Question:
It says in the Quran that we should not create sects.So why is it necessary to follow one of the mazhabs?Why cant one just say I follow Islam as told by Prophet Muhammad(sw)?
Answer:
You may not know this, but qualified Islamic scholars are not expected to follow a madhab (a particular school of highly scholarly Islamic interpretation). It would be wonderful if every Muslim was sufficiently knowledgeable to be able to interpret Allah’s revelation so accurately that we knew in every situation what Allah would allow and what He would not allow. Unfortunately, that is not the reality of our Ummah. Since we are required to follow the Qur’an and Sunnah, but most of us are not qualified Islamic scholars, it is only reasonable to seek those Muslims of greatest knowledge for guidance. The four established madhab are based on the knowledge of some of the greatest minds in the history of Islam. It seems to me this explains fairly well why we need madhab.
The Answer Man
Follow-up question:
Why then do we have a permanent set of 4 choice of mazhabs only? Why can't there be more, or less. It is certainly not a divine decree that those 4 are the chosen ones, so why do we so strictly follow it?
Answer:
Many Muslims today ask a similar question, so it is obviously an issue of interest. To have four madhab is not by sacred law, but by well reasoned tradition. The scholars of the four madhab are considered to have been among the greatest in the history of Islam. Additionally they were much closer in time to the Islam practiced by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the companions than more modern scholars. It is believed there are no scholars alive today who equal the founders of the four madhab in knowledge of Islam, so no advantage could be gained by introducing another madhab. There have been other madhab in the past, and even today there a few minor, not well accepted madhab around. Perhaps in the future there will come a time when a scholar exists of such great knowledge that another madhab will come from his interpretations. It is not now as fixed an issue as it had been for many hundred years in the past as the door to ijtihad has opened a bit. What is important is how well we understand the teachings of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and it seems for that purpose the four existing madhab are quite excellent and sufficient.
For a more detailed and well written discourse please see:
Why Muslims Follow Madhabs , by Nuh Ha Mim Keller
http://www.sunnipath.com/Resources/PrintMedia/Articles/AR00000083.aspx
The Answer Man
10 Comments
July 2, 2006 at 11:54 pm
good answer. this is what i’m trying to convince malaysian student (oversea especially) to stick with one mazhab only. not to say “alaaaah, agama tu kan mudah, kita ikut je mana2 pendapat kita rasa senang”
November 23, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Why i cant follow all four imaam if one imaam,s istihaad is may be wrong e.g. Like Wudu….
March 3, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I want to eat lobster , but according to my fiqh which my friends tell me i am, hanafi im not allowed. im in the firm belief of quran and sunnah whuile yes of course ask imams for guidance on difficult parts.
tell me can i eat lobster , if i did will i got to hell or committing a sin. is disliked a sin ???????
I am very upset that the madhabs cannot give clear proofs over simple thing but create more division and problems.
March 23, 2008 at 4:14 pm
With regards to the lobster issue, it may be from some greater wisdom that someone says that we must not eat it.
I once heard that eating shellfish could encouraged Jinns to cause mischief to your body.
So although you can eat lobster according to one fiqh, another one may discourage for the reason given above.
This is how I realised why there may be discrepencies between different schools of thought.
This is just my opinion.
Allah knows best.
May 9, 2008 at 9:02 pm
There always has been and will be an “ullil amar minkum” as mentionied in Quran. You need to search for that person in today’s world who has the spiritual authority in these matters as its been clearly mentioned in Quran that obey Quran, and Prophet Muhammad(P.B.U.H) and those who are the malik of ilaahi amar”.
May God Bless You
September 1, 2008 at 1:35 am
the problem with hafizbar’s understanding is you have to follow one mazhab. think carefuly, does that mean when you are born, you are not only a muslim but you have to follow a certain mazhab.
to me , as what has been explained, it is fair to say that we need to follow the mazhab , but the problem is , we are not only ignorant on the intrepertation of quran and sunnah. we dont even know what each teaching of the mazhab is. what we do is just listen to so called ustazah and usstazs in school who have not even searched the issues and teachings in detail.
September 1, 2008 at 1:37 am
do let me add a little more. i wouldnt ristrict myself to one mazhab. i would pick what is majority said between all four. and which is closest to my understanding and believe
March 8, 2009 at 12:37 pm
the problem with everyone is that they think they can understand islam by themselves. people made it like a joke. why is it that when it comes to religeon everyone thinks that they know everything. heres a question have u ever heard or seen a person when he is ill he doesnt go to the doctor infact he goes to a officer. NO! y because what would a police man know about doctering unless his qualified. similar with islam when u want to know something you go to an qualified person who has studied islam. Not any Tom Dick an Harry. And when a person starts to mix with the four great imams they start going with their nafs which is haram. for example. according to imam abu hanifa r.a. if blood comes out of your body wudu is broken. but according to imam malik r.a. it is not broken so what would a person do he will go for the easy target whch in other w0rds his going with his nafs. thers so many maslas wich cointerdict with each other so which one you going to choose then? “you are not only a muslim but you have to follow a certain mazhab.” this is what you said you made it look like your making them two seperate religion. we follow the prophet s.a.w. but on the other hand we go according to a madhab not follow. someone saying to you are you a muhammadi or hanafi dont make sence its like your saying do u live in england or london.
April 22, 2009 at 12:33 pm
salam alikom
it was related about the prophet, salla allahu alayhi wa sallam, that when he find himself between two things he have to chose only one he chose the easiest, and that is Islam, easiness, also the only haram is that which Allah and his prophet said is haram, a scholar can study about the effect of some thing on humans and may say it is disliked he can not say about it is haram
September 3, 2009 at 9:31 am
asalam allaikum,
i am studying in engineering college. i want to ask about madhab . i am shafi. but from about 10 friends 2 friends are telling that you are shafi tell that u r a Muslim. but i think that in every mazhab there is certain difference in teaching so i want to follow shafi.