The Ruling on Criticizing the Imams, Such as Abu Hanifah, and Clarifying the Status of Reason
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The Shaykh:
Indeed. Indeed. Give.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: What is the ruling on one who criticizes some of the Imams, such as Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him), and says that his statements are based on reason, not on the Qur'an and the Sunnah? We ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify to us the truth of this statement?
The Shaykh:
Reason is not rejected absolutely, as the Asha'irah say. Reason is not rejected absolutely, nor is it relied upon absolutely; rather, it is acted upon when it agrees with the Shari'ah. When it agrees with the Shari'ah, it is acted upon. This is the position of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him); he acts with reason and analogical reasoning (qiyas) when it agrees with the Shari'ah, within the limits of the Shari'ah. And intellects are a blessing from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We do not deny them. But reason does not stand alone; it must agree with the Shari'ah.
And the one who speaks this speech is ignorant; he is not free from one of two things: either he is misguided, and may Allah protect us from that, and wants to mislead the Muslims by insulting their Imams, or he is ignorant and claims to be a scholar and that he is more knowledgeable than Abu Hanifah. This is a problem; some of them claim to be more knowledgeable than Abu Hanifah, Malik, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and al-Shafi'i. Some of them claim this and say, "They are men, and we are men. They are men, and we are men. They are scholars, and you are an ignorant man, and not[Az-Zumar 39:9]." So this is dangerous speech, and may Allah protect us from that, speech about the Imams. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Indeed. Indeed. Give.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: What is the ruling on one who criticizes some of the Imams, such as Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him), and says that his statements are based on reason, not on the Qur'an and the Sunnah? We ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify to us the truth of this statement?
The Shaykh:
Reason is not rejected absolutely, as the Asha'irah say. Reason is not rejected absolutely, nor is it relied upon absolutely; rather, it is acted upon when it agrees with the Shari'ah. When it agrees with the Shari'ah, it is acted upon. This is the position of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him); he acts with reason and analogical reasoning (qiyas) when it agrees with the Shari'ah, within the limits of the Shari'ah. And intellects are a blessing from Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We do not deny them. But reason does not stand alone; it must agree with the Shari'ah.
And the one who speaks this speech is ignorant; he is not free from one of two things: either he is misguided, and may Allah protect us from that, and wants to mislead the Muslims by insulting their Imams, or he is ignorant and claims to be a scholar and that he is more knowledgeable than Abu Hanifah. This is a problem; some of them claim to be more knowledgeable than Abu Hanifah, Malik, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and al-Shafi'i. Some of them claim this and say, "They are men, and we are men. They are men, and we are men. They are scholars, and you are an ignorant man, and not
Are those who know equal to those who do not know?
يَسْتَوِي الَّذِينَ يَعْلَمُونَ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَThe presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
بلوغ المرام [34] — alfawzan.live (1:08:50)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.