SIFAT SALAAT AN NĀBI ﷺ* *(The Prophet's Prayer Described From The Beginning To The End As Though You See It)

 ﷽

*SIFAT SALAAT AN NĀBI ﷺ*

*(The Prophet's Prayer Described From The Beginning To The End As Though You See It)*

*Episode 3*

*Sayings Of The Imaams Regarding Following The Sunnah And

Ignoring Their Views Contradictory To It*

It would be beneficial if we gave some of these here, for perhaps this will

admonish or remind those who follow the opinion of the Imaams - nay, of

those far below the Imaams in rank - blindly18, sticking to their

madhhabs or views as if these had descended from the heavens! But

Allaah, Mighty and Sublime, says: 

"Follow (O men!) the revelation given to you from your Lord, and

follow not, as friends and protectors, other than Him. Little is it

you remember of admonition."19

1. Abu Haneefah (Rahimahullaah) 

The first of them is Abu Haneefah Nu'maan ibn Thaabit, whose

companions have narrated from him various sayings and diverse

warnings, all of them leading to one thing: the obligation to accept the

Hadeeth, and to give up following the opinions of the imaams which

contradict it: 

18 This is the sort of taqleed (blind following ) which Imaam Tahaawi was referring to when he said, "Only someone with

party-spirit or a fool blindly follows opinion" - quoted by Ibn 'Aabideen in Rasm al-Mufti (vol. 1, p. 32 from the

Compilation of his Essays).

19 al-A'raaf, 7:3

 

1. "When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my madhhab."20

2. "It is not permitted21 for anyone to accept our views if they do not

know from where we got them."22

In one narration, "It is prohibited23 for someone who does not know my

evidence to give verdicts24 on the basis of my words."

Another narration adds, "... for we are mortals: we say one thing one

day, and take it back the next day."

In another narration, "Woe to you, O Ya'qub25! Do not write down

everything you hear from me, for it happens that I hold one opinion

today and reject it tomorrow, or hold one opinion tomorrow and reject it

the day after tomorrow."26

20 Ibn 'Aabideen in al-Haashiyah (1/63), and in his essay Rasm al-Mufti (1/4 from the Compilation of the Essays of Ibn

'Aabideen), Shaikh Saalih al-Fulaani in Eeqaaz al-Himam (p. 62) & others. Ibn 'Aabideen quoted from Sharh al-Hidaayah

by Ibn al-Shahnah al-Kabeer, the teacher of Ibn al-Humaam, as follows: 

"When a hadeeth contrary to the Madhhab is found to be saheeh, one should act on the hadeeth, and make that his

madhhab. Acting on the hadeeth will not invalidate the follower's being a Hanafi, for it is authentically reported that

Abu Haneefah said, 'When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my madhhab', and this has been related by

Imaam Ibn 'Abdul Barr from Abu Haneefah and from other imaams." 

This is part of the completeness of the knowledge and piety of the Imaams, for they indicated by saying this that they were

not versed in the whole of the Sunnah, and Imaam Shaafi'i has elucidated this thoroughly (see later). It would happen

that they would contradict a sunnah because they were unaware of it, so they commanded us to stick to the Sunnah

and regard it as part of their Madhhab. May Allaah shower His mercy on them all.

21 Ar.: halaal

22 Ibn 'Abdul Barr in Al-Intiqaa' fi Fadaa'il ath-Thalaathah al- A'immah al-Fuqahaa' (p. 145), Ibn al-Qayyim in I'laam al- Mooqi'een

(2/309), Ibn 'Aabideen in his Footnotes on Al-Bahr ar-Raa'iq (6/293) and in Rasm al-Mufti (pp. 29,32) & Sha'raani in Al-

Meezaan (1/55) with the second narration. The last narration was collected by 'Abbaas ad-Dawri in At- Taareekh by Ibn

Ma'een (6/77/1) with a saheeh sanad on the authority of Zafar, the student of Imaam Abu Haneefah. Similar narrations exist

on the authority of Abu Haneefah's companions Zafar, Abu Yoosuf and 'Aafiyah ibn Yazeed; cf. Eeqaaz (p. 52). Ibn al-Qayyim

firmly certified its authenticity on the authority of Abu Yoosuf in I'laam al-Mooqi'een (2/344). The addition to the second

narration is referenced by the editor of Eeqaaz (p. 65) to Ibn 'Abdul Barr, Ibn al-Qayyim and others. 

If this is what they say of someone who does not know their evidence, what would be their response to one who knows that the

evidence contradicts their saying, but still gives verdicts opposed to the evidence?! Therefore, reflect on this saying, for it

alone is enough to smash blind following of opinion; that is why one of the muqallid shaikhs, when I criticised his giving a

verdict using Abu Haneefah's words without knowing the evidence, refused to believe that it was a saying of Abu Haneefah!

23 Ar.: haraam

24 Ar.: fatwaa

25 i.e. Imaam Abu Haneefah's illustrious student, Abu Yoosuf (Rahimahullaah).

26 This was because the Imaam would often base his view on Qiyaas (Analogy), after which a more potent analogy would

occur to him, or a hadeeth of the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) would reach him, so he would accept that and

ignore his previous view. Sha'raani's words in Al-Meezaan (1/62) are summarised as: 

"Our belief, as well as that of every researcher into Imaam Abu Haneefah (radi Allaahu 'anhu), is that, had he lived until the

recording of the Sharee'ah, and the journeys of the Preservers of Hadeeth to the various cities and frontiers in order to collect

and acquire it, he would have accepted it and ignored all the analogies he had employed. The amount of qiyaas in his

Madhhab would have been just as little as that in other Madhhabs, but since the evidences of the Sharee'ah had been

scattered with the Successors and their successors, and had not been collected in his lifetime, it was necessary that there be a

lot of qiyaas in his Madhhab compared to that of other imaams. The later scholars then made their journeys to find and collect

ahaadeeth from the various cities and towns and wrote them down; hence, some ahaadeeth of 3. "When I say something contradicting the Book of Allaah the Exalted or

what is narrated from the Messenger (Sallallaahu 'Alaihi wa Sallam), then

ignore my saying."27

27 Al-Fulaani in Eeqaaz al-Himam (p. 50), tracing it to Imaam Muhammad and then saying, "This does not apply to the mujtahid,

for he is not bound to their views anyway, but it applies to the muqallid."

Sha'raani expanded on that in Al-Meezaan (1/26):

"If it is said: 'What should I do with the ahaadeeth which my Imaam did not use, and which were found to be authentic after his

death?' The answer which is fitting for you is: 'That you act on them, for had your Imaam come across them and found them

to be authentic, he would have instructed you to act on them, because all the Imaams were captives in the hand of the

Sharee'ah.' He who does so will have gathered all the good with both his hands, but he who says, 'I will not act according to a

hadeeth unless my Imaam did so', he will miss a great amount of benefit, as is the case with many followers of the Imaams of

the Madhhabs. It would be better for them to act on every hadeeth found to be authentic after the Imaam's time, hence

implementing the will of the Imaams; for it is our firm belief about the Imaams that had they lived longer and come to know

of those ahaadeeth which were found authentic after their time, they would have definitely accepted and acted according to

them, ignoring any analogies they may have previously made, and any views they may have previously held."