It is authentic from some of the four Imams that they said: "If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab." And al-Nawawi said
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The questioner : They frequently mention the statement of the four Imams: "If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab." They then bring up a hadith where some scholars issued a ruling contrary to its apparent meaning, and they hold the Imam to it, even though Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) clarified in the introduction of al-Majmu' that this phrase is not to be taken at face value. Thus, the Salafis have uniquely asserted weak jurisprudential opinions and imposed them on the Ummah. What is your opinion?
The Shaykh : My answer to this question is that I agree with Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) in what he held, subject to two conditions. The first condition: if he means that it is not permissible to attribute to Imam al-Shafi'i a contradiction of the hadith because he understood it in a specific way, then this is correct. The second condition: we, the Salafis, if we find that the hadith which Imam al-Shafi'i understood in one way was acted upon by other Imams in what appears to us as the other aspect of the meaning, and al-Nawawi intended that it is not permissible for us to act upon it because Imam al-Shafi'i acted upon it in one way or with another meaning, then we separate from them and say: It is not permissible for us to act upon a hadith that al-Shafi'i and the other Imams understood in one way, while we, in the last of times, understand it in another way, and the hadith in reality admits of two aspects, and we do not find anyone who preceded us in adopting the other aspect. In that case, we are with Imam al-Nawawi. However, if the hadith is explicit in its indication and does not admit of figurative interpretation, and we know that Imam al-Shafi'i, for example, or another, because he speaks within the limits of his madhhab, and we know that an Imam from among the Imams of the Muslims and the jurists who exercise independent legal reasoning interpreted it contrary to its apparent meaning and brought a proof for his interpretation that we do not know, then it is obligatory for us to follow him. But if they agree with us that the indication of the hadith is explicit, and we have no proof that diverts this indication to anything other than the opinion of so-and-so, then we are with the hadith, because Imam al-Shafi'i himself used to say that the hadith is an independent principle in itself, and it is obligatory for every Muslim, if it is authentic to him, to act upon it. As for Imam al-Shafi'i interpreting it with another meaning, we say that this other meaning either has a proof for us, meaning we are convinced by it, in which case it is obligatory for us to follow it, or he has no proof other than independent legal reasoning, and the hadith is explicit in its indication contrary to what he held. In this case, we apply the general guidance of the Imams: "If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab." I had addressed this issue in some detail in my introduction to the description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayer, where I presented a scenario: if a layperson is informed of a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and he is distressed at leaving off acting upon it, is it permissible for him to act upon it even though it is contrary to his madhhab?
Imam al-Subki answered: Yes, it is permissible for him to act upon it if he is informed that the hadith is authentic and that its meaning is as clarified to him; he has an excuse before Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to act upon it. This is for the ignorant layperson. What about the scholar or the student of knowledge? But here I must pause at the end of the answer to this question, and I hope our friend next to me will stick to his previous promise that this is the last question. And I say, in addition to the previous answer, I want our students who grew up with us following the Book and the Sunnah not to be bold in belittling the Imams who exercise independent legal reasoning, and not to say, as sometimes slips from their tongues, "We are men and they are men." It is a disgrace for the young person growing in the pursuit of knowledge to say this, while he is still at least a young person in the pursuit of knowledge. He may be middle-aged or old in age, but he is a young novice in the pursuit of knowledge. Nevertheless, he says: How can you contradict the Imams and be independent in your understanding of the hadith! The answer is: We are men and they are men. Look now, on the occasion of speaking about what preceded regarding Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him), of the virtue of Abu Hanifa is that he said: If the reports from the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a certain issue are in agreement and there is no disagreement among them, then we follow them. But if they differ, then we are men and they are men. When did he say this word? When the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) differ in an issue, he chooses the appropriate one from among those opinions and does not go beyond them to others. So we must take proper conduct from this report from Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him): not to be bold in declaring the Imams wrong, but rather we must be gentle and deliberate in judging an error that is not the error of one Imam, but the error of many Imams. I am not calling for fanaticism for the majority. No, I am not a follower of the majority, and perhaps you know that with certain knowledge. But at the same time, I do not want students of knowledge to be bold in declaring scholars wrong just because it appears to them that the hadith contradicts them. Rather, I want students of knowledge to dive into studying each issue individually, to study it as is said today, comparative jurisprudence, but on the condition that they reach the result, the fruit. Because comparative jurisprudence today in most of the well-known universities, called Islamic universities, deals with the preliminaries and then does not present the results and fruits. They mention, for example, the evidence of such-and-such a madhhab, and the evidence of such-and-such a madhhab, and the evidence of such-and-such a madhhab, and then nothing follows. The students come out confused!
Another questioner : Is this jurisprudence?
The Shaykh : No, this is not jurisprudence. Rather, jurisprudence is that you present these proofs and conduct a comparison between them to determine the stronger position. For example, you might say: The proof of so-and-so is such-and-such a verse, but it is from the category of arguing with a general proof. And the proof of so-and-so is that he argued with another specific verse or a specific proof, and the specific overrides the general. And so on, you conduct a filtering process among the proofs. It may be that a hadith of such-and-such a madhhab is not authentic, and the hadith that contradicts it is the authentic one, and so forth. So I want every student of knowledge to study the disputed issues in a simplified manner, placed under the scientific microscope, and then to come out with the result. Then let him say: This is my opinion. If I am right, it is from Allah; and if I am wrong, it is from myself. I see that many, and I fear to say all, students of knowledge are not influenced by some of the reports of the Salaf. And we are Salafis not by name, but it is also a designation...
The Shaykh : My answer to this question is that I agree with Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) in what he held, subject to two conditions. The first condition: if he means that it is not permissible to attribute to Imam al-Shafi'i a contradiction of the hadith because he understood it in a specific way, then this is correct. The second condition: we, the Salafis, if we find that the hadith which Imam al-Shafi'i understood in one way was acted upon by other Imams in what appears to us as the other aspect of the meaning, and al-Nawawi intended that it is not permissible for us to act upon it because Imam al-Shafi'i acted upon it in one way or with another meaning, then we separate from them and say: It is not permissible for us to act upon a hadith that al-Shafi'i and the other Imams understood in one way, while we, in the last of times, understand it in another way, and the hadith in reality admits of two aspects, and we do not find anyone who preceded us in adopting the other aspect. In that case, we are with Imam al-Nawawi. However, if the hadith is explicit in its indication and does not admit of figurative interpretation, and we know that Imam al-Shafi'i, for example, or another, because he speaks within the limits of his madhhab, and we know that an Imam from among the Imams of the Muslims and the jurists who exercise independent legal reasoning interpreted it contrary to its apparent meaning and brought a proof for his interpretation that we do not know, then it is obligatory for us to follow him. But if they agree with us that the indication of the hadith is explicit, and we have no proof that diverts this indication to anything other than the opinion of so-and-so, then we are with the hadith, because Imam al-Shafi'i himself used to say that the hadith is an independent principle in itself, and it is obligatory for every Muslim, if it is authentic to him, to act upon it. As for Imam al-Shafi'i interpreting it with another meaning, we say that this other meaning either has a proof for us, meaning we are convinced by it, in which case it is obligatory for us to follow it, or he has no proof other than independent legal reasoning, and the hadith is explicit in its indication contrary to what he held. In this case, we apply the general guidance of the Imams: "If a hadith is authentic, then it is my madhhab." I had addressed this issue in some detail in my introduction to the description of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) prayer, where I presented a scenario: if a layperson is informed of a hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) and he is distressed at leaving off acting upon it, is it permissible for him to act upon it even though it is contrary to his madhhab?
Imam al-Subki answered: Yes, it is permissible for him to act upon it if he is informed that the hadith is authentic and that its meaning is as clarified to him; he has an excuse before Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to act upon it. This is for the ignorant layperson. What about the scholar or the student of knowledge? But here I must pause at the end of the answer to this question, and I hope our friend next to me will stick to his previous promise that this is the last question. And I say, in addition to the previous answer, I want our students who grew up with us following the Book and the Sunnah not to be bold in belittling the Imams who exercise independent legal reasoning, and not to say, as sometimes slips from their tongues, "We are men and they are men." It is a disgrace for the young person growing in the pursuit of knowledge to say this, while he is still at least a young person in the pursuit of knowledge. He may be middle-aged or old in age, but he is a young novice in the pursuit of knowledge. Nevertheless, he says: How can you contradict the Imams and be independent in your understanding of the hadith! The answer is: We are men and they are men. Look now, on the occasion of speaking about what preceded regarding Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him), of the virtue of Abu Hanifa is that he said: If the reports from the Companions of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a certain issue are in agreement and there is no disagreement among them, then we follow them. But if they differ, then we are men and they are men. When did he say this word? When the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) differ in an issue, he chooses the appropriate one from among those opinions and does not go beyond them to others. So we must take proper conduct from this report from Abu Hanifa (may Allah have mercy on him): not to be bold in declaring the Imams wrong, but rather we must be gentle and deliberate in judging an error that is not the error of one Imam, but the error of many Imams. I am not calling for fanaticism for the majority. No, I am not a follower of the majority, and perhaps you know that with certain knowledge. But at the same time, I do not want students of knowledge to be bold in declaring scholars wrong just because it appears to them that the hadith contradicts them. Rather, I want students of knowledge to dive into studying each issue individually, to study it as is said today, comparative jurisprudence, but on the condition that they reach the result, the fruit. Because comparative jurisprudence today in most of the well-known universities, called Islamic universities, deals with the preliminaries and then does not present the results and fruits. They mention, for example, the evidence of such-and-such a madhhab, and the evidence of such-and-such a madhhab, and the evidence of such-and-such a madhhab, and then nothing follows. The students come out confused!
Another questioner : Is this jurisprudence?
The Shaykh : No, this is not jurisprudence. Rather, jurisprudence is that you present these proofs and conduct a comparison between them to determine the stronger position. For example, you might say: The proof of so-and-so is such-and-such a verse, but it is from the category of arguing with a general proof. And the proof of so-and-so is that he argued with another specific verse or a specific proof, and the specific overrides the general. And so on, you conduct a filtering process among the proofs. It may be that a hadith of such-and-such a madhhab is not authentic, and the hadith that contradicts it is the authentic one, and so forth. So I want every student of knowledge to study the disputed issues in a simplified manner, placed under the scientific microscope, and then to come out with the result. Then let him say: This is my opinion. If I am right, it is from Allah; and if I am wrong, it is from myself. I see that many, and I fear to say all, students of knowledge are not influenced by some of the reports of the Salaf. And we are Salafis not by name, but it is also a designation...
Source
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