostrationand so on, thedetailsof hich, Iam not full y a ware of s I do not belie ve it to be sanctioned. Othershold it to be a detested innovation and theh_adeeth on it to be una u-thentic, likeImaam Ahmad who said: "I t 's h_adeeth is not a uthenticfrom the Prophet" and Sha yk h ul-I slaam Ibn T a ymiy ya h who said:"I t 's h_adeeth is a lieon the Prophet."In reality, whoever e xamines it ill findoddpeculiarities even fromthe angleoflegislation;Since, worship iseither beneficial or theheart, and it is am ust that the heart is able to attain righteo usnessfrom it, so it is legislatedfor all times andplaces, o r it is not ofbenefitand is thereforenot sanctioned. As forhis partic ular prayer,it 's h_adeeth mentions that a person pra ys ite ver y da or ever y weekor ever month or once in his lifetime.T here is no formoforshipof t ' s like n the Sharee'ah, so it is ver irreg ular and s uspect fromboth the actual te xt and it ' s chain of narration, and whoever de-50 T he q uestion of he a uthenticit of his pra ye r is an old one and the Sha yk hholds the vie w that it is not legislated.Among st those who wrote init'sfavo ur isth e great scholar Ibn Naasir ad-Deen ad-Dimashqee in his treatiseA t-T m jeeh LiH_adeeth S.alaah at-Tasbeeh. An excellent contemporar y work is At-Tanqeeh LiJv1aa jaa 'fee Salaah at-Tasbeeh b y Sha yk h Jaasim al-Faheed ad-Da wsaree. ThebookThe Three A band oned Prayersb Sha ykh Adnaan Aali 'Uroor has recentlbeen translated in English and p ublished. It also s upports the vie w affirming helegalit of he pra ye r and Allaah kno ws best.

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daredit to be a lie likeSha ykh ul-Islaam is correct.w ith this, healso mentioned that none ofhe Imaam s recommended it.I p u t fo rward this partic ula r iss ue as an e xample d ue to the man yq ue stions asked concerning it. I fear that this inno vation has be-come an acceptable form oforship, and I stress it as being aninnovation, beca use, even tho ugh this r uling ma be ver y diffic ultfor some people to handle, we believe that an yone who worshipsAllaah with something not fo und in the book ofAllaah nor in theSunnah ofHis Messenger ( ~ ) , then that act is an innovation.

An e xample ofoor ded uc tion, i.e., w hen the e vidence is strong b tus ing it to prove a certainpoint is no t so und, is th e position held b ysome scholars regarding the/pdee th relatedb As wad: "The slaugh-tering of he foeteusis (covered by) the slaughtering of t:s mother.51"Itis ofcommon kno wledge amongst the scholars that the meaningof his h.adeethis tha t if pregnant animal is sla ughtered, then thisis also a sla ughtering of he foet us contained insid e it, i.e. there isno need to take holdof he foet us and sla ughter it afterit is re mo vedfrom the animal, beca u se it is alread dead and there is no point orbenefitderi ved b y sla ug htering it afteri t 's death.Howe ver, some scholars nderstood the h.adeeth to be that the sla ugh-tering ofhe foet us is ca rried ut in the same wa as it's mother ' s ;5 2b severing the t wo jgular ve ins and allowing the blood to flowo ut. This is however, far-fetched, nd what makes it so, is the factthat blooddoes not flow ot afterdeath.

51 Related b y A hmad (3/39), at -Tinnidhee ,Ibn Maajah, ad-Daarimee and others.52i.e., the y read the b.adeeth to be: "The slaughtering of he foetus is (simila r to)the slaughteringof t's mo ther."

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The Messenger ofAllaah ( ~ ) h a s said:"That (i.e. the animal) whichbloodflows out ofand the name ofAllaah is pronounced over (atthe time of slaughtering), then eat" and it is a known fact that thebloodcannot flow out after death.These are the causes (ofdifference mongst the scholars) which Iwanted to point out, even though, there are many more and it is 'anocean which has no shore'.

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Our Stance Tow ards the D ifferences A m ongst the ScholarsAs I mentioned at the beginning,d ue to the man forms ofmedia:a udio, vi s ual andwritten material and d e to the differences mongstthe scholars orthose who speak across this media, the general massesha ve become d ub ious, and question: "Who dowe follo w?"'The gazelles have gathered in great num bers around Khirashto the extent that Khirash no longer knows which to hunt.' 53

I sa therefore, o ur stance towards this differing, nd Imean thediffering e t ween thescholars who are well tr us ted for heir knowl-edge and religion,ot those who ha ve been classifieds being ponknowledge b ut are not in factfrom the people ofknowledge. As we do not regard the likesof uc h as scholars, nor d o we hold hattheirstatements are to be kno wn and recordedlike hestatements of hepeopleofknowledge.Bt who we mean, are the scholars who are well kno wn for theirsincere ad vise to theummah, for their I slaam and kno wledge; o rstance to wards them is from two angles.T he first: H o w did hese scholars go against what theBookofAllaahand the Sunnah ofHis Messenger (m) instr uc t?T he a ns wer to this q ue stion can be known in part b y what has pre-cededofhe ca uses fordiffering nd also b theother man ca ses53An Arabic p ro verb applied o a person o vercome b y too man affairs. ach oneofq ual priorit y and th s, he is ns ure wh ich to begin with and wh ich to defer.Theoriginof his pro ve rb traces back to a h un ter of a zelles kno wn as Khirash . On onepartic ular da, the y gathered aro un d him ingreat n umbers wh ereb he becameconf used on ho w to confront he sit uation and wh ich ga zelle to hunt; upon that heut tered th ese wo rds portra ying the sit ua tion. It ' s relevance here isd ue to the pre s-ence of n um ber ofopinions on one single issue ca using conf usion for the la ymanin need of j ud gment.

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not mentioned, which the student ofknowledge will come acrossand come to realiseeven if e is not very knowledgeable. 54The second: What is our stance towards following them? Whom dowe follow from amongst these scholars? Does one follow a particu-larImaam and never leave his saying? Even ifhe correctopinion iswith another scholar, as is the norm with the blindfollowers of hemadhhabs. Or does one follow the opinion hich he believes is themost accurate, even if tis against the opinionof he madhhab whichhe attributes himself to?The correctanswer is the second, as it is compulsory upon the onewho is aware of he evidence to follow it, even ifit goes againstwhomsoever ofthe scholars, so long as it does not go against aconsensus of he ummah.

54 Shaykh Ibraaheem ar-Ruhaylee, a lecturer at the IslamicUniversity in Madeenah,states the following words when referring to the ten causes ofdifferences en-tioned by Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah: "Within these causes is found an ex-cellentand agreeable explanation for the mistakes commmitted by scholars as aresult of their ijtihaad. It is also a way of seeking excuses for them in such amanner by which, we hope that Allaah rewards Shaykhul-lslaam with the highestreward." I f only the person, who comes across a statement of scholar hich is found to bein opposition to the texts (of the Sharee'ah), was to subject it to these ten causeswhich Shaykhul-lslaam mentions, then he would surely findand pinpoint one ofthese causes as a reason for the scholar 's opposition. In trn, we would deliverourselves from the vilification nd bad suspicion of he scholars which so manypeople in our time have fallen into." [taken from MawqifAhlus-Sunnah walJamaa 'ah min Ahlil Ahwaa wal Bida' by Sha ykh Ibraaheem ar-Ruhaylee (1170).published by lvfaktabah al-Ghurabaa al-Athariyyah, Madeenah, Saudi Arabia.]The applicationof hese words is ofcrucial importance in helping to nurture andcultivate the Muslims, the youth especially. towards a balanced and middle path.Since. as history has repeatedly shown. when ever the value and respect for schol-ars dissappear from the hearts and minds of the people. then they are no longerlead by knowledge. wisdom and experience. but rather, by immaturity, rashnessand enthusiasm based on ignorance.

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Whoever believes that it is o bligator y to follow the sa yings of ome-one other than the Messenger ofAllaah ( ~ ) , acting b y what heorders and refrainingfrom what he prohibits, at all imes and places,has indeedaffirmedfor this person q ualities uniq ue and solel forthe bearer of he Message, beca u se no one ' s statement can possesthis neq uivocal right except that of he Messenger of llaah's (* ) .Ever yone's opinion is either acceptedor rejected, xcept that of heMessenger ofAllaah (* ) .But the issue still emains un solved, because we still uestion: "Whohas the capabilit y to extract the r ulings from the texts?" Here, lies aproblem, beca u se ever yone is now sta ting: "I am capableof hat!"This, in reality, is not correctnor befitting.Indeed, in term s of heobjective and basis, it is a good thing for one 's g uiding principle obe the Book ofAllaah and the SunnahofHis Messenger (* ) ; b ut toopen the door foran yone who can mention the evidence, e ven ifhe does not nderstand its meaning or implication,and to sa: "Yoare amujtahid, say what you desire"; this will ca u se the r uin of heSharee 'ah, people and society.In this respect, people are placedin one of hree categories:(i) T he scholar hom Allaah has given knowledge and nderstand-ing.(ii) Th e st udent ofknowledge who has some knowledge, b ut hasnot yet reached the level of he scholar.(iii)T he la yman who does not know anything.As for the first, the n he has the righ t to perform ijtihaad and to givehis opinion. In fact, it is comp ulsor y for hi m to express that whichhe believes the texts indicate e gardless of hom he opposes, be-ca u se he has been ordered to do so. Allaah says,

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!

/ , . , . , - .... .,., /\ . : . )

... so ask the people of he script res ifo d onotknow.57

... so askthepeople ofthescriptures ifo u d o notkno w, of he clear igns andbooks ..58

So his d ut y is to ask , b ut who does he ask? In the land are manscholars and ever yone sa ys 'So and so is a scholar ' or it is saidabo ut ever yone: 'He is a scholar ' . So, who does he ask?Do we sa: "I t is obligator y on this person to search and investigatein order to find he one closest to thecorrectopinion, so that he askshim and acts b y his r uling." o r do we sa: "He is to ask an yonewhom he believes tobe from the peopleofknowledge, since, t hescholar who is less kno wledgeable ma arrive to the correctdeci-sion in a specific ssue and the scholar ho is better and more knowl-edgeable than the former ma not"- the scholars differed n this:A gro up of hescholars are of heopinion that it is comp ulsor forthe la yman to ask the one whom he believes tobethe most compe-tent in his kno wledge from amongst the scholars in his countr y;beca use, just as the person who is sick, looks for the most compe-tent person in the fieldfmedicine, then the same applieshere, askno wledge is the remed for the hearts. Accordingly , yo m ustchoose themost competent in kno wledge as thereis no difference.57 Soorah al-Ambi yaa ' (2 1):758 Soorah an -Na!!l (16):43-44

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Other scholars hold the view that it is not comp ul sor beca use theone who is the most knowledgeable ma not be so in ever singleiss ue and this opinionis s up ported b thefact hatat the timeofheCompanions people wold ask one who was less knowledgeablethan others who we re also present.M view is that he sho uld ask the one whom he believes to be themost competent in his religionand knowledge. Not beca use it iscomp ulsor y, d e to the possibilit ofhis scholarmaking anerror ina specificss ue and the possibilit ofhe one who is less knowl-edgeableto be correct,b ut beca use it is preferableand sho uld be theperson 's firstchoice.Finall, I sincerel advi se, m ys elf first, and m M uslim brothers,especiall y the st udents ofnowledge notto make haste and be q uickwhen a new iss ue befallsa person until he verifies the sitation,gains kno wledge and then speaks, so thathe does not speak abo utAllaah itho ut knowledge.As, the person who give s j ud gment is an emissar between the peo-ple and Allaah; he conve ys the Sharee'ah ofAllaah as has beenreportedfromthe Messenger ofAllaah scholarsare theinheritorsoftheProphets."59 andthe has also said:"Thejudgesare three: (only) oneofhejudges beingin paradiseandhe is theonewhoknew the truthandudgedaccording toit."60

59Ahmad (5/196),A booDaa wood, at-T irmidhee and others.60Related b Aboo Daa wood wi th the follo wing wo rding: "The judges are three;oneofhe judgesis inParadiseandtwo are in the Fire. With reganis tothe one in.Paradis e then he is themanwhoknew the truth and judgedacconiing to it. Theman who knew the truthandwasunjust in his ruling is in theFire, andthemanwhojudgedbetweenthe people outofgnorance is in theFire."

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. I

Also of mportance, when a new iss ue befallsou, dra w yo ur heartto wards Allaah and feel in need ofHim so that he ca use s yo u tounderstand and imparts knowledge to yo; especiall y in gra ve andimportant matters, where man y people remain in ignorance.Some ofmy teachers mentioned to me that it is befittingfor theperson who has been q ue stioned on an issue, to seek forgivenessfrom Allaah even more; deducing that from Allaah's statement,

-:'/ - ~ ~ - : , - r t ~ ~ \ G f, .. _je j / .-: -: . l< .t i ~ ; : ; . . J - ; ; " 1 -:-,,;..,'!.,._ t ~ t " ' l . : l . U ~ U ~ L : J .. / .......... !;. ....... ;..... """0 / / )- / / v. -;;" 4 " .. / , /, . . i C . i . J b 4 . U ;,;: ....IJ.. J J ..r- '--""" !!:- -t....S ur el y , We ha ve re vealed to o the Book in tr uththat o ma jdge between the people b thatwh ich Allaahhas shown yo u , so do not be a pleaderfor the treacherous. And seek the forgi vene ss ofAllaah, certainl y , A llaah is e ve r Of t -Forgi ving , MostMercif ul.61

An increase in seeking forgiveness necessitates the wi ping awa ofthe reperc ussions of ins, which is one of he ca uses offorgettingknowledge and becoming ignorant, as Allaah sa ys,

61 Soorah an-Nisaa ' (4):105-10646


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So, because oftheir breach oftheir covenant, Wecursed them and made theirhearts grow hard. Theychange the words from their proper places and for-got a good part of the message that was sent tothem.62

Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee once said:I complained to Wakee '63 about my poor memorySo he advised me to abandon disobedience.and he said, 'know that knowledge is light.And the light ofAllaah is not bestowed upon a disobedient.

So it is certainly possible that seeking forgiveness causes Allaah togive a person enlightenment.

I ask Allaah to grant me success, make me upright, that He keeps usfirm with the Firm Word (Shahaadah) in this life nd the Hereafter;and that He does not cause our hearts to deviate afterhaving guideds and to grant us from His self, mercy; Indeed,He is the Benevo-lent.All praise is for Allaah alone, and may He praise, send peace andblessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his Companions.

62 Soorah al-Maa'idah (5):1363 Wak.ee Ibn al-Jarraah as a famous scholarfrom the Salafand one of he teach-ers oflmaam ash-Shaafi'ee. He diedin the year 196H.

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differences of opinion amongst the scholars* salih uthaymeen

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