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| LIBRARY > The Obligation of Referring to the Book and the Sunnah for Judgment |
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The Obligation of Referring to the Book and the Sunnah for Judgment[1] By Shaykh Saleem Al-Hilaalee __________________________ The Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) obeyed his Lord. Allaah witnessed to that saying: “Nor does he speak of his own desire. It is no less than revelation sent down to him.” (An-Najm 53:34) From that which Allaah ordered his slave and His Messenger with, was that he should propagate and explain to the people that which was revealed to him by his Lord. He, the Most High, says: “O Messenger! Proclaim that which has been sent to you from your Lord. If you did not, you would not have fulfilled and proclaimed His mission.” (Al-Maa’idah 5:67) The Messenger did indeed completely propagate all the revelation from his Lord without the slightest deficiency, Allaah bears witness to that and also the believers. Allaah says: “This Day I have perfected your Religion for you, completed My favor upon you and have chosen for you Islam as your Religion.” (Al-Maa’idah 5:3) The Mother of the Believers, ‘Aaishah (radiyallaahu ‘anhaa) - said: “Whoever says to you that Muhammad (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) kept secret anything sent down to him, has lied.”[2] All the Muslims, on the final Hajj when they were asked by the Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam): “You will be questioned about me, so what will you say?” They said, ‘We bear witness that you have fully conveyed the Revelation from your Lord, have done your duty and sincerely advised the Ummah and fulfilled that which was upon you.’ So he pointed with his forefinger and raised it towards the heavens and pointed it at the people and said, “O Allaah bear witness, O Allaah bear witness.”[3] Allaah ordered His Messenger to follow the revelation and to propagate it to the people. To explain the revelation, so that the judge by it in any dispute. Allaah is the One who knows fully the laws and regulations which are fitting for His creation, for everything created is known best by its Creator and all humans are the creation of Allaah. So Allaah knows best the way in which their affairs will be set aright and kept in order. He, the Mighty and Majestic, says: “Should He not know what He created? He is the most kind and Courteous (to His slaves), All-Aware (of everything).” (Al-Mulk 67:14) If He had left mankind to pass judgments upon actions and sayings themselves, then judgment would change from person to person and in different times and it is not possible for a human to pass a definite and unchanging ruling. Since that is the case, He has made it binding upon the servants to obey Him and to obey the Messenger and warned them against disobedience and placed the guidance in His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet. He, the Most High, says: “It is not fit for a believer, man or woman, when Allaah and His Messenger have decreed a matter that they should have any option in their decision. Whosoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger has indeed strayed in a plain manner.” (Al-Ahzaab 33:36) Allaah, the Most Perfect, says: “He who obeys the Messenger has indeed obeyed Allaah.” (An-Nisaa’ 4:80) “Say: Obey Allaah and obey the Messenger, but if you turn away, he is only responsible for the duty placed on him and you for that placed upon you. If you obey him, you shall be on right guidance. The Messenger’s duty is only to convey in a clear way.” (An-Noor 24:54) The Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) said: “He who obeys me enters Paradise and he who disobeys me has refused.”[4] The truthful and trustworthy Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) also said: “I have left amongst you two things. You will not go astray as long as you hold to them: The Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger.”[5] From what has preceded it becomes clear that it is obligatory to refer back in judgment to the Book and the Sunnah, if we desire the correct way. Allaah has ordered that matters be referred back to Him and His Messenger when there is a disagreement and difference, so that the final judgment is that of the Book and the Sunnah. He, the Mighty and Majestic, says: “O you who believe! Obey Allaah and obey the Messenger and those of you who are in authority. If you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaah and in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determinations” (An-Nisaa’ 4:59) This Aayah explains that disputes and unknown matters are to be referred back to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger so that the Muslims settle their disputes with them. This being a sign of truthfulness and the proof of Eemaan; while he who does not refer back in judgment to the Book and the Sunnah in disputes and take judgment from them then he is not a believer in Allaah and the Last Day. Perhaps the clearest proof of this great matter which is counted as the crux of Eemaan is His saying: “But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith until they make you judge in all disputes between them and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions and accept (them) with full submissions” (An-Nisaa’ 4:65) Just this earth-rending oath is sufficient to cause the mountains to fall to the ground and for the believer’s jugular vein to tremble in terror and his limbs to shake with fear and for the hearts to rise to the throats and the eyes to roll up in their sockets. The Most Just of all judges has sworn by Himself that no one believes until he makes the Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) judge in all affairs. So whatever judgment he has passed then it is obligatory to submit to it, outwardly and inwardly, since it is the truth and what is there besides the truth except misguidance?[6] This is the unrestricted authority; that no man-made law, custom, opinion of the elder of the tribe, saying of a man without a proof, any judgment reached by intellect or any personal experience is given precedence before Allaah and His Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam), who calls to that which gives them life. Rather, they should not turn aside, hesitate or delay; they should submit fully outwardly and inwardly. Anything less than that is a lame and half-hearted submission leaning upon the walking stick of blind-following and opinions of men. The Companions (radiyallaahu `anhum) submitted themselves and the reins of their intellect to the truthful and trusted Messenger whilst they were indeed men of great wisdom and intellect. This because to the Messenger information came from the heavens and upon him the Qur’aan was sent down. He (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) knew its explanation due to that which Allaah showed him. As for the sayings of any man, some are taken and some are to be rejected, except for Allaah’s Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam). But if a saying of any of them is found to conflict with an authentic Hadeeth, then the scholar may be excused for not having followed it and the excuses are of three types: 1. Not believing that the Prophet (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) said it. 2. Not believing that this matter is what is referred to in that Hadeeth. 3. Believing the ruling to have been abrogated. These three classes branch off into many reasons. But this excuse of the Imaam is not an excuse for his students when the truth becomes clear or is explained to them and this is affirmed by the sayings reported from the four Imaams explaining their position regarding the blind-following of them and that they disassociated themselves from that. This was due to their knowledge and piety since they indicated that they had not comprehended all of the Sunnah. Their students have reported various sayings from them, with different wordings; all affirming one thing: that it is obligatory to act upon the Hadeeth when it is found to be authentic and to abandon blind-following of the opinions of men which conflict with it. Such as the saying of Abu Haneefah (rahimahullaah) when he said to Abu Yoosuf: “Woe to you! O Abu Ya’qoob. Do not write down everything which you hear from me, for I may hold an opinion one day, then abandon it the next, then hold an opinion and abandon it the following day.”[7] The like of this is also established from the rest of the Imaams and they all agreed that, “If the Hadeeth is authentic, then that is their madhhab.” Ibn Hazm said, “The scholars whom they blindly follow have rejected blind-following and forbade their companions from blindly following them.”[8] Therefore, the followers of the Imaams did not accept all their sayings. Rather, they abandoned many of them when it became clear that the truth and the Sunnah was made clear to them. So the two Imaams Abu Yoosuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ash-Shaibaanee differed with Imaam Abu Haneefah in a third of the entire madhhab[9]. This was also the practice of some of the later people, despite their being ascribed to a madhhab. This did not prevent them from differing with the madhhab when they knew of a proof which contradicted what the head of the madhhab held. For example, An-Nawawee who contradicted Ash-Shaafi’ee with regard to making wudoo' from eating camel meat[10]. However, people from the later generations closed the doors of Ijtihaad and made the blind-following of their Imaam obligatory on the people. After the noble Imaams of the first three centuries came scholars, who responded to the wishes of the rulers, since their concern slackened and their resolve weakened because they merely stuck to that which they had learnt in childhood without any eagerness for it. Rather they were happy to eat the crumbs dropped from the table by those before them. Their own incapacity fooled them into thinking that the Ummah of Muhammad (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) became barren after the fourth century and in this manner the rulers who feared Ijtihaad attained their wish. Through the inability of the scholars and ignorance of the commoners, the gates of Ijtihaad were closed. This saying has no share of the truth and if it had the weight of a mustard seed of truth in it then Allaah would have guided us to it, since He knows whatever is beneficial to the people in their Deen and worldly affairs; likewise He knows better what will harm them. Therefore, He did not leave a major or minor matter from their lives except He included it in an order or a prohibition and this was conveyed by Allaah’s Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) without any addition or deletion. He (sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam) said: “I have not left anything which Allaah has ordered you with except that I have ordered you with it, nor have I left anything which He forbade you except that I have forbidden you from it.”[11] ______________________________________________ [1] Abridged from the preface to the book Blind Following of Madhhabs by Shaykh Sultaan Al-Ma`soomee. [2] Reported by al-Bukhaaree, Muslim, At-Tirmidhee and others. [3] Part of the Hadeeth of Jaabir (radiyallaahu `anhu). Its various narrations have been collected by the Muhaddith Shaykh Al-Albaanee in his book Haajjat-un-Nabee p.73. [4] Reported by Al-Bukhaaree (Fath-ul-Baaree: 13/249). [5] Reported by Maalik (2/899). See the checking of Al-Mishkaat (1/66) by Shaykh al-Albaanee. [6] Tafseer Ibn Katheer (Tafseer of verses 59 and 85 of Soorat-un-Nisaa'). [7] Reported by Abbaas and Ad-Dooree in At-Taareekh by Ibn Mu`een, vol.6, p.88. See The Prophet’s Prayer Described From the beginning to the End As IF You See It by Shaykh Al-Albaanee (p. ix). [8] Al-lhkaam fee Usool-il-Ahkaam (6/118). [9] Haashiyah lbn ‘Aabideen (1/62), Istanbul edition . [10] Al-Majmoo` (2/58 60) and Sharh Saheeh Muslim (4/4849). [11] Reported by Ash-Shaafi`ee in his Sunan (1/14) and Ar-Risaalah (p. 87 and 93). Al-Baihaqee quotes it in his Sunan (7/76) from Ash-Shaafi`ee. Also reported by Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdaadee in Al-Faqeeh wal-Mutafaqqih (1/93) and by At-Tabaraanee. It is declared Saheeh by Shaykh Al- Albaanee due to its chains and by Shaykh Ahmad Shaakir in his notes in Ar-Risaalah. |
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