Did it become established from Abu Hanifah that deeds are not a condition of faith, and what is Shaykh Al-Albani’s opinion on this?
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The questioner : Regarding the issue of faith among the Hanafis and the definition of faith, is it established from Abu Hanifah that deeds are not a condition of faith?
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is the madhhab of all the Hanafis, their imam and their followers, such as Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, and Abu Ja’far al-Tahawi, whom I consider one of the rare hadith scholars among the Hanafis and one of the mujtahids. You have read his opinion in the al-Tahawi creed; he follows the path of his shaykhs in that faith is a statement of affirmation with the tongue and belief in the heart, while deeds are not mentioned. Therefore, they said that faith is a single mass and one thing that does not increase or decrease. This is contrary to the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
The questioner : Is it correct to say that this disagreement is a verbal disagreement?
The Shaykh : It is a substantive disagreement. Sufficient for you as proof of this is that some of their later scholars derived from it two strange issues. One of them said that it is not permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi’i, because the Shafi’is, when asked, “Are you a believer?” say, “I am a believer, if Allah wills.” Their saying “if Allah wills” is doubt in their faith, and whoever doubts in his faith has committed disbelief. This fatwa persisted for years, if Allah wills. Then came the one called the Mufti of the Two Heavyweights, Abu al-Sa’ud, the author of the famous tafsir named after him. He was asked this same question. I do not know if his answer was better than the previous one or worse, though it was gentler in practical terms, as he answered that it is permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi’i by treating them as the People of the Book. This explicit statement is very dangerous, and its necessary implication is that it is not permissible for a Hanafi woman to marry a Shafi’i because he doubts in his faith, so he is a disbeliever. This means a Christian can marry a Muslim, but a Muslim woman cannot marry a Christian. So the disagreement is substantive, not like...The Shaykh : ...Zahid al-Kawthari and the younger Kawthari. This one tries, in the Syrian expression, to beautify, to adorn, to bring the subject closer, in order to ward off the blame from this madhhab. As for Abu Hanifah, in my belief, he does not need such justification and such improvement. He is a scholar, a jurist, and a virtuous man, but he is not infallible. And as Malik said, “None of us is there except that he has been refuted and refuted others, except the occupant of this grave,” (peace and blessings be upon him).
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is the madhhab of all the Hanafis, their imam and their followers, such as Abu Yusuf and Muhammad, and Abu Ja’far al-Tahawi, whom I consider one of the rare hadith scholars among the Hanafis and one of the mujtahids. You have read his opinion in the al-Tahawi creed; he follows the path of his shaykhs in that faith is a statement of affirmation with the tongue and belief in the heart, while deeds are not mentioned. Therefore, they said that faith is a single mass and one thing that does not increase or decrease. This is contrary to the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
The questioner : Is it correct to say that this disagreement is a verbal disagreement?
The Shaykh : It is a substantive disagreement. Sufficient for you as proof of this is that some of their later scholars derived from it two strange issues. One of them said that it is not permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi’i, because the Shafi’is, when asked, “Are you a believer?” say, “I am a believer, if Allah wills.” Their saying “if Allah wills” is doubt in their faith, and whoever doubts in his faith has committed disbelief. This fatwa persisted for years, if Allah wills. Then came the one called the Mufti of the Two Heavyweights, Abu al-Sa’ud, the author of the famous tafsir named after him. He was asked this same question. I do not know if his answer was better than the previous one or worse, though it was gentler in practical terms, as he answered that it is permissible for a Hanafi to marry a Shafi’i by treating them as the People of the Book. This explicit statement is very dangerous, and its necessary implication is that it is not permissible for a Hanafi woman to marry a Shafi’i because he doubts in his faith, so he is a disbeliever. This means a Christian can marry a Muslim, but a Muslim woman cannot marry a Christian. So the disagreement is substantive, not like...The Shaykh : ...Zahid al-Kawthari and the younger Kawthari. This one tries, in the Syrian expression, to beautify, to adorn, to bring the subject closer, in order to ward off the blame from this madhhab. As for Abu Hanifah, in my belief, he does not need such justification and such improvement. He is a scholar, a jurist, and a virtuous man, but he is not infallible. And as Malik said, “None of us is there except that he has been refuted and refuted others, except the occupant of this grave,” (peace and blessings be upon him).
Source
www.al-albany.com
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