[blogforlovxr]

Praise be to Allaah.

The words ‘aalim (scholar), faqeeh and mujtahid all carry the same meaning: they refer to one who strive to reach the shar‘i ruling and who has the ability to derive shar‘i rulings from the evidence.
This means that he has to acquire the tools (pre-requisites) of ijtihaad. No one can be described in these terms (‘aalim, mujtahid or faqeeh) except one who meets the pre-requisites of ijtihaad.

The scholars paid attention to these pre-requisites so that the door is not open to just anyone, old or young, to say about the religion of Allah that of which he has no knowledge.

But we will content ourselves with just two reports from which we will demonstrate what these pre-requisites are.

-1-

The first report was narrated from al-Shawkaani (may Allah have mercy on him) and what he said may be summed up in five points, listing five pre-requisites:

(i)
He should have knowledge of the texts of the Qur’aan and Sunnah.

This does not necessarily mean that he should have memorised the Sunnah; rather it is sufficient for him to be able to find reports in their places and be familiar with the contents of the books of Sunnah, foremost among which are the well-known compilations of the Sunnah (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Saheeh Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasaa’i and Sunan Ibn Maajah), and so on.

He should also know what is saheeh (sound) and what is da‘eef (weak) in the texts of the Sunnah.

(ii)

He should have knowledge of the issues of consensus (ijmaa‘)

(iii)

He should be well versed in the Arabic language.

It is not stipulated that he should have learned it by heart; rather he should be able to understand the meanings and structure of the language.

(iv)

He should have knowledge of usool al-fiqh (basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence), including
analogy (qiyaas), because usool al-fiqh is the foundation for deriving rulings.

(v)

He should have knowledge of what abrogates and what is abrogated (al-naasikh wa’l-mansookh).
See: Irshaad al-Fuhool, 2/297-303

-2-

The second report was narrated from Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him):

He mentioned the pre-requisites of the mujtahid without differing greatly from what al-Shawkaani (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, but he put it more clearly and said:

Ijtihaad is subject to several conditions, including the following:

(i) He (the mujtahid) should have knowledge of the shar‘i evidence that he needs for the purpose of ijtihaad, such as verses of the Qur’aan and hadeeths that speak of rulings.

(ii) He should have knowledge of the matters pertaining to the soundness or weakness of hadeeths, such as the isnaad, the men in the isnaad and so on.

(iii) He should be aware of what abrogates and what is abrogated (al-naasikh wa’l-mansookh) and issues on which there is consensus (ijmaa‘), so that he will not issue a ruling on the basis of something that has been abrogated or that is contrary to scholarly consensus.

(iv) He should have knowledge of various matters affecting the ruling, such as reports of specific meanings, reports that set limits, and so on, so that he will not issue a ruling that is contrary to that.

(v) He should have knowledge of the Arabic language and usool al-fiqh that has to do with verbal evidence, such as what is general and what is specific, what is absolute and what is restricted, what is mentioned in brief and what is mentioned in detail, and so on, so that his rulings will be in accordance with what is indicated by that evidence.

(vi) He should have the ability to derive rulings from the evidence.

End quote from al-Usool fi ‘Ilm al-Usool, p. 85, 86; Sharh (commentary thereon), p. 584-590.

It should be pointed out that referring to the Sunnah now is much easier than it was before, because of the books that have been written on the Sunnah.

The one who fulfils these conditions is a scholar (‘aalim) who can derive shar‘i rulings from the evidence. Anyone who does not fit this description cannot be described as a ‘aalim, faqeeh or mujtahid.

It should also be noted that these words (‘aalim, mujtahid and faqeeh) are technical terms, as it were; according to the scholars they have specific meanings and pre-requisites. So it is not permissible to use them readily about anyone who speaks about Islamic rulings or teaches Islamic material in schools and universities, or who works in the field of da‘wah (calling people to Allah). A man may be a daa‘iyah, calling people to Allah, and putting a great deal of effort into that, without having reached the level of being a scholar (‘aalim).

We ask Allah, may He be exalted, to teach us that which will benefit us and increase us in knowledge.

And Allah knows best.

[CalBettaulp]

Who wrote this?

By the way, Ibn Abideen was not a Mujtahid, so are you saying it is wrong to call him a scholar?

[blogforlovxr]

Who wrote this?

By the way, Ibn Abideen was not a Mujtahid, so are you saying it is wrong to call him a scholar?

Are you saying ibn Abideen didnt have knowledge of the following:

The first report was narrated from al-Shawkaani (may Allah have mercy on him) and what he said may be summed up in five points, listing five pre-requisites:

(i)
He should have knowledge of the texts of the Qur’aan and Sunnah. This does not necessarily mean that he should have memorised the Sunnah; rather it is sufficient for him to be able to find reports in their places and be familiar with the contents of the books of Sunnah, foremost among which are the well-known compilations of the Sunnah (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Saheeh Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawood, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasaa’i and Sunan Ibn Maajah), and so on. He should also know what is saheeh (sound) and what is da‘eef (weak) in the texts of the Sunnah.

(ii)
He should have knowledge of the issues of consensus (ijmaa‘)

(iii)
He should be well versed in the Arabic language.It is not stipulated that he should have learned it by heart; rather he should be able to understand the meanings and structure of the language.

(iv)
He should have knowledge of usool al-fiqh (basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence), including
analogy (qiyaas), because usool al-fiqh is the foundation for deriving rulings.

(v)
He should have knowledge of what abrogates and what is abrogated (al-naasikh wa’l-mansookh).

See: Irshaad al-Fuhool, 2/297-303

[soryalomop]

Who wrote this?

By the way, Ibn Abideen was not a Mujtahid, so are you saying it is wrong to call him a scholar?

Rather, it seems to imply that (almost) every scholar is a Mujtahid, which is the background of the whole Salafi methodology, i.e. thinking of being able to derive rulings directly from Qur'an and Sunnah and thus "weight" which proof is "stronger" than which, even if one is not a proper Mujtahid mutlaq as this had been traditionally defined.

[CalBettaulp]

Are you saying ibn Abideen didnt have knowledge of the following:

Shawkani was anti-Taqleed, anti-Madhab, and pro-Ijtihad, so obviously his opinion leans towards greater allowance of Ijtihad.

Honestly, if that is all that's required for Ijtihad, then there are multiple people here on this forum who are capable of it, and it would only take a few years of study to reach the level of Ijtihad. Certainly less than the 8-10 years that the Dars Nizami course requires before a person can be called a Mufti, which is funny when you think about how Salafis accuse Deobandis of throwing around labels like Aalim and Mufti too freely.

[GEAntonio]

Rather, it seems to imply that (almost) every scholar is a Mujtahid, which is the background of the whole Salafi methodology, i.e. thinking of being able to derive rulings directly from Qur'an and Sunnah and thus "weight" which proof is "stronger" than which, even if one is not a proper Mujtahid mutlaq as this had been traditionally defined.

bro. With all due respect. Salafis are not the ones who claim to have muftis in every street corner in the uk

[GEAntonio]

Shawkani was anti-Taqleed, anti-Madhab, and pro-Ijtihad, so obviously his opinion leans towards greater allowance of Ijtihad.

Honestly, if that is all that's required for Ijtihad, then there are multiple people here on this forum who are capable of it, and it would only take a few years of study to reach the level of Ijtihad. Certainly less than the 8-10 years that the Dars Nizami course requires before a person can be called a Mufti, which is funny when you think about how Salafis accuse Deobandis of throwing around labels like Aalim and Mufti too freely.

there are very few people in the world whom salafis consider muftis and mujtahids. Most salafis will state that there are no muftis or mujtahids in europe.

Your telling me that a few people on this forum have read through the entire 6 major collections of hadeeth with an alim and are familiar enough with it to pull out hadeeths related to a mas'ala? Please tell me who because mashallah if they completed that in less than 8 years plus learning science of hadeeth plus learning arabic language, thats some serious ilm they managed to acquire in less than 8 years

ijma alone is something that could be studied for over a year

[GEAntonio]

btw its a shame that this thread turned into a salafi bashing thread as the op posted quite a nice beneficial article. If someone disagreed with any of the principles, they could have just politely disagreed and mentioned which points and how they could be corrected rather than start talking bout salafi this salafi that.

As far as ive been told, the scholar whom you mention, whom apparently had no knowledge of arabic or hadeeth or usool ul fiqh was actually the one who derived the usool of hanafi fiqh if my memory serves me correctly so id hate to think youd be insulting hanafi usool by making such a statement

surely in your attempt to refute salafis you just majorly insulted ibn abideen? If its the same person who im thinking of

[Thunderzee]

Ibn 'Abidin was not a mujtahid mutlaq, and that's not an insult. We have degrees of ijtihad in hanafi fiqh. Ibn 'Abidin did not develop hanafi usul -- he performed tarjih of all the opinions, penning the raajih opinions down in his Radd al-Muhtar.

was-salam

[Lauramalina]

Imaamuna, Imaam Ibn AbiDeen was Mujtahid Fil Madhhab na3m?

[soryalomop]

bro. With all due respect. Salafis are not the ones who claim to have muftis in every street corner in the uk

Yes, they are the ones who claim to have mujtahids in each and every house!

"Mufti" doesn't mean "mujtahid": if our brothers graduate in high numbers from Dar al-Iftaas, alhamdulillah!

[blogforlovxr]

Shawkani was anti-Taqleed, anti-Madhab, and pro-Ijtihad, so obviously his opinion leans towards greater allowance of Ijtihad.

Honestly, if that is all that's required for Ijtihad, then there are multiple people here on this forum who are capable of it, and it would only take a few years of study to reach the level of Ijtihad. Certainly less than the 8-10 years that the Dars Nizami course requires before a person can be called a Mufti, which is funny when you think about how Salafis accuse Deobandis of throwing around labels like Aalim and Mufti too freely.

Ibn Qudamah said about Ijtihad in his Rawdah:

Yes, they are the ones who claim to have mujtahids in each and every house!

Brother, I'm sure you must know that its only the ignorant who say that. I've never heard any Salafi scholar say such a thing.

there are very few people in the world whom salafis consider muftis and mujtahids. Most salafis will state that there are no muftis or mujtahids in europe.

That is true. In UK amongst the Salafis the person who is most looked up to for his knowledge is Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad, but I was told that even he would only consider himself a Student of Knowledge.



And this is not a topic that affects me any way really. I just found that article interesting and shared it. And if there are other views it would be good if they are posted as well. I respect graduates of both Deobandi and Salafi institutes.

[soryalomop]

Brother, I'm sure you must know that its only the ignorant who say that. I've never heard any Salafi scholar say such a thing.

True.
We must assume that most part of the Salafis (laymen ones) are ignorant, then.

Traditionally "Mufti" has been synonymous to "Mujtahid".

Yes, but we should consider the "'urf" definition of Mufti nowadays.

[Lauramalina]

Yes, 'urf today. The 'urf of those generations was better.