Muhtaram As-Salāmu ‘Alaykum Wa Rahmatullāhi Wa Barakātuh We acknowledge receipt of your query (12/04/07) as regards the book review of a Kitaab called ‘Fiqhus Sunnah’. Our response follows: In an era where blind following of ones intellect has become a religion we applaud you for consulting the Ulama as regards this and other masaa’il. Sayyid Saabiq in the preface to his book, outlining his purpose writes: "و يفتح للناس باب الفهم عن الله و رسوله, و يجمعهم على الكتاب و السنة, و يقضي على الخلاف و بدعة تعصب المذاهب كما يقضي على الخرافة القائلة : بأن باب الاجتهاد قد سدّ" “To open for the masses the door of understanding from Allah and His Rasool, to unite them on the Kitaab and Sunnah (Quraan and Hadith) and to put an end to differences and the Bid’at of holding firmly to the mazhabs and similarly putting an end to the superstition/myth that the door of ‘Ijtihaad’ has been closed”. The above excerpt may seem harmless or even good but if analysed the dubious nature of this statement becomes apparent. From this very statement it is gauged that Sayyid Saabiq differed greatly with our Ulama. In fact it could be said that Sayyid Saabiq’s mission is to destroy what our Ulama sacrificed their lives to uphold. We will not separately analyse this statement but its deceiving nature will be explained in the following paragraph. One of our great Ulama, of Syrian origin presently residing in Al-Madeena-tul-Munawwarah, Al Faqeeh, Al Muhaddith Maulana Muhammad Awwāmah أطال الله بقائه remarkably places this book (and the likes thereof) in perspective by merely analysing the title ‘Fiqhus Sunnah’. An English summary of what Sheikh has written in Arabic follows: “A major error which has become common, (without any attention being given towards it so that it may be corrected): Abuse of the title ‘Fiqhus Sunnah’ or ‘Fiqhus Sunnati wal Kitāb’ by some laymen who present their own “Fiqh” and “knowledge” to the masses. “Fiqh” literally means to understand. So whose Fiqh (understanding) are these people really presenting? It is the ‘Fiqh’ of laymen with negligible status in the field of Ilm, but they try to elevate this base ‘Fiqh’ by attributing it to ‘As-Sunnati wal Kitāb’. They do this in order to beguile the masses into believing that they are presenting to them deen in it’s pristine and pure form and thereby succeed in distancing them from the FIQH of the four great Imāms Abu Hanifah, Mālik, Shāfi’ee and Ahmad $ . They then ask questions like: “do you wish to follow the ‘fiqh’ of Muhammud ^ or the fiqh of Abu Hanifa and Shafi’ee?!!” Once, one of the people of this thought when going forward to lead his kind in salāh asked: “do you want me to perform the salāh of Muhammud ^ or of Abu Hanifah?!! How daring and impudent!! It is only possible for them to make such bold statements by their attribution of ‘their’ Fiqh to ‘As-Sunnati wal Kitāb’, and the FIQH of ‘The Four Mazahib' to the Four Imams, not to ‘as Sunnati wal Kitāb’. With this scheme of theirs they have discoloured that ‘Fiqh’(the Fiqh of the four mazhabs) which in reality is a true commentary of ‘As-Sunnati wal Kitāb’, and have produced a Fiqh, which wherever correct is from these Four Great Imams and whenever incorrect is from themselves, and have then attributed this mixture to ‘As-Sunnati wal Kitāb’. [Ref: Athar ul Hadithis Shareef fi Ikhtilaafil A’immatil Fuqahaa Pg 121] Sayyid Saabiq also writes in his preface: فهذا الكتاب يتناول مسائل من الفقه الاسلامي مقرونة بادلّتها من صريح الكتاب و السنّة و مما أجمعت عليه الأمة He claims that the proofs of laws mentioned in his book will only be deduced from “the Sareeh of the Quraan, Saheeh Ahadith and from Ijma of the Ummah”. This very claim of his opposes the essence of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah as there is Ijma (consensus of opinion) of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah that the proofs of Shari’ah are not restricted to “the Sareeh of the Quraan, Saheeh Ahadith and Ijma of the Ummah”. Similarly, he opposes the Ijma (consensus of opinion) of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaa’ah, in his objectives mentioned above as he says “to put an end to differences and the Bid’at of holding firmly to the mazhabs”, whereas there is consensus of opinion on the four mazhabs. The differences between the four Mazhabs have in actual fact stemmed from the Ahaadith. Quite often, from a single hadith the Fuqaha have deduced differing masaa’il on the basis of their deep understanding and varying usool (also deduced from Quraan and Hadith). So by Sayyid Saabiq stating “to unite them on the Kitaab and Sunnah (Quraan and Hadith) and to put an end to differences and the Bid’at of holding firmly to the mazhabs”, his actual desire is to unite the people on ‘his’ understanding of Qur’aan and Hadith after the Ummah has united on accepting and following the understanding of the Four Great Imams. Al Faqeeh, Al Muhaddith Maulana Muhammad Awwāmah أطال الله بقائه has proven the validity of the mazhabs and the legality of their differences in his books Athar ul Hadithis Shareef fi Ikhtilaafil A’immatil Fuqahaa and Adab ul Ikhtilaaf. From the above discussion the dangerous nature of this book is clear. May Allah Ta’ala give us the ability to understand. AND ALLAH TA’ALA KNOWS BEST Muhammad Obeid 12 May 2007 23 Rabee ul Akhir 1428 This is from Dar al Uloom Azaadville