DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - "Did the Sahaabah also make Taqleed?" Yes

Bismillahi-ir-Rahman-ir-Raheem

Introduction:

Some people say that Taqleed (Adherence to a Madhhab-School of Thought) is haram in the Shari’ah. They insist that a true Muslim should only follow the Qur’an and Sunnah. They also claim that the Hanafi, Shaaf’i, Maliki and Hanbali schools were formed some two hundred years after the Holy Prophet sallallahu alaihe wasallam, therefore they are bid’ah (an innovation not approved in the Qur’an and Sunnah). They also stress that a Muslim should seek guidance directly from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and that no intervention of an Imam is needed to practice upon the Shari’ah.

In this article, I have compiled the evidences related to the Issue of Taqleed (Adhering to a School of Thought) in an attempt to clarify this issue once and for all, stating evidences from the lives of the Companions proving that they too made Taqleed to Imams from amongst the Companions. This should then leave no room for those - who have been misguided in this regard - to not just accept that following a madhhab (School of Thought) is not from the innovated matters, but also the way of the Salaf (Rightly guided Predecessors – The First three generations of Muslims) and thereafter the way of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa’ah.

What is Taqleed?

The literal definition of Taqleed is ‘to put on a necklace or strap around the neck.’ In Shari’ah terms, Taqleed is to deem a person’s verdict and action to be necessary, according to the Shari’ah, upon another. This is done in the belief that the former’s verdict and action is a proof for us as he is a Shari’ah Researcher (Muhaqqiq). An example of this is how we deem the verdict and actions of Imam Malik (May Allah be pleased with Him) as verification for us in the rules of Shari’ah without pursuing its proofs.

The marginal notes of Hussami records from Sharh Mukhtasarul Manaar,

‘Taqleed is when a person obeys another’s opinion or action after hearing it without pursuing his proofs in the belief that he is amongst the Shari’ah Researchers (Ahle-Tahqeeq).”

This definition of Taqleed was also given by Musalamath-Thuboot and Imam Ghazali (May Allah be pleased with Him), in Kitaabul-Mustafaa, Volume 2, Page 86.

From this definition, it can be deduced that obeying the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him) cannot be termed Taqleed as his every saying and action is a proof within Shari’ah. In Taqleed, The Shar’i proof is not looked at, which is why we, the Imams of this Ummah and the Salaf are called the ‘ummatis’ of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him) and not those who follow him through Taqleed (Muqallids)

Similarly, the obedience shown by the general Muslim public towards a learned person cannot be called Taqleed as his verdict or action is not deemed as a proof upon us. In this case, he is obeyed in the belief that he is a learned person and has given a verdict after consulting Islamic texts. If his verdict (Fatwa) is proven wrong and contrary to them, it will not be accepted. This differs to be the verdict of Imam Malik (May Allah be pleased with Him) which is accepted irrespective of whether he deduced a rule after referring to the Ahadith, Qur’an, consensus of the Ummah, the actions of the people of Madeenah or from legal analogy (Qiyaas).

To sum up,

“The faculty of Taqleed is inherently existent in us. If we had refrained from the Taqleed of our parents and teachers then today we would have been deprived of even the basic and preliminary needs of humanity. By nature man is endowed with the ability to imitate and follow others. If this was not the case, we would not have been able to learn our home language. If we had refused to accept unquestioningly (without demanding proof) every command, beck and call of our teachers, then we would have been ignorant of even the alphabet of a language, let alone the study and writing of our books. Our whole life – every facet of it, eating, drinking, donning garments, walking, earning, etc., is connected with this very concept of Taqleed.

If the fundamentals and technical terminology of every branch of knowledge was not acquired on the basis of Taqleed, i.e. without questioning the authority of the masters, then the proficiency in such knowledge could not have been attained. “– Mufti Mahmood Hasan Gangohi

Which rules must Taqleed occur in and in which not?

Taqleed has many dimensions to it. Shari’ah rules (Masaail) are of three types:

Creed (I’tiqaad)
Those laws which are explicitly proven from the Qur’an and Sunnah with Ijtihaad having no weight on them.
Those laws which have been deduced from the Qur’an and Sunnah using Ijtihaad as well.

It is not permissible to make Taqleed of anyone in matters of Creed (I’tiqaad). Tafseer Roohu Bayaan state, “If we are asked as to how we have accepted the Oneness of Allah (‘Azzawajal), His Messengers, His Books, His Angels, The Day of Judgement, Destiny – the good and evil, etc., we cannot say, “Through the rulings of Imam Abu Haneefah or through the proofs found in his book, al-Fiqh al-Akbar,” as Taqleed of anyone in matters of creed is impermissible. “

The preface of Shaami, discussing Taqleed, states,

“…What we believe besides secondary Fiqhi Laws, meaning those beliefs which are compulsory for every Mukallaf (an adult, sane, answerable Muslim) to believe in without making Taqleed to anyone, the beliefs held by the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa’ah, i.e. The Ashaa’irah and The Maturidiyyah.’”

Tafseer-e-Kabir states,

“Taqleed of a person in explicit laws, e.g. the five daily prayers, the units of prayers, etc. is also impermissible. These are those rules which are proven explicitly from an absolute script of Islamic Law. Therefore, the ruling and books of Imam Abu Haneefah (May Allah be pleased with Him) will not be used to support prayer being obligatory, etc. Rather, they are to be substantiated from the Qur’an and Sunnah.”

Those rules which have been extracted from the Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma’, Qiyaas, A’maal of the Ahlul Madeenah using Ijtihaad and the ability of deducing Islamic laws are obligatory to make Taqleed on by one who cannot make Ijtihad.

Upon who is Taqleed obligatory and upon whom is it not?

The Muslims are divided into two categories in general:

Mujtahid (One who is qualified in Ijtihaad):
The necessary qualifications were laid out by Imam Abu’l Husayn al-Basri (died 467 AH/ 1083 CE) in “al Mu’tamad fi Usul al-Fiqh” and accepted by later scholars, including al-Ghazali. These qualifications can be summed up as an understanding of Quranic injunctions, the purpose of the Kalaam (Divine scripture), ability to extract rules from it, knowledge over the applicable (Naasikh) and inapplicable (Mansookh), exceptional linguistic command over Arabic language and Quranic verses and Ahadith of laws. Besides these qualities, he must be intelligent and have a comprehending mind.
Ghair-Mujtahid/Muqallid: A person who has not reached such a level. Taqleed is necessary for a Ghair-Mujtahid and is not allowed for a Mujtahid.

The Necessity of Taqleed:

Imam al-Shatibi (d. 790 / Granada) who was an illustrious Imam of the Maliki madhhab and master in the science of Usool al-Fiqh mentioned in his definitive work on the principles of fiqh known as al-Muwafaqat:

“The follower is not a learned man therefore, it will not be correct for him to do anything but ask the people of knowledge and they must resort to them in matters concerning the rules of religion unconditionally; thus, they (the Mujtahid scholars) assume for him (al-Muqallid) the function of the holy law; their opinions take for him the place of the holy law. From this point of view, the decisions (fatwa) of the Mujtahid (like the four Imams) are for the common people (al-Muqallid) what the texts of the holy law (meaning The Qur’an and The Sunnah) are for the Mujtahid.”

The point al-Shatibi is making here is that all of those who don’t fulfil the conditions to make Ijtihad (who are referred to as “Muqallid”) are obligated to follow the opinions of the competent imams (such as Abu Haneefah, Shaaf’i, Ibn Hanbal and Malik) and that they have no right in deducing rules from the primary texts due to their incompetence. Furthermore, just as the primary sources are proof for those who have reached the level of Ijtihad, likewise the opinions of the Mujtahid are proof for the Muqallid since he has no ability to weight the proofs and therefore his understanding of primary texts relies upon the interpretation of those Mujtahid imams and not his own incompetent understanding of the texts. Thus, the job of a scholar today is to transmit the opinion of his imam regardless of whether or not he assumes the proof is weak simply because he is incompetent to weight the proofs.

Did the Sahaabah also make Taqleed?

On many occasions people are confronted by those who are trying to confuse Muslims - A satanic deception - They ask certain questions about Schools of thought and try to create confusion amongst the Muslims. I have personally been asked this question many times. I was asked the same Question on my Blog "Reading the Quran during Menstruation". To which I had given a lengthy reply. I have since used the same reply for this blog. (With a little addition)

Firstly I would like to add a Hadith here,

Imam Bukhari has taken proofs from the Quran and Hadith. He has quoted Hadith under the following headings:

"Hold on fast to the Jamaat of Muslims and their Imam"(page 059, Vol 1)

"One, who separates oneself from the Jamaat (of Muslims) even a hand span, will die a death of ignorance"(page 1045, Vol 2)

There is also an order even execute those who separate themselves from the Jamaat of Muslims and their Imam.

"...they will leave Islam in the way an arrow leaves its bow...wherever you see them, you should kill them. Their killing will be rewardable on the day of Qiyaamah"(page 75, Vol 2)

"A group of people will emerge from amongst you, who will belittle your Salah over theirs , and your Fasts over theirs, and your actions over theirs, they will recite the Quran, which will not pass their throats (have no effect upon them), the will leave the Deen like an arrow leaves its bow" (page 756, Vol2).

These people will emerge before Qiyaamah. Only those who are deficient in age and knowledge will join them

{Imam Muslims, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Nasai also quote the same}

Before the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) came to us, there was great Jahilliyah in the World. There was a need for a Prophet to come set things in order. Thus, came our final Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him). The Prophet was given help by Allah in the form of Sahaabah. The World had a new PERFECT teacher to learn from and to follow. The Sahaabah were the best of the best students to learn from for the people to come later. Islam started to spread far & wide. Many wars were taking place and many Hufaz of the Quran were made Shaheed, due to the number of Hufaz lost, The Muslims (Sahaabah) saw the need of compiling the Quran together in a form of a book so that the Quran may be preserved. This was the will of Allah and for this reason we have the Quran with us today. Later many opinions were being given as to how one should practice their Deen. Some quoted from what they saw the Prophet (SAW) do in his early days and some quoted from what they saw in the middle days of his life and some quoted from the last few days of his life.

Hence there were many opinions going around everywhere. Later by the will of Allah came the time for the Great Imams. These great Imams realised the problems that could arise with all these differences in the Ummah, so again by the will of Allah rules were deduced and formulas were set up in order to have a correct codified interpretation of the teachings of the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) with all the correct references and hadith.

The Imams would also comment that if something that they have decided upon and stronger evidence is found, then this would become their way. This comment was not set out for laymen of the last 1000 years, Infact it was set out for the other great Faqih amongst them. Now by the will of Allah, Islam was codified and recorded for the people of the future. With all four schools of thoughts having slightly different understanding of the rulings set out by them on a few aspects, Allah has in this way kept the Sunnah alive for the entire life of the Prophet (Peace be upon Him). Now comes the time, by the Will of Allah that all the Hadith get noted and written down and preserved for the future. The great Imams who had such vast knowledge of Hadith still followed a school of thought by the will of Allah.

So as you can see, Allah sent the Prophet, The Quran, The Sahaabah, The Imams and then the Hadith collectors in this particular order. There is Great Hikmah in this. Allah is the best of planners. Why try to change the plan or go another way.

The Imams of the Sahaabah

The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) sent Hadhrat Musayb bin Umayr (RA) as the first teacher to Madinah at the request of the people of Madina, after the pledge of Aqba.

Whilst Hadhrat Musayb (RA) was in Madina, who did the people follow? Did he call the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) up and ask him?

Did The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) send Hadhrat Musayb (RA) to teach or to be followed or just to teach?

(All this was whilst the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) was alive)

When the answers could not be found in Quran & Hadith, what did the Sahaabah do?

Hadhrat Abu Bakr (RA) gave Fatwa and made it clear that it was his Ijtihad and view. The people followed the school of Abu Bakr (RA)

Hadhrat Umar (RA) gave fatwa from his Ijtihad and view. On one occasion he sent a message to his judges that they also make Ijtihad when passing a ruling if it was not clear from Quran & Sunnah or amongst the senior Sahaabah.

Hadhrat Uthmaan (RA) took pledge of Khilafat on the condition that he follows the previous Khalifas.

Hadhrat Ali (RA) used to say "I am making Ijtihad on my view"

Many of the Fatawa of the Khulafa-e-Rashedeen appear in "Musannif ibn Abi Shaibah"

The Prophet (SAW) sent Hadhrat Ma’aaz (RA) to Yemen where he applied Ijtihad to solve many Issues. The entire population of Yemen followed the school of Ma’aaz (RA). He was the Imam for Yemen.

Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) resided in Makkah; many of his fatwas are listed in "Musannif Abdur Razzaq" & "Musannif ibn Abi Shaibah". The School of thought for Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) was dominant in Makkah.

Hadhrat Zaid ibn Thabit (RA) resided in Madina. He passed his fatwas there from his understanding of the Quran & Sunnah and from the teachings of the Senior Sahaabah (RA).

Hadhrat Anas (RA) was followed in Basra.

Hadhrat Abdullah ibn Masood (RA) was sent to Kufa by Hadhrat Umar (RA) to be the teacher of Kufa. He was followed in Kufa.

On many occasions, proof was not given as they did not give their opinions from their desires, but they gave their rulings from the understanding of the Deen they had learnt from the Prophet (Peace be upon Him)

During the era of the Tabi'een, many people used to go to Makkah for Hajj. The Khalifa of the time would make the following announcement: "No one is to pass a Fatwa except these two Imams Hadhrat Ata ibn Abi Rabaah and Hadhrat Mujahid (RA)." Thousands of the Fatawa passed by these two appear with no proofs mentioned with these rulings. All the Tabi'een and the Taba' Tabi'een used to practice upon these rulings without any objection or question.

During the era of the Tabi'een, different areas were following different schools.

In Makkah it was the school Hadhrat Ata bin Abi Rabaah
In Madina it was the school of Nafi Mowla ibn Umar
In Basra it was the school of Hassan al Basri
In Kufa it was the school of Ibrahim an-Nakha'i
In Yemen it was the school of Tawoos
In Yamama it was the school of Yahya ibn Abi Katheer
In Sham it was the school of Makhool
In Iraq it was the school of Maimoon bin Mehran
In Khurasaan it was the school of Dahaak

In every city, the people would follow that particular school and on many occasions without any proof.

All this was before the four Imams.

This does not mean the Hadith was not there or the information was not gathered.

So to put it all together and answer the query of whom the Companions followed:

The Sahaabah followed the Prophet (SAW) and took from the Quran & Sunnah Directly and so too did the four Imams.

....Allah says in the Quran "In the Sight of Allah only Islam is accepted (Surah 13/ Verse 9).

The Prophet (SAW) left behind the Quran and the Sunnah, and the Sahaabah, who were living examples of Islam, with whom Allah is happy with. The Prophet (SAW) said "hold fast to My Sunna and the Sunna of the Khulafa e Rashedeen" (Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, ibn Majah etc.). He also said "My Sahaabah are like Stars, whomsoever you follow, you will be rightly guided" (Mishkat).

Islam Began to spread far & wide, thus 2 periods past, the period of the Prophet (SAW) and the period of the Sahaabah. During the latter time of the Sahaabah, Imam Abu Hanifa grew up and met some Sahaabah also. In this era, the compilation of jurisprudence, the systematic settings of laws, rules, regulations on every subject of Deen, the arguments of jurisprudence principles were codified (later completed by his Students & other Imams of Fiqh). The deliberation of every aspect of life, be it, political, social, economic took place. All this was done in the light of Quran and Sunnah (Because the Sahaabah and Tabi'een were daily narrating Hadith & reading the Quran. This was not done from hearsay or from the air, or by following whims and desires like they are accused of doing).

In the time of Imam Abu Hanifa, a group of 40 Chosen, top ranking Ulama would discuss, deliberate and contemplate each law, rule and regulation before it was noted in registers. Deliberation from every angle would take place before it was noted. Hence approximately 1.3 million Masa’il were listed. (1,300,000) (we are not in the position to take out the strongest opinion, no matter which scholar tries, they are not of the calibre)

The other great Imams of fiqh followed, and then the Imams of Hadith began their tremendous and marvellous task of compilation and codification of the Hadith.

We have now completed 4 periods.

1. The era of The Prophet (Peace be upon Him),
2. The era of the Sahaabah,
3. The era of the Imams of Fiqh,
4. The Imams of Hadith.

Thus, The Quran & Sunnah came first followed by the schools of thought who explained the Sunnah in detail, then the compilation of the Hadith.

There were many Imams of Fiqh but only four survived. These four reached us because, they were codified properly and they had students prepared to continue the transmission of the four schools and finally because Allah desired so. The four schools contain the entire life of our Prophet (SAW).

Muslims are supposed to seek the truth, you name me one scholar in the last 1000 years that was capable of making his own Ijtihad after seeing and studying all the schools with all the evidence they have provided do you even think they can pull out the strongest opinion to fit around the other rulings they had passed. Some of them differed in their opinions, but they all had valid reasons. Each ruling they had passed was in conjunction with another rule for that subject, for each school, everything fits in perfectly. The Greatest Scholars of Islam have already done all this work for us. There are no new Hadith that will come. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. The Deen is perfect. There is no need for people to start giving absurd views and start misleading people. It is unbelievable that sometimes even something that is common sense, others would like to prove them wrong.

Finally, the Imams had eye witnessed the actions of the Senior Tabi'een (Imam Abu Hanifa saw some of the Sahaabah), these Tabi'een were not fools to follow their own desires, they followed the Sahaabah who followed The Prophet (Peace be upon Him).

Why follow one Imam

This Fatwa by Sheikh Uthaymeen was posted on a forum from which I have copy and pasted it:

Important advice to the students of knowledge by Ibn al-‘Uthaymeen.

الحمد لله

هذا جيد كون الإنسان يركز على شيخ من المشائخ يجعله هو الأصل لا سيما المبتدئ الصغير , المبتدئ الصغير إذا طلب العلم على عدة أناس تذبذب , لأن الناس ليسوا على رأي واحد خصوصاً في عصرنا الآن , كان فيما سبق أي قبل مدة كان الناس هنا في المملكة لا يخرجون أبداً عن الإقناع والمنتهى ؛ فتجد فتاواهم واحدة , وشروحهم واحدة , لا يختلف واحد عن آخر إلا في الإلقاء وحسن الأسلوب , لكن الآن لما كان كل واحد حافظاً حديثاً أو حديثين قال : أنا الإمام المقتدى به والإمام أحمد رجل ونحن رجال , فصارت المسألة فوضى , صار الإنسان يفتي , أحياناً تأتي الفتوى تبكي وتضحك وكنت أهمَّ أن أدوَّن مثل هذه الفتاوى لكن كنت أخشى أن أكون ممن تتبع عورات إخوانه فتركته تحاشيناً مني إلا نقلنا أشياء بعيدة عن الصواب بُعد الثريا عن الثرى .

فأقول : ملازمة عالم واحد مهمة جداً ما دام الطالب في أول الطريق لكي لا يتذبذب , ولهذا كان مشائخنا ينهوننا عن مطالعة المغني وشرح المهذب والكتب التي فيها أقوال متعددة عندما كنا في زمن الطلبة , وذكر لنا بعض مشائخنا أن الشيخ عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن بابطين ـ رحمه الله ـ وهو من كبار مشائخ نجد ذكروا أنه كان مكبَّاً على الروض المربع لا يطالع إلا إياه ويكرره , كل ما خلص منه كرره لكن يأخذه بالمفهوم والمنطوق والإشارة والعبارة فحصل خير كثير .

أما إن توسعت مدارك الإنسان فهذا ينبغي له أن ينظر أقوال العلماء يستفيد منها فائدة علمية وفائدة تطبيقية , لكن في أول الطلب أنا أنصح الطالب أن يركز على شيخ معين لا يتعداه .

من فتاوى الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين , كتاب العلم , الصفحة # 107

Translation of which states:

Praise is to Allah.

It is good if a person focuses on one sheikh and makes him his main source, especially if he is a young beginner, for if the young beginner seeks knowledge from a number of people he will be confused. For people are not all of one opinion, especially nowadays. In the past, here in the Kingdom (Saudi Arabia) people never deviated from [the books] al-Iqnā’ [Book of Hanbalī Fiqh by Al-Buhuti] and al-Muntahā [Book of Hanbalī fiqh by Mar`i bin Yusuf], so their Fatawa were all the same and the bases of their Fatawa were all the same; no one differed from another, except in his delivery and style. But now, everyone who has memorized a hadith or two says, “I am the Imam to be followed. Imam Ahmad was a man and we are men.” So now there is chaos. Everyone is issuing Fatawa and sometimes you hear Fatawa from these people who make you weep and laugh at the same time. I was thinking of recording these Fatawa, but I was afraid that this might make me one of those who seek out their faults of their brothers, so I did not do it lest we transmit things that are as far from the truth as the earth is from the Pleiades.

I say: adhering to one scholar is very important when the seeker of knowledge is just starting out, so that he will not be confused. Hence our scholars forbade us to read al-Mughnī and Sharh al-Muhadhdhab and other books which contain numerous opinions when we were starting out. One of our scholars told us that Sheikh ‘AbdAllah ibn ‘AbdRahmān Bābiteen (May Allah have mercy on him), who was one of the great scholars of Najd, only read al-Rawd al-Murabba’ [Book of Hanbalī Fiqh by Al-Buhuti] and never read anything else. He read it repeatedly but he discussed it in great detail and in great depth.

If a person has gained a great deal of knowledge, then he should look at the views of the scholars so as to benefit from them in both academic and practical terms. But when one is just starting out, my advice is to focus on one particular scholar and not go to anyone else.

[From Fatawa al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Sālih al-‘Uthaymeen, Kitāb al-‘Ilm, page # 107]

The Sahaabah followed the Imams of their own time and this continued until all the rules were deduced and recorded for all to follow one codified Islam. This gave birth to the four great Imams. Even the Great Hadith Scholars followed a codified Islam as laid out by the four schools of thoughts. If they followed a school, then what chance have we got in trying to find the strongest opinion? No Chance....

These people think they are very clever with their stupid questions and think they are capable of seeking out the truth for themselves. Well good luck to them as they will go round in circles only to find that their own scholars and their scholars’ scholars were following a school of thought. Shaytaan works in strange ways and sometimes his job becomes so easy he just has to sit back and relax.

Stick to one of the schools, you can’t go wrong, Insha’Allah. Don’t pick and choose the Masa'il from different schools; you will end up living a life of Sin.