Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asslamulaikum,

Dear Brother Burhan, I`m Muslim, and i belong to the community called as "Hanafi Maslak" brother i have asked this question to many of the learned persons but i was unable to get the satisfactory answer from any of them, my question is

1)    I have read a bit hadiths and i was not able to come across any of the such sentence which say that we have to follow on only one Maslak, is there any kind like following only one maslak?

2)      If we don`t have such kind of thing they why should we practice such kind of verity of maslak, and what is the main cause for the origin of this kind of rules in Islam?

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Answer:

Which madhab to follow

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: I have read a bit hadiths and i was not able to come across any of the such sentence which say that we have to follow on only one Maslak, is there any kind like following only one maslak?

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77-78:

O you who have believed, do ‘rukooh’ (bow down) and do ‘sajdah’ (prostration), and worship your Lord Allah Alone, and do righteous deeds: it may be that you attain true success! Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as one should. He has chosen you for His service, and has not laid on you any hardship in your religion. Therefore, be steadfast in the religion of your father Abraham. Allah had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you (muslims) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may be a witness in regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.

Allah is our witness brother, the guidance of Islam is based on no particular ‘maslak’ or sect, but rather on the two Divine sources of Guidance alone:

1. The Glorious Quran
2. The authentic and established Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).

The true believers should be honored to be recognized by the name their Lord and Creator, Allah Subhanah has Himself chosen for the believers; ie. ‘muslims’ without adding any self-invented and man-made prefixes to it like Sunnis, Shias, Hanafis, Shafeis, Hanbalis, Malikis, etc.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 171 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Isra'il, so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication with his mother there will be among my Ummah one who will do that, and if the people of Isra'il were fragmented into seventy-two sects my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect.’ They (the Companions) said: ‘O Allah's Messenger (saws), which is that?’ Whereupon he (saws) said: ‘It is one to which I and my companions belong.’

Allah is our witness brother, the Messenger of Allah (saws) and his noble companions were neither Shias, nor Sunnis, nor Hanafis, nor Malikis, nor Shafeis, nor Hanbalis, etc…..and they all considered it an honor to be called and recognized only by the name their Lord Most High had Himself chosen for the believers: ie. ‘Muslims’.

Your Question: If we don`t have such kind of thing they why should we practice such kind of verity of maslak, and what is the main cause for the origin of this kind of rules in Islam?

In light of the clear guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, there are six things which form the articles of faith or ‘emaan’ in Islam; if one does not believe in even one amongst these six articles of faith, he would leave the fold of Islam:

1. Belief in Tawheed or the Absolute Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah Subhanah.
2. Belief in each and every one of the appointed Messengers of Allah, culminating with belief in the appointment of the Last and Final Messenger, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws).
3. Belief in each and every one the revealed Books of Allah Subhanah, culminating with the belief in the Last and Final Revelation of Allah, the Al-Quran.
4. Belief in all the Angels of Allah Subhanah.
5. Belief in the concept of the Hereafter; ie. Paradise and Hell Fire.
6. Belief in the ‘Qadr’ or Divine Decree of Allah Subhanah.

If one does not believe in one, or even a part of one amongst the above listed six articles of faith, he would leave the fold of Islam and be considered a disbeliever in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.

Belief in one or more of the ‘imams’ or ‘maslaks’ or ‘madhabs’ is neither an article of faith, nor compulsory for one to be regarded as a believer in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.

The Truth is brother, the four eminent ‘imams’ (Malik, Shafei, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Abu Haneefah) did not invent or bring something new to the deen of Islam revealed on Prophet Mohamed (saws), but simply gave their rulings and opinions upon issues of Islamic Jurisprudence and Fiqh in light of the guidance of the Glorious Quran and the authentic traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws). None of the ‘madhabs’ have any difference of opinion in any of the foundational matters of the deen. They are all absolutely unanimous in the subjects like Tawheed, Message, Hereafter, Imaan, etc. The difference of opinion arose between the companions and between the scholars on very small matters of Jurisprudence, and each amongst them gave rulings and opinions on that matter in light of the evidence and guidance from the Quran and the Sunnah.

One does not become a Hanafi if one chooses to accept the opinion and ruling of the eminent ‘Imam’ Abu Haneefah; similarly one does not become a Shafei, or Maliki, or Hanbali if they choose to accept their opinion on a matter of Jurisprudence!

Thus, regardless if one accepts and follow the opinion of any one, or the best ruling of one regarding a particular matter amongst these eminent ‘imams’, provided his intention is to follow the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah, there is absolutely no harm. The difference between following any of the four madhabs, would be the difference between following something which is very good to something which is excellent! It was never a situation that one imam was right and the other was wrong, for each and every one of these respected ‘imams’ based their opinion on nothing but the Quran and the Sunnah.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan