Taqleed and Salafism.

[Abu_Tamim]

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When I came to him, I saw ‘Umar with him. Abu Bakr spoke to me, “’Umar came to me and informed me that many recitors of the Qur’an fell.” He said, “I fear that if this continues then a large portion of the Qur’an will be lost to us. Therefore I advise you to instruct that the Qur’an be collected (in book form).” I answered, “How can I do something which the Messenger of Allah never did?” ‘Umar replied, “By Allah, there is only good in this.” He repeated this again and again until I became satisfied and understood what he had understood.”
Sahih al-Bukhari and Jame’ Tirmidhi.

Collectively from the five quoted traditions, the following points become clear:

• Some meanings of the text sources are obvious while some are hidden and subtle. The latter are mysteries, wisdom and reasons.
• The level of understanding the texts varies from people to people. Some only understand the apparent while others fathom the deeper meanings.
• In this disparity in comprehension virtue and merit are not due to a mere difference in understanding but this is exclusive to a special level of depth and penetration which is worthy of consideration.
• This special understanding is a bestowal of Allah and is not the result of human effort.

The summary of Quwwat-e-Ijtihadi's nature (from the above mentioned narrations) is that it is an exclusive ability of understanding and deduction by which its possessors discover the deeper, subtle meanings of the source-texts (Nusus) and the mysteries and reasons for the commands pertaining to practice and belief in a convincing manner. Others cannot reach where they have reached.
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Sometimes their hearts would become content with another view and they retracted from their first opinion. This ability is called 'fahm', 'fiqh', 'ijtihad' and 'istinbat'. Other terms are also used for it in the Qur'an and narrations.

12. Did the Imams prohibit their taqleed?

12.1 Query: The Imams themselves have said that it is unlawful to adopt their view until the proof is known. Those you make taqleed of, therefore prohibit this selfsame taqleed.
Answer: The audience of the Imams is not those who do not possess the capacity for Ijtihad. Otherwise this statement will clash with those narrations that permit it and also with their own practice and other statements. The clash with their practice is that it is not documented anywhere that the Mujtahid offered proof when answering every question. Similarly there was no strictness or insistence in recording the proofs of their Edicts which they compiled e.g. Al-Jami' al-Saghir etc. It is obvious that an answer is given for practice whether it be verbal or in a book. So the practice of the Imams is taqleed per se.
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A ruling of Imam Abu Yusuf on a juristic issue effectively counters the contention (of the anti-taqleed choir) that the Imams forbade Taqleed. It is reported in Hidaya, 'Awwalayn from Abu Yusuf that if a person has blood removed from his body while fasting and then he intentionally eats and drinks thinking that his fast has broken on the basis of the narration, "The fast of both, the cupper and the cupped is broken", then such a person will have to necessarily keep Kaffara. Presenting the argument for the issue, he said, "It is obligatory for the layman to follow the jurists as he has no understanding of the narrations."

This statement clearly shows that the earlier statements of the Imams is addressed to people who can perform Ijtihad, not those who cannot. Accordingly , pondering on the statement reveals this restriction, 'until the proof is known' which shows that they were speaking to scholars who could understand the proofs. He who lacks the ability for Ijtihad may hear the proof but he cannot understand it. Imposing the comprehension of proofs on a person who lacks the capacity for it is takleef ma laa yutaaq (imposing the unbearable) which is null and void in the Shari'ah. So it is clear that this address is to the Sahib-e-Ijtihad and not laymen.

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12.2 Ibn Taymiyya said, "The Imams barring taqleed is only for the one who has the ability to derive commandments from the proof."
Fatawa ibn Taymiyya*

13. The error of judging the narrations of the Jurists on the criteria of the Traditionists:

13.1 Coming to those narrations that are weak on the criteria of the traditionists, firstly all those rules and principles are presumptive on which the tradionists have based the strength and weakness of the narrations, the main factor being the credentials of the narrator. In certain principles, therefore the traditionists are themselves divided.
Similarly a narrator being reliable or unreliable is also presumptive (speculative, non-categorical). Therefore the scholars of hadith differ in many narrators. Also the condition for declaring a narrator weak is conditional to many restrictions and it is not conceded that all conditions are found everywhere. Books on this subject confirm this. When these rules and principles are presumptive then how can they be binding on all? The jurists have formulated principles to judge the strength and weakness of the narrations on the basis of evidence which is presented in the works of principles of jurisprudence. So it is possible for a narration to be unreliable for the hadith collectors but worthy of being used as a basis for commandments according to the Jurists.
*Al-Kalam al-Mufeed fi Ithbaat al-Taqleed, pg.233.
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Secondly weakness (dhu’f) is not an inherent quality in the hadith. It is due to the narrator. Thus it is quite possible that the Mujtahid received the hadith with an authentic chain and it (the chain) was later tarnished by the addition of a weak narrator. This later weakness does not harm the earlier contention and proof of the Imam.
Once a Mujtahid has employed a narration in his argument – bearing in mind that using the narration for this is dependent on its authenticity- then he has actually authenticated the tradition. This is the purport of the statement of the scholars, “When a Mujtahid advances a hadith in an argument, its authenticity is implied.” (In fact its authenticity is a necessary corollary stemming from his acceptance of the narration as the basis of formulation of a Law)

13.2 It is fitting to mention here that the Thulathiyyat (traditions in which there are only three links/narrators to the Prophet [saw]) narrated by Imam Bukhari (rah) and other hadith scholars are very few. (Such narrations are much prized by hadith scholars) This can be judged from the fact that in the whole of Sahih al-Bukhari, there are not more than 20-22 thulathiyat.

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Imam Abu Hanifa (rah) by virtue of being a tabi’i and being born earlier has narrations that are predominantly thulathiyat. In fact, there are even Thunaiyyat (ahadith with only two narrators up to the Prophet [saw]) to his credit. Hence Imam Sha’rani al-Shafi’i writes, “I have studied authentic copies of the three masanid of Imam Abu Hanifa endorsed by the Huffaz of hadith. I found every hadith to be of the excellent and righteous tabi’un, the likes of Aswad, ‘Alqama, ‘Ata’, Ikrima, Mujahid, Makhul, Hasan al-Basri and others.”

Thus between the Imam and the office of Prophethood all the narrators were upright and righteous scholars and they were eminently saintly people. None of them was a liar or accused of mendacity. This is the reason that the Imams of Hadith and the scholars have concluded that the ahadith with which the Mujtahid Imams have formulated (schools of) Fiqh are much more reliable and trustworthy than the later ahadith because these eminent fuqaha’ were the teachers (mentors and in fact asatizah of the asatizah) of the later hadith scholars (muhadditheen). Further they were closer in time to the era of Prophethood and the Companions. Falsehood had not become widespread during the best of times (Khayr al-Quroon). Therefore whatever weakness (dhu’f) developed due to the narrators (ruwaat) was the harvest of later generations.
(Malfuzat-e-Muhaddith Kashmiri, pp 147/8)
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Chapter two: A brief selection of the praises showered on Imam Abu Hanifa:

1. When the verse of Sura Juma', "...and others among them who have not as yet met up with them" was revealed, the Prophet (saw) placed his hand on Salman (ra) the Persian saying, "If Imaan (deen) had been on Pleiades, then men - or he said- a person from among them would have reached it.
Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Tafseer.

Hafiz Suyuti said, "This hadith is an authentic and reliable basis for the inference that reference was to Imam Abi Hanifa."
The student of Hafiz Suyuti said, "Our teacher was convinced that this narration doubtless referred to Imam Abu Hanifa because none from Persia attained his rank in Islamic knowledge ('ilm)."

2. Sam’ani said in al-Ansaab: “He (Imam Abu Hanifa) engrossed himself in the pursuit of knowledge (‘ilm) and went to great lengths in acquiring it until he achieved what none besides him achieved. One day he came to (Caliph) Mansur when ‘Isa ibn Abaan was present. He (Ibn Abaan) said to Mansur, ‘This is the (preeminent) scholar in the world today.’”*

*Quotations from no.2 to 10 are all from Qawaa’id fi ‘Uloom il Hadith, pp. 308-331.

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3. Yazid ibn Harun* said, “I met a thousand men (scholars) and I wrote traditions from most of them. I found five of them to be greater than the rest in jurisprudence (fiqh), fear of Allah (taqwa) and knowledge (‘ilm). The foremost among them was Abu Hanifa.”

4. It was reported from ‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak, “I came to Kufa** and asked the scholars there who the greatest scholar in their land was. Without exception, they took the name of Imam Abu Hanifa.”

5. Hafiz Ibn Khusraw narrated with his chain from Muhammad ibn Salama that Khalaf ibn Ayyub said, “Knowledge (‘ilm) came down from Allah (swt) to Muhammad (saw). Then it passed on to his Companions, then to the Followers. Then it went to Abu Hanifa and his companions.”

It is not hidden that knowledge in that age was nothing other than knowledge of the Qur’an and hadith (‘Ilm al Hadith wa’l Qur’an). Hence, the greatest scholar of that time was the one with the most knowledge of the Qur’an and Hadith.

6. Ibn al-Qayyim said in I’lam al Muwaqqi’in that Yahya ibn Aadam*** said, “Nu’man (Abu Hanifa) gathered all the hadith of his city. His gaze was thus on the final traditions which the Prophet (saw) left behind.”

*In the words of Hafiz Ibn Hajar in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib he was, “One of the eminent and well-known huffaz. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ‘Ali ibn al-Madini and a host of others have reported from him.”

**Indeed Kufa was the home of 1500 Sahaba of whom 70 were Badris; leave alone the other cities of Iraq. Refer to Fiqh Ahl al-Iraq wa Hadithuhum by Imam Kawthari, pg. 42.

***He is among the teachers (Shuyukh) of the shuyukh of Imam Bukhari. His hadith are narrated in Sahih Bukhari and he was a contemporary of Imam Abu Hanifa in Kufa.
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7. Ibn Khaldun, the historian says, “What indicates that he (Abu Hanifa) was of the senior Mujtahideen in the field of hadith is that his Madhhab gained acceptance among them (Mujtahideen) and they turned to it and gave it recognition after discussion and due investigation.”

8. Ibn Hajar (Makki) said in his Qala’id that Sufyan al-Thawri said, “We were like sparrows in front of a hawk before Abu Hanifa. Truly, Abu Hanifa was the leader of the scholars.”

9. Imam Shafi’ (rah) said that Imam Malik (rah) was asked, “Did you see Abu Hanifa?” He said, “Yes! I saw a man who if he wished to prove to you that this pillar was of gold could prove it.”

10. Khatib al-Baghdadi reported with his chain from Ibn Karamah that he said, “we were with Waki’ ibn al-Jarrah one day when a person said, ‘Abu Hanifa has erred.’ Waki’ spoke, ‘How could Abu Hanifa err when he has with him the likes of Abu Yusuf, Zufar and Muhammad with their analogy(qiyas) and juristic reasoning (ijtihad), the likes of Yahya ibn Zakariyya Abu Zaaida, Hafs ibn Ghiyath and Hibban and Mandal, the sons of ‘Ali with their hifz and understanding of narrations, Qasim ibn Ma’an and his mastery of language and linguistics and Dawud ibn Naseer al-Ta’i and Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad with their abstinence from this world (Zuhd) and fear of Allah (taqwa)? A person with such students and companions can hardly err. If he does, then they will return him to the truth.”

11. Imam Sha’rani said in al-Mizan that Imam Shafi’ (rah) left out the Qunut when he visited Imam Abu Hanifa’s grave and it was time for Fajr. He said, “How can I recite the Qunut in the presence of the Imam when he does not allow it?”

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Imam Sha’rani adds that the reason that Imam Shafi’i did that was to show respect to the Mujtahid Imams, placing them and all their statements on a noble and high pedestal for they never said anything but after knowing an evidence from the hadith of the Prophet (saw).*

12. The following are the praises that Ibn Taymiyya (undisputed Imam of the Salafis) lauded on Imam Abu Hanifa, “These are the scholars who study and research knowledge day and night. They have no personal interest with anyone. In fact, they assert preference to this Companion’s statement sometimes and that Companion’s statement sometimes according to the proofs of the Shari’ah that they behold; like Sa’eed ibn al-Musayyib and the Fuqaha’ of Madinah…and their counterparts, the likes of ‘Alqama, Aswad, Qadi Shurayh, then Ibrahim al-Nakha’i, ‘Amir al-Shabi, Hakam ibn ‘Utayba, Mansur ibn ‘Utayba up to Sufyan al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, Ibn Abi Layla, Shareek and then Waki’ ibn Jarrah, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and their peers. **

13. He (Ibn Taymiyya) said in another place, “The Imams of the traditionists, Qur’anic exegesis (tafseer), Purification of the Soul (tasawwuf) and Jurisprudence (fiqh) such as the four Imams (Abu Hanifa, Shafi’, Maalik and Ibn Hanbal) and their followers (students).”

14. Imam Bukhari (rah) said, “I have never found myself more inferior and incapable than before Ibn al-Madini.” This same Ibn Madini together with Imam Ahmad and Yahya ibn Ma’een are the students of Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Qattan. And he (al-Qattan) would teach them with such majesty between ‘Asr and Maghrib that he would recline against a pillar of the mosque while the three would stand in front of him with arms folded, listening to his lectures on hadith and getting their doubts and questions about hadith and masa’il answered.

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Then note that `Allama Kurdari has listed Yahya al-Qattan among the students of Imam Abu Hanifa and the Ahl Shoora’ (consultative assembly) of his school. He would attend Abu Hanifa’s lessons and benefit from them and would give rulings on his Madhhab. He was the first author of Tarikh al-Rijaal (biographies of hadith narrators). He said with reference to Imam Abu Hanifa, “Allah is my witness that I do not lie when I say that I did not find anyone more correct in his judgment than Imam Abu Hanifa. And I followed him in most of his views.”*

15. Hafiz al-Hadith Makki ibn Ibrahim was the Imam of the traditionists of Balkh and the teacher of Imam Bukhari. Bukhari has included many of his narrations in his Sahih. From amongst the loftiest chains- the 22 Thulathi hadith of Bukhari- twenty are from Hanafi narrators and 11 are from Makki ibn Ibrahim alone. This great distinction (of the number of Thulathiyat in Bukhari) is because of predominantly Hanafi narrators. He is also a student of Abu Hanifa who stayed with him and learnt from him day and night. He says, “Imam Abu Hanifa was the greatest scholar of his time.”

And scholar (‘alim) in the language of the hadith scholars is one who is accomplished in the text and chains (mutun wa isnad) of the ahadith.

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