The Role of the Four Imams in Serving Islam
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Fatwa number ( 7595 )
Q: The individuals the question revolves around are: al-Shafi'i and Abu Hanifa and Malik and Ibn Hanbal . First: Where do these individuals stand, and what is the rank of their benefit? Are they
scholars or imams? Second: What role did they play in serving the teachings of Islam? Third: Are they worthy of respect in that they have sufficient knowledge of the Islamic creed? Fourth: If one follows one of them in a statement or action, is one considered a person who has deviated from the straight path? Fifth: Sometimes you find them differing in opinion; what does this situation imply? Sixth: What is done with a person who insults them or their teachings?
A: Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon His Messenger, his family, and his Companions.. And after: First: Abu Hanifa is: al-Nu'man ibn Thabit al-Taymi, a freed slave of the Banu Taym Allah ibn Tha'labah , born in 80 AH and died in 150 AH. And Malik is: ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Abi 'Amir al-Himari al-Asbahani , born in 93 AH and died in 179 AH. And al-Shafi'i is: Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-'Abbas ibn Uthman ibn Shafic al-Qurashi al-Mutalibi, born in 150 AH and died in 204 AH. And Ibn Hanbal is: Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ibn Hilal ibn Asad al-Shaybani Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Marwazi then al-Baghdadi , born in 164 AH
and died in 241 AH, may Allah have mercy on them. These distinguished men grew up in Islam and lived in the best of the generations, the three generations that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) testified are the best of the generations. They engaged in knowledge from their youth, so they studied the Book of Allah the Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the biography of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and the rest of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and the history of those who preceded them and those of the best of the Muslim community who were their contemporaries. They took from them the Islamic sciences and exerted their utmost effort in them, until they became prominent and became among the luminaries of scholars, the inheritors of the prophets in knowledge and eloquence, and among the imams of guidance in advising the community and guiding it, enjoining good and forbidding evil. Second: From what has preceded, it is clear that they played an important role in serving Islam, studying its sciences, understanding its rulings—its principles and branches—and deriving them from their correct source and pure spring: the Book of Allah the Exalted and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). They also spread its sciences among the Muslims; so the community was illuminated by them in its religious and worldly affairs, it rose in its culture in knowledge and character, and life flourished with them, so it became the best nation brought forth for mankind, in faith and sincerity, enjoining good and forbidding evil, with wisdom and good admonition, and arguing in the best manner. May Allah have mercy on them with a vast mercy, and reward them for Islam and the Muslims with the best reward.
Third: By the knowledge and guidance Allah granted them, and the good leadership He bestowed upon them in governing the community—its shepherd and its flock—through advice and guidance, they were worthy of reverence and respect, and of being placed in the positions that Allah the Exalted assigned to them; in fairness to them, and as a reward for doing good with good. Indeed, whoever does not thank a person who has done him a favor does not thank Allah. We hope that what Allah the Exalted has reserved for them with Him is a higher rank and a greater reward, and we beseech Allah to reward us for them with the best reward; for the sound creeds and correct rulings they clarified for us, and the brilliant heritage and beneficial knowledge they left for us. Fourth: That these scholars and their like among the imams of guidance and firmness in knowledge, with the strength of understanding, breadth of knowledge, and far-sightedness and experience with the objectives of the Shari'ah, and their standing upon its secrets, are not infallible. Rather, each of them errs and hits the mark, and they have acknowledged this and admitted it to themselves, and they did not disdain to announce it to people and clarify to them that each of them and their like is to be taken from his statement and rejected upon him, and that the proof is only in the Book of Allah and what is authentic of the Sunnah of the infallible Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); in establishing the truth and placing matters in their proper place. And on this basis, whoever among others—ancient or modern—is sharp in thought, knowledgeable of the texts of the Shari'ah, expert in its objectives, and capable of
deriving rulings from its evidence—it is obligatory for him to exert effort in the sources of rulings and their evidence, and it is incumbent upon him to act according to what appears to him of the rulings, and it is not permissible for him to follow another mujtahid in taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence). However, he may make use of the wealth of knowledge left by those righteous ones, hoping that Allah will thereby facilitate the path to truth and the attainment of correctness. As for one who is unable to do that, let him follow in taqlid a mujtahid from these imams and their like, without partisanship for one of them. A fatwa has been issued by us on this subject, and this is its text: (Whoever is qualified to derive rulings from the Book and the Sunnah, and is capable of doing so, even with the aid of the jurisprudential wealth we have inherited from the previous scholars of Islam—he has that right; to act upon it for himself, to judge by it in disputes, and to issue fatwas to those who ask him. And whoever is not qualified for that, it is obligatory for him to ask the trustworthy people of knowledge in his time, or to read the books of the trustworthy, reliable scholars; to know the ruling from their books and act upon it, without restricting his question or reading to a scholar of the four schools of jurisprudence. Rather, people turned to the four because of their fame, the precision of their books, their spread, and their ease for them. And whoever says that taqlid is obligatory for students absolutely, he is mistaken, rigid, and has a bad opinion of students in general, and has restricted what is broad. And whoever says
Restricting taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) to the four well-known schools of jurisprudence is also an error; one has narrowed a broad matter without evidence, and there is no difference for the layperson between a jurist from the four imams and others, such as al-Layth ibn Sa'd, al-Awza'i, and the like of jurists. Fifth: The minds and faculties of human beings are limited, their instincts and inclinations differ, and their aptitudes and intellectual capacities vary. Therefore, Allah the Exalted sent the messengers, peace be upon them, as guides and showers of the way, bringers of good news and warners, so that people would have no excuse before Allah after the messengers. Yet disagreement occurred among the scholars, either because some received the evidence from the Book and the Sunnah while others did not, or because they differed in understanding the text of the evidence they received, or because the evidence appeared to them to conflict and they differed in prioritizing some over others, or for other reasons. The scholars have discussed this extensively in books on the causes of disagreement, including the Imam Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah in his book *Raf' al-Malam 'an al-A'immah al-A'lam* (Lifting Blame from the Distinguished Imams). Whoever wants further clarification on this should refer to this book and to the books he authored on the causes of scholarly disagreement, both old and new. Sixth: After it has been established that these scholars possess virtue, high rank, sincere truthfulness in Islam, and noble service to the Muslim community, the greatest among them
is targeted, and the prophets and messengers, despite their truthfulness, high status, uprightness, and mercy toward people, were not safe from the harm of their people. This is not surprising, for the flood, as the ancients said, is a war against the high ground. Whoever insults these righteous people has wronged himself and committed a sin against himself, and he will meet his retribution, whether soon or later. Allah is watching over the transgressors, and there is no power or might except with Allah. And success is from Allah. May Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.