How do we resolve the difficulty we encountered in the madhhab of Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding the increase and decrease of faith?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : Shaykh Nasser.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.
The questioner : How are you, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah. Shaykh, first of all, praise be to Allah who guided me to call you so that I could benefit from you.
The Shaykh : Welcome, welcome.
The questioner : You have been kind in answering.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : First of all, Shaykh, we have study circles in the mosque on "Al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah," and a point regarding faith has become difficult for us: does it increase and decrease, or not?
The Shaykh : Why is the matter difficult for you when the Qur'anic text is explicit on this?[Al-Muddaththir 74:31].
The questioner : If you would like, I can read it to you.
The Shaykh : Listen, my brother.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I say, why is the matter difficult for you when the text of the Qur'an is right before you?
The questioner : Shaykh, that matter did not become difficult for us; rather, what became difficult for us is the madhhab of Abu Hanifah, which contradicted the people of hadith.
The Shaykh : No, the madhhab of an imam should not be difficult for you if the Lord of all imams has explicitly stated the opposite of what that imam says. Therefore, the Imam of the City of Migration, Malik ibn Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), said: "None of us is there who has not been refuted and refuted others, except the occupant of this grave," and as you know, he pointed to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So, O students of knowledge, it should not be difficult for you that the truth contradicts the statement of an imam. It is not permissible to have this difficulty ever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Especially since you know that the other imams say, in accordance with that explicit text in the Noble Qur'an, that faith increases and decreases, contrary to the statement of Imam Abu Hanifah that it does not increase or decrease. So the statement of Abu Hanifah here is not relied upon, and he is excused for having said this, and he will be rewarded, if Allah wills, with a single reward from Allah.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : Shaykh Nasser.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace.
The questioner : How are you, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, I am well.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah. Shaykh, first of all, praise be to Allah who guided me to call you so that I could benefit from you.
The Shaykh : Welcome, welcome.
The questioner : You have been kind in answering.
The Shaykh: Go ahead.
The questioner : First of all, Shaykh, we have study circles in the mosque on "Al-'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah," and a point regarding faith has become difficult for us: does it increase and decrease, or not?
The Shaykh : Why is the matter difficult for you when the Qur'anic text is explicit on this?
and those who have believed will increase in faith
وَيَزْدَادَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِيمَانًاThe questioner : If you would like, I can read it to you.
The Shaykh : Listen, my brother.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : I say, why is the matter difficult for you when the text of the Qur'an is right before you?
The questioner : Shaykh, that matter did not become difficult for us; rather, what became difficult for us is the madhhab of Abu Hanifah, which contradicted the people of hadith.
The Shaykh : No, the madhhab of an imam should not be difficult for you if the Lord of all imams has explicitly stated the opposite of what that imam says. Therefore, the Imam of the City of Migration, Malik ibn Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), said: "None of us is there who has not been refuted and refuted others, except the occupant of this grave," and as you know, he pointed to the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). So, O students of knowledge, it should not be difficult for you that the truth contradicts the statement of an imam. It is not permissible to have this difficulty ever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh : Especially since you know that the other imams say, in accordance with that explicit text in the Noble Qur'an, that faith increases and decreases, contrary to the statement of Imam Abu Hanifah that it does not increase or decrease. So the statement of Abu Hanifah here is not relied upon, and he is excused for having said this, and he will be rewarded, if Allah wills, with a single reward from Allah.
The questioner : Yes, may Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.