There are some imams who fight against taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence), yet they are attributed to a specific madhhab (school of jurisprudence), such as the Hanbali Shaykh al-Islam. What is your guidance on this?
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The questioner : Here, my Shaykh, we know that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, along with many other imams, rejected taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence) and fought against it. Yet, in their biographies, they are described as Hanbali, Shafi'i, or Hanafi. On what basis is this attributed? What is the basis for this attribution?
The Shaykh : It is like what happened with Al-Albani himself.
The questioner : The Hanafi today, when you came and you were sleeping in the library, you were sleeping, not in the Syrian dialect, which I do not know.
The Shaykh : Tell him about it.
The questioner : It is narrated, my Shaykh, that he claimed he met a man, and this other man was Moroccan. The Moroccans, meaning, have the spirit of Islam, zeal, and desire, but they have some sharpness. So one Muslim said to this Moroccan, "You Moroccans are good people, righteous, and people of religion, but there is one trait that if you would leave it..." He said, "What is it?" He said, "This is it, this is it."
The Shaykh : This is it, meaning, the summary of the example is that in the past, they undoubtedly grew up on the Hanbali madhhab (school of jurisprudence), just as I grew up on the Hanafi madhhab (school of jurisprudence). But Allah enlightened them and guided them to the Sunnah, and that title remained with them. Especially since the early times are not like our time today. You mentioned on an occasion in Yemen, and I supported you, but I do not remember the example—peace be upon you—that they do not have fanaticism; it is not for the sake of religion, but I say it is a lapse.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Now there is a lapse. The causes of this lapse are freedom that has no valve and no restrictions. Therefore, if a person leaves his Hanafi madhhab (school of jurisprudence) and becomes Shafi'i, or becomes this or that, it no longer matters to them. Or if he becomes Khamsi, it no longer matters to them. What is the reason? Because they see people leaving the religion of Allah in droves. So they say, "Let this one remain a Muslim, let him be Khamsi, let him be Sadi, and so on." As for the time of the predecessors, perhaps you have heard from me. When I started raising my hands in prayer, they said, "This man should be flogged thirty or forty lashes." You do not hear that today.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : And there is much talk that we do not have time for now, especially since I am not speaking about what is more important than this. My purpose is to clarify the word "Hanbali."
The questioner : It is understood that it was at the beginning, and then it became merely an attribution that had no effect on their lives.
The Shaykh : onAl-Halabi : And it is not said, my Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, that there were schools of knowledge, schools of the Hanbalis, and schools of such and such, so that whoever grew up in this school was called by that name. Yes.
The questioner : It supports this issue of lapse, my Shaykh, meaning, an example I heard fromThe Shaykh : Muqbil in a lecture.The Shaykh : Muqbil, may Allah preserve him, mentioned once that one of the countries that came wanted to invade Yemen. The prince was a Zaydi who was a lapsed Zaydi. So he tasked his son or his agent to negotiate with this invading government. After he returned, he said to him, "What did you do, my son?" He said, "I made them condition that they do everything except 'Hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' (Hurry to the best of deeds), they keep it." So his father said, and he was lapsed from this matter, "Why didn't you condition agriculture and money, and they take 'Hayya 'ala al-falah' (Hurry to success) with 'Hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' (Hurry to the best of deeds), and they take 'Hayya 'ala al-falah' (Hurry to success) with 'Hayya 'ala al-'amal' (Hurry to work)?" So the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence) are matters of attribution, mere attribution only.
The Shaykh : It is like what happened with Al-Albani himself.
The questioner : The Hanafi today, when you came and you were sleeping in the library, you were sleeping, not in the Syrian dialect, which I do not know.
The Shaykh : Tell him about it.
The questioner : It is narrated, my Shaykh, that he claimed he met a man, and this other man was Moroccan. The Moroccans, meaning, have the spirit of Islam, zeal, and desire, but they have some sharpness. So one Muslim said to this Moroccan, "You Moroccans are good people, righteous, and people of religion, but there is one trait that if you would leave it..." He said, "What is it?" He said, "This is it, this is it."
The Shaykh : This is it, meaning, the summary of the example is that in the past, they undoubtedly grew up on the Hanbali madhhab (school of jurisprudence), just as I grew up on the Hanafi madhhab (school of jurisprudence). But Allah enlightened them and guided them to the Sunnah, and that title remained with them. Especially since the early times are not like our time today. You mentioned on an occasion in Yemen, and I supported you, but I do not remember the example—peace be upon you—that they do not have fanaticism; it is not for the sake of religion, but I say it is a lapse.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Now there is a lapse. The causes of this lapse are freedom that has no valve and no restrictions. Therefore, if a person leaves his Hanafi madhhab (school of jurisprudence) and becomes Shafi'i, or becomes this or that, it no longer matters to them. Or if he becomes Khamsi, it no longer matters to them. What is the reason? Because they see people leaving the religion of Allah in droves. So they say, "Let this one remain a Muslim, let him be Khamsi, let him be Sadi, and so on." As for the time of the predecessors, perhaps you have heard from me. When I started raising my hands in prayer, they said, "This man should be flogged thirty or forty lashes." You do not hear that today.
The questioner : Praise be to Allah.
The Shaykh : And there is much talk that we do not have time for now, especially since I am not speaking about what is more important than this. My purpose is to clarify the word "Hanbali."
The questioner : It is understood that it was at the beginning, and then it became merely an attribution that had no effect on their lives.
The Shaykh : onAl-Halabi : And it is not said, my Shaykh, may Allah preserve you, that there were schools of knowledge, schools of the Hanbalis, and schools of such and such, so that whoever grew up in this school was called by that name. Yes.
The questioner : It supports this issue of lapse, my Shaykh, meaning, an example I heard fromThe Shaykh : Muqbil in a lecture.The Shaykh : Muqbil, may Allah preserve him, mentioned once that one of the countries that came wanted to invade Yemen. The prince was a Zaydi who was a lapsed Zaydi. So he tasked his son or his agent to negotiate with this invading government. After he returned, he said to him, "What did you do, my son?" He said, "I made them condition that they do everything except 'Hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' (Hurry to the best of deeds), they keep it." So his father said, and he was lapsed from this matter, "Why didn't you condition agriculture and money, and they take 'Hayya 'ala al-falah' (Hurry to success) with 'Hayya 'ala khayr al-'amal' (Hurry to the best of deeds), and they take 'Hayya 'ala al-falah' (Hurry to success) with 'Hayya 'ala al-'amal' (Hurry to work)?" So the madhahib (schools of jurisprudence) are matters of attribution, mere attribution only.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.