Is the Salafi school a separate school of jurisprudence?
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The questioner : Here, a professor asks a question. First, if it is said that you are a separate school of jurisprudence...
The Shaykh : Yes, we are...
The questioner : We Salafis have many scholars from the Salaf who affiliate themselves with the imams, as is said, for example, al-Nawawi was Shafi'i, Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam was Shafi'i, and Ibn Taymiyyah was Hanbali. So what is known among people is that there are established schools of jurisprudence, and to this day there are no books in the library that say "this is the school of the Salaf," because some of the famous scholars of the Salaf are seen affiliating themselves with the schools of famous imams. So what do we say in this answer?
The Shaykh : The answer is easy, if Allah wills. You say there is no book that represents the school of the Salaf as a separate school other than the four schools. We say this is a favor from Allah upon the Muslims, because when we say we are of the school of the Salaf, we do not mean the school of the Salaf in every single issue, but rather the methodology of the righteous Salaf. Because we know more than the followers of taqlid and the partisans of schools know, that the Salaf differed in many of the branch issues that are called such, but they did not differ in matters of creed, they did not differ in the principles, and they did not say, for example, as the Hanafis said, that it is not permissible to specify the Qur'an with a solitary hadith. Do you see? The Salaf were completely opposed to this. And with this, a great and very great door of Islamic jurisprudence opens before us in which we differ from the Hanafi school. So our affiliation with the Salaf is not in the branches, because it is established that the Salaf themselves differed in few or many branch issues. But we affiliate with them in terms of the principles and the scientific methodology. The absence of a book that represents the methodology of the Salaf is a very necessary matter. Therefore, we say we are not advocates of a single school, because when you advocate for a single school, sectarianism returns.
Al-Halabi : You have opened a wide door.
The Shaykh : That is it.
The Shaykh : Yes, we are...
The questioner : We Salafis have many scholars from the Salaf who affiliate themselves with the imams, as is said, for example, al-Nawawi was Shafi'i, Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam was Shafi'i, and Ibn Taymiyyah was Hanbali. So what is known among people is that there are established schools of jurisprudence, and to this day there are no books in the library that say "this is the school of the Salaf," because some of the famous scholars of the Salaf are seen affiliating themselves with the schools of famous imams. So what do we say in this answer?
The Shaykh : The answer is easy, if Allah wills. You say there is no book that represents the school of the Salaf as a separate school other than the four schools. We say this is a favor from Allah upon the Muslims, because when we say we are of the school of the Salaf, we do not mean the school of the Salaf in every single issue, but rather the methodology of the righteous Salaf. Because we know more than the followers of taqlid and the partisans of schools know, that the Salaf differed in many of the branch issues that are called such, but they did not differ in matters of creed, they did not differ in the principles, and they did not say, for example, as the Hanafis said, that it is not permissible to specify the Qur'an with a solitary hadith. Do you see? The Salaf were completely opposed to this. And with this, a great and very great door of Islamic jurisprudence opens before us in which we differ from the Hanafi school. So our affiliation with the Salaf is not in the branches, because it is established that the Salaf themselves differed in few or many branch issues. But we affiliate with them in terms of the principles and the scientific methodology. The absence of a book that represents the methodology of the Salaf is a very necessary matter. Therefore, we say we are not advocates of a single school, because when you advocate for a single school, sectarianism returns.
Al-Halabi : You have opened a wide door.
The Shaykh : That is it.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.