Assalamu Alaykum
I do not know much arabic, so if there are any mistakes let us know insha Allah. The translation is from
http://www.geocities.com/~abdulwahid...indfollow.html
If anyone has other quotes dealing with following ONE madhab please post.
باب ترجيح مذهب مالك
والحجة في وجوب تقليده وتقديمه على غيره من الأئمة
قال القاضي أبو الفضل رضي الله تعالى عنه: رأينا البداية قبل الخوض في هذا ماسة إلى تقديم مقدمة وتمهيد قاعدة لموجب التقليد عليها ينبني الكلام فيما قصدناه فأقول: اعلموا وفقنا الله تعالى وإياكم أن حكم المتعبد بأوامر الله تعالى ونواهيه المتشرع بشريعة نبيه عليه السلام طلب معرفة ذلك وما يتعبد به، وما يأتيه ويذره، ويجب عليه ويحرم، ويباح له ويرغب فيه من كتاب الله تعالى وسنة نبيه عليه السلام، فهما الأصلان اللذان لا تعرف الشريعة إلا من قبلهما ولا يعبد الله تعالى إلا بعلمهما ثم إجماع المسلمين مرتب عليهما ومسند إليهما فلا يصح أن يوجد وينعقد إلا عنهما، إما من نص عرفوه ثم تركوا نقله، ومن اجتهاد مبني عليهما على القول بصحة الإجماع من طريق الاجتهاد، وهذا كله لا يتم إلا بعد تحقيق العلم بذلك الطريق والآلات الموصلة إليه من نقل ونظر وطلب قبله وجمع وحفظ وعلم وما صح من السنن واشتهر، ومعرفة كيف يتفهم وما به يتفهم من علم ظواهر الألفاظ وهو علم العربية واللغة وعلم معانيها وعلم موارد الشرع ومقاصده ونص الكلام وظاهره وفحواه وسائر نواحيه وهو المعبر عنه بعلم أصول الفقه وأكثره يتعلق بعلم العربية ومقاصد الكلام والخطاب، ثم يأخذ قياس ما لم ينص عليه على ما نص بالتنبيه على علته أو شبيهاً له.
وهذا كله يحتاج إلى مهلة والتعبد لازم لحينه، ثم إن الواصل إلى هذا الطريق وهو طريق الاجتهاد والحكم به في الشرع قليل وأقل من القليل بعد الصدر الأول والسلف الصالح والقرون المحمودة الثلاثة وإذا كان هذا فلا بد لمن لم يبلغ هذه المنزلة من المكلفين أن يتلقى ما تعبد به وكلف به من وظائف شريعته ممن ينقله له ويعرفه به ويثبته عليه في نقله وعلمه وحكمه وهو التقليد ودرجة عوام الناس بل أكبرهم هذا، وإذا كان هذا فالواجب تقليد العالم لموثوق بذلك، فإذا كثر العلماء فالأعلم وهذا حظ المقلد من الاجتهاد لدينه ولا يترك المقلد الأعلم ويعدل إلى غيره وإن كان يشتغل بالعلم فيسأل حينئذ عما لا يعلم حتى يعلمه.
قال الله تعالى: )فاسألوه أهل الذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمون( وأمر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بالإقتداء بالخلفاء بعده وأصحابه، وقد بعث النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أصحابه في الناس ليفقهوهم في الدين، ولينذروا قومهم إذا رجعوا إليهم وإذا كان هذا الأمر لازماً لا بد منه فكان أولى من قلده العامي الجاهل )والمبتدىء( المتعبد والطالب المسترشد والمتفقه في دين الله تعالى وأحق بذلك فقهاء أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الذين أخذوا عنه العلم وعلموا أسباب نزول الأوامر والنواهي ووظائف الشرائع ومخارج كلامه عليه السلام. وشاهدوا قرائن ذلك وثاقبوا في أكثرها النبي عليه السلام واستفسروه عنها مع ما كانوا عليه من سعة العلم ومعرفة معاني الكلام وتنوير القلوب وانشراح الصدور، فكانوا أعلم الأمة بلا مرية وأولاهم بالتقليد لكنهم لم يتكلموا من النوازل إلا في اليسير مما وقع، ولا تفرعت عنهم المسائل ولا تكلموا من الشرع إلا في قواعد ووقائع، وكان أكثر اشتغالهم بالعمل مما علموا والذبّ عن حوزة الدين وتوكيد شريعة المسلمين ثم بينهم من الاختلاف في بعض ما تكلموا فيه ما يبقي المقلد في حيرة ويحوجه إلى نظر وتوقف، وإنما جاء التفريع التنتيج وبسط الكلام فيما يتوقع وقوعه بعدهم، فجاء التابعون فنظروا في اختلافهم وبنوا على أصولهم ثم جاء من بعدهم العلماء من أتباع التابعين، والوقائع قد كثرت والنوازل قد حدثت، والفتاوى في ذلك قد تشعبت فجمعوا أقاويل الجميع وحفظوا فقههم وبحثوا عن اختلافهم واتفاقهم وحذروا انتشار الأمر وخروج الخلاف عن الضبط فاجتهدوا في جمع السنن وضبط الأصول وسألوا فأجابوا وبنوا القواعد ومهدوا الأصول وفرعوا عليها النوازل ووضعوا في ذلك للناس التصانيف وبوبّوها، وعمل كل واحد منهم بحسب ما فتح عليه ووفق له، فانتهى إليهم علم الأصول والفروع والاختلاف والاتفاق وقاسوا على ما بلغهم ما يدل عليه ويشبه، رضي الله عن جميعهم ووفاهم أجر اجتهادهم فالمتعين على المقلد العامي وطالب العلم المبتدىء أن يرجع في التقليد لهؤلاء لنصوص نوازله والرجوع فيما أشكل من ذلك إليهم، ولاستغراق علم الشريعة ودورها عليهم وأحكامهم النظر في مذاهب من تقدمهم وكفايتهم ذلك لمن جاء بعدهم، لكن تقليد جميعهم لا يتفق في أكثر النوازل وجمهور المسائل لاختلافهم باختلاف الأصول التي بنوا عليها ولا يصلح أن، يقلد المقلد من شاء منهم على الشهوة والبحث أو على ما وجه عليه أهل قطره وآله، فحظه هنا من الاجتهاد النظر في أعلمهم ويعرف الأولى بالتقليد من جملتهم حتى يركن العامي في أعماله إلى فتواه ويجتهد في تعبداته على ما رآه وينصب العامي الأعلم من ملتزمي مذاهب هؤلاء منصبه، ولا يحل له أن يعدو في استفتائه من لا يرى مذهبه، فقد قال بعض المشائخ: إن الإمام لمن التزم تقليد مذهبه كالنبي عليه السلام مع أمته، ولا يحل له مخالفته.
وهذا صحيح في الاعتبار مما بسطناه وشرطناه يظهر صوابه لأولي البصائر والأبصار وكذلك يلزم هذا طالب العلم في بدايته في درس ما أصله الأعلم من هؤلاء وفرعه وحفظ ما ألفه وجمعه والاهتداء بنظره في ذلك والميل حيث مال معه إذ لو ابتدأ الطالب في كل مسألة فطلب الوقاف على الحق منها بطريق الاجتهاد عسر عليه ذلك إذ لا يتفق له إلا بعد جمع خصاله وتناهي كماله، وإذا كان بهذا السبيل استغنى عن تقليد أرباب المذاهب وكان من المجتهدين لنفسه فسبيله أن يقلد من يعرفه أن، هذا هو الحق، حتى إذا أدرك من العلم ما قيض له وحصل منه ما
The great scholar of Islam, Qadi Iyad (d. 544/1149 Rahimahullah), has quite beautifully and eloquently explained how the Madhhabs arose, and why one should make Taqleed of them. He said:
"This Ijtihad and the handing down of rules and Shari'ah, on the basis of it-there are very few, very few who have the capacity. Indeed they are fewer than the few after the first generation (of Muslims), the upright Salihun, and the first three praiseworthy generations. Now since this is the nature of the matter, any human being burdened with the moral responsibility to obey Allah, but not having attained the status of being able to know the Shari'ah, on his own, is necessarily required to get that knowledge from someone else.
He must take the knowledge of every act of worship he has been commanded to do-every application of the Shari'ah that has been made responsible for him to perform directly, from that man who can give it to him straight from the source and who will make him know exactly what to do. That man must be the staff by which he stands in his own transmission to others, in the knowledge he acquires, and in the Shari'ah parameters by which he lives. This is Taqleed. And this is precisely the position of the ordinary people, indeed the vast majority of all people. Since this is the case, what is required of you is that in all such matters, you do Taqleed of the 'alim in whom you have complete trust. If such Ulama are many, then follow that one who is most knowledgeable. This is the portion of Ijtihad which falls to the lot of the Muqallid with regard to his deen. And it is not fitting that the Muqallid should abandon the most knowledgeable (Mujtahidun) in favour of someone else, even though that other person is also busy with knowledge. The Muqallid must therefore ask at that time about those things which he does not know until he has knowledge of them, just as Allah, Glory be to Him, has said, 'Then ask the people of Remembrance if you do not know.' (Holy Qur'an 16:43 and 21:7)
And the one upon whom we ask Allah's blessings and peace commanded the Khalifs after him and his Companions be emulated. The one upon whom we ask blessings and peace also sent his Companions out among the people to give them understanding in the deen, to teach them what had been made incumbent on them, and Allah urged on the entirety of them to go out, 'From every group among you let there be a group who will develop understanding of the deen and who will give warning to their people when they return to them.'
Now since this matter is something necessary, and there is no way around it, and since they who most deserve to be followed by the uniformed ordinary man, the beginner, who has taken it on himself to worship, or the student seeking right guidance and knowledge of Fiqh in the deen of Allah, and those who have the greatest right to be followed are the Fuqaha of the Sahaba of Rasulullah (Peace be upon him), they are those who took their knowledge directly from him, who knew the circumstances of the Revelation, of the commands and prohibitions, the various prophecies, of the different aspects of the Shari'ah, the exact pronunciation of the Prophet's words, may Allah bless him and give him peace, who themselves witnessed the accompanying circumstances of these ayats, who spoke to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, directly, about most of it, who asked him about it despite the extensive knowledge from the Prophet (Peace be upon him) which they themselves already had, and their knowledge of the meanings of Arabic speech, the illumination of their hearts, and the openness and receptivity of their hearts, such that they were, without the least contention, the most knowledgeable of Imams, and they were those of the Imams most worthy of being followed by Taqleed.
Nevertheless, they only spoke about a few of the problematic events that happened among them, and large numbers of answers to Shari'ah questions did not branch out from them in detail. They did not speak about the Shari'ah, except with regard to the basic teachings, and certain things that actually happened. Most of their pre-occupation was with the putting into practise of what they knew and the active defence of the entire deen, the laying down of the firm foundation of the Shari'ah of the Muslims. There was among them a degree of difference of opinion in some of the things which they discussed which could keep the Muqallid in a perpetual state of confusion, and require of him the kind of reflection and review for which he is not yet prepared. And indeed the full elaboration of questions, resolving of problems, and setting out the discussions, only came about in response to those matters, the appearance of which had been anticipated after the Sahaba were gone.
Consequently, the Tabi'in, the Followers (like Imam's Abu Hanifah, an-Nakhai, Hammad, al-Zuhri, Hasan al-Basri, Sha'bi...), came and reflected on the differences of opinions of the Companions, and built on the foundations which they had laid down. Then after them came the Ulama from among the Followers of the Followers (like Imam's Malik, Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal, Dawood al-Zahiri...). By that time, the occurrences which had happened already became many and the problematic events had already occurred, while Fatwas regarding all of this had branched out into many details. Therefore they gathered together the opinion of them all, and they committed their Fiqh to memory.
They sought out differences of opinion of the earlier generations as well as their areas of agreement, but they were cautious about the matter of this disagreement spreading and of its getting out of control. Therefore they did Ijtihad regarding all these parts of the Sunnah, and of the precise articulation of fundamental principles. They asked questions and they got answers. They built up the foundations of the basic precepts and they made accessible the basic principles. Upon them were delineated the solutions to problems and events and they were put down in writing for the people, and organised. Each of them worked on the basis of the inspiration he was given and the accomplishment to which Allah had guided them. So they became the ultimate in the science of Usool and of the specific details of the Shari'ah in the matters of agreement and disagreement. And on the basis of this knowledge which had come to them, they made Qiyas, analogy, according to the indications, and the similarities that they had got. May Allah be pleased with all of them and may He give them the full extent of the reward of their Ijtihad.
Therefore it is an individual obligation that falls on the ordinary Muqallid and the student of knowledge in his beginning stages, to take recourse in his Taqleed to these great men, or the explicit texts regarding the problems and events that befall him. Recourse must be had to them regarding all of these matters which are problematic because of the fact that they were immersed in knowledge of the Shari'ah and it literally revolved around them. They alone have precise understanding of the schools, of who had gone before, and the earlier generations, and that knowledge is enough for all who have come after them in later generations. Nevertheless, it is simply not possible that all of these earlier Fuqaha can be simultaneous objects of Taqleed regarding the most difficult problems and the majority of questions, because of their differences among themselves caused by conflicting opinions about the fundamental principles upon which they built. Moreover, it is not valid for the Muqallid to do Taqleed of any among them merely on the basis of personal whim, or chance that he has come upon a decision on the basis of what he happened to find the people of his region doing, or his family doing
Again therefore, the portion of Ijtihad that falls to his lot in this case, is that he seek to discover by reflection which of them was the most knowledgeable, and come to know which of them is most worthy of being an object of Taqleed from among all of them, so that in his practise and his Fatwas, the ordinary man can trust him and rely on him and trust that in his acts of worship, he had taken on himself only what the Mujtahid had and discerned as correct. The ordinary man therefore must give to the most knowledgeable (scholars) among the adherents to the schools of these earlier Fuqaha, the status which by right, he deserves. It is not permissible for him that he go beyond them in his seeking of Fatwas to one who does not follow the opinion of his school. For as some of the Shaykhs have said, 'The Imam is with regard to one who adheres to his school, to his way, like the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace, is with regard to his Ummah.' It is not permissible for him to go against his Imam (unless one has become a Mujtahid within the school or in specific issues). This has been expressed quite correctly, and the correct way will become clear to those who have insight, and eyes with which to see, on the basis of what we have elaborated and the stipulations we have laid down."
(Tartib al madarik wa tartib al masalik)
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