Additional clarification from the Shaykh on the issue of following the imam.
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Al-Huwaini: Regarding, O our Shaykh, following the imam, it is known to us all, of course, your opinion on the issue, but some people said:The Shaykh : Al-Albani, while holding the view that it is obligatory to follow the imam, even if he lowers his hands during the prayer, he leaves his hands in the prayer; he does not fold his hands after rising from the second bowing behind one who does fold them. So, if the issue were applied consistently, what is your opinion? I mean, do not take me as merely reporting this.
The Shaykh : No, no, many people have said this before you, and my answer to that is: For example, if I pray behind, say, Ibn Baz, I fold my hands, but if I pray behind these people who have no jurisprudence and no school of thought, I adhere to the Sunnah. And my statement that it is obligatory to follow the imam is known to our brothers who are constantly with us; that this opinion is not absolute in my view. I say, for example, that it is obligatory to follow a Hanafi imam, for instance, when he does not raise his hands, because he is following an imam whose authority is accepted by the majority of Muslims from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until this day. But if we are able to clarify the Sunnah to this imam, and it becomes clear to us that we have established the proof against him, and then he persists in preferring taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) over the Sunnah, then we do not follow him. Likewise, we say that some Shafi'is, for example, pray without raising their hands, so we differ from this imam, because the basis of following, in my understanding of the issue, is that if I pray behind Abu Hanifah, I appreciate his opinion and his ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), so I do what he does, and likewise I appreciate one who follows him because he is following an imam. But as for one who contradicts his imam out of laziness, ignorance, or to keep pace with people, as in the second example: a Shafi'i who does not raise his hand, I raise my hand. Why? Because he contradicts the Sunnah first, and he contradicts his imam second. The issue regarding the Hanafi imam is the opposite of that; if I follow an imam I do not know, and there is no discussion between me and him, and I find that he does not raise his hands based on his madhhab (school of jurisprudence), meaning based on his following of his imam, then there is no difference for me at that point whether I prayed behind the imam, or directly behind the imam's student, or behind the last student who is today on that madhhab. The point of this detail is that we do not say absolutely that it is obligatory to follow the imam, but there is a detail involved. If I follow an imam who has his own opinion and his own ijtihad, then I apply the rule at that time. But if I follow a person and I find, based on my understanding of the rule, that he has deviated from it, then I remain following the Sunnah and do not follow him in his error. Perhaps in this detail there is a restriction on that absoluteness on the basis of which the question was raised.
Al-Huwaini: But, O our Shaykh, regarding lowering the hands, this has no basis in the Sunnah, meaning leaving the hands in the standing position has no basis in the Sunnah. And then, the Maliki scholars weakened the narration of Ibn al-Qasim from Imam Malik regarding leaving the hands in the state of standing. So, this opinion, meaning, has no evidence from the imam of the madhhab, and the senior scholars of the Malikis disapproved of it.
The Shaykh : This is a side issue from the topic.
Al-Huwaini: No, I mean, if I pray behind an imam who claims to be Maliki and leaves his hands, then he is not following an imam nor following the Sunnah, so what do I do behind him? Do I leave my hands?
The Shaykh : No, you fold your hands when your opinion is like that, but when the issue, for example, is not like that, as we gave the example of raising the hands, the issue has a detail which we mentioned just now. Yes.
Al-Huwaini: May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : No, no, many people have said this before you, and my answer to that is: For example, if I pray behind, say, Ibn Baz, I fold my hands, but if I pray behind these people who have no jurisprudence and no school of thought, I adhere to the Sunnah. And my statement that it is obligatory to follow the imam is known to our brothers who are constantly with us; that this opinion is not absolute in my view. I say, for example, that it is obligatory to follow a Hanafi imam, for instance, when he does not raise his hands, because he is following an imam whose authority is accepted by the majority of Muslims from the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until this day. But if we are able to clarify the Sunnah to this imam, and it becomes clear to us that we have established the proof against him, and then he persists in preferring taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) over the Sunnah, then we do not follow him. Likewise, we say that some Shafi'is, for example, pray without raising their hands, so we differ from this imam, because the basis of following, in my understanding of the issue, is that if I pray behind Abu Hanifah, I appreciate his opinion and his ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), so I do what he does, and likewise I appreciate one who follows him because he is following an imam. But as for one who contradicts his imam out of laziness, ignorance, or to keep pace with people, as in the second example: a Shafi'i who does not raise his hand, I raise my hand. Why? Because he contradicts the Sunnah first, and he contradicts his imam second. The issue regarding the Hanafi imam is the opposite of that; if I follow an imam I do not know, and there is no discussion between me and him, and I find that he does not raise his hands based on his madhhab (school of jurisprudence), meaning based on his following of his imam, then there is no difference for me at that point whether I prayed behind the imam, or directly behind the imam's student, or behind the last student who is today on that madhhab. The point of this detail is that we do not say absolutely that it is obligatory to follow the imam, but there is a detail involved. If I follow an imam who has his own opinion and his own ijtihad, then I apply the rule at that time. But if I follow a person and I find, based on my understanding of the rule, that he has deviated from it, then I remain following the Sunnah and do not follow him in his error. Perhaps in this detail there is a restriction on that absoluteness on the basis of which the question was raised.
Al-Huwaini: But, O our Shaykh, regarding lowering the hands, this has no basis in the Sunnah, meaning leaving the hands in the standing position has no basis in the Sunnah. And then, the Maliki scholars weakened the narration of Ibn al-Qasim from Imam Malik regarding leaving the hands in the state of standing. So, this opinion, meaning, has no evidence from the imam of the madhhab, and the senior scholars of the Malikis disapproved of it.
The Shaykh : This is a side issue from the topic.
Al-Huwaini: No, I mean, if I pray behind an imam who claims to be Maliki and leaves his hands, then he is not following an imam nor following the Sunnah, so what do I do behind him? Do I leave my hands?
The Shaykh : No, you fold your hands when your opinion is like that, but when the issue, for example, is not like that, as we gave the example of raising the hands, the issue has a detail which we mentioned just now. Yes.
Al-Huwaini: May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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