The Position of Imam Ahmad in Jurisprudence and Hadith
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Question:
And in your hand, Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is a question from someone who says that Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) is a hadith scholar, not a jurist, because he authored books on hadith but did not author books on jurisprudence. How should one respond to him?
Answer:
The one who says this does not know Imam Ahmad, nor does he know his fatwas, nor does he know the jurisprudence recorded from him. Imam Ahmad is considered one of the jurists among the hadith scholars. He combined jurisprudence with hadith; he combined jurisprudence with hadith. This is because the hadith scholars are of two types: the first type are those who combined jurisprudence and hadith, such as Imam Ahmad, Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, who combined narration and understanding. The second type are those who limited themselves to memorization only.
And they did not derive rulings. These are the ones called the memorizers; they are said to be the memorizers, people of narration only, people of narration and not people of understanding. The third type, and may Allah protect us from that, are those who are neither people of narration nor people of understanding. This is weak, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave an example of that.
He said:Riyad as-Salihin 1378, it held the water and caused the grass to grow, so the people were quenched and their livestock grazed. These are the people of narration and study, the hadith scholars who are jurists. And it fell on land that was barren, meaning it did not grow anything, but it held the water and benefited the people. These are the memorizers, people of narration only. And it fell on , which did not accept the guidance I came with and did not raise its head for it. So Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) is among the heads of the jurists among the hadith scholars.
And his jurisprudence is now well known. And it is recorded. Is this a lie attributed to him? There is no doubt that saying Ahmad is not a jurist, while his jurisprudence now fills the libraries, is either denying reality or not knowing Imam Ahmad. And one who does not know a thing is not permitted to speak about it.
And in your hand, Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, is a question from someone who says that Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) is a hadith scholar, not a jurist, because he authored books on hadith but did not author books on jurisprudence. How should one respond to him?
Answer:
The one who says this does not know Imam Ahmad, nor does he know his fatwas, nor does he know the jurisprudence recorded from him. Imam Ahmad is considered one of the jurists among the hadith scholars. He combined jurisprudence with hadith; he combined jurisprudence with hadith. This is because the hadith scholars are of two types: the first type are those who combined jurisprudence and hadith, such as Imam Ahmad, Malik, al-Shafi'i, and Ishaq ibn Rahawayh, who combined narration and understanding. The second type are those who limited themselves to memorization only.
And they did not derive rulings. These are the ones called the memorizers; they are said to be the memorizers, people of narration only, people of narration and not people of understanding. The third type, and may Allah protect us from that, are those who are neither people of narration nor people of understanding. This is weak, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave an example of that.
He said:
The guidance and knowledge with which Allah has sent me are like abundant rain which fell on a land
مثل ما بعثني الله به من الهدى والنور، كمثل غيث أصاب أرضاA third group is only barren land that holds no water and grows no grass. So that is the likeness of one
طائفة ثالثة إنما هي قيعان لا تمسك ماء ولا تنبت سلا فذلك مثل منAnd his jurisprudence is now well known. And it is recorded. Is this a lie attributed to him? There is no doubt that saying Ahmad is not a jurist, while his jurisprudence now fills the libraries, is either denying reality or not knowing Imam Ahmad. And one who does not know a thing is not permitted to speak about it.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 4 — youtube.com (22:25)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.