[BanCricFan]

Dear Tigers_eye,

I think I've tried to convey the true spirit of Madhab to you to the best of my ability. I can only hope and urge that you will consider it sincerely.

I just wonder if you have read the article on "understanding the four madhabs"? From your reply I gather probably you have not. In that case, I urge you to read again. It will make any future dialogue much more productive as we will have some common understandings.

I do understand that you're trying to worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala ALONE without having any recourse to intermediaries. You should be applauded for that. But I put it to you- don't you think all those luminaries, the mountains of Islamic intelectual and spiritual legacy, the Aimmah (Imams/absolute mujtahids) I have mentioned in my last post had the same desire as you that they should worship Allah alone?? Perhaps, they didn't have as much Taqwa, wara'a, knowledge, wisdom, vision and sincerity as our blessed generation?

The mechanism of Madhab was in operation during the time of the blessed Sahabah (Allah be pleased with them) without it having a name. Just like the science of Tajweed wasn't known by its name during that blessed era. Are we to say that the Sahabah ikraam didn't know Tajweed? Of course, NOT! The same goes for the Arabic grammer. These sciences were formulated much later in a cohesive system (as we know them now). This is what Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad has expounded:

"Given the depth of scholarship needed to understand the revealed texts accurately, and the extreme warnings we have been given against distorting the Revelation, it is obvious that ordinary Muslims are duty bound to follow expert opinion, rather than rely on their own reasoning and limited knowledge. This obvious duty was well-known to the early Muslims: the Caliph Umar (r.a.) followed certain rulings of Abu Bakr (r.a.), saying I would be ashamed before God to differ from the view of Abu Bakr. And Ibn Masud (r.a.), in turn, despite being a mujtahid in the fullest sense, used in certain issues to follow Umar (r.a.). According to al-Shabi: Six of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) used to give fatwas to the people: Ibn Masud, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Ali, Zayd ibn Thabit, Ubayy ibn Kab, and Abu Musa (al-Ashari). And out of these, three would abandon their own judgements in favour of the judgements of three others: Abdallah (ibn Masud) would abandon his own judgement for the judgement of Umar, Abu Musa would abandon his own judgement for the judgement of Ali, and Zayd would abandon his own judgement for the judgement of Ubayy ibn Kab."

The people of knowledge (ulama of the highest calibre) has been described in the Holy Qur'an -amongst others- as "ulul albab"(deeply rooted in knowledge), "most God fearing" and "umara'"(leaders). There are numerous verses in the Quran which outline the importance of following and obeying scholars and the rulers put over us. I'll just quote one verse here,- " O those who believe! obey Allah, obey the Messenger and 'ulil amr' from you". The scholars of Tafsir have described "ulil amr" as leaders and scholars(ulama/Imams).

My dear brother in Islam, I'm not trying to convert you to my way of thinking, rather, desire the best for you! ...Madhab will not take us to Jannah but its an awesome tool for us to use in understanding and practising our Deen correctly. Which in turn may lead me and you to The Garden, insha-allah!

I'll wrap this up by quoting two paras from Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad:

"We might compare the Quranic verses and the hadiths to the stars. With the naked eye, we are unable to see many of them clearly; so we need a telescope. If we are foolish, or proud, we may try to build one ourselves. If we are sensible and modest, however, we will be happy to use one built for us by Imam al-Shafi'i or Ibn Hanbal, and refined, polished and improved by generations of great astronomers. A madhhab is, after all, nothing more than a piece of precision equipment enabling us to see Islam with the maximum clarity possible. If we use our own devices, our amateurish attempts will inevitably distort our vision."

"The edifice has stood for centuries, withstanding the most bitter blows of its enemies. Only from within can it be weakened. No doubt, Islam has its intelligent foes among whom this fact is well-known. The spectacle of the disunity and fitnas which divided the early Muslims despite their superior piety, and the solidity and cohesiveness of Sunnism after the final codification of the Shariah in the four Schools of the great Imams, must have put ideas into many a malevolent head. This is not to suggest in any way that those who attack the great madhhabs are the conscious tools of Islams enemies. But it may go some way to explaining why they will continue to be well-publicised and well-funded, while the orthodox alternative is starved of resources. With every Muslim now a proud mujtahid, and with taqlid dismissed as a sin rather than a humble and necessary virtue, the divergent views which caused such pain in our early history will surely break surface again. Instead of four madhhabs in harmony, we will have a billion madhhabs in bitter and self-righteous conflict. No more brilliant scheme for the destruction of Islam could ever have been devised."

Wa Allahu A'lam!