What is your opinion of Imam Malik's fatwa when al-Mansur wanted to compel the people to follow the Muwatta, where he permitted disagreement?
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The questioner : He saysThe questioner : What is your esteemed opinion of Imam Malik's (may Allah be pleased with him) fatwa to al-Mansur when he intended to compel the people to follow the Muwatta, where he (may Allah be pleased with him) permitted disagreement?
The Shaykh : No. He did not permit disagreement, but rather this is part of his perfection, and the perfection of all the imams of the Muslims. They do not want a Muslim ruler to compel the Muslims to adhere to the madhhab of a single imam. This is a virtue of Imam Malik, even though he believed, without doubt, that what he held was correct. However, he did not believe that he was correct in every issue he mentioned. Therefore, he knew that among the other scholars of the Muslims there is much good, and very much good. For this reason, he refused to let Abu Ja'far al-Mansur compel the Muslims to follow only the madhhab of Malik, because that would mean narrowing the scope of knowledge. For knowledge is in the Book and the Sunnah, as you know from the words of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him):
Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, and what the Companions said; it is not deception.
What is knowledge? You have set yourself up for foolish disagreement between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist.
No, nor is it denying the attributes and negating them out of fear of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and tashbih (likening Allah to creation). This is part of Malik's perfection: that he was not pleased for that Muslim ruler to compel the Muslims to follow only the madhhab of Malik, because knowledge is not confined to the knowledge of Malik. Rather, it is distributed among all the scholars of the Muslims in all parts of the world. Knowledge was not confined to Madinah; there were scholars in Makkah, there were scholars in al-Ta'if, there were scholars in Baghdad, in Damascus, and so on. Therefore, Malik's refusal is in fact a lesson for those who follow scholars blindly (mقلids) who are fanatical about the opinions of their madhhab and do not try to benefit from the madhahib of the other imams in any way. This is the guidance of Imam Malik's refusal: to issue a fatwa according to his madhhab or act according to his madhhab only. Yes.
The questioner : Do we pray and not complete it?
The Shaykh : Do you want to pray here or in the mosque?
The Shaykh : No. He did not permit disagreement, but rather this is part of his perfection, and the perfection of all the imams of the Muslims. They do not want a Muslim ruler to compel the Muslims to adhere to the madhhab of a single imam. This is a virtue of Imam Malik, even though he believed, without doubt, that what he held was correct. However, he did not believe that he was correct in every issue he mentioned. Therefore, he knew that among the other scholars of the Muslims there is much good, and very much good. For this reason, he refused to let Abu Ja'far al-Mansur compel the Muslims to follow only the madhhab of Malik, because that would mean narrowing the scope of knowledge. For knowledge is in the Book and the Sunnah, as you know from the words of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him):
Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, and what the Companions said; it is not deception.
What is knowledge? You have set yourself up for foolish disagreement between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist.
No, nor is it denying the attributes and negating them out of fear of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and tashbih (likening Allah to creation). This is part of Malik's perfection: that he was not pleased for that Muslim ruler to compel the Muslims to follow only the madhhab of Malik, because knowledge is not confined to the knowledge of Malik. Rather, it is distributed among all the scholars of the Muslims in all parts of the world. Knowledge was not confined to Madinah; there were scholars in Makkah, there were scholars in al-Ta'if, there were scholars in Baghdad, in Damascus, and so on. Therefore, Malik's refusal is in fact a lesson for those who follow scholars blindly (mقلids) who are fanatical about the opinions of their madhhab and do not try to benefit from the madhahib of the other imams in any way. This is the guidance of Imam Malik's refusal: to issue a fatwa according to his madhhab or act according to his madhhab only. Yes.
The questioner : Do we pray and not complete it?
The Shaykh : Do you want to pray here or in the mosque?
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.