A Discussion of the Story of the Donkey of al-Furu' and the Book al-Furu' by Ibn Muflih
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The Shaykh : And we have told you about the Donkey of al-Furu'. Abd al-Rahman, do you know what the Donkey of al-Furu' is? Good. The Donkey of al-Furu' is a man who had memorized the book al-Furu'. Al-Furu' is a book of Islamic jurisprudence compiled by Muhammad ibn Muflih, one of the students of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, who said to him: "You are not Ibn Muflih, but rather you are Muflih". This book contains the majority of what the jurists said, not only the Hanbali jurists, but also jurists other than the Hanbalis. It has a wide scope. You will find, for example, that it mentions an issue and then says: "In agreement with al-Shafi'i, in agreement with Malik, in agreement with Abu Hanifah, in disagreement with Malik, in disagreement with al-Shafi'i, in disagreement with Abu Hanifah." It is considered a comprehensive book, to the extent that some people call it the "Sweeper of the Madhhab," meaning it sweeps up everything. In this book, there was a man who had memorized the book by heart.
The student: How many volumes?
The Shaykh : It is three volumes with the corrections, with the correction of al-Furu', and the Qatari edition made it six volumes. The important thing is that this man had memorized the book by heart, but he did not understand it at all. So his companions would take him out with them as if he were a book. When something was difficult for them, they would say, "Read to us such-and-such a chapter in such-and-such a section," and then he would read it to them. They would not ask, "What did the author of al-Furu' say about it?" because he did not know. So he was nicknamed the Donkey of al-Furu'. This nickname is certainly not good, but they say that Allah the Exalted gave an example of those who carry the Torah and then do not carry it, like the example of a donkey carrying books. If you load a donkey with books, does it benefit from them? Absolutely not. The donkey itself is stupid, so how can books be placed upon it? Well, in any case.
"The scholars differ in their understanding *** of the Revelation, more than bodies differ". Truly, there is a great difference between them.
The student: How many volumes?
The Shaykh : It is three volumes with the corrections, with the correction of al-Furu', and the Qatari edition made it six volumes. The important thing is that this man had memorized the book by heart, but he did not understand it at all. So his companions would take him out with them as if he were a book. When something was difficult for them, they would say, "Read to us such-and-such a chapter in such-and-such a section," and then he would read it to them. They would not ask, "What did the author of al-Furu' say about it?" because he did not know. So he was nicknamed the Donkey of al-Furu'. This nickname is certainly not good, but they say that Allah the Exalted gave an example of those who carry the Torah and then do not carry it, like the example of a donkey carrying books. If you load a donkey with books, does it benefit from them? Absolutely not. The donkey itself is stupid, so how can books be placed upon it? Well, in any case.
"The scholars differ in their understanding *** of the Revelation, more than bodies differ". Truly, there is a great difference between them.