Arab scholars: A Monolithic group? Dr. Wahbah Zuhayli...

[godilali]

Whenever one criticizes such practices as seeking help from the dead, building masajid over graves, attributing knowledge of the unseen to the creation, etc., the opposition always dismisses this individual as applying subcontinental discussions out their proper context, and that all the so-called "Arab sunnis" either agree on these issues or consider them issues of valid difference of opinion. If one examines the following fatawa by the faqih of our time, the non-Salafi Syrian Ash'ari scholar, Dr. Wahba al-Zuhayli, he will realize that this is a gross misrepresentation:

ما حكم الاستغاثة التي يثتغيثون بها السادة النقشبندية بعد الإنتهاء من الرابطة؟ بعبارة أساتيذي أمدونا وأشياخي أغيثونا وساداتي أفيضونا أدلائي أعينونا؟ وما حكم الرابطة؟.
هذه الاستغاثات في ظاهرها حرام‏،‏ لأنها استعانة بغير الله تعالى‏،‏ فالمدد بين الله وحده‏،‏ وإن كان يصح عند أهل السنة التوسل بغير الله تعالى من الأنبياء والصلحاء.
أما الرابطة بين الشيخ والتلميذ‏:‏ فإن لم يتخللها منكر شرعي فجائزة مثل قصد متابعة توجيهات الشيوخ‏،‏ فإن تخللها منكر فهي باطلة‏،‏ وعلى كل حال هي بدعة.
http://www.zuhayli.com/fatawa_p64.htm#5

2- زيارة القبور مشروعة بنص حديث‏:‏ ‏(‏‏(‏ألا فزوروها‏)‏‏)‏ وليس في ذلك أي صلة بالشر‏،‏ لأننا نزورها للعبرة والعظة‏،‏ ولا نطلب شيئاً إلا من الله تعالى‏،‏ ولا نقترب من الشرك قيد شعرة.

6- يستحيل أن يوصف ابن تيمية رحمه الله بالتجسيم فهو لا يقول به أصلاً‏،‏ واتهامه بذلك إساءة ظن وسوء فهم‏،‏ ولا داعي لإثارة الخلافات الناجمة عن التعصب‏،‏ وعلينا التأدب مع العلماء جميعاً.
وكذلك ابن عبد الوهاب رحمه الله لا يقول بالتجسيم‏
http://www.zuhayli.com/fatawa_p26.htm#30
إذا شعر الإنسان أنه مسحور هل يمكن الذهاب إلى المتخصصين بعلاج السحر لتقصي الأمر وإزالة السحر إن أمكن؟ وهل يعد هذا شركاً بالله؟
يحرم الذهاب إلى السحرة سواء من أجل فعل السحر أو علاج السحر‏،‏ فكل ذلك كما جاء في الحديث النبوي نوع من الشرك بالله‏،‏ لأنه اعتقاد بمعرفة ‏(‏الغيب‏)‏ أو علاج المرض بواسطة هي غير الله تعالى‏.‏
ومن ذهب إلى الساحر ولم يصدقه لم تقبل له صلاة أربعين ليلة‏،‏ ومن صدقه فقد كفر بما أنزل على محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم‏،‏ الذي أوحى الله تعالى إليه بالغيبيات‏،‏ ولا علم بالغيب إلا لله تعالى‏.‏
http://www.zuhayli.com/fatawa_p17.htm#28
عندنا جماعة فى غرب الجزائر تنسب نفسها إلى التصوف وتمارس بعض الطقوس كالذكر بواسطة الرقص والتصفيق على شكل حلقة دائرية وأحدهم يقول ما يسمى بالسماع‏،‏ وظهر على بعضهم الصياح والعويل ويسمون ذلك ‏{‏حضرة‏}‏ نريد معرفة حكم الشرع في ذلك مع شيء من التوضيح؟
من أهم شروط الذكر المقبول والمحقق للفائدة‏:‏ الأدب والخشوع وهدوء النفس ويقظة القلب‏،‏ أما ما يفعله هؤلاء في الحضرة فهو غير مشروع ويتنافى مع أدب الذكر‏،‏ لقوله تعالى‏:‏ ‏{‏إِنَّما الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آياتُهُ زادَتْهُمْ إِيماناً وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ‏}‏ أي إن ما يحدث من بدع الصوفية وأهوائهم.
http://www.zuhayli.com/fatawa_p26.htm#11
هل الصلاة فى المسجد الذى به قبر حلال أم حرام؟ وذلك لو كان القبر هو الذى ألحق بالمسجد وليس العكس‏،‏ وإذا كانت هناك استثناءات بالنسبة لوضع القبر بالنسبة للمسجد‏،‏ فماهى شروط موضع القبر بالنسبة للمسجد حتى تصح الصلاه في هذا المسجد؟.
لا مانع من الصلاة حينئذ بشرط عدم التوجه إلى القبر‏،‏ وجعل القبر في الخلف ‏(‏خلف المصلين‏)‏ ولا يخلو الأمر من الكراهة والمطلوب الامتناع عن جعل المساجد مشتملة على القبور لحديث صحيح‏:‏ ‏(‏‏(‏قاتل الله - لعن - اليهود والنصارى اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجد‏)‏‏)‏.
http://www.zuhayli.com/fatawa_p54.htm#13
ما حكم الصلاة في مسجد فيه قبر؟ وهو في مؤخرة المسجد.
الصلاة في هذا المسجد لا تضر‏،‏ ولكن بشرط عدم التوجه للقبر في محاذاة القبلة‏،‏ والأفضل والمتعين إخلاء المساجد من القبور مطلقاً‏،‏ لأن وجودها حتى في مؤخرة المسجد يجعل الصلاة مكروهة.
http://www.zuhayli.com/fatawa.htm#8

[Colonel_Hardstone]

Brother,

Very good stuff

[umar_italy]

OT, but isn't this scholar a bit reformist in his approach?
Like Fiqh al-Aqalliyat and so on.. Or am I confusing him with someone else?

[suleimanibnsalim]

I agree sidi, that it is quite a silly practice. After all being "arab" should not have an effect on the positions you have. However, I think what people mean are the positions of the traditional known positions of the majority of scholars in a certain place e.g. the Habaib in Hadramawt, which certain members here are quick to criticize, wa la hawla wa quwwata illa biLlah.

Was-salam

[umar_italy]

We should consider political and social situation of a country before talking about their ulama'.

One of the principles of fatwa is that the Mufti shouldn't live in a situation of fear.

Today, almost no other "traditionally Hanafi" country is as "intellectually free" as Pakistan.

In Turkey, Syria, Central Asia, the Balkans, Egypt the governments have a strict control over the `ulama'. That's why you hear weird stuff from some `ulama' of those countries. Many "Sufis", also, are used by the governments to counteract political opposition, that thus take the form of "salafi" militancy.

So, how can you expect to get an "objective", orthodox fatwa there?
Have you ever skipped the "fatawa" produced by the official Iftaa organism of the Turkish state?

But if you check the traditional Hanafi works, they match with contemporary (Deobandi) Hanafi scholars from the Subcontinent, far more than with the "Arab Hanafis" or the "Turkish Hanafis".

Common sense, really.

[hope1]

Assalamu aliakum,

What is he saying brother?

Fiqh al-Aqaliyyat is a relatively minor issue compared to corruption in aqidah.

[London786]

I agree in the arab world the ulema face a lot of pressure. I mean come on shaykh ahmed kuftaryo due to the pressure of the syrian regime said alawis are muslim. Same is true of shaykh bouti who led the janazah of hafiz al assad an alawi. Pakistan no matter what anyone says is 1 place where the deobandis, ahlul hadeeth, brelvis all freely express themselves. Yes obviously some do pay a price...like the many deobandi ulema made shaheed...but the truth still comes out....qul jaal haqu waza haqal batil inal batila kana zahuka....
Long live pakistani ulema!!!

same is true of south african ulema...due to them not living in a climate of fear they state the truth...with regards to turkish ulema and sufis...well they cant even call mustafa kamal a kafir....and many other restrictions...

[al-Kankohi]

We should consider political and social situation of a country before talking about their ulama'.

One of the principles of fatwa is that the Mufti shouldn't live in a situation of fear.

Today, almost no other "traditionally Hanafi" country is as "intellectually free" as Pakistan.

In Turkey, Syria, Central Asia, the Balkans, Egypt the governments have a strict control over the `ulama'. That's why you hear weird stuff from some `ulama' of those countries. Many "Sufis", also, are used by the governments to counteract political opposition, that thus take the form of "salafi" militancy.

So, how can you expect to get an "objective", orthodox fatwa there?
Have you ever skipped the "fatawa" produced by the official Iftaa organism of the Turkish state?

But if you check the traditional Hanafi works, they match with contemporary (Deobandi) Hanafi scholars from the Subcontinent, far more than with the "Arab Hanafis" or the "Turkish Hanafis".

Common sense, really.

Interesting perspective. That's very true actually.

[suleimanibnsalim]

That may be true of certain scholars, but by no means the majority. To think that Sh Adib al-Kallas or Sh AbdurRazzaq al-Halabi were forced to teach what they teach is absurd. It is the same with the Habaib in Yemen. The yemeni government actually supported the wahhabi jihadis, since they helped get the president the south of Yemen. Nowadays they are helping to crush the zaydi uprising. However, this does not effect its scholars. One of the prominent Habaib has still called for implementation of shari`ah and criticized democracy. I heard this in one of his talks in Makkah during the Hajj season.

Was-salam

[London786]

my dear brother suleiman hope you are well...i always enjoy your posts...anyway bro ive been syria and trust me the ulema are under immense pressure...there is no such thing as freedom there....try and say anything about the alawi government and see what happens...also military training is compulsory and in those years u can almost forget about practicing islam...these governments are not concerned about those that really indulge in worship, or individual aspects of deen but the moment u start getting some sort of group together then its an issue...darses are not allowed without state permission...a few people gathering for a darse without state approval is an issue...trust me go stay there for a while and try and study and see how the secret service starts giving you hassle...and u dont have to be a mad jihadi/salafi for this to happen...looking like the habaib would be a major issue...in the arab world a lot of ulema are used knowingly or unknowingly by the governments...this is a fact and this always happens when there is state interference...it's and old trick....anyway bro there are still ulema-e-haqq in all places....but the political situation always plays a part...i mean try and find a turkish shaykh who openly criticizes ata kufr...better known as ata turk...so u see the political situation plays a big part...same with uk...before 9/11 ulema were more open...after 9/11 they dont speak about many issues