The Shaykh’s distinction in the issue of following the imam between the imam who follows his own imam without the truth becoming clear to him, and the one who knows the Sunnah and deliberately opposes it.
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The Shaykh : Here, we must distinguish between two cases, and with that, I conclude the answer to the previous issue. We should distinguish between an imam who prays according to the school-based knowledge he has received, and another imam to whom the Sunnah has become clear, yet he deliberately and intentionally opposes it. The entire previous discussion concerns only the first type of imams, who are the majority of people today.
As for the other type, those to whom it becomes clear that they are opposing the Sunnah after it has become clear to them, in that case, their opposition has no sanctity. We respect the imam he follows and emulates.
However, if it becomes clear to us that the Sunnah has become clear to him, yet he opposes the Sunnah and opposes his own imam when the imam says, "If the hadith is authentic, it is my school," then such an imam has no sanctity, because he deliberately opposes the Sunnah. He is not, of course, a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings), nor is he following a mujtahid in this, because the mujtahid told him, "If the hadith is authentic, it is my school."
Therefore, I want to remind you of these two points and the difference between them, because I notice that many of our brothers... always ask me about the second type, meaning the type that deliberately opposes the Sunnah. Do we also follow this one? When a question comes to me outside the scholarly gathering, I tell the questioner—and this also happened today between me and one of our brothers, where we prayed in a mosque whose imam was Hanafi. As you have understood from me repeatedly, I do not raise my hands behind such an imam. The one mentioned left with me and said, "O so-and-so, if we pray behind an imam to whom the Sunnah has become clear and he opposes it, do we follow him?" I said to him, "Why do you ask about that imam and not about this imam? Why do you leave this imam whom you are praying behind? I see him praying there almost every day. Why don't you ask about him? Has the Sunnah reached him? Has the Sunnah been conveyed to him?" He said, "No." We said, "So why don't you ask about him? Do we follow him? So leave this one and hold onto a rare image, which is the imam to whom the Sunnah becomes clear and then he stubbornly persists in opposing it."
So, we should first understand the issue correctly from a scholarly perspective, and second, we must apply it with correct practical application.
Most of the imams behind whom we pray do not know the Sunnah, nor do they know the school, nor do they know that the imam of the school said, "If the hadith is authentic, it is my school".
The details we live with as Salafis are those who have been forbidden from living in this scholarly atmosphere. Therefore, do not assume that every imam to whom the argument has reached and the proof has been established is considered stubborn. It is not so. In fact, I say more than that, and with this I conclude the answer: it does not mean that anyone who can contact any of these imams has established the argument against him, because establishing the argument requires knowledge and requires a style of explanation and debate. It is not enough that one of us learns an issue or two and comes to argue with one of those imams, and that is it, the argument has been established against him. Allah knows best, did he establish it against him or not?
In summary, the principleSahih al-Bukhari 1236 must be implemented generally, so there is no school-based following behind the imam. If a person becomes certain through clear evidence that a certain imam knew the Sunnah and then abandoned it, then we do not follow him. I personally do this. For example, a Shafi'i imam who does not raise his hands. Why? He said it is out of consideration for the Hanafis. This is not said by the Hanafis or the Shafi'is, but rather it is said by desire. Meanwhile, this Shafi'i imam recites the qunut in the Fajr prayer, and this is the school of Imam al-Shafi'i. So I personally recite the qunut with him in Fajr and raise my hands behind him, while he does not raise them because it is contrary to his school, out of consideration for the people. So the issue requires knowledge and requires detail.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The same question, I mean, it doesn't just become the same question?
The questioner : No... the topic.
The Shaykh : The topic, but it doesn't become... the answer, please go ahead.
The questioner : Regarding the hadithSahih al-Bukhari 1236, the imam is defined with the definite article "al," which imam? The lawful imam specified by the wise Lawgiver, who described him as the one among them who reads the Book of Allah best, who knows the Sunnah best, and so on. We see today that many imams do not possess these qualities they were commanded to have; they are employees or ignorant, and behind them is someone more deserving... Does this mean the ruling of the topic changes in light of this present situation?
The Shaykh : It does not change, of course. Do you pray behind him or not?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Why are you praying behind him if he is not the imam?
The questioner : I mean.
The Shaykh : Since he is not this imam, why are you praying behind him?
The questioner : There is no one else besides him.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is the answer. When you find someone better than him, leave him and go to him. When you find someone better than him, leave him and go to him.
As for the other type, those to whom it becomes clear that they are opposing the Sunnah after it has become clear to them, in that case, their opposition has no sanctity. We respect the imam he follows and emulates.
However, if it becomes clear to us that the Sunnah has become clear to him, yet he opposes the Sunnah and opposes his own imam when the imam says, "If the hadith is authentic, it is my school," then such an imam has no sanctity, because he deliberately opposes the Sunnah. He is not, of course, a mujtahid (scholar qualified to derive rulings), nor is he following a mujtahid in this, because the mujtahid told him, "If the hadith is authentic, it is my school."
Therefore, I want to remind you of these two points and the difference between them, because I notice that many of our brothers... always ask me about the second type, meaning the type that deliberately opposes the Sunnah. Do we also follow this one? When a question comes to me outside the scholarly gathering, I tell the questioner—and this also happened today between me and one of our brothers, where we prayed in a mosque whose imam was Hanafi. As you have understood from me repeatedly, I do not raise my hands behind such an imam. The one mentioned left with me and said, "O so-and-so, if we pray behind an imam to whom the Sunnah has become clear and he opposes it, do we follow him?" I said to him, "Why do you ask about that imam and not about this imam? Why do you leave this imam whom you are praying behind? I see him praying there almost every day. Why don't you ask about him? Has the Sunnah reached him? Has the Sunnah been conveyed to him?" He said, "No." We said, "So why don't you ask about him? Do we follow him? So leave this one and hold onto a rare image, which is the imam to whom the Sunnah becomes clear and then he stubbornly persists in opposing it."
So, we should first understand the issue correctly from a scholarly perspective, and second, we must apply it with correct practical application.
Most of the imams behind whom we pray do not know the Sunnah, nor do they know the school, nor do they know that the imam of the school said, "If the hadith is authentic, it is my school".
The details we live with as Salafis are those who have been forbidden from living in this scholarly atmosphere. Therefore, do not assume that every imam to whom the argument has reached and the proof has been established is considered stubborn. It is not so. In fact, I say more than that, and with this I conclude the answer: it does not mean that anyone who can contact any of these imams has established the argument against him, because establishing the argument requires knowledge and requires a style of explanation and debate. It is not enough that one of us learns an issue or two and comes to argue with one of those imams, and that is it, the argument has been established against him. Allah knows best, did he establish it against him or not?
In summary, the principle
The Imam is to be followed
إنما جعل الإمام ليؤتم بهThe questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : The same question, I mean, it doesn't just become the same question?
The questioner : No... the topic.
The Shaykh : The topic, but it doesn't become... the answer, please go ahead.
The questioner : Regarding the hadith
The Imam is to be followed
إنما جعل الإمام ليؤتم بهThe Shaykh : It does not change, of course. Do you pray behind him or not?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Why are you praying behind him if he is not the imam?
The questioner : I mean.
The Shaykh :
The imam was made
إنما جعل الإمامThe questioner : There is no one else besides him.
The Shaykh : Yes, that is the answer. When you find someone better than him, leave him and go to him. When you find someone better than him, leave him and go to him.