The following is the English translation of a chapter from the masterpiece, 'Shaksiya Islamiya' (The Islamic Personality) volume 1 by Sheikh Taqiuddin an-Nabhani. For exact meanings please refer to the original Arabic.
Allah (swt) has not ordered us to follow any mujtahid,
imam or mazhab, rather He (swt) ordered us to adopt the hukm Shar’i. He (swt) ordered us to adopt what the Messenger (saw) brought and to abstain from what he (saw) has forbidden us. He (swt) said:
}وَمَا
آَتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا{
“And whatsoever the Messenger r gives you, take it, and whatsoever he
forbids you, abstain (from it)” [TMQ
Hashr: 7].
Therefore, the Sharī’ah does not deem
it right for us to follow the people except the rules of Allah (swt). However, the reality of Taqlīd
has led the Muslims to follow the rules of certain mujtahids whom they
have assigned as imams for themselves and they made the rules these mujtahids
have deduced by their Ijtihād as a mazhab for themselves. So the Shafi’is, Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis, Ja’faris and Zaidis etc have an actual presence amongst the Muslims. Even
though these people follow the Sharī’ah rules which have been deduced by these mujtahids,
their action is legitimate because it constitutes following a Sharī’ah
rule. As for if they followed the mujtahid as a person and not his deduction,
then their action is not lawful and what they follow is not considered a Sharī’ah
rule. This is because it is a statement of a person which is not from the
orders and prohibitions of Allah I which have been brought to us by the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (saw). Consequently, all those who follow mazhabs must understand that they are following only the rules of
Allah (swt) which have been deduced by those imams.
If they have a contrary understanding then they will be answerable to Allah (swt) for leaving the rules of Allah (swt) and following people who are themselves
the servants of Allah (swt).
This is from the perspective of
following the rules of a mazhab. As for leaving these rules, it has to
be examined. If someone adopted a hukm but has not acted upon it yet then he has the
right to leave it and adopt another hukm based on one of the
preponderant qualifications which is linked to seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt). If he, in actuality, practised it then
this hukm has become the rule of Allah (swt) with respect to him. It is not
permitted for him to leave it and adopt another hukm except when the
second hukm is linked with an evidence and the first hukm is not
linked to an evidence or if it was proven to him by way of learning that the
evidence of the second hukm is stronger than the first and he is
convinced of that, in that case it is incumbent on him to leave the first hukm.
This is because his conviction and trust in the Sharī’ah evidence has made it the rule of Allah I with respect to him, This is analogous
to the mujtahid, when he finds an evidence stronger than the evidence
from which he deduced the hukm then he must leave the previous opinion
and adopt the new opinion due to the strength of the evidence. In any other
situation, it is not allowed for the muqallid to leave the hukm
he had followed and adopt a different hukm after he had already acted
according to the first hukm.
As for making Taqlīd to another mujtahid
for another hukm that is permitted due to the ijma’ of the Sahabah which has taken place on allowing the muqallid
to seek legal verdicts from any learned person in an issue. As for when the muqallid
selects a mazhab such as the mazhab of Shafi’i or Ja’far for example, and he says; I follow
his mazhab and adhere to it, there are some details for this: he is not allowed to follow any other mujtahid
in a mas-ala he has already practised according to the mazhab he
is following; while any questions he had not acted upon previously, he is
allowed to follow other mujtahiddin in those issues.
However, it should be made clear that
the issue (mas-ala) for which it is allowed for him to leave the hukm
that he has been following for another hukm, it is stipulated that the mas-ala
should be separate from other questions, and that leaving it does not entail
infringement of other Sharī’ah rules. As for when the mas-ala is
connected to other masail (sing:mas-ala) then it is not allowed
for him to leave it unless he leaves all the masail connected to it,
because they are all considered as one mas-ala. For instance; if the mas-ala
was a condition in another hukm, or one of the pillars (arkan) of
a complete action such as the prayer (salah), wudu (ablution) and
pillars (arkan) of the Salah. Thus, it is not correct for a Shafi’i to follow Abu Hanifah’s opinion that touching the women does not invalidate the
wudu and continue praying according to the mazhab of al-Shafi’i. It is not right for him to follow the
one who takes the opinion that constantly moving in prayer (to whatever extent
this may be) does not invalidate the prayer or that the recitation of the Fatihah
is not one of the pillars of prayer and then he continues to pray as a muqallid
of the one who holds the opinion that constantly moving in prayer does
invalidate it or that the Fatihah is one of the pillars of the prayer.
The hukm one
is allowed to leave is that whose relinquishment does not affect the actions
which are undertaken according to other Sharī’ah rules.
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