Did the estrangement between you and your father last until the end of his life, and is this considered undutifulness to parents?
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The questioner : Okay, regarding the father, you mean it lasted until the end of his life with you?
The Shaykh : What do you mean by estrangement?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I told you: he would come to my shop and greet me, but he would not enter the shop. Yes.
The questioner : Yes, but O our Shaykh, regarding this, is it not considered undutifulness to parents?
The Shaykh : Some of the fanatics may assume that, and indeed they state it explicitly, but this is undoubtedly something that no scholar in the world can say: that preferring to follow the Sunnah over the father's madhhab is considered undutifulness to parents. Because undutifulness to parents, according to the scholars, is disobeying the father, disobeying his command and defying him, without there being, first, any independent legal reasoning in the disobedience, and without the independent legal reasoning being motivated by following the Book and the Sunnah. So I do not think a fair man would consider this undutifulness to parents, otherwise Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would have been undutiful to his father.
Of course, it will be said here that there is disbelief and the oneness of Allah involved, so I say: Yes, but here too there is the Sunnah and following a scholar without knowing his evidence, so it is not permissible.
Look, Abu Layla, look at Umm al-Fadl.
The questioner : Okay.
The Shaykh : A moment, by Allah, a little.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : What do you mean by estrangement?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : I told you: he would come to my shop and greet me, but he would not enter the shop. Yes.
The questioner : Yes, but O our Shaykh, regarding this, is it not considered undutifulness to parents?
The Shaykh : Some of the fanatics may assume that, and indeed they state it explicitly, but this is undoubtedly something that no scholar in the world can say: that preferring to follow the Sunnah over the father's madhhab is considered undutifulness to parents. Because undutifulness to parents, according to the scholars, is disobeying the father, disobeying his command and defying him, without there being, first, any independent legal reasoning in the disobedience, and without the independent legal reasoning being motivated by following the Book and the Sunnah. So I do not think a fair man would consider this undutifulness to parents, otherwise Ibrahim (peace be upon him) would have been undutiful to his father.
Of course, it will be said here that there is disbelief and the oneness of Allah involved, so I say: Yes, but here too there is the Sunnah and following a scholar without knowing his evidence, so it is not permissible.
Look, Abu Layla, look at Umm al-Fadl.
The questioner : Okay.
The Shaykh : A moment, by Allah, a little.
The questioner : Yes.