Warning About a Serious Issue: Compelling Judges and Muftis to Follow a Specific School of Jurisprudence

From this, we arrive at a very serious issue, which is what has happened in many Islamic countries today. By Islamic countries, I mean those that have fallen into this problematic situation, such as Syria and Egypt. They have compelled judges and rulers to judge and issue fatwas based on a specific school of jurisprudence, either based on the Majallah previously, or based on laws recently established with some modification of the Majallah’s rulings. This is regarding the judges. As for the mufti, he must issue fatwas while adhering to the Hanafi school. This is compelling people to do what is not obligatory in the first place. Rather, this is an order that is the opposite of what this hadith indicates. If a mufti is asked for a ruling, he must refer to the Book and the Sunnah, not to the school of jurisprudence in which his imam said, “It is not permissible for him to issue a fatwa until he knows its evidence.” Thus, the mufti who restricts himself to issuing fatwas from his school does not refer to the scriptural evidence; he issues fatwas based on what is in the school.
I give an example of this. A fatwa was issued, which I personally reviewed, by one of the former muftis in this country, stating that it is permissible for a Muslim to store pork in the large refrigerators of the Christians. This is because a good Muslim had a large refrigerator in which he stored fruits, meats, and the like. An Armenian man came to him and offered him a high fee in exchange for storing his pork in this refrigerator. The Muslim, meaning his heart was doubtful about this work, and whether it is permissible in Islam for a Muslim to store forbidden pork. So he went to ask the mufti. The mufti said to him, “Come back in a few days.” He came, and the mufti gave him the fatwa. The fatwa is actually both laughable and tear-inducing at the same time. First, it was a fatwa without a solid basis, meaning without proof. Second, it was a fatwa in the style of politicians, with elastic language that can be interpreted this way or that way. The mufti issued a fatwa stating that in such-and-such book of the Hanafi school, which he issues fatwas from, it says: “If a Muslim is hired by a dhimmi to transport wine for him, it is permissible for him to do so, and the fee is lawful for him.” And so-and-so also said in the school: “It is permissible, but with dislike.” Then he cited another citation, saying: “If a Muslim builder is hired by a Christian to build a church for him, it is permissible, and the fee is lawful for him.” He cited such contradictory citations. In the end, he did not tell the questioner: “It is permissible for you to store pork” or “It is not permissible for you to store pork,” or “The fee is lawful for you” or “The fee is not lawful for you.” Rather, he said: “From what has preceded, you know the answer to your question!”
The answer contains two sins. The first sin is that he never said to him: “Allah said” or “The Messenger of Allah said,” even though the issue is one of the clearest issues for one who has knowledge and jurisprudence in the Book and the Sunnah. The other issue is that he confused him; he brought him two opinions: “The fee is lawful for you,” but a second opinion: “It is disliked.” And dislike in the Hanafi school, when stated absolutely, is for prohibition. If this mufti had returned, as this hadith obligated him to, meaning to issue a fatwa to the questioner based on a solid basis, evidence, and guidance, if he had returned to the Book and the Sunnah, he would have found, for example, in the Noble Qur’an: ; this is cooperation in aggression and disobedience to the Most Merciful (Blessed and Exalted is He). And he would have found in Sahih Muslim His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): ; He cursed everyone who assists in consuming riba. And also in the authentic hadith: , ten types, starting with the drinker and ending with the carrier of the wine. This is because they all cooperate in drinking wine, which is originally a sin, drinking wine. But drinking wine cannot happen without selling wine, and selling wine cannot happen without buying it, and buying wine cannot happen without buying grapes, and buying grapes cannot become wine except by pressing them, and this juice cannot become wine, as it may become vinegar, except by processing it in a technical way until it becomes wine. Once it becomes wine, it cannot be drunk from shops and stores except by being transported from the press or the fermenter to the wine seller, and so on. Because all these people assist the wine drinker in drinking wine, they were all cursed. How can this be hidden from one who has knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah, who issues a fatwa to that questioner that it is permissible to store pork?!
So the calamity today is that the fatwa is imposed to be issued from a book that is not the Book and the Sunnah, and judges must issue fatwas from laws. I wish they were purely Shari’ah laws, as was the case in the time of the Majallah, where all or most of it was from the Hanafi school. But today, there are man-made laws in it that did not descend from the sky, but emerged from the earth. These rulings were imposed on Muslim judges to judge by them among Muslims. This is a calamity that has befallen the Syrian and Egyptian countries, and perhaps in other countries where we do not know the true state of affairs.
Now, there are preachers calling for the codification of rulings, meaning to follow the example of the Syrian and Egyptian states, and imposing specific opinions and ideas on the judges who rule there by the Book and the Sunnah. This is a calamity, a new calamity, and we hope to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that it does not materialize in those countries. But every Muslim must know this truth: it is not permissible to issue fatwas except from the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, just as it is not permissible to judge except by deriving from the Book of Allah or the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah (may the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him).