Taqleed

Taqleed, the Islamic concept of following the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen (the highest class of Fuqaha—Islamic Jurists) is subjected to much scorn, ridicule and rejection by modernist Muslims schooled in the liberal uneducated in terms of the Shariah. There exists also another group apart from the modernists, which has likewise considered it fashionable to argue away the vital Shar’I requirement of Taqleed. This group comes in the garb of Ulema of Islam. They have adopted a similar attitude of rejecting Taqleed by virtue of external un-Islamic influences which they have acquired as a result of them deviating from the path of the Sunnah. Western liberalism has undoubtedly captured their minds, hence they labour to create some kind of harmony between the rigid demands of Islam and the so-called rational dictates of modern reason. Such modern learned men operating under the designation of Ulema and occasionally donning even the external garments of Ulema to create a deceptive appearance of piety, pose the greatest danger to the Imam of the untainted laymen. Most of the “Islamic” colleges in the Middle Eastern countries and some Madrasahs in other parts of the world pour out members of this hybrid class of “Ulema” who find it difficult to distinguish between right and left. They are saddled with the problem of harmonizing Islam with modernism and in the process of their evil pursuit they are constrained to abandon any Islamic demand which thwarts or impedes their ungodly mission. One of the greatest impediments in the endeavour to modernize Islam to conform to western standards of reason is the Shar’I demand of Taqleed. Taqleed is a thorn in their flesh and it has to be eliminated for the attainment of their pernicious goal.

Self-conceit and self-opinion are the products of western liberalism and materialism. These diseases, gripping, many Muslims in this age, have lamentably disturbed the equilibrium of Muslim intelligence. The ailing Muslim intelligence of these times has been so drastically jarred that it is incapable of discerning the dangerous abyss it is slipping into by shunning the vital and compulsory injunction of Taqleed. It fails to understand consequence of admut-Taqleed (abandonement of Taqleed) is the abdication of Imam. Those who shun Taqleed hover on the brink of kufr.

Incumbent

The incumbency of Taqleed is substantiated by the highest authority of Islam, viz, the Qur’an Majeed.

Allah Ta’ala declares in the gracious Kitaab:

“Ask the People of knowledge if you do not know”.

This Qur’aanic command establishes the general principle of Taqleed. The Islamic concept of Taqleed is vital for Imam since Imam is based on total obedience to a transcendental law termed the Shariah which is not the product of human reason and man’s intelligence. Man’s intelligence cannot discover the acts and duties which Divine Pleasure desires for its population. The medium for attaining the Pleasure of Allah Ta’ala is only by following the teachings of Rasool (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) imparted these teachings to the Sahaabah who were obliged to adopt total Taqleed of the Nabi (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The Sahaabah achieved the pinnacle of glory in all fields by means of Taqleed, not by way of pitting their own opinion and reasoning against the Divine law.

The Second Stage

The second stage of Taqleed applies to the noble Taabi-een or the generation succeeding the Sahaabah. This was the golden age of the Fuqaha (Islamic Jurists) who all followed faithfully in the footsteps of the Sahaabah. The illustrious Fuqaha of this glorious age achieved their lofty ranks in Islamic Knowledge and Taqwa by sitting at the feet of the Sahaabah and making Taqleed of these Students and Disciples of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). They never preferred their opinion in matters pertaining to the Shariah. They followed the Sahaabah in the way the Sahaabah followed Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).

Allah Ta’ala commands in the Qur’an:

“O People of Imam! Obey Allah, obey the Rasul and the Ulul Amr among you”.

The Ulul Amr (the leaders or those in charge of the Ummah), in the first and highest degree refers to the Sahaabah. Taqleed of the Sahaabah is essential for salvation in the Aakhirah. When even the great Fuqaha followed the Sahaabah, then by what reasoning can any other member of the Ummah seek to discard Taqleed?

The Third Stage

The third stage of Taqleed applies to the rank and file of the Ummah. In regard to the Ummah at large the concept of Taqleed demands total obedience to the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen or the great Fuqaha who were the sole repositories of unrestricted Ijtihad on the basis of the Qur’an and Sunnah. After the Sahaabah, the class known as the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen occupied the loftiest pedestal in all branches of Islamic Knowledge. Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said:

“Verily the Ulema are the Heirs of the Ambiya”.

After the Sahaabah the highest candidates for this lofty Office were the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen, men such as Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Maalik, Imam Shaafi and Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal (rahmatullah alayhim). When Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) has appointed men of this caliber to be his Representatives to bear the Standard of the Shariah and to guide the Ummah, then it does not behove any Ummah, to become so self-conceited and arrogantly arrogate to himself the right of discarding the garland of Taqleed.

AIM OF TAQLEED

The aim of Taqleed is total Ittiba (total obedience to the Law of Allah Ta’ala).Taqleed means to follow. To achieve obedience to Allah Ta’ala. Taqleed is a vital requirement. The masses in the Ummah can never attain total Ittiba’ of Allah and his Rasool without resorting to Taqleed of the Fuqaha. Thus, negation of Ittiba’. Ordinary Muslims are deluded by the spiritually dangerous rhetoric and reasoning of the proponents of liberalism. The negators of Taqleed endeavour to put across the idea but Taqleed is a superfluity and an accretion in Islam. But, Taqleed is imperative for the safety of Imam. In the absence of Taqleed, the nafs of man steps in and misleads him by exposing him to the vagaries of desire and the evil prompting of shaitaan. On the contrary, Taqleed holds the Mu’min securely on the path of Rectitude. By following the through the avenue of Taqleed, the lowly desire in man is thwarted. Whether the decree of the Shariah suits him or not, he is bound to offer his total obedience since he has chosen the Path of Taqleed of the illustrious authorities of Islam. In contrast, the free-lancer-the one who picks and chooses-makes Taqleed of another sort. He follows his nafs-his desires-and drifts further from the Path of Haqq. He lands in dhalaal (deviation) which takes him towards kufr and the destruction of Imam.

The Ulama

The vital importance of Taqleed may be gauged from the fact that even great Ulama of the caliber of Imam Abu Yusuf were Muqallids. They followed a particular Math-hab and obeyed the higher authorities of the Shariah. But, puny and insignificant men hardly possessing a smattering of Islamic knowledge which they obtained from unreliable sources, today advocate abandonement of Taqleed.

DECEPTION

Those who seek to abandon Taqleed are dwelling in self-deception. They deceive themselves into believing that they posses adequate ability and qualifications to embark on the process of deducting Shar’I Masaa-il. But, they grope lamentably in darkness. There is not a single rule which they are capable of deducting without resort to the works of Fiqh, they are constrained to refer to Tafseer, they have to refer to some work of the Mufassireen. If it is a question pertaining to Hadith, they have no option other than making Taqleed of the Hadith Kitaabs of such Ulama who themselves were Muqallideen (followers of Imams). In order to ascertain the authenticity of a Hadith, there is no alternative other than making Taqleed of the Aimmah Hadith. At no stage can anyone be independent of Taqleed. But, the negators of Taqleed dupe themselves by seeking to satisfy their desires in slitting from Math-hab to Math-hab in picking and choosing rules and opinions which conform to their whimsical desires and fancies.

The votaries of admut Taqleed(abandonement of Taqleed) consider it below their dignity to be hitched to any specific Math-hab of the Shariah; they advocate a policy of picking and choosing from all various Math-hab; when it suits them they accept a mas’alah from the Hanafi Math-hab; when a mas’alah in the Shaafi Math-hab appears more in consonance with laxity and desire, they switch over to that Math-hab; when something more appeasing is discerned in the Maaliki Math-hab, they opt for that mas’alah. They wonder aimlessly in this deception deluding themselves. They fail policy of talfeeq (jumping from Math-hab to Math-hab); they have to follow the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen.

The indispensability of the Fuqaha is accepted even by the opponents of the Imams, albeit in an implied and subtle way. They are totally incapable of formulating a single mas’alah without resorting to aid from the illustrious authorities among the Fuqaha, Muhadditheen and Mufassireen. But, they childishly trumpet the bugle of the validity of talfeen a conception which is unanimously unlawful.

The Shar’I Masaa-il handed down by the Fuqaha were not products of unfettered opinion. The Masaa-il were obtained in the following ways:

(1) From highly reliable Ustaads whose academic, intellectual and spiritual Chains were linked directly to Rasulullah 9sallallahu alayhi wasallam). Furthermore, the Chain between these illustrious authorities of Islam and Rusulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) was extremely short in that, this Golden Chain consisted of very few links. It was the noblest to times closet to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) a time designated to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) a “Khairul Quroon”. (The Best of Times). The Masaa-il of Deen were consequently obtained directly from the Sahaabah or the disciples of the Sahaabah.

(2) On the basis of Principles Usool formulated by the Sahaabah. Such Principles were received by the Fuqaha by way of authentic narration. The short span of time between the Fuqaha and the Sahaabah was a predominant factor in ensuring the authenticity and reliability of the Chain of Narration.

(3) On the basis of Usool (Principles which the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen derived directly from the Qur’an and Sunnah. Unfettered reason and individual opinion and fancy had absolutely no role in the Masaa-il of Deen prepared by the Fuqaha for the benefit of posterity.

THEIR MISSION

The nature of the work which Islam had entrusted to these noble souls and the stupendous treasure of Islamic sciences prepared by them convince all sincere followers of Islam that the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen were a class created by Allah Ta’ala for the specific task of systematizing the Shariah and handing it over in a simplified form to the Ummah for all time to come. Their monumental works bear ample testimony to their greatness. To this day they remain unparalleled in the fields of Islam which were their missions. Thus, without the slightest fear of contradiction, can it be claimed that after the age of the Aimmah –e-Mujtahideen there never appeared the likes of them. After the Mufassireen, there never appeared the likes of them. Great men came in all in all ages and indeed every age will witness great men. But the likes of the Aimmah were never again seen nor will there ever be men of such high caliber. The greatest among the Ulama in this age and in all future ages will always be compelled to resort to the works of the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen. The Principles of the Shariah enunciated by them are indispensable.

Even such sheikhs and molvies who gone astray and are advocating the abandonement of Math-habs, find themselves hemmed in by new developments and phenomena which require Shar’I rulings. They are compelled against their desires to resort to the principles and the rulings of the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen. They will then proceed on a spree of picking and choosing from the various rulings of the Aimmah. But in this process they are steered on by desire. Their decisions are not governed by the Principles of the Shariah. They employ unbridled and defective reasoning in isolation of the Principles of the Shariah. Such deviated men while propagating the abandonment of Taqleed, imply by their own ruling and opinions that the rank and file of the Ummah should follow them. They are caught up in an obnoxious attitude of self deception in that they expect ordinary Muslims to sacrifice the superior Taqleed of the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen and adopt the baseless Taqleed of the deviated sheikhs and muftis of this time-learned men who have lost their Islamic bearings and dwell in the darkness of compound ignorance.

THE PATH OF ALLAH

Those who are plodding the path of dhalaal (deviation) scorn at the designations of Hanafi, Shaafi, Maaliki, and Hambali. They sarcastically pose the question:

“Wherein the Qur’an and Hadith is it stated that Muslim are Hanafis, Shaafis, Maalikis and Hambalis?”

Similar such stupid question are asked by those who have drifted from Seeratul Mustaqeem and are now following the path of shaitaan. One does not require great intelligence to understand the reason for these designation which most assuredly are not in conflict with Islam. The true and only Path for the Mu’min is the Path of Allah. But, Allah Himself attributes His Path to certain of His beloved Slaves.

He states in the Qur’an Majeed:

“Follow the Path of those who turn towards Me.”

In this ayat, Allah Ta’ala does not say:

“My Path “. He says : Sabeela man anaaba ilayya. (The Path of those who turn towards Me).” Elsewhere in the Qur’an Allah Ta’ala designates His Path with the title: Millate-e-Ibraaheem. There is therefore nothing Islamically wrong in relating the Path of Allah to any Islamic personality who acts as the medium of guidance.

The Aimmah –e-Mujtahideen were the personalities who expounded the Shariah and simplified the Road of Guidance leading towards Allah Ta’ala. Those who follow their Ustaad Imam Abu Hanifah are thus called the Hanafis while those who follow Imam Shaafi are called Shaaafis. The relationship to any particular Imam is merely by virtue of acceptance of his exposing of the Law of Allah Ta’ala. In submitting to the rulings of an uprighteous and highly qualified authority of the Shariah we are effectively thwarting our lower desire (nafs) and by casting aside our whimsical opinions and fancies we strive with sincerity in Allah’s path to attain His Pleasure.

In the ayat cited above, Allah Ta’ala commands Taqleed of the Aimmah in categoric terms. He says:

“Follow the Path of those who turn towards Me.”

In other words: Make Taqleed of the authorities of the Shariah. It is only the path of these great men of Islam which leads towards Allah Ta’ala. Allah commands that we adopt Taqleed of those whose who Path leads towards Him. But, men gone astray and lost in deception advocate that the Ummah abandon “Sabeela man anaabe ilayya—the Path of those turn towards Me.

Indeed it is most ludicrous for the Ummah to accept that being hitched to Taqleed for fourteen centuries, right from the time of the Sahaabah, men in this belated era have discerned the superfluity of this concept and that Allah Ta’ala can be reached by abandoning what is sacred and what has been proven to be authentic. The Path of Taqleed is the Rope of Allah Ta’ala. Whoever allows this rope to slip from his hands, loses himself in baatil.

NAMES

The intransigent demand by ghair-muqallideen (those who have abandoned the Taqleed of the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen) that we produce from the Qur’an or Hadith evidence to uphold the correctness of the Taqleed of Abu Hanifah, Shaafi, Maalik and Hambal is made merely to confuse and mislead Muslims. Lets us ask these deviates: Where in the Qur’an or Hadith is stated that we should accept and follow Imam Bukhaari and Imam Muslim (rahmatullah alayhimaa)? Ghair Muqallideen cite copiously from the works of these two authorities to bolster their baseless claims against the Muqallideen. These Ghair Muqallideen are rendered helpless for want of independent Shari evidence to support their claims. They can only cite ahadith which appear in the kitaabs of the Aimmah-e-Hadith. Again we ask: What constrains us then to make Taqleed of the ahadith which appear in Bukhaari, etc.?

Those who seek to shed Taqleed should abstain from attempting to substantiate their claims on the basis of ahadith which are extracted from Bukhaari and Muslim. If they cannot accept the stamp of authority of the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen, they should not expect others to accepts as stamps of authority the sources which they (the ghair Muqallideen) tender. The renouncers of Taqleed advance in their support ahadith which they have gleaned from sources which appeared centuries after Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) whereas the Masaa-il propagated; by the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen are based on sources in the closet proximity to Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The ghair Muqallideen cite from Bukhaari and Muslim while the Muqallideen narrate from the Aimmah-e-Mujtahideen whose Ustaads were the Taabi-een and the Sahaabah. The fallacy of their propagations against Taqleed should now be manifest.

Mujlisul Ulama of South Africa

P.O. Box 3395

Port Elizabeth, 6056

South Africa