Fatwa

Aren’t we deserving of the title of Ahle-Hadith?

Fatwa #656 Category: Aqaaid (Beliefs) Country: Zambia Date: 29th August 2021
Fatwa #656 Date: 29th August 2021
Category: Aqaaid (Beliefs)
Country: Zambia

Question

Asalaamu alaikum. Why dont we call ourselves ahle hadith when we have akabireen hadith scholars like imam muhammad imam tahawi, imam ayni, shah waliullah, anwar shah kashmiri yusuf binnori and many others rahmatullahi alayhim also our talibul ilm (students of knowledge) in their final year in daurah hadith on completion of sahih bukhari are given a sanad (chain of transmission) that goes all the way back to the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam through the muhadditheen such as imam bukhari. Then if we are more fit to be ahlul hadeeth then why do we allow imposters to hijack this title?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Respected Brother,

The ‘Ahl Hadith’ in the recent past generally refers to those individuals who do not see the necessity of subscribing to one of the four known and agreed upon schools of thought (madhabs) i.e., Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi and Hanbali. They put forward the claim that deducing rulings directly from hadith is possible for us as well, and hence, we do not need to adhere to one madhab, rather, we shall act upon what we think is the most correct view in light of hadith.

It is true that these individuals have hijacked such a title, because, if anyone were to be called Ahl Hadith, it should have been the adherents of the schools of thought whose Imams rigorously strived to achieve Amal (Practice) that is firstly derived and based on hadith, and is secondly, agreed upon by the other scholars overall.

It is for this reason you will see that none of the four schools of thought would label each other as deviant, rather, each understands that there is a daleel (proof) for what the other says. In truth, this is a great blessing upon the Ummah in the sense that it has created ease for the people but more importantly, it has guaranteed that each and every practice (sunnah) of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) remains practiced upon till the end of times.

As for titles in general, we are Muslims and see ourselves as part of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah. Creating further sectarian division is not ideal especially when there is no need for it. For example, we had to resort to the title of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah to combat and create awareness regarding the erroneous beliefs of groups such as the Mujassimah, the Mu’tazilah etc. Otherwise, there was no need to distinguish between people.

If people create and thereafter ascribe themselves towards a particular group, there is not much we can do about it nor are we responsible for that. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said,

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رضى الله عنه قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اَللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلَامِ اَلْمَرْءِ, تَرْكُهُ مَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ

Translation: A sign of man’s good observance of Islam (his piety) is to keep away from that which does not concern him.” (Tirmidhi-1475)

There are more important things we have to worry about. Our hereafter awaits us, and if Almighty Allah will not ask us why we let Ahl Hadith people hijack a title, why then should we concern ourselves with it?

 

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

 

Mufti Bilal Pandor

 

Concurred by

Mufti Muhammad Patel

Darul Iftaa Mahmudiyyah


Lusaka, Zambia

daruliftaazambia.com