[NEWyear]

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Powerful

Assalamu `Alaykum.

Dear Honest Student,

Sidi, you wrote:

> As a follow up question to the question on 'ijma and touching the
> opposite sex casually and without sensual contact, a student of
> knowledge says that all of the madhabs agree this is haraam and there
> is no leeway.
>
> Shaykh Faraz Rabbani said:
>
> "The ruling across the madhhabs is that it is not permitted to shake
> hands with someone non-related of the opposite sex."
>
> I do not mean to question your knowledge, but for my friend whom is a
> student of knowledge, could you possibly give a source for any
scholar > of Ahlul Sunnah wa Jama'ah at any time's opinion which allowed for
> the "palm taps" in North Africa?
>
> I do not mean to waste your time with academic squabbles, and I only
do > this to reassure my friend.

You are seeming to misunderstand the difference between ijmaa` in the
din and agreement among some pre-defined circle of scholars.

Issues of Ijmaa` are for instance (so you understand):

a) Hajj is an obligatory act.
b) Five prayers in a day are obligatory on each muslim,

We already gave you three sources which do a pretty comprehensive
job in listing the ijmaa` issues.

As you become more learned, you will notice that the ijmaa` issues
have very *few* details connected with them.

Issues of agreement within a pre-defined circle of scholars (e.g.,
four madh-habs) are for instance:

a) Zakat is wajib on merchandise up for sale (the Dhahiri
school disagreed with this).
b) One may not touch the Qur'an without wudu' (traditional opinions
exist outside of the four schools which allow this).

Reference(s):
al-Qawanin al-Fiqh-hiyyah

As for providing proof for what we say about this issue not having
ijmaa`,
then we would turn the tables and ask those who claim this is an
issue of ijmaa` (again we are not talking about sensual caressing and
kissing) to provide proof from the three sources which we mentioned
with an excerpt that clearly states that this is an ijmaa` issue
(as these issues are clearly marked in the aforementioned three
texts). And if they cannot do that, then at least bring forth
even *one* verse from the Qur'an which speaks about this issue
directly or even *one* authenticated *mutawatir* hadith which
forbids this (we are aware of non-mutawtir and/or non-sahih hadith
which prohibit this act (with unclear and undetailed wording) - but,
again that is not enough to back an ijmaa` ruling).

Also, with research certain, you will find that certain tasawwuf
scholars
(who were in the minority gave bay`ah to women) by lightly grasping
their
hands. They did this by (mis)-interpreting hadith and Qur'anic verses
which speak about the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace)
giving Bay`ah to women (e.g., the verse at the end of Mumtahinah and
various hadith which speak of this cross-gender bay`ah).

As for challenging our knowledge or comparing it to others, then we
have no interest in such vain activities. But, if we were into
such vain activities, then we will state that very few people exist
today (almost no one) with the depth of knowledge of over 13 madh-habs
of
fiqh, various schools of tenets, and several schools of tasawwuf which
we
possess - with the grace of Allah.

Because of our simple and straight-forward means of answering and
our using a non-Arabic language in our correspondences, some people
(mostly the insincere) are misled into claiming superiority.

Also, we provide this service of answering questions to the sincere
and honest students of the Guiding Helper and each question is
appended with an explicit note which states that the contained material
may not be directed (is not intended for) the general body of our
din (public announcement). The reason for this is that people are
of various levels and a person without the proper pre-requisites will
inherently misunderstand some of the techinical terminology which
is exchanged.

Also, Faraz Rabbani's implying that *all* madh-habs agree instead of
"the majority opinion in the common *four* madh-habs agree" is
problematic and requires proof. And such comes from `adamu l-istiqsaas
wa l-istighraaqu wa t-tabahhuru fi l-`ilm (approximately translated:
not doing complete research and verification of the issue).



Wassalamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah

Abuqanit Hasani
Main Author
Guiding Helper Foundation

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