What is your opinion of the statement of those who say: The four schools of jurisprudence are Sunnah and Salafi, due to the ijtihad of their founders in the texts to the best of their ability, so we must unify them on one opinion.
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The Shaykh : Please, Doctor.
The questioner: My masterThe Shaykh : In this situation, I have many questions. I see that the Salafis say that we must not follow the four schools of jurisprudence and that unifying these schools is impossible. I see that the four schools of jurisprudence are the schools of the righteous Salaf who tried to exercise ijtihad by taking from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to the extent that each one was able to exercise ijtihad and considered this to be correct. Therefore, I see that we, as Muslims, should try to take from these schools and others, and you, the scholars of the Muslims, should unify these schools, or rather, not unify these schools, but agree on a correct opinion among the differing opinions in these schools. For example, in the issue of wudu' or the like, there should be an agreement among the scholars of the Muslims on a specific opinion, and we should not leave the reins loose, as I see in this that you, my sir,The Shaykh : I mean, I understand from your words, according to my knowledge, that you say that every person must not follow a school of jurisprudence, but rather must exercise ijtihad to the Sunnah to rectify from this Sunnah. This does not apply except to you, the scholars...
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, may Allah forgive you! Is this the fruit that I picked from this entire session?
The questioner : O my master,The Shaykh : Let me finish what I understood?
The Shaykh : How do you want to finish? You are accusing us of something that is not in us. How do you want to finish? What is built on a defective foundation is defective. Do you want to give a one-hour lecture and then be on the brink of a cliff? Or is it better that I point out your error from the beginning?
The questioner : Please go ahead?
The Shaykh : Who told you that I say this? I spoke with the professor for that hour in response to what might be understood from al-Bouti's thesis, that there is a person in the world who says that this French Muslim who converted to Islam must exercise ijtihad and take the issues from the Book and the Sunnah? Did you not hear this statement?
The questioner : I heard it.
The Shaykh : How are you speaking now?
The questioner : You are returning, my sir.The Shaykh : You say we must not take from one of the schools of jurisprudence...
The Shaykh : Allow me, allow me. How can you say that I say every Muslim must take for himself—may Allah guide you, Doctor—I told you just now.
The questioner : I did not notice.
The Shaykh : Then you must notice what we say. Now I am saying something new. Our Lord said:[An-Nahl 16:43] Our Lord in this verse divided the Muslim community into two groups: the scholar and the non-scholar; and He obligated upon each of the two groups what is not obligated upon the other. He obligated upon the one who does not know what? To ask. And He obligated upon the one who knows what? To answer. How can you say this and accuse me of something that is not with me? I believe in this verse and every verse that clarifies the issues in which Muslims have differed, both in the past and the present. Among them is that the Muslim must return to the Book of Allah and the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah. And we said just now, when we were answering the professor here, that we distinguish between taqlid, which is sometimes obligatory upon scholars, and religion through taqlid, which is forbidden. This is what we say. But when we come to reality, you, for example, are a doctor. You do not know if this prayer is valid or not. What is your duty?
The questioner : My duty is to ask.
The Shaykh : It is not your duty to say, "I am only a Hanafi," or "I am only a Shafi'i." Your duty is to ask the scholars of knowledge in whom you trust. This is what the Qur'an tells you, and I tell you this. I do not tell you to leave your medicine, your profession, and your craft and sit down to study the schools of jurisprudence, as is said today, comparative fiqh, and then study the science of hadith technically, and also study the principles of jurisprudence so that you can then know whether touching a woman invalidates wudu' or does not invalidate wudu'. No? This is not obligatory upon you. But it is obligatory upon you to ask the scholars of knowledge. And it is observed, without offense, that you come and say to us, "You must do such and such." My brother, we are on this. We call upon the scholars of knowledge and the specialists. And you are not far from when we asked your colleague, the Doctor, we said to him, "Doctor al-Bouti, now, what is your opinion? Can he exercise ijtihad or not?" He said, "By Allah, if we are successful, in his thesis he says that he can exercise ijtihad." I said to him, "But he is still a Shafi'i in school of jurisprudence. So why does he not exercise ijtihad?" So I am now placing al-Bouti in the position of an ordinary Muslim? So where did you take this generalization from? That I or others from the students of knowledge impose upon ordinary Muslims that they must exercise ijtihad? No, my brother, this merchandise is not issued from us. You heard it from our enemies, the enemies of the da'wah. Do you see how? ...
The questioner : I did not hear it. May Allah forgive you. (The Doctor and the students of knowledge laugh).
The Shaykh : Well, you did not hear anything. Well, where did this merchandise come from you then?
The questioner : This is my thinking. I say, to the extent of my ability, from what I understood from you.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar! How did you understand it? By Allah, this is strange. (He laughs)The Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on him.
Another questioner : Take from where they took.
The Shaykh : But it is strange, Doctor, that the merchandise is coming from outside, and now the merchandise did not come from us. We are saying, I will give you an example related to your profession. If a medical student is still in the middle of his studies, is it appropriate for him to perform surgical operations?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Well, and so it is with the knowledge of the Shari'ah. So how do you imagine how it entered your mind that we say every Muslim must open the Qur'an, even if it is in English, and understand the Qur'an and take the ruling? Do you think[An-Nisa 4:43] does it mean intercourse or does it mean touching? How did it enter your mind that we say this, despite our previous conversation? May Allah forgive you, just.
The questioner: My masterThe Shaykh : In this situation, I have many questions. I see that the Salafis say that we must not follow the four schools of jurisprudence and that unifying these schools is impossible. I see that the four schools of jurisprudence are the schools of the righteous Salaf who tried to exercise ijtihad by taking from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to the extent that each one was able to exercise ijtihad and considered this to be correct. Therefore, I see that we, as Muslims, should try to take from these schools and others, and you, the scholars of the Muslims, should unify these schools, or rather, not unify these schools, but agree on a correct opinion among the differing opinions in these schools. For example, in the issue of wudu' or the like, there should be an agreement among the scholars of the Muslims on a specific opinion, and we should not leave the reins loose, as I see in this that you, my sir,The Shaykh : I mean, I understand from your words, according to my knowledge, that you say that every person must not follow a school of jurisprudence, but rather must exercise ijtihad to the Sunnah to rectify from this Sunnah. This does not apply except to you, the scholars...
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, may Allah forgive you! Is this the fruit that I picked from this entire session?
The questioner : O my master,The Shaykh : Let me finish what I understood?
The Shaykh : How do you want to finish? You are accusing us of something that is not in us. How do you want to finish? What is built on a defective foundation is defective. Do you want to give a one-hour lecture and then be on the brink of a cliff? Or is it better that I point out your error from the beginning?
The questioner : Please go ahead?
The Shaykh : Who told you that I say this? I spoke with the professor for that hour in response to what might be understood from al-Bouti's thesis, that there is a person in the world who says that this French Muslim who converted to Islam must exercise ijtihad and take the issues from the Book and the Sunnah? Did you not hear this statement?
The questioner : I heard it.
The Shaykh : How are you speaking now?
The questioner : You are returning, my sir.The Shaykh : You say we must not take from one of the schools of jurisprudence...
The Shaykh : Allow me, allow me. How can you say that I say every Muslim must take for himself—may Allah guide you, Doctor—I told you just now.
The questioner : I did not notice.
The Shaykh : Then you must notice what we say. Now I am saying something new. Our Lord said:
So ask the people of the message if you do not know.
فاسألوا أهل الذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمونThe questioner : My duty is to ask.
The Shaykh : It is not your duty to say, "I am only a Hanafi," or "I am only a Shafi'i." Your duty is to ask the scholars of knowledge in whom you trust. This is what the Qur'an tells you, and I tell you this. I do not tell you to leave your medicine, your profession, and your craft and sit down to study the schools of jurisprudence, as is said today, comparative fiqh, and then study the science of hadith technically, and also study the principles of jurisprudence so that you can then know whether touching a woman invalidates wudu' or does not invalidate wudu'. No? This is not obligatory upon you. But it is obligatory upon you to ask the scholars of knowledge. And it is observed, without offense, that you come and say to us, "You must do such and such." My brother, we are on this. We call upon the scholars of knowledge and the specialists. And you are not far from when we asked your colleague, the Doctor, we said to him, "Doctor al-Bouti, now, what is your opinion? Can he exercise ijtihad or not?" He said, "By Allah, if we are successful, in his thesis he says that he can exercise ijtihad." I said to him, "But he is still a Shafi'i in school of jurisprudence. So why does he not exercise ijtihad?" So I am now placing al-Bouti in the position of an ordinary Muslim? So where did you take this generalization from? That I or others from the students of knowledge impose upon ordinary Muslims that they must exercise ijtihad? No, my brother, this merchandise is not issued from us. You heard it from our enemies, the enemies of the da'wah. Do you see how? ...
The questioner : I did not hear it. May Allah forgive you. (The Doctor and the students of knowledge laugh).
The Shaykh : Well, you did not hear anything. Well, where did this merchandise come from you then?
The questioner : This is my thinking. I say, to the extent of my ability, from what I understood from you.
The Shaykh : Allahu Akbar! How did you understand it? By Allah, this is strange. (He laughs)The Shaykh : May Allah have mercy on him.
Another questioner : Take from where they took.
The Shaykh : But it is strange, Doctor, that the merchandise is coming from outside, and now the merchandise did not come from us. We are saying, I will give you an example related to your profession. If a medical student is still in the middle of his studies, is it appropriate for him to perform surgical operations?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : Well, and so it is with the knowledge of the Shari'ah. So how do you imagine how it entered your mind that we say every Muslim must open the Qur'an, even if it is in English, and understand the Qur'an and take the ruling? Do you think
or you have contacted women
أو لامستم النساء
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.