The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams

Islamic Studies 46:3 (2007) pp. 317-380

The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams: An
Annotated Translation of Ibn Taymiyyah's. Raf al
Maldm 'anal-A 'immatal-A 'lam
AHMAD IBN 'ABD
AL-HALIMIBNTAYMIYYAH
Tr. andAnn. ABDUL

HAKIM

AL-MATROUDI

I

INTRODUCTION
Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Halim b. ?Abdal-Salam b. 'AbdAllah b. Abi '1-Qasimal
Khidr b. Muhammad b. Taymiyyah1 (661-728/1263-1328) is arguably the
most distinguishedand influential
and perhaps one of
medieval Hanbali jurist2
was born in
He
Harran (presentday Turkey)
themost prolific among them.3
and livedduring the era of thefirst
Mamluks (648-784/1250-1382).However,
he was forced to move from his native region and take up residence in
Damascus due to the
Mongol onslaught fromtheEast.4He lived in turbulent
1
For a discussion of the possible reasons forhim being given thename Taymivyah/ see,Abdul
Hakim Ibrahim al-Matroudi, The Hanbali School of Law and Ibn Taymiyyah: Conflict or
Conciliation (London: Routledge Curzon, 2006), 199-200 f.
2
'Abd al-Rahman b. Ahmad Ibn Rajab, al-Dhayl 'old Tabaqat al-Handbilah (Beirut:Dar al
Ma'rifah, n.d.), 2:388-91; 'Umar b. 'Ali al-Bazzar, al-A'lam al-'Altyyabft Manaqib Ibn
Taymiyyah (Beriut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1400ah), 18-20, 40,77.
3
The total number of works written by Ibn Taymiyyah are not known exactly but there is
agreement thathe was a prolific author. See, 'Abd al-Hayy b. Ahmad Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat al
Dhahab fi Akhbar Man Dhahab pamsacus-Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1992), 8:147. See also,
Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Dhahabi,Dhayl Ta'rikh alhtam (Riyadh:Dar al-Mughni, 1990) 326;
Muhammad b. Ahmad Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi, al-Vqudal-DurriyyahminManaqibShaykh al-Islam Ibn

Maktabat al-Mua'yyad, n.d.), 64-66; al-Bazzax, al-A'lam, 25-28;Muhammad
Taymiyyah (Riyadh:
b. 'Abd Allah Ibn Rushayyiq, Asmd'Mu'allafat Shaykhalhlam Ibn Taymiyyah (Beirut:Dar al
Kitab al-Jadid,1983), 8, (it is attributed
mistakenly toMuhammad b. Abi Bakr Ibn al-Qayyim,
d. 751/1350); Mar'i b. Yusuf al-Karmi, al-Kawakib al-Duriyyahfi Manaqib alMujtahid Ibn

Taymiyyah (Beirut:Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1986), 78; and cf. al-Matroudi,TheHanbali School of
Law,

4

23-30.

Ibrahim b. Muhammad Ibn Muflih, al-Maqsad al-Arshadfi Dhikr Ashab al-Imdm Ahmad
Maktabat al-Rushd, 1410ah), 1:133.
(Riyadh:

This content downloaded on Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:11:43 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

AHMAD IBN 'ABD
IBN
AL-HALlM TAYMIYYAH

318

was
times
when Muslim political fragmentation clearlyvisible.Moreover, legal
fanaticismand doctrinal laxityprevailed in
Muslim lands and he ishistorically
as someone who sought to rectifyboth religious and
portrayed
political
disparities and deviancies which led to open encounters with his
contemporariesaswell as to long spells inprison.5
Ibn Taymiyyah is often seen through a simplisticanti-rationalist
prism,
and literalinclinationstowards
that is, as someonewith strict
Hadith which he
over emphasised and preferred to acceptance of broader legal theories and
principles. The present textwould sufficeto undermine that view. Raf al
Malam 'anal-A'immat aUA'ldm is a short text inwhich the readerobserves Ibn
In
which has a balanced tone
par excellence. this treatise,
Taymiyyah as a jurist
to argue as towhy a mujtahid
and is couched in erudite language,he proceeds
might depart from directly acting upon a hadith text and follow insteadhis

methodological principles (usiil).This forms the basis of his delineating the
reasons underlying the disagreementsfound among fyluslimjurists in general
and theirholding differinglegal opinions and proffering
divergentarguments
in supportof those opinions.
It is interesting
that Ibn Taymiyyah turneddown the request of some of
to compose a treatisein the Science of Jurisprudence
his students
(usiilalfiqh)
which would contain all of his jurisprudential
and preferences in
opinions
order to be used as a basis for issuing legalverdicts (fatawa).
He justified
his
out that rulingson jurisprudentialissues are based upon
refusalby pointing
independentreasoning (ijtihad)and there is no harm for the subjectof the law
(mukallafito imitatea mujtahid for thatpurpose.6Thus, Ibn Taymiyyah did
not see the existence of various jurisprudential
approaches to be problematic;
he
rather, believed that the real problem lay in intoleranceand fanaticism.In
the
Raf al-Malam, Ibn Taymiyyah pleads for toleranceby identifying different
causes for jurisprudential
and seeks to absolve
disagreements(ikhtilafj
possible
themujtahid of any blame in committingan error and/or in departing froma
hadith inhis judgment.
No doubt, Ibn Taymiyyah's espousal of thispositionwas an outcome of
various contributoryfactors.In what follows, I hope to give to the reader a
which would hopefully provide
glimpse of Ibn Taymiyyah's lifeand thought
some insightinto the reasonsunderpinningthis sensitivity.
The firstsectionof
of
this Introduction
will focus on some of the statements his contemporaries
as mentioned in the biographical sources, which reflect their opinions
The next section
regardingIbn Taymiyyah's "naturaland acquired attributes."
of
will present some of theunique features Ibn Taymiyyah's scholarship,such
5
Sec, al-Matroudi,TheHanbali School ofLaw, 13-16.

6
Al-Bazzar,

alA

'lam, 35-37.


THE REMOVALOF BLAMEFROMTHE GREATIMAMS

319

as his distinguishedknowledge ofHadith and jurisprudenceand some of his
will
The last section
opinionswith regardto legal imitation(taqlid)and ijtihdd.
draw attention to some of the salientpoints inRaf al-Maldm in the hope of
the sense and context

to the reader

presenting

of this treatise before

finally

a
of
Arabic text.
offering full translation theoriginal
sources extol the virtues of Ibn Taymiyyah and
The biographical
biographicalworks are repletewith praise by his contemporaries,especially

his students,7 and also his successors.8 He

was

fortunate

that his father Shihab

al-Din ?Abdal-Halim b.Abd al-Salam (d. 682/1283) and his grandfather
Majd
al-Din Abd al-Salam b. Abd Allah (d. 652/1254)?both distinguished legal
scholars

in their times?greatly

contributed

to his early learning. So
thorough

was his early trainingthatby the age of twentyor even earlier,he
and intense
was issuing legal opinions within theHanbali School and according to the
statement the great
of
Hanbali jurist,
Muhammad b. Ahmad Ibn 'Abd al-Hadl
was also Ibn Taymiyyah's student, the people of
(d. 744/1345), who
were dazzled by the intensity his
of
Damascus, where Ibn Taymiyyah lived,
while hewas stilla child,hewas
intelligenceand acumen.9It isno wonder that
as a

described

"precocious

genius."10

Ibn Taymiyyah had a phenomenal and prodigious memory and there
Often he
would be very littlehe would read and fail to commit tomemory.11
would

a

memorize

of works

large number

in various

branches

of learning,12

was rare to finda
and 'Umar b. 'All al-Bazzar (d. 749/1348) remarked that it
not know about.13
His sharp and systematic
book which Ibn Taymiyyah did
enabled him to acquire knowledge of encyclopaedic proportions and
memory
when Ibn Taymiyyah
Muhammad b.All al-Zamalkanl (727/1327)notes that
would

answer

a

in one

question

of the traditional

the listener

disciplines,

would think thathe did not know any other discipline due to the depth and
comprehensive

nature

of his

answer.14

Even

a

cursory

reading

of

Ibn

7
most pre-eminentfiguressuch as IbnKathir, al-Dhahabi, IbnQayyim
His students include the
al-Jawziyyah,

8

al-Bazzar

and Ibn

'Abd

al-Hadi.

Indeed, the sources also document themore controversial episodes of Ibn Taymiyyah's life
that have been discussed and treated
especially his doctrinal conflicts and legal interpretations
elsewhere. See, Al-Matroudi, TheHanbali School ofLaw, 20-23 for an account of his admirers
and detractors.

9

Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi, alVqiid, 3.

10
53.
18-19 and al-Karmi, al-Kawdkib,
al-A'ldm,
Al-Bazzar,
11
8: 144.
Ibn al-'Imad,
Shadhardta
al-Dhahab,
See,
12
6 and al-Bazzar,
al-A'ldm,
See, Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi,
al-'Uqud,

19.

13
Ibid.
14
details of the testimonyof leading scholars regarding the breadth of his
Ibid., 7. For further
knowledge,

see, Ibn

'Abd

al-Hadi,

al-'Uqud,

3-26;

al-Bazzar,

al-A'ldm,


22-31

and

al-Karmi,

al

320

AHMAD IBN *ABD
AL-HALIMIBNTAYMIYYAH

Taymiyyah's works reveals a thoroughnessand an encompassing attention to
detail, possible only on the basis of extensive knowledge and sharp
As a
understanding of the various Islamic and non-traditional disciplines.15
scholar repliedwhen asked about him, "I saw aman as though all the
leading
sciences [were laid] open beforehis eyes and he took as hewished.'916
Arabic grammarand semanticsas
Ibn Taymiyyah not only read theology,
as exegesis (tafsir), he also became proficientinAlgebra, logic,history
but
well
and philosophy. As a result,he wrote polemical treatisesrefuting
Aristotelian

Although it
philosophy that had seeped into the academic lifeof his day.17
must be mentioned that thanks to his studies in logic, there are undeniable
traces of its influenceespecially in his systematic
presentation of arguments
and his use of explicitreasoningfromestablishedpremises.
Aside from the tributes paid to Ibn Taymiyyah's intellectual and
scholarly qualities, the biographical sources also mention the strengthand
resolve of his character.
Al-Bazzar, for example, describes Ibn Taymiyyah as
most courageous people who he had not seen the likesof."18
"one of the
This

courage is reflected in his long periods of detention in both Cairo and
Damascus. Although Ibn Taymiyyah's detentionswere extremelydistressing
for him, it is obvious that he was able to turn them to his advantage by
This is perhaps
concentratingon scholarlypursuitsof teachingandwriting.19

Kawakib, 55-72, 80-82.
15
See, Al-Karmi, al-Kawakib, 71, 79; al-Bazzar, al-A'lam, 32; Ibn Rajab, Dhayl, 2: 389-393 and
min al-Asha'irah (Riyadh:
Maktabat
'Abd al-Rahman b. Salih al-Mahmud,
Mawqiflbn Taymiyyah
1: 262,294.
al-Rushd, 1995),
16
d-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
Khildl Sab'at
Muhammad 'Aziz Shams, et al, al-Jami'fi StrutShaykh
Qurun (Makkah: Dar 'Alam al-Fawa*id, 1420ah), 258. See also, Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat al
Dhahab, 8:146.
17
Dar al-Kutub al-'flmiyyah,
See,Muhammad b. 4Alial-Dawudi, Tabaqat alMufassirin (Beirut:
most notable being
1:49. Ibn Taymiyyah composed several
Greek logic,
works to refute
1983),
his,Naqd al-Mantiq (Cairo:Maktabat al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah,n.d.) and volume 9 of his,
Majmu* Fatawa Shaykh allslam Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah (Riyadh: Dar 'Alam al-Kutub, 1991),
[henceforth referred to as *Faiawa". It is not difficult to see the reason underpinning his
Greek logic that Islamic philosophers espoused the
scathing attack as itwas through inheriting
doctrine of the eternityof theworld; an incongruentaccount of the nature and attributesof
with mediatory roles of the 'Intelligences'; a deficient
God; thePlatonic cosmological hierarchy
notion of prophethood; the creation of theQur'an, etc.All these teachings,as espoused by the
philosophers, stood in stark contrast to what Ibri Taymiyyah perceived to be the Sunni or
orthodox position thatwas dictated by the text of theQur'an and the Sunnah. See,Wael B.

Greek Logicians (Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1993), xii.
Hallaq, Ibn Taymiyyahagainst the
18
al-A 'lam,69 and al-Karmi,al-Kawakib, 91.
Al-Bazzar,
19
This can be seen clearly through the vast number of extant treatises.Ibn 'Abd al-Hadi, al
majority of Ibn Taymiyyah's books
Vqiid, 51; Ibn Rajab, al-Dhayl, 2:403, he observes that the
were written in prison oftenwithout any referencesto consult and use. See also, al-Bazzar, al


THE REMOVAL BLAMEFROMTHE GREATIMAMS
OF

321

what Ibn Taymiyyah meant when he declared, "There is great benefit in it,"
when he was informed of his imprisonment.20
Indeed, apart from the
these detentions to concentrate on scholarly
opportunity provided by
pursuits, there isno doubt that thesedetentions also added to his fame.21
Important for the comprehensionof the present text is the fact that Ibn
Hadith andfiqh.With
Taymiyyah was especially noted forhis knowledge in
who had just a smattering
of
Hadith, Ibn Taymiyyahwas not a jurist
regardto

it. Far from that,he had studied it under several eminent
Hadith specialists
was his knowledge ofHadith that it
of his time. So extensive
(muhaddithun)
most distinguished
Hadith scholars.
evoked the admirationof the
Muhammad
b. Ahmad al-Dhahabi (d. 748/1348), for example, remarked that if someone
claimed that if any particular hadithwas not known to Ibn Taymiyyah, it
In
could not be counted as a hadith,his claimwill be true.22 addition,Yusuf b.
*Abd al-Rahman al-MizzI (d. 742/1341) asserts that he had not seen anyone

more knowledgeable than Ibn Taymiyyah in
Qur'an and SunnahP
Ibn Taymiyyah's vast knowledge ofHadith had a significantimpact on
his opinions.24It enabled him to declare in plain termsthat a correct textdoes
not conflict
and that several opinions in some of the
with correct reason,25
or
were supported
schools of law had "no supportingproofs,"26 at best, they
A 'lam, 24;Muhammad b. 'All al-Shawkani,al-Radr al-Tali' hi
Mahasin man ba'd al-Qam al-Sdbi'
Matba'at al-Sa'adah, 1348), 1:72, he states that if Ibn Taymiyyah had not been
(Cairo:
confrontedby all the excessive trials (mihan)he would have presentedmore research. It could
be also safely concluded that if Ibn Taymiyyah had not faced all thesemihan, he would have
to other areas such as jurisprudence and its
probably directed more of his attention
fundamentalsorHadith.
20
Al-Karmi, al-Kawakib, 149.
21
Al-Bazzar, alA Ham,78.
22
See, Ibn al-'Imad, Shadharat al-Dhahab, 8:145.
'
23
See, Ibn Abd al-Hadi, */-'
Uqiid, 7.
24
to hold the opinion thatwhen thewater is less than qullatayn, it
For instance, he used
becomes impure as soon as itmeets dirt even if its smell, colour or tastehas not been changed.
However, lateron he changed his opinion concerning this issue aswe findhim denying the use
of qullatayn as a measure. This change in Ibn Taymiyyah's opinion seems to reflectthe change
in his knowledge of hadith, as he later arrived at the conclusion that the hadith of qullatayn is
not correct, going furtherto say that itwas attributed incorrectlyto the Prophet (peace be on
him), and these are instead thewords of one of the companions. For other examples, see, Ibn

Taymiyyah, Fatawa, 21: 512-518,22: 71-72 and for another example, see, 'All b.Muhammad al
min Fatawa Shaykhal-IsldmIbn Taymiyyah (Riyadh:Maktabat al
Ba'li, al-Ikhtiyarat
al-Fiqhiyyah
to
Riyadh al-Hadithah, n.d.), 16, [henceforthreferred as "al-Ikhtiyarat"].
25
Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Halim Ibn Taymiyyah deals with this issue in various parts of his treatises;
see, for instance,his work Dar* Ta'arud al-'Aql wa 'l-Naql (Beirut:Dar al-Kutub al-'Dmiyyah,
1997).
26
For some examples of thispoint, see, Ibn Taymiyyah, Fatawa, 22: 595-596 and 26: 270.


AHMAD IBN 'ABD
AL-HALIM TAYMIYYAH
ffiN

322
by "weak evidences.

"27

On severaloccasions, Ibn Taymiyyah's knowledge ofHadith helped him
to deal with the problem of the existence of conflicting jurisprudential
opinions.He assertsthat in some cases, all thedifferent
opinions have "correct
i.e. they are grounded in
Hadith and therefore of theseopinions are
all
bases,"
accurate but all of them ought not to be simultaneously acted upon.28He
of
perceived differences opinion on legal issues as instancesof legaldiversity

ratherthanof conflict.
Moreover, Ibn Taymiyyah's knowledge of the terminologyofHadith
influencedhis legal judgements in several disputes involving jurisprudential
specifics.Ibn Taymiyyah asserts that the reason behind these disputes lay in
themisunderstanding of some of the complex and ambiguous terminologies
related to and found in
Hadith texts.29
With regard to fiqh> Ibn Taymiyyah possessed a broad and detailed
understanding of the statements and jurisprudential terminology of the

Hanball School of law,Ahmad ibn
Hanbal (d. 241/855). There
eponym of the
for instance, several rulings issued by Hanball scholars which Ibn
are,
Taymiyyah has argued to be "incorrect."He attributes this to "the
misunderstanding of Ahmad ibnHanbal's statementsand words"30 and his
discussions and clarificationswere to have a lasting influence on the
subsequentdiscussionswithin the school.He does add, however, thatat times

27
For instance, in theHanbali School there is an opinion which states that the recommended
prayer before the obligatory zuhr prayer is four rak'at.This opinion is attributedtoAhmad ibn
Hanbal and held and mentioned by several leadingHanbali scholars, such as Abu 'l-Khattab
Mahfud b. Ahmad al-Kulwac&ani and Muhammad b. al-Husayn al-Ajurri (d. 360/971). This
opinion is based on the hadith reportingthat the Prophet used to pray four raka'at before the
'Asr prayer. See, 'All b. Sulayman Al-Mardawi, al-Insafft
Ma'rifat al-Rajih min al-Khilaf *ala
Mu'assasat al-Ta'rikh al-'Arabi, n.d.), 2:177. Ibn
Madhhab al-Imam Ahmad ibn
Hanbal (Beirut:
He asserts that
Taymiyyah states that this ruling is not accurate as it is based on a weak hadith.
no correcthadithwhich supports this ruling.For other examples of thispoint, see, Ibn
there is

Taymiyyah, Fatawd, 21: 512.
28
Ibn Taymiyyah gives various examples of this point, see for example, his, Fatdwa, 22: 335
355.
29
For example, in the issue of the typeof hajjwhich was performedby theProphet (peace be on
him), Ibn Taymiyyah attributes the existence of the conflictingopinions in this issue to a
number of factors,one ofwhich is themisunderstanding of some terms
mentioned in hadiths
with this point. See, Ibn Taymiyyah, Fatdwa, 22: 292-293 and 26: 61-79. For further
dealing
examples of thispoint, see, ibid., 21:122.
30
For examples of thispoint, see, al-Ba'li, allkhtiyarat, 54, 76, 211-212. Another point to note is
that Ibn Taymiyyah thinks that thisproblem i.e. the
misunderstanding ofAhmad's words, was
not only confined to
Hanbali scholars,he points out thateven some Imams, such as Ibn 'Abd al
Barr of theMaliki School also misunderstood some of Ahmad's texts. See for example, Ibn
Taymiyyah, Fatdwa, 22: 589.



323

Hanbali scholarswho did correctlyunderstand the statements and words
attributedtoAhmad, nevertheless failed to correctlyapply them to the legal
issuesunder consideration.31
He furtheradds that internaldiscussions in the
matters thatwere presumably
school were conflated
with newly introduced
ascribed to Ahmad ibn Hanbal but on later scrutinywere not entirely
accurate32and conversely, Ibn Taymiyyah asserts that there are some issues
was thathe
where it is claimed that
Ahmad did not referto thembut the fact
didmake such reference.33
matters
of
After a scrutiny Ibn Taymiyyah's discussions of jurisprudential
it becomes evident that inmost cases he would follow a particular
method to
reach his jurisprudentialpreferences,or what is known as aUkhtiydratal
fiqhiyyah. Ibn Taymiyyah would investigate the various narrations and
opinions of his school in a meticulous and comparativemanner and would
thereafter
preferto a particularopinion.

within Hanbali jurisprudenceprovided the
Ibn Taymiyyah's preferences
scholars of his school with the platform upon which they could still be
identified as Hanbalis and at the same time adhere to "the most correct
issues.Thus, on account of
opinion" in relation to thevarious jurisprudential
his extensiveknowledge in
Hadith andfiqh> Ibn Taymiyyah was ideallyplaced
to critically examine conflicting reports and/pass judgements on internal

conceptual andmethodological disputesof the school
Ibn Taymiyyah's opinions with regard to taqltd and ijtihad also had a
This influence is evident in
thought.
significantimpact on his jurisprudential
his position towards thedifferent
schools of law.
Ibn Taymiyyah had reservations
about having excessive bias towardsone
to
that it is difficult argue forone particular scholar
particular scholar, stating
as being "the best scholar" because every scholar has strengths
where his
those of others.34
he mentions that any strict
Also,
opinion outweighs
for a single scholar is no more than a generalisation
which is often
preference
on presumption ifnot mere caprice. This, according to him, leads to
based
contentious disagreements in theMuslim community which is eipressly
forbiddenin Islam.35
Instead of such preferencebetween scholars,Ibn Taymiyyah insists
upon
tolerance between the various schools of law.He cites the example of the
Prophet's Companions who accepted differentviews, declaring that the
31
See, for instance, ibid., 23: 280.
32
See, for instance, ibid., 23:278.
33
See for instance, ibid., 21:179, 300, 407, and 22: 588-590, 621,622, and 25: 241.
34
Ibid., 22: 293.
35
See, ibid., 22: 291-292.


AHMADH3N 'ABD
EBN
AL-HALIM TAYMIYYAH

324

various parties would be rewarded for their independent reasoning.36
Therefore, Ibn Taymiyyah concludes, the same principlemust be applied to
the opinions of other scholars.Those who prefer to imitate al-Shafi'i, for
instance, should not disapprove of thosewho prefer to follow Ahmad ibn
He assertsthatno one can impose the opinions of his
Hanbal and vice versa?7
on others.38
school
Furthermore,he insists thatpartial conversion fromone
school of law to another in some situationsis even obligatory.For instance,if
the imitator (muqallid) knows that certain opinions in his school are in
opposition to clear textsand thatcorrectopinions are held by another school
of law, he must followwhat is correct even though it is not fromhis own
school.39

Similarly, Ibn Taymiyyah asserts that the existence of these "incorrect
opinions" in a school of law should not be used as an excuse to attack those
scholars.As he explains, this is because those scholarswere mujtahids. In
were targets strongattacks from laypeople
of
reality,however, these scholars
and

even

some

scholars.

In

an

attempt

to counter

this antagonism,

Ibn

Taymiyyah composed Raf al-Malam in which he defends the mujtahid
which were thought
scholars and clarifiesthe reasonsunderlying theirrulings
to be in opposition to the texts. Ibn Taymiyyah argues that the leading
scholars did not deliberately intend to oppose the sunnah of the Prophet
his
(peace be on him) in anymanner. It is clear thathe is limiting assertion to
those scholars whom he describes as "generally accepted by theMuslim
He justifies assertion in arguingfurther
his
that the leading scholars
ummah."40
not deliberately oppose the sunnah of theProphet (peace be on him) by
did
the fact that "they are in definiteagreementon theobligation of following the
while it is allowed that the
words of anyone other
Prophet (peace be on him),,
be
than theProphet can [either] accepted or rejected."41
In his attempt to absolve a mujtahid from any blame of contravening
most likely reasons
direct textual evidences, Ibn Taymiyyah proposes three
which lead to disagreementand at times even conflictamong jurists:the first
restsupon themujtahid's belief in the non-existenceof a hadith text cited as
evidence by his opponent. The second is that themujtahidmay have thought
that the implication of the hadith (textualor otherwise) had no connection

36
See, ibid., 22:292-293.
37
Ibid.
38
Ibid., 27: 300.
39
See, ibid., 27: 210-216. Cf. also, al-Matroudi,TheHanbali School ofLaw, 84-9.
40
Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Halim Ibn Taymiyyah, Raf al-Malam 'analA'immat al-A'lam (Riyadh: al
Ri'asah al-'Ammah li Idarat al-Buhuth al-'flmiyyah,1413ah), 8.
41
Ibid., 9.


THE REMOVALOF BLAMEFROMTHE GREAT IMAMS

325

with that aspect of thequestion thathewas investigating.
Finally, the
mujtahid
have thought that the ruling contained in the hadith had actually been
may
abrogated.42

Ibn Taymiyyah argues that the firstreason for the conflict can exist in
severalways. Firstly, itmay have been the case that the scholar had no
knowledge of the hadith text.According to Ibn Taymiyyah, this is the
predominant reason for thedivergencebetween the textand the rulingderived
by a mujtahid. This, as he explains, is because of the vastness of the Sunnah.
Ibn Taymiyyah does not think that this reasonwas confined to the era before
the canonical collections ofHadith as these collections do not contain all of
for
the Sunnah.Moreover, it is difficult every scholar to know all the hadiths

containedwithin thesecanonical collections,for theirnumber isvery large.43
Secondly, a scholarmay believe that the hadith thatwas citedwas not
actually uttered by the Prophet (peace be on him) because themujtahid had
received the hadith through an unreliable chain of transmission (isnad).This
second case, as Ibn Taymiyyah observes, existedmore widely after the first
generation of Islam, because during the firstcentury therewas no need for
where
contrary to the successive generations
studyingchains of transmitters
theneed for caution and rigorous evaluative
methods were required owing to
was
extensive fabricationof thehadiths.4*
Thirdly, it is possible that the hadith
known to themujtahid but he did not base his rulingon it either because he
or
forgotthehadith itself did not consider it to be relevant.45
The second cause of disagreement,according to Ibn Taymiyyah, is that
themujtahidmay have failed to know the indicationsof the text relevantfor
the ruling. This may be because of the existence of some "strange'' and
words or complex and ambiguous terms in that text
anomalous (gharib)
which
themujtahid from comprehending the intended
prevented
meaning. It may
also be due to the fact that the
mujtahidmight have concluded that there is in
no indication thatexists in the textrelevantfor the correspondingruling.46
fact
The differencebetween this last point and the previous one, as Ibn
Taymiyyah explains, is that in the lattercase the scholar did not extract the
ruling on this text because of his understanding and his application of the
whereas in the formercase what prevented the
principles of jurisprudence,
scholar from implementingthe relevant text is his failure to grasp the full

42
See,
43
See,
44
See,
45
See,
46
See,

ibid.
ibid., 948.
ibid., 18-19.
ibid., 22-25.
ibid., 25-29.


AHMAD EBN 'ABD
AL-HALIMIBN
TAYMIYYAH

326

extractionof a ruling.47
implicationof the textrequired foran informed
The thirdand finalcause forconflict,according to Ibn Taymiyyah, is that
themujtahid did not act upon a hadith text because itwas in conflict
with
weakness or thathe thought that the
that led him to believe in its
something
ruling it containedhad been abrogated.48
Ibn Taymiyyah is aware that a mujtahid unquestionably has the right to
apply his legal principles (usut)whereby all legal texts are cumulatively
understood and assessedwithin a dynamic frameworkof interpretation
and
a staticapproach ofmerely takingthehadith text
prima
analysis as opposed to
This constitutesan additional cause for
facie without any other consideration.
a hadith text to be discarded in favour of methodological principles. The

additional factorsthat Ibn Taymiyyahmentions are, firstly,
thatone mujtahid
as evidence by another mujtahid on the
may discard the hadith cited
consideration of the locality of transmitters
within the corresponding isndd.
or
Thus, some scholars from
Hijaz reject transmitters narrations fromparts of
as legitimateevidence unless they initially originated from
Iraq or Sham
Hijaz. Ibn Taymiyyah comments that "mostpeople, however, do not use this
as a basis fordeeming such a hadith asweak (dallf).So whenever the chain of
transmitters sound, the hadith is authoritative,regardlessof whether it is
is
Hijazi, 'Iraqi, Shami or fromother regions."49
The second additional cause of disagreement is generatedby thedifferent
conditions stipulatedby differentscholars for the acceptance of the singular
reportedhadith (khahar
al-wahid).50
The third additional factorfor creatingconflict iswhat Ibn Taymiyyah
characterises

as

"perceived

consensuses."

He

defines

this form of consensus

as

"not being aware of any dissenting
view." This, according to Ibn Taymiyyah,
led to the reluctanceof some scholars in following some of the textualproofs
due to the fearof opposing this "perceivedconsensus."51

More importantly, Taymiyyah deals inRaf alMalam with the result
Ibn
of ijtihadand its link to thepromise of a rewardor the threatof a punishment.
He asserts that evenwhen thereexistgood reasons to necessitate that a person
deserved that the threatof punishment be applied, itmight still not come
about due to the existence of a legal or justifiableimpediment (mani), and
which he regards as unlikely to be
there are various types of impediments
lackingas faras themukallaf is concerned, such as repentance (tawbah),asking
47
See, ibid., 29.
48
See, ibid., 31.
49
Ibid., 21-22.
50
See, ibid., 22.
51
See, ibid., 31-33.



327

for forgiveness(istighfar),
good deeds thaterase sins (alhasandt al-mahiyahli 7
tribulations(bald*
sayyi'dtjy
al-dunyd)and calamities (masd'ib).52
Ibn Taymiyyah argues that the functionof a threat is to clarifythat the
deed associatedwith the threat is a reason for the punishmentmentioned in
the threat and thereforethe prohibition of that deed and its reprehensible
nature could be inferredfrom the threat.
However, he thinks that it is not
justified to conclude that if the reason for the threatwas to be found in
would necessitate the occurrence of its effect
which is the
someone, then this
He relates this to the fact that the effect
depends on the existence
punishment.
of itsconditions and the removalof all of its impediments.53
These opinions of Ibn Taymiyyah regardingthe issues of ijtihdd,taqlld

have undoubtedly
influenced
his
and jurisprudential
disputes(ikhtildj)

with theHanbali school
understandingof Islamic law aswell as his relation
and other schools. This can be seen clearly from his use of independent
reasoning and his "corrections" of various rules and rulingswithin these
schools, especially the Hanbali school. Also, these opinions led to Ibn
Taymiyyah's readiness to acknowledge his own mistakes54 and to have a
forgivingattitude towardshis opponents.55It is likely that this consideration
and sensitivitystems from the fact that Ibn Taymiyyah had studiedunder a
who belonged to various schools and thus acquired a
greatnumber of scholars
This cumulative experience,no doubt,
diverse legal trainingand education.56
on Islamic law, one which calls formore
shaped Ibn Taymiyyah's legacy
manifest fromthe
intellectualtolerance among juristsand one which is clearly
following text.

Raf( al-Maldm should, however be read in the context of the time in
which Ibn Taymiyyah lived. This was an era of staunch taqlld in which
were
and even a degree of fanaticism
entrenched allegiances and affiliations
not only among the lay public but also in the circlesof the
quite widespread,
learned.
in

52
See, ibid., 42.
53
See, ibid.
54
See, for instance, al-Ba'li, al-Ikhtiyarat,16, 22, 23-24, 107, 121; Ibn Taymiyyah, Fatawd,
21: 512-518 and 22: 71-72.
55
See, al-Karmi,al-Kawdkib, 139, 174.
56
wa 'l-Ijtima"(Cairo:
See,Henri Laoust, Naptriyydt Shaykhal-IsldmIbn Taymiyyah al-Siydsah
ft

Dar al-Ansar, 1977), 204.


AHMAD IBN 'ABD
AL-HALIM TAYMIYYAH
EBN

328

n

TRANSLATION
of

RapalMatam

an al-A'immataUA'tarn

In the
Name ofAllah, theBeneficent,the
Merciful
His bounties. I testify
Praise is due toAllah for
that there is no deity except
Him; He has no associates in the heavens and the earth.And I testifythat
Muhammad isHis slave andMessenger57 and the seal ofHis Prophets?peace
be on him and his familyand Companions, continuous prayers and blessings
untilwe meet him.
To proceed:
It is obligatoryupon Muslims, afterbeing loyal toAllah theExalted and
His Messenger (peace be on him), to be loyal to the believers, as theQur'an
declares, especially to the scholarswho are the inheritorsof the Prophets
whom Allah made like stars that serve as guides through
(peace be on them],
the darkness of the land and the oceans. The Muslims are in agreement as
regards their guidance and understanding.For prior to the advent of our
ProphetMuhammad (peace be on him), the scholarsof the earlier [Prophets']
communitieswere less inclined to good, whereas the scholars of the
Muslim
were deemed to be the finestas they carried the
mantle
community (ummah)
on him) and theyare the
of knowledge bequeathed by theProphet (peace be
reviversofwhatever was forgotten his Sunnah.Through them the
of
Qur'an is
established, and they act upon it; theQur'an speaks through them, and they
articulate whatever

the Qur'an

contains.

It should be known thatnone of the Imamswho are generally accepted
Muslim ummahwould intentionally
oppose theProphet (peace be on
by the
57
It should be indicated that the two terms (al-Nabi and al-Rasut),have been both rendered into
English as "Prophet" due to the fact that inRaf al-Malam the author uses them interchangeably
as inmost cases in the text they are both used in association with the Prophet Muhammad
(peace be on him) and thereforethe discussion regardingthe differencebetween al-nabl and al

to
rasul among theologianswould not arise in this case. Also, the term (al-kitab) referring the
has been rendered intoEnglish as the
rather than 'theBook' as the latter
Qur'an
Qur'an
might
lead to confusion especially if the reader isnot aware of such technical terminologies.



329

him) in any aspect of his Sunnah,whether small or great.This is because they
are in profound agreementregardingthe obligation of
following theProphet
(peace be on him).58They believe that thewords of anyone other than the
Prophet (peace be on him) may be accepted or rejected. If any of their
must
opinions was found to be in opposition to an authentichadith, then there
be a just excuse for that and these excuses fall under one of the three
categories:

Firstly,that the scholardid not believe that theProphet (peace be on him)
uttered hadith.
the
[actually]
was [actually]
did
Secondly,thatthescholar not thinkthatthe issue inquestion
to
intended be covered the
hadith.
by
Prophetic
Thirdly, that the scholarbelieved the ruling[containedin thehadith]to have
been abrogated.

These three categories can be further
divided into a number ofmore specific
reasons:

The firstreason: that thehadithdid not reach the concerned scholar; and
whoever is not aware of a hadith, is not held responsible fornot knowing its
ruling. Thus, if the hadith did not reach him and he gaVe a jud|ement
regardinga particularquestion on the basis of the apparent
meaning of a verse
or anotherhadithor on the basis of analogy or thepresumption of continuity
thenhis opinion might fortuitously
with thehadith in one case
agree
(istishab),
while opposing iton another.
most likelyreason for
most ofwhat is found in theopinions of
This is the
thePious Predecessors (alsalaf alsalih) thatoppose certainhadith. Indeed, it is
simply not possible for any singlemember of the ummah to know all the
hadith of theProphet (peace be on him). The Prophet (peace be on him) used
to speak, issue legal verdicts (fatawa),pass judgement,or perform an action
which was heard or seen by thosewho were present at the time and they,or
some of them,would convey it to otherswho would in turn convey it to
would reach
whomever Allah (the
Most High) willed among the
othersuntil it
scholars from amongst theCompanions of the Prophet, theirFollowers and
those
who came afterthem.
And in another assembly, suchmatterswould be heard or seen by those
who were absent from the firstgatheringand they [too]would convey it to
were able to.As a result, the firstgroup would know what
whomever they
was not known by the other and vice versa and so the scholars among the
58
See,Muhammad b. Idris al-Shafi%al-Risalah (Cairo:Matba'at al-Halabi, 1939), 74,104.


330

IBN
AHMADffiN *ABD
AL-HAIJM TAYMIYYAH

would surpass each other in the
Companions and thosewho came afterthem
relative levelsof the extentof their
knowledge or thequality of it.
[Aswe have said], it is absolutely impossible to claim that any one person
could encompass all of the hadtthsof theProphet (peace be on him) and this
can be illustratedthrough the example of theRighteous Caliphs, who were
most knowledgeable regardingthe affairs theProphet (peace be on him), his
of
Sunnah and othermatters relatingto him, especially [Abu Bakr] al-Siddlq (may

Allah be pleased with him), who was never far from theProphet whether at
home or on his travels.In facthe was with himmost of the time to the extent
This
with him at night to deal with the
Muslims' affairs.59
thathe used to stay
is also true of cUmarb. al-Khattab (mayAllah be pleased with him) and you
will find
many hadiths inwhich theProphet (peace be on him) said, "I entered
with Abu Bakr and 'Umar" and "I went out with Abu Bakr and 'Umar."60
Despite this,when Abu Bakr (mayAllah be pleased with him) was asked
he
about the grandmother's share of inheritance, replied, "There is nothing
foryou inAllah's Book, nor do I know anything foryou in the
prescribed
Sunnah of theProphet ofAllah (peace be on him), but Iwill ask people [about
it]." So he did ask them and al-Mughirah b. Shu'bah and Muhammad b.
that theProphet (peace be on him) had
Maslamah came forwardand testified
This sunnahwas also reported by 'Imran b. Husayn.62
given her a sixth.61
Thus, even thoughnone of these three
Companions was of the same statureas
Abu Bakr and the other caliphs, theywere the only ones who knew this
particular sunnahaboutwhose practice theummahhas since agreedupon.63
Similarly, 'Umar b. al-Khattab (mayAllah be pleased with him) did not
know the sunnah relatingto "seekingpermission" (isti'dhdn)[beforeenteringa
59
Ahmad b. Muhammad

Ma'am 'l-Athdr
al-TahawI, Sharh
(Beirut:Dar al-Kutub al-'flmiyyah,
1399ah),4:330.
60
See for instance,
Muhammad b. Isma'il al-Bukhari,Sahih al-Bukhdri [henceforthreferredto as
Kitab al-Sulh, Bab al-Sulh bayn al-Ghurama' and Kitab Fada'il al-Sahabah, Bab
"Sahib"],
Manaqib 'Umar, aswell as the testimonyof the caliph 'All regardingthis in al-Bukhari,Sahih>
Kitab Fada'il al-Sahabah, Bab Manaqib 'Umar.
61
al-Mukhtasar
min al-Sunan [henceforthreferredto as
Muhammad b. 'Isa al-Tirmidhi,al-Jami*
Bab ma Ja' fi
Muhammad b. Yazid Ibn Majah,
Mirath al-Jaddah;
"Sunan^ Kitab al-Fara'id,
Sunan Ibn
Kitab al-Fara'id,Bab Mirath al-Jaddah.
Majah,
62
Muhammad b. 'Ali al-Shawkani,
See, for a discussion about the authenticityof these reports,
Nayl al-Awtarmin Ahadith Sayyid al-AkhyarSharh
Muntaqd 'l-Akhbar(Beirut:Dar al-Jil,1973),
6:175-177.
63
See for the discussion about the share of the grandmother, 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad Ibn
Ahmad b.Hanbal al-Shaybani (Beirut:
Dar al-Fikr, 1405ah),
Qudamah, al-Mughrii Fiqh al-Imdm
ft
6:189; Muhammad b. Ahmad Ibn Rushd, Biddyat aUMujtahidwa Nihdyat al-Muqtasid (Beirut:
Dar al-Fikr]n.d.), 2: 262-263 for.



331

dwelling] until he was informedabout it by Abu Musa al-Ash'ariwho cited
and this iswhile 'Umar was more
theAnsar in support of his narration,64
one who related this sunnah to him. Likewise, 'Umar
knowledgeable than the
did not know that thewife inheritsfrom the blood money of her deceased
husband. Instead, he thought that the blood money belonged to the 'aqilah65
until al-Dahhak ibn Sufyan al-Kilabi,who was appointed by the Prophet
wrote to 'Umar informing
(peace be on him) as a governorof certainregions,
him that the Prophet (peace be on him) gave thewife of Ashyam al-Dibibl
(mayAllah be pleased with him) [a share] of her deceased husband's blood
money. As a result, 'Umar abandoned his opinion in favourof thishadithand
said: "If I had not heard thishadith,Iwould have judgedcontraryto it."66
'Umar also did not know the rulingof jizyah for the
Magians [followers
of a fire-worshipping
until he was informedby 'Abd al-Rahman b.
religion]

'
withhim)that Prophet
the
Awf (may
Allah be pleased
be
(peace on him)said,

"Treat them as you treat thePeople of theBook."67Moreover, when 'Umar
reached Sargh [nearTabuk] and was informedthat a plague had strickenal
Sham [the region of greater Syria], he consulted the earlyMuhajirun68who
were with him at the time.
He then asked theAnsar,69 then he asked those
who accepted Islam at the time of the conquest ofMakkah, and every one of
them told himwhat they thoughtand none of themwas able to inform
him of
a sunnah from the Prophet (peace be on him) until 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf
came and told him of the sunnahof theProphet (peace be on him)with regard
to plagues,when he said: "If the plague appears in a landwhile you are in it,
64
See, al-Bukhari,Sahih,Kitab al-Isti'dhan,Bab al-Taslimwa '1-Isti'dhan
Thalathan; Muslim b.
to
to
referred as "Muslim "1,Sahih
Muslim [henceforthreferred
al-Hajjaj al-Naysaburi [henceforth
as "SahifKitab al-Adab, Bab al-Isti'dhan.
65
meant by 'aqilah in Islamic law.One of the opinions is that
There is a discussion aboutwho is
it is the paternal uncles and theirchildren,however distant they are in descent.Another opinion
states that 'aqilah includes the father,sons, brothers and every agnatic heir. Ibn Taymiyyah
holds a different
opinion from these two.He assertsthat 'dqilah is "every individualwho helps
and supports the person at the time and the place." See, al-Matroudi,TheHanbali School ofLaw,
118-119.
66
See,Malik b. Anas al-Asbuhi,Muwatta* al-ImamMalik (Egypt:Dar Ihya' al-Turath, n.d.),

2: 866; Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal, Musnad al-ImamAhmad b.Hanbal (Cairo:Mu'assasat
Qurtubah, n.d.), 3:452 and Sulayman b. al-Ash'athAbu Dawud al-Sijistani,Sunan Abi Dawud,
Kitab al-Fara'io!,Bab fi1-Mar'ah Tarith min Diyat Zawjiha.
67
See,Malik, Muwatta 1: 278; also see, 'AbdAllah b. Yusuf al-Zayla'I,Nash alRayah liAhadith
al-Hidayah (Cairo: Dar al-Hadith, 1357), 3:448-449 andMuhammad b. Ahmad Ibn 'Abd al
Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah, 1998), 3: 364.
Hadi, Tanqih Tahqlq Ahadith al-Tatiq (Beirut:
68
to
Madman.
Makkah
The emigrants from
69
The Madman followers of the Prophet (peace be on him) who granted him refugeafter the
Madinah.
hijrah to


AL-HALIM TAYMIYYAH
EBN
AHMAD IBN 'ABD

332

fromit and if
do not depart in flight
you hear that ithas smittena land,do not
go towards

it."70

another occasion, 'Umar discussedwith Ibn 'Abbas (mayAllah be
pleased with both of them) the problem of one who has experienceddoubts
concerninghis prayer [i.e.whether he hadmissed an elementof it or not] and
'Umarwas not aware of any sunnab pertaining to thismatter.He was then
informed
by 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf that theProphet (peace be on him) said
On

that "the one performing the prayer should ignore his doubt and base his
on
action on whatever is certain to him."71
Finally, 'Umarwas once travelling
a particularlywindy day. He asked: "Who can tell us [from the Prophet]
with regard to thewind?" Abu Hurayrah (mayAllah be pleased
something
while Iwas at the back of
of
with him) said: "Iwas informed 'Umar's request
the group so I spurred
my ridingcamel to hasten forwarduntil I reachedhim
to him what the Prophet (peace be on him) orderedwhen the
and narrated
wind would

rage."72

were not known to 'Umar until he was
Thus, thesewere the issues that
informedabout themby thosewho were not his equal in rank. Indeed, there
were other issues inwhich 'Umar knew nothing from the sunnab as a resultof
which he pronounced a judgement,or issued afatwd on them in a way that

with the Sunnab. An example of
might not have been in [direct]conformity
is his judgementon the blood money for fingers,
this
namely that they are
whereas both
differentfrom one another based on theirdifferent
functions,
Abu Musa and Ibn 'Abbas (mayAllah be pleased with them),both ofwhom
were lesser in degree of knowledge than 'Umar, knew the Prophet's saying,
This sunnab
"This and this are equal,"73
meaning the thumb and littlefinger.
Allah be pleased with him) during the time of his
reachedMu'awiyah (may
rule, and he judged in accordancewith it and theMuslims felt that itwas
incumbentupon them to follow it.The fact that 'Umarwas not aware of this
on
was not considered a shortcoming his part.
hactith
Another example is 'Umar and his son 'AbdAllah (mayAllah be pleased
with both of them) aswell as othernotable scholarsprohibiting the
wearing of
one who is about to enter into a stateof ritual consecration
perfume by the
(ihram) and by the one who is about to go toMakkah for circumambulation
70
See, al-Bukhari,Sahih,Kitab al-Tibb, Bab man Kharaja min Ard laTulayimuh; Muslim, Sahih,
Kitab al-Salam,Bab al-Ta'un.
71
For the hadtths attributed to 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf regarding this, see,Muhammad b.
Jariral-Tabari, Tahdhlb al-Athdr(Damascus: Dar al-Ma'mun li 1-Turath, 1995), 33.
72
See Ahmad, Musnad, 2: 267 and 'Abd al-Razzaq b. Hammam al-San'ani, al-Musannaf (Beirut:
al-Maktab aUslaml, 1403ah), 11: 89.
73
See al-Bukhari,Sahlh,Kitab al-Diyat,Bab idha 'AddaRajulan fa
Waqa'at Thanayah.



333

of theKa'bah (tawdfiafter throwing the stones at Jamarat al-'Aqabah, not
A'ishah (may
Allah be pleasedwith her) in
which
being aware of thehadithof
she said: "I perfumed theProphet (peace be on him) forhis ihrdmbeforehe
entered into the stateof ihrdm,
and I also perfumedhim beforeperformingthe
circumambulation (tawdfatifadah) (i.e. after the first state of ihrdm
hajj
elapses)."74

'Umar used to allow the one who wears leathersocks towipe over them
without any restriction[as to time].This was adhered
until he takes them off
to by a group of the early pious predecessorsbecause the hadith regardingthe
was authenticatedby some of those
on
time restriction wiping that
who were
not theirequal inknowledge had not reached them.75
was narrated
This hadith
from the Prophet (peace be on him) throughvarious authentic channels of
transmission.76

The same holds for 'Uthman (mayAllah be pleased with him) who did
not know that a woman should spend thewaiting period following thedeath
of her husband in thehouse where she livedbeforehis death, until al-Furay'ah
bintMalik?Abu Sa'ld al-Khudrfs sister (mayAllah be pleased with both of
when her husband passed away theProphet (peace
them)?related to him that
be on him) told her "Remain inyour house until you fulfiltheperiod statedin
matter [four
theQur'an for this
months and ten days]." 'Uthman (mayAllah
be pleasedwith him) thenactedupon thishadith
J7
He was also once givenmeat [i.e.while he was in a stateof ihrdm]
froma
was hunted speciallyforhim as a giftand upon sitting
down to eat
huntwhich

him that theProphet (peace
it 'All (mayAllah be pleasedwith him) informed
meat [froma hunt] given to him as a present."78
be on him) rejectedthe
And likewise 'Ah (mayAllah be pleased with him) who said: "When I
used to hear a hadith from the
Messenger ofAllah (peace be on him), directly
He desiredme to benefit from,
whereas if
Allah made me benefit fromall that
elsewould relate somethingtome, I would make him swear an oath
anyone
and if he did, I would believe him. Abu Bakr toldme?and he was being
truthful?and he mentioned thewell-known hadith related to the Prayer of
al-tawbah).79
Repentance (saldt
74
Muslim, ?ahih, Kitab al-Hajj,
See, al-Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab al-Hajj, Bab al-Tib *indal-Ihram;
Bab al-Tib li 'l-Muhrim 'ind al-Ihram.
75
See, Yahya b. Sharaf al-Nawawi, SahihMuslim bi Shark al-Nawawi (Beirut:Dar Ihya' al

Turath, 1392), 3:176.
76
See forexample,
Muslim, Sahih,Kitab al-Taharah,Bab al-Tawqit fil-Mash.
77
Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitab al-Talaq, Bab fil-Mutawaffa'Anha.
See,
78
See,Ahmad, Musnad, 1:100.
79
Ibn
See,Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitab al-Salah,Bab fi 1-Istighfar; Majah, Sunan, Kitab Iqamat al


AHMAD IBN 'ABD
AL-HALIMIBN
TAYMIYYAH

334

'All and Ibn 'Abbas (mayAllah be pleased with them), among others,
issued a fatwa that thewoman whose husband died while shewas pregnant,
must observe the longerof the two specified
waiting periods. The sunnahof
of Allah (peace be on him) regardingSubay'ah al-Aslamiyyah
the
Messenger
Allah be pleasedwith her) had not reached them.
Upon thedeath of her
(may
husband Sa'd b. Khawlah, the Prophet (peace be on him) told her thather
waiting period continues to thepoint of the child's delivery.80
Finally, 'All, Zayd, Ibn 'Umar and others (mayAllah be pleased with
them all) issued afatwa regardingthewoman who authorizes her husband to
determineher dower (almufawwidah) that,"ifher husband passes away, she is
not entitled to any dower." The sunnahof the
Messenger ofAllah (peace be on
him) pertaining to Barwa* bintWashiq (mayAllah be pleased with her) had
however

not reached

them.81

This is a vast subject area inwhich a tremendousamount of narrations is
related from theCompanions of theProphet (peace be on him). As for that
which is related from those other than the Companions it runs into the
thousands.This was the position with regard to theCompanions who were
the most knowledgeable, the most grounded in jurisprudence, the most
mindful of Allah and the best among the
Muslim community.As for those
came after them, they are lesser in rank and it goes without saying that
who
some of the corpus of the Sunnah was hidden from each and every one of
them.Therefore,whoever believes that every authentichadith reached each
and every one of the Imams or indeed any one specific Imam, commits
and abhorrent error.

a grave

It should not be said that the hadiths have all been documented and
compiled and thereforeit is unlikely that theywould have been unknown.
This is because thewell-known collections ofHadith were compiled afterthe
demise of the Imamswho are followed (mayAllah have mercy on them all).
Also, it isnot acceptable to claim that thehadithsof theProphet (peace be on
Hadith. Moreover,
him) are limitedto those found in the specificcollections of
even if this
were to be the case, not everythingin these collectionswould be
known by a single scholar, and this is highlyunlikely to be the casewith any
Salah, Bab ma Ja' fi ann al-SalatKaffarah; al-Tirmidhi,Sunan, Kitab Abwab al-Salah,Bab ma Ja'
fi 'l-Salat 'ind al-Tawbah; Ahmad, Musnad, 1:2.
80
Bab wa Ulat al-Ahmal;Muslim, Sabih, Kitab al-Talaq,
See, al-Bukhari,Sahlh,Kitab al-Tafsir,
Bab Inqida' al-Tddah.
81
man Tazawwaja wa lamYusami
See,Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitab al-Nikah,Bab fi
Sidaqan hatta
Mat; IbnMajah, Sunan, Kitab al-Nikah,Bab al-RajulYatazawwaj wa laYafrid laha; al-Tirmidhi,
Sunan, Kitab al-Nikah, Bab ma Ja' fi 1-Rajul Yatazawwaj al-Mara'ah faYamut 'Anha qabla an
Yafrid laha. The ruling according to thesenarrations is that thewidow will be grantedher full
dower.


OF

335

person; indeed it is possible that a scholarmight possess a large number of
collections ofHadlth and yet not be aware of all of the hadiths contained
Hadlth
within them. In fact, thosewho came before the emergence of these
more knowledgeable in the Sunnah than thosewho
collectionswere by far
came after them.This is because a largepart of the Sunnah thathad reached
them and had been authenticatedby them
might not have reached us except
or
throughunknown transmitters a severed chain of narration or might not
have reached us at all. Thus, it can be said that their "Hadlth compilations"
were preserved in theirhearts,
which contained several times asmuch as that
which is found in the physical collections and the one who iswell versed in
this issue
will have no doubts about this [point].
whoever does not have knowledge of all of the
Nor should itbe said that
we were to
not be considered a mujtahid. This is because if
hadiths should
stipulate as a condition of themujtahid thathe must be aware of all of the
would not be a
Prophet's words and actions relevantto legal rulingsthen there
singlemujtahid in theMuslim community.Rather, themujtahid's objective
should be to know most of the hadiths so that only a few of the detailswill
escape him and hence he might only contradictthe fewdetails thathad [not]82
reachedhim.
The second reason: that the hadlth had reached the mujtahid but its
authenticity, in his opinion, was not established.This may be because the
of
[direct]transmitter the hadlth to him or the one before him or any one of
in
the transmitters thathadlth's chain of transmissionis considered by him to
be unknown [or unidentifiable],or of doubtful reputation (muttaham),or
deficient in memory. It may also be because the hadlth did not reach the
a severed chain of
mujtahid with a continuous chain but rather with
transmitters,

or that the transmitter was

not precise when

transmitting

the

was transmitted other
to
wording of the hadlth even though the same hadlth
with an uninterrupted isnad.This might
transmitters
scholars by trustworthy
be because the one whom themujtahid consideredunknown was known by
was narratedby other than thosewhom he
or
others to be trustworthy that it
considered to be impugned authorities (majriihun),or that the hadlthwas
narrated through another uninterrupted chain, or that some of the
memorizers among scholars ofHadlth narrated the wording of the hadlth
were shawahid [i.e. otherCompanions transmitting
meticulously, or that there
narrations] andmutaha'dt [i.e. thehadlthbeing narratedby another
supporting
chain of transmittersreaching back to one of the transmittersafter the
of
Companion] indicatingthe authenticity thatnarration.
'
82
The word (not) ismissing from the printed text of all available published editions ofRaf al
Maldm 'anal A Hmmat al-A 'lam.


336

AHMAD IBN 'ABD
AL-HALIMIBN
TAYMIYYAH

This [second reason] was also very common at the time of the first
generation of Successors (tdbi'in) and the second generation of Successors
up to the time of thewell known Imams,more so than the
(tdbi%
%tdbi%ri)
reason.
more common than the first
first
Hadiths were
generation. Indeed, it is
widespread by then and well known but they reachedmany of the scholars
through weak channels, even though they had reached others through
were considered to be an
comparatively authentic channels.Therefore, they
authoritative source (hujjah) because theywere transmittedthrough these
were not known to those
who opposed them
authentic channels, and yet they
to them.This iswhy we find that
available
because of theweak transmissions
scholars suspended judgement on account of a hadith until its
many
was properly established,so they
would say: "my opinion in this
authenticity
a hadithnarratedwith regard to
issue is such and such.However, if there is
was to be established,
this [containing another ruling],and if its authenticity
would be in accordancewith it."83
then
my ruling
was deemed to be weak on the basis of
The thirdreason: that the hadith
one scholar while others disagreed with him, regardlessof
the ijtihddof
whether the narration of the hadith arrived through another channel or
whether the correctopinion was thatof this
mujtahid, his opponents, or both
to those
who say that "every
of them,according
mujtahid is correct."
There can be various causes for this:
One of them is that one scholar believes that a transmitterof the
concerned hadith is weak whereas the other believes him/her to be
And the science related to identifying
transmitters a vast one.
is
trustworthy.
one who believes that the
It is possible that the correctmujtahid is the
transmitter weak, because he was aware of an impugningfactor.
is
Also, it is

possible that the correctopinion iswith the othermujtahid because he knew
that the causewas not an impugningfactor,eitherbecause it did not actually
fall into a valid class of impugning factorsor that the transmitter
had an
of
upon him.
exemptionwhich precludes the effect the impugnment
vast subject area and the scholars specialising in the
This is another
and their conditions [i.e. the study of the reportersofHadith]
transmitters
with regard to this issue, just as the
have their agreementsand disagreements
scholars specialisingin all of theother sciencesdo.
Another reason is that themujtahid does not believe that the transmitter
heard the hadith from the narrator on the authority of whom he is
did
transmittingitwhereas anothermujtahid believes that the transmitter

83
Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'ldm al-Nubala" (Beirut:Mu'assasat al-Risalah,
1413ah), 10: 35 and 'Ali b. al-Hasan ibnHibat Allah Ibn 'Asakir,Ta'rikhMadinat Dimashq wa
Dar al-Fikr, 1995), 51: 389.
DhikrFadliha wa Tasmiyatman Hallaha min al-Amathil (Beirut:



337

indeed hear the hadlth [from the narrator on the authority of whom he is
it].
transmitting And the causes bringingthisabout arewell-known.
Yet

another

reason

is that the transmitter

has

two

states:

a state of

soundness and a stateof confusion (idtirdb), when a transmitter
becomes
e.g.
confusedorwhen his books are burntdown. Therefore, all thathe transmitted
while in a sound state is [considered]correctand all thathe transmitted
while
in a state of confusion is [considered]
weak. As a result, itmight not appear
was transmitted
clear to one mujtahid as regardsthe state inwhich the hadlth
was certain that the transmitter
whereas anothermujtahid
related thathadlth
while inhis sound state.
Another reason is that the transmitter
forgetsthathe related the hadlth
and ishence unable to remember it at a laterdate or he actuallydenies thathe
ever related the hadlth.
Hence, one mujtahidmight believe that this is a defect

whereas anothermujtahidmight
necessitating the abandonment of the hadlth
believe that it is acceptable to cite that hadlth as evidence?and this topic of
well-known.
dispute [too] is
A furtherreason is that
many of the
Hijazi scholars hold the view that
the Iraqi or Sham! hadlth should not be cited as an evidence unless it
originated inHijaz, to the point where some of them remarked: "Give the
hadlthsof thepeople of Iraq the same statusas thenarrationsof thePeople of
themnor disbelieve them."And another [Hijazi] was
theBook; neither affirm
asked: "Is the following chain of transmission authoritative: Sufyan from
Mansur from Ibrahim from 'Alqamah on the authority of 'Abd Allah b.
was: "If itdid not originate in
Mas'ud?" The reply
Hijaz, thenno."
This is due to the fact that they believed that the people ofHijaz had
mastered

the Sunnah,

so that none

of it had escaped

them, whereas

there was

confusion regarding the hadlths of Iraq which necessitated a suspension of
judgementon them. Some of the Iraqis, on the other hand, think the same
about thehadlthof thepeople of Sham.Most people, however, do not use this
as a basis forweakening a hadlth. So whenever the chain of transmitters
is
or from
whether it isHijazi, Iraqi, Sham!
sound, the hadlth is authoritative,
other places. Abu Dawud al-Sijistanl (may Allah have mercy upon him)
compiled a book on the narrations of hadlthsknown to be related only by
in
individuals from certain regions (mafdrld), which he clarified those hadlths
which could only be foundwith continuous chains of transmission in those
particular regions and not in other regions. This includes hadlths from
Madlnah, Makkah, Ta'if, Dimashq, Hims, Kufah, Basrah and others.There are
reasons other than these as well.

The fourth reason: that the scholar stipulates some conditions for the
memorizer
acceptance of hadlthwhich was transmitted one trustworthy
by


AL-HALIMIBN
AHMADffiN 'ABD
TAYMIYYAH

338

but is opposed by others [who do not accept such conditions]. For instance,
must be compared towhat is in the
some stipulate that thehadith
Qur'an and
or that the transmitter
must be a jurist if his
the established Sunnah?4
narration happens to oppose that which can be deduced from textual
principles (qiyasal-usul)?5or the stipulationby some that thenarration of the
hadith needs to be widespread and known if it deals with an issue known to
have occurred frequently at the time of the Prophet.86 There are other
well-known within theirrespective
conditions,
places [ofdiscussion].

fifth reason: that the hadith has reached the scholar and its
has been established to him, but he forgetsthenarration.This can
authenticity
occur with regard to theQur'an and the Sunnah. For instance, there is the
well-known hadith related on the authorityof 'Umar (mayAllah be pleased
with him) thathe was asked about thepersonwho is in a stateofmajor ritual
but findsno water while he is traveling.'Umar saidhemust not pray
impurity
water. 'Ammar b. Yasir (mayAllah be pleased with him) then
until he finds
when you and I
said, "O Commander of theFaithful!Do you not remember
were [herding]camels andwe were both in statesofmajor ritual impurity
and
not performyour
I rolled in the dust and performedprayerwhile you did
prayer?And [do you not remember] that I mentioned this to the Prophet
way"
(peace be on him) and he replied, "Itwas enough foryou to do it in this
The

and then he struck the groundwith his hands and thenwiped his face and
Allah!" So 'Ammar
handswith his palms?" 'Umar then said: "O 'Ammar, fear
said, "If you

so wish,

I will not narrate

it," upon which

'Umar

remarked,

"We

hold you responsible for
what you claim."87
Thus, this is a sunnahwhich was witnessed by 'Umar (mayAllah be
Moreover, he even issued a
pleased with him) and one which he later forgot.
evenwhen Ammar (mayAllah be pleased with him)
fatwa opposing it and
sought to remindhim he failed to remember.
Despite this,he did not accuse
Ammar of lyingbut instead [implicitly]
orderedhim to narrate thishadith.
84

See, Ahmad b. al-Husayn al-Bayhaqi, al-Qird'ah Khalf allmam (Beirut:Dar al-Kutub al
'Ilmiyyah, 1405ah), 203; 'Umar b. 'All Ibn al-Mulaqqin, Tadhkirat al-Muhtdj ildAhddith al
Minhdj (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islami, 1994), 27 and 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr al-Suyuti,
Miftdh al-Jannah
ft 'l-Ihtijajbi 'l-Sunnah (al-Madinah al-Munawwarah: Madinah University,
1399ah), 10.
85
See, Ibn Rushd, Biddyat al-Mujtahid,2: 216; al-Shawkani,
Nayl, 5: 332.
86
for instance, 'Ali b.Muhammad al-Amidi,al-Ihkdm Usiilal-Fiqh (Beirut:
Dar al-Kitab al
See,
ft
'Arabi, 1404ah), 2: 124; 'All b. Ahmad Ibn Hazm, al-Ihkdm Usul alAhkdm (Cairo: Dar al
ft
Dar al-Afaq al-Jadidah,
Hadith, 1404ah), 2: 151; Idem, al-Muhalld (Beirut:
n.d.), 4: 117,Yahya b.
Dar al-Fikr, 1997), 5: 221.
Sharaf al-Nawawi, al-Majmu":Sharh al-Muhadhdhab(Beirut:
87
See,Muslim, Sahih,Kitab al-Hayd, Bab al-Tayammum.



339

More illustrative thispoint is [the occasion] when 'Umar delivered a
of
speech to the people inwhich he stated,"No one must exceed thedowry paid
by theProphet (peace be on him) to hiswives and thedowry of his daughters
[and ifhe does] Iwill returnit [to thepayer]."A woman then said to him: "O
Commander of theFaithful!
Why do you deny us what was given to us by
a
Allah?" Then she recited{... and you have given one of them heap ofgold, then
takenotfrom it anything}}*Following this 'Umar retractedhis opinion and
accepted hers for he had memorised the verse but had forgotten [its
relevance].89

This is similar towhat was narrated about 'Allwho reminded al-Zubayr
which theProphet (peace be on
during the battle of al-Jamalabout something
him) had entrusted to them; so al-Zubayr remembered and gave up the

because of it.90
fighting
Incidences of thiskind [i.e. of learninga text and then forgetting are
it]
both the early and laterscholars.
frequentamong
The sixth reason: that the scholardoes not know the implicationof the
mentioned in the
concernedhadith.This can be due to the fact that a term
was considered by him to be unfamiliar (gharib)y
such as [the terms]:al
hadith

muzabanahy

almukhabarah,

al-muhaqalah,

al-muldmasah,

al-mundbadhah,

al

of
gharar and other such unfamiliar terms about the interpretation which
scholarsmight disagree. An example is the hadith transmittedby a chain
attributed back to the Prophet (peace be on him): "No divorce and
manumission [of a slave] in a state of ighldq"91
Ighldqwas interpreted[by
were not [fully]aware of
who disagreed
some] tomean 'coercion'while those

this [linguistic]interpretation.
It may sometimes also be because themeaning [of the hadith"]in the
scholar's dialect and customaryusagewhich was not [in conformity
with] that
language employed by the Prophet (peace be on him), so the scholarwould
88
Qur'an

4: 20.

89
Mansur (India: al-Dar
See, 'Abel al-Razzaq,Musannaf 6:180; Sa'id ibn
Mansur, Sunan Sa'id ibn
1:195. It is also quoted byMuhammad b. Futuh al-Humaydi, al-Jam'bayn
al-Salafiyyah,1982),
wa
Dar IbnHazm, 2002), 4: 324. See also, 'All b. 'Umar
al-Sahihayn:al-Bukhdri Muslim (Beirut:
al-'Ilal al-Waridahfi 'l-Ahadith
al-Nabawiyyah (Riyadh:Dar Taybah, 1985), 2: 232;
al-Daraqutni,
wa 'l-Athdral-Waqi'ahfi
'AbdAllah b. Yusuf al-Zayla'i, Takhrijal-Ahddith
Tafsir al-Kashshafli *l

Zamakhshari (Riyadh:Dar IbnKhuzaymah, 1414ah), 1: 294-297.
90
See,Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak 'aidal-Sahihayn (Beirut:Dar al-Kutub
al-'Ilmiyyah, 1990), 3: 412-414. See also,Ma'mar b. Rashid al-Azdi, al-Jdmi*
published with al

Musannaf of 'Abd al-Razzaq (Beirut:al-Maktab al-Islami, 1403 ah), 11: 241.
91
See, IbnMajah, Sunan, Kitab al-Talaq, Bab Talaq al-Mukrahiwa al-Nasi; Ahmad, Musnad,
wa 'l-Athar
6: 276; 'AbdAllah b.Muhammad IbnAbi Shaybah, alKitdb al-Musannaffi i-Ahddith
Maktabat al-Rushd, 1409ah), 4: 83; 'All b. 'Umar al-Daraqutni, Sunan al-Daraqutni
(Riyadh:
Dar al-Ma'rifah, 1966), 4: 36.
(Beirut:


AHMADffiN 'ABD
AL-HALIMIBN
TAYMIYYAH

340

correlate it to what he understood from the term in accordance with his
tongue, basing this on the principle that a word retains its originalmeaning
[untilproven otherwise].
This is like some of the scholars
who heard some reports (dthdr)
which
to
allow a concessionwith regard to nabidh, so they thought it referred some
types of intoxicants;due to the fact that this term (i.e. nabldh)was used for
those [intoxicants]in theirnative tongue,
whereas in realitythis termrefersto
thatwhich was left in thewater to sweeten it and was consumed before it
attained any intoxicating
made clear throughseveral
qualities. This meaning is
authentichadiths92
Similarly, some scholars encountered the term 'khamr' in theQur'an and
to
Sunnah and they thought it referred intoxicants
made fromgrapes only on
the basis that thiswas themeaning of the term in theirdialect, but there are
authentic hadithswhich confirm that the term khamr is a name for every
drink.93
intoxicating
Sometimes the scholardid not know the implicationof thehadithbecause
was eithera homonym, ambivalent in its
the term [used in that text]
meaning,
or one thathovered between the literalandmetaphorical sense, so the scholar
tookwhat he thought is thenearest [to the intended
meaning] even thoughthe
turnout to be theothermeaning of the term.
intended
meaning may
Again, some of theCompanions understood the "white thread and the
to
black thread" [in the verse dealingwith the time for beginning the fast]94
refer to an actual

rope

(habl)95 Others

also understood

'hands'

in the verse

with dry ablution] {and rub therewith faces and hands}96to cover
your
[dealing

the entire arm up to the armpit.97

[The scholar] sometimes [did not know the implication of the hadith]
because its importwas obscure (khafi).This is due to the fact that the
indications

that can be drawn

from a statement

are often very diverse

and so

people naturally differin theirability to comprehend them and to grasp their
meaning depending on what Allah has bestowed upon them.
Then a personmight know the general implicationof a textbut hemight
not recognise that this specificcase is included
within thatgeneral context. It is
92
See, for instance,
Muslim, Sahih, Kitab al-Hajj, Bab Wujub al-Mabit bi Mina; Abu Dawud,
Kitab al-Ashribah,Bab Sifat al-Nabidh.
Sunan,
93
See,Muslim, Sahih,Kitab al-Ashribah,Bab Bayan annaKull Muskir Khamr.
94
Qur'an

2: 186.

95
This versewas revealed in the context of settingthe time forbeginning the fasting
which is at

dawn

time.

96
Qur'an 4: 43.
97
This versewas revealed in the context of dry ablution (al-tayammum).



341

possible thathe might recognise that this specificcase is included under that
this lateron. This is such a vast subject that
general contextbut thenhe forgets
can be encompassed by none but Allah. It is also possible that a person
commits a mistake by deriving from a statement
what is not conceivable
within theArabic languagewhich the Prophet (peace .be on him) was sent
with.

The seventh reason: that the scholar thoughtthat thehadithdid not carry

anyspecific
(daldlah).
implication

The differencebetween this reason and the one before it is that in the
whereas
previous [instance] the scholardid not know that specific implication
in this reason he knows the specificimplicationbut believes that it ought not
to be applied based on some principles he had which invalidated that
of
implication,regardless whether he was in realityrightorwrong.
of those principles include: that the scholar believes the
Examples
specified general text (al- (dmmalmakhsus) is not a valid proof, or that the
implication (al-mafhiim) is not a valid proof,98or that a general ruling
established fora specificcause is applied onlywhere that cause exists,or thata
does not necessitateobligation or immediatecompliance, or
general imperative
of
that thealifznd 1dm[constituents the
Arabic definite article]do not denote
or
generality, thatnegated verbs neithernegate its essencenor all of itsrulings,
or that the required meaning (alfnuqtada) does not necessitate a general
importand as a resulthe would not claim the existenceof a general import in
cause [al-ma'ani].99
and the effective
theomitted elements (al-mudmardt)
with other examples
which would need a lengthy
discussion
And likewise
were we to delve into them, as indeedhalf of the disputes thathave arisen in
mid al-fiqh come within this field [i.e. the implications]; even though the
absolute principles [i.e. Qur'an and Hadith] do not encompass all of the
disputed implications.One of the questions in this topic iswhether certain
sub-categoriesof classes of implicationsare included under themain class or
not. For instance, a scholarmight believe that a certain term is ambivalent
(mujmal) due to the fact that it is a homonym (mushtarak),and there is
nothing to indicate the preferenceof one of its twomeanings over the other,
or other [such] examples.
98
For details related to the discussion on the authorityof the implications, see, 'Abd atMaUk b.
'Abd Allah al-Juwayni,al-Burhdn Usul al-Fiqh (Cairo: al-Wafa', 1418ah), 1:298; Idem, al
fi

Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah,1996), 2:184; 'Abd Allah b. Ahmad
Talkhisfi Usul al-Fiqh (Beirut:
Ibn Qudamah, Rawdat al-Nddirwa Junnat al-Munazir (Riyadh: The Imam University, 1399),
262; al-Amidl, al-lhkam, 3: 73.
99
See,Al Taymiyyah: 'Abd al-Salam b. 'AbdAllah, 'Abd al-Halim b. 'Abd al-Salam andAhmad
b. 'Abd al-Halim, al-Musawwadahfi usul al-Fiqh, ed.Muhammad Muhyi '1-Dln 'Abd al-Hamid
(Cairo:Matba' al-Madani, 1964), 81.


342

AHMAD

IBN 'ABD AL-HALIM ffiN TAYMIYYAH

The eighth reason: that the scholardeems that implicationof the text to
be opposed by something indicatingthat it could not have been so intended.
Examples include a general termbeing opposed by a specificone, an absolute
an
term (al-mutlaq)by a qualified one (al-muqayyad), absolute imperativeby
that
which negates it,or the literal (al-haqiqah)one by that
which indicatesa
metaphor (al-majaz), and so on. This is also a vast subject; for indeed the
conflictbetween thenumerous implicationsof a phrase and the taskof giving
preferenceto some of themover others is like awide ocean.
The ninth reason: that the scholar thinks that the hadith is opposed by
contraryevidencewhich is accepted by all scholars, such as a Qur'anic verse,
another hadith, or consensus, thereby indicating the hadith's weakness,
This is of two
if
abrogation,or interpretation, it is amenable to interpretation.
types:
First: that the scholar believes that the contrary evidence is preferable
(rajih) in general, leading to one of the three possibilities [that is, the
away from the
weakening of the hadith, its abrogation, or its interpretation
undesirablemeaning] without specifying
any one of them.
one of the three,so he believes that the
that the scholar specifies
Second:
away. There is thepossibility,however, that
proof is abrogated or interpreted
he might commit a mistake regardingthe abrogation by considering the later
evidence to be the earlierone. Alternatively,he might err in interpretation
by
understanding the hadith in a way which itswording does not permit, or
which rulesout that interpretation.
where there is somethingextraneous
And if the new evidencewas to oppose the earlier evidence in general
terms, there
might be a possibility that the opposing evidence does not give
rise to themeaning which the scholar understood. It is also possible that the
opposing hadith is not equal in strengthto the firstone in terms of the
and the clarityof its text (matn).The
authenticityof its chain of transmitters
same points and others apart from them could of course also be said for the
hadith.
first
In most cases the claim of a consensus is actually no more than the
absence of knowledge about any opposing opinion. And we have found
who arrivedat certainopinions on the
among the distinguishedscholars those
basis of the non-existenceof any contraryopinion, even though the apparent
meaning of the evidence necessitates, according to them, other than that
opinion. Itwas unthinkable,however, for that scholar to espouse an opinion
which was not known to have been held by any earlier scholar, despite
knowing that the people disagreewith that view, to the extent that some
scholarsqualify theiropinion by saying,"If there is a consensus on this issue
then it is themost deserving to be followed. If not, I think the ruling
with



343

regardto this issue is such and such."100
An example of this is the statement the one who says, "I do not know
of
a slave"whereas the acceptance of it is
anyonewho allowed the testimonyof
Another is the saying,"It is
narrated from 'All,Anas, Shurayh, and others.101
whereas this rightof
agreed that the partially freed slave does not inherit"
All and IbnMas'ud (mayAllah be pleased with
inheritance is narrated from
and there is a hasan hadith from theProphet (peace be on him) to that
them)
And finally, "I do not know of anyone who made obligatory the
effect.102
prayer upon the Prophet (peace be on him) in the prayer" whereas its

Abu Ja'faral-Baqir.103
obligation isnarrated from
This is due to the fact that theultimate aim for
many scholars is to know
the opinions of the scholarswho were their contemporarieswithin their
We also find
many
regionwhile not knowing the opinions of other scholars.
of the early scholarswho only knew the opinions of theMadinans and
Kufans, and many later scholars only knew two or three opinions from
amongst those of the reputed scholars,while anything outside this was
considered by them to be opposed to the consensus because theydid not know
of any statement to the contrary [froma reputed scholar] even though they

always heard views opposingwhat theyknew.
Itwill not be possible for such a person to use a hadith opposed to this
will lead to opposing consensus
alleged consensus, because of his fear that this
or that he believes that it does actually oppose the consensus,whilst [in his
mind] consensus is the greatestof evidences.This is the extenuatingreason of
many people inmany caseswhere theydid not adhere to the obvious import
whereas others cannot
of the evidence. Some of them in realitycan be excused,
truewith regard to the aforementioned and later
be excused. This is also
reasons.

The tenth reason: [the scholar thought that] the hadithwas opposed by
evidence indicating the hadith's weakness, abrogation, or contrary
whereas his view that this is a contraryevidence is not shared
interpretation,
by other scholars,or even by thosewho belong to his group, or the contrary
evidence isnot in realitytheprevalentone.
100
See,Muhammad

ibnMuflih al-Maqdisi, al-Furu'fi 'l-Fiqhal-Hanbtt (Beirut:Dar al-Kutub al
1418 ah), 5: 447 andMuhammad ibnAbl Bakr b. Ayyub known as Ibn al-Qayyim,
'flmiyyah,
Ahkam Abl al-Dhimmah (Dammam- Beirut:Ramadi, 1997), 2: 747,793.
101
wa 'l-'Abid.
See forexample, al-Bukhari,Sahih,Kitab al-Shahadat,Bab Shahadat al-Ima*
102
See, Ahmad b. Shu'ayb al-Nasa'I, al-Sunan al-Kubrd, Kitab al-Qisamah, Bab Diyat al
Mukatab.

103
See, al-Tabari, Tahdhib al-Atbar, 257; Ismail b. 'Umar Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim
Dar al-Fikr, 1401ah), 3: 509; al-Shawkani,
Nayl alAwtar, 2: 321-326; al-Zayla'I,Nasb al
(Beirut:
1: 427.
Rayah,


344

AHMAD

IBN 'ABD AL-HALIM ffiN TAYMIYYAH

An example of this is of the approach ofmany of theKufans who, when
an authentic hadith is opposed by the apparentmeaning of a Qur'anic text,
believe that the apparentQur'anic text, such as one expressinggenerality,is
meaning of a hadith.
givenpreferenceover the explicit
which isnot in reality
A scholar
might consider somethingto be apparent
apparent; this is because therearemany potential implicationsof a statement.
was rejectedby the
So, as a result, the hadith of "thewitness and the oath"104
Kufans [on the basis that itwas in opposition to an apparentQur'anic text],
even though other scholars know that there is nothing in the apparent
Qur'anic text to prevent giving judgementin favourof someone on the basis
of one witness and the claimant'soath.And if it should be the case [i.e. even if
an apparent Qur'anic text opposing this hadith was to be found], then,

of
according to these scholars theSunnah is the 'interpreter' theQur'an. And
arewell known statements
fromal-Shafi'iregardingthisprinciple.Also,
there
Ahmad [ibn Hanbal] has his well known book on the refutationof the
of
Qur'anic texts (zahir
opinion of thosewho claimed the sufficiency apparent
to interpretsuch texts
with the Sunnah of the
al'Qur'an) without the need
be on him).He mentioned in it evidences
which the limitation
Prophet (peace
of space preventsus from
mentioning here.
And another example of this is to reject the hadith (al-khabar)
which
the general
of aQur'anic text,orwhich qualifies an absolute
meaning
specifies
The belief of thosewho say this
text,or adds to the
Qur'anic ruling.
Qur'anic
is that adding to a text, as well as qualifying an absolute text, is a form of
a
abrogation, and specifying general text is also [a formof] abrogation.
Another example concerns a group of the Madinans who oppose
authentic hadiths in preference to the practice of the people ofMadinah, on
must have been in agreementnot to act
the basis that they (i.e. ahl al-Madinah)
upon those hadiths, and their agreement is a proofwhich is given preference
over thehadith.For instance,theydid not act upon the hadiths related to the
on
rightofwithdrawal from transactions(khiyar
al-majlis)105 the basis of this
Most scholars,however, affirm existenceof disagreementamong
the
principle.
theMadinans on this issue [that is, regardingthe rightof withdrawal from
Madinans were in agreementand they
transactions]but state that even if the
were opposed by other scholars [who are supportedby
Hadith evidences],then
most authoritativesource
would be the
Hadith.
the
104
See,Malik, Muwatta', 2: 721; Ahmad, Musnad, 3: 305;Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitab al-Aqdiyah,
wa l-Shahid; al-Tirmidhi,Sunan, Kitab al-Ahkam, Bab ma ja' fi '1
Bab al-Qada' bi '1-Yamin
Yamin ma* al-Shahid; al-Nasa'i, al-Sunan al-Kubra,Kitab al-Qada', Bab al-Hukm bi al-Yamin
wa 'l-Shahid.
105
See,Muslim, Sahih,Kitab al-Buyu',Bab Thubut Khiyar al-Majlis.


THE REMOVAL BLAMEFROMTHE GREAT IMAMS
OF

345

Another example is that of some people of the two cities (Madinah and
with explicit analogy (qiyasjail) arguing that
Kufah) opposing some hadlths
cannot be refuted suchhadiths.
generalprinciples
by
And so on with similarareas of dispute regardlessofwhether the scholar
or
opposing thehadith is right wrong. So, these ten reasons are clear.
It is possible inmany cases that the scholar has a proof for not acting
which we are not aware of because theways of comprehending
upon a hadith
knowledge aremanifold andwe cannotknow all ofwhat is in theheartsof the

scholars.The scholarmight havementioned his proof or might not have, and
was
ifhe were tomention it, it
may ormay not have reachedus; and even ifit
to reach us we may or may not comprehend the thrustof his argument,
of
irrespective whether his proofwas in realitycorrector not.
However, if we allow this possibility [that the proof supporting a
mujtahid's argumentisunknown to us], it isnot permittedforus to turnaway
from an opinion whose authority is establishedby an authentichadith and is
followed by some people of knowledge for another opinion proclaimed by
another scholarwho might possibly have an answer to thatproof, even ifhe
was more knowledgeable [than the firstscholar].This is due to the fact that
theopinions of scholars aremore prone to error then the shar%
evidence itself.
The shar%evidences areAllah's proof againstall of his servantsand this isnot
the casewith regard to the opinion of the scholar. Indeed, it is impossible for
the shar%evidences to contain error if they are not contradicted by other
similarevidence and thiscannot be said fortheopinion of a scholar.
And ifpracticingthis [i.e. followingthe opinion of a scholar in the faceof
an opposing shar%evidence]were to be allowed, thennone of the evidences
which accept thispossibility [i.e. being open to ijtihdd]
will remain as such.
what we mentioned earlier] is that the scholar
However, the purpose [of
a valid excuse fornot followingthe shar%
evidence, andwe are
might have had
excused for not following his opinion. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is
havepassed away; they
shallhavewhat they
earned
He!) says: {This isa people that
and you shallhavewhat you earn,and you shallnot he called upon toanswer
for
what they
did.}106

And Allah (Glorified He!) also said, (And ifyou have a dispute
is

any matter, referit toAllah and the
concerning
Messenger ifyou are (in truth)
believersin
LastDay.}107
Allah and the
It is not permitted for anyone to oppose an authentic hadith of the
Prophet (peace be on him) and give preferenceto the opinion of any human
Allah be pleasedwith him and
being.On one occasion,when Ibn 'Abbas (may
106
Qur'an 2:134.
107
Qur'an 4: 59.


346

AHMAD

BBN 'ABD AL-HALIMIBN

TAYMIYYAH

was asked by aman about an issue,he answeredwith a hadith.The
his father)
man responded, "[But]Abu Bakr and 'Umar said such and such [with regard
to that issue]," IbnAbbas said: "You are about to be struckby stones from
the sky! I say to you that theProphet (peace be on him) said such and such,
and you reply, "[But]Abu Bakr and 'Umar said such and such!""108
If it is accepted that some of the reasonsmentioned above could cause a
scholar to not follow a shar%evidence, and if an authentic hadith is found
which contains permissibility, prohibition or another ruling, it is not
permissible to believe that a scholarwho did not adhere to it (whose reasons

fordeparting fromthe texthave been given above) should be punished because
on
he made theprohibitedpermissibleor vice versa, or thathe gave judgement
the basis ofwhat was not revealed byAllah. Similarly, if a hadith contains a
mention of a la'n,109
threat, the
angeror punishment,or somethingsimilar,
by
it is not permitted to say that the scholar,
then
who permitted such an action
or undertook it,
We know of no
would fall
within thepurview of that threat.
disagreement among the scholars of the ummah with regard to this issue
except something narrated from some of the Baghdad! Mu'tazilites such as

and
Bishr al-Marrisi110 his likewho alleged that those among themujtahids
who make a mistake would be punished on account of this
mistake. This is
one who commits a prohibited action would be liable for the
because the
threatonly ifhe was aware of theprohibition or ifhe was able to obtain that
who are broughtup in thebadiyah
knowledge and failed to do so.As for those
or are new converts to Islam andwho
[remoteplaces away fromcivilisation],
commit a prohibited actionwithout being aware of itsprohibition, they
will
not be sinning, and they cannot be punished with prescribed punishments
(hudiid)even if theydid not base theiraction on shar%evidence. Therefore, a
fortiori, thosewho were not aware of the prohibiting hadith and based the
permissibility of an action upon shar% evidence are more deserving to be
108
Dar
Adwa* al-Bayan (Beirut:
See,Muhammad al-Amin b.Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Shanqiti,
al-Fikr li 1-Tiba'ah wa '1-Nashr,1995), 7: 328.
109
What ismeant by la'n here, according to the classicalMuslim literature,is to pray or state
that a person be rejected from the
mercy ofGod permanently or temporarily.But it could also
mean in some instances censure and condemnation of the action with which the la'n was
associated. See,Muhammad b. Jariral-Tabari,Jami' al-Bayan 'an Ta'wil Ayy akQur'an (Beirut:
Dar al-Fikr, 1405 ah), 1: 408; IbnQudamah, al-Mughnl,8: 39; al-NawawI, SahVp
Muslim hi Sharh
al-Nawawly 9:140-141; Muhammad b.Makram IbnManzur, Lisan al-'Arab (Beirut:Dar Sadir,
Maktabat Lebanon,
n.d.), 13: 387;Muhammad ibnAbi Bakr al-Razi,Mukhiar al-Sihah (Beirut:
1995), 250.
110
Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah,
See,Ahmad b. 'All al-Khatib al-Baghdadi,Ta'rikh Baghdad (Beirut:
Mu'assasat al-A'lami, 1986),
n.d.) 7: 56-66; Ahmad b. 'All Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-Mizdn (Beirut:
2: 29.


OF

347

excused. This iswhy such a scholar is rewarded and praised because of his
David and
independent reasoning.Allah (theExalted) says: {And remember
matter of the
into
in the
which thesheep
Solomon,when they
gave judgement
field
certainpeople had strayedby night:We did witness theirjudgement To
of
We
SolomonWe inspiredthe(right)
of matter: to each (of them)
understanding the
andKnowledge} .U1
gave Judgement
So Solomon was distinguishedforhis understanding [in this case] while
both were praised for [having] sound judgementand knowledge. In the two
Sahihs of al-Bukhari andMuslim it is narratedon the authorityof 'Amr b. al

be
'As (may
the
withhim)that Prophet
Allah be pleased
(peace on him)said,

"When a judge exercises independentreasoningand gives the right judgement,
he will have two rewards,but ifhe errs in his judgement,he will stillhave
earned one reward."112

Therefore, it is clear that themujtahid, despite his error, is rewarded
at
due to the fact thatarriving
because of his ijtihadand hismistake is forgiven
correctopinion on everyoccasion is either impossibleor highly unlikely.
the

Allahhasnotlaidupon
Exaltedsays,
AndAllah the
{And
any
you inreligion
hardship}

andHe

said, {Allah desiresease
for
for you, andHe does not desire

you
difficulty}}14

Muslim it isnarrated that theProphet
In the two Sahibs of al-Bukharland
Year of theTrench, "None of
(peace be on him) said to his Companions in the
prayeruntil you reachBanu Qurayzah" and sowhen
you should pray the fAsr
itwas time forAsr prayer and the companionswere stillon their
way, some
of them said. "We will not pray (Asr prayer) until we arrive at Banu

prayer elapses]."Others said that this
Qurayzah [i.e. even if the time for fAsr
was not the intended
and theyprayed Asr prayerwhile on theway
meaning
with eitherof the two groups.115
and theProphet foundno fault
to the generalityof the communication ('umum
The firstgroup held
al-khitab) and thereforethey considered the lapse of the appointed time [for
The other group feltthey
thePrayer] as being includedunder thatgenerality*
had the evidence necessitatingthe exclusion of this [the lapse of the appointed
time] from the general importof the communication. They understood the
command to be an encouragement to them tomake haste in reaching those
111
Qur'an 21: 78-79.
112
Al-Bukhari, ?abihtKitab al-Ftisam,Bab Ajr al-Hakim idha Ijtahada;Muslim, Sahib,Kitab al
Aqdiyah, Bab Bayan Ajr al-Hakim idha Ijtahad.
113
Qur'an 22: 78.
114
Qur'an 2:185.
115
Bab $allt al-Talibwa 1-Matlub Rakiban wa Ima'an;
See, al-Bukhari,Sahih,Kitab al-Jumu'ah,
Bab al-Mubadarah bi 'l-Ghazw.
Kitab al-Jihad,
Muslim, Sahih,


348

AL-HALIM TAYMIYYAH
EBN
AHMADBN 'ABD

that theProphet (peace be on him) had takenunder siege.
This is an issue upon which there is a well known disagreementamong
the jurists,namely, "Can the general be particularised by analogy?" (hal
who prayed on
al-umum hi 'l-qiyds).
However, [myview is that] those
yukhass
what theydid.
the
way were more correct in
Allah be pleasedwith him) sold two sd'of one
when Bilal (may
Similarly,
type of dates for one sd' of another type of dates, the Prophet (peace be on
[on the basis that thiswas a transaction
him) ordered him to return it116
Bilal camewithin the sphereof the
involvingribd]but he did not indicatethat
such as depravity (tafsiq),condemnation (al-la'n)
rulings for consuming ribd
and sternness(taghliz);because Bilal had not been aware that this transaction

was prohibited.
Also, 'AdI b. Hatim and a group of the Companions (may Allah be
the
Qur'anic verse {...untilyou can identify
pleasedwith them) thoughtthatthe
referredto [the literal
white thread
meaning of the
from theblack thread)117
would
word al*khayt]i.e. thewhite rope and the black rope. So one of them
near his pillow, one white and theother black, andwould eat
two strings
leave
one fromtheother.
of
until he could identify
Upon learning this,theProphet
(peace be on him) said to 'Adi, "Your pillow seems to be very large!It is only
whiteness of thedawn and theblacknessof thenight."118
the
Therefore, theProphet (peace be on him) indicatedby this that 'Adi had
not correctlycomprehended the
meaning of theverse,yet theProphet did not
to him the censure of one who did not observe the fastingof
attribute
Ramadan, even though it isone of the
major sins.
are thosewho gave a fatwd to a man who had a
In contrast [to this]
whole of his body [i.e. due to
head-injury (in the skull) thathe had towash the
so
being in a stateofmajor ritual impurity] he did.He died as a resultand the

Prophet(peacebe on him) said,"Theykilledhim;may Allah kill them!

Should not they have asked if they did not know? Indeed, the cure for
ignorance is inquiry."119
as
Hence thesepeople committedamistake without [proper] ijtihdd they
were not fromamong thepeople of knowledge.

116
See, al-Bukhari,Sahih,Kitab al-Wakalah,Bab idhaBa* al-Wakil Shay'an Fasid; Muslim, Sahih,
Kitab al-Musaqah, Bab Bay' al-Ta'amMithlan biMithl.
117
Qur'an 2:187.
118
See, al-Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab al-Tafsir,Bab wa Kulu wa'shrabu; Muslim, Sahih, Kitab al
Yahsulu bi Tulu* al-Fajr.
Siyam, Bab Bayan ann al-Dukhul fi 'l-Sawm
119
See, 'Abd al-Razzaq,Musannaf, 1: 223; Ahmad, Musnad, 1: 330;Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitab al
Taharah, Bab fi 'l-MajruhYatayammam; IbnMajah, Sunan, Kitab al-Taharah, Bab fi '1-Majruh
Tusibuh al-Janabah.


OF

349

Another example is that theProphet (peace be on him) did not impose
retaliation,blood money or expiation upon Usamah b. Zayd when he killed
thepersonwho had testified
that "There is no God butAllah" in the battle of
was permissible to kill him on the basis
Usamah believed that it
al-Huraqat.120
thathis Islamwas invalid,even though it is clear thathis killingwas unlawful.

The salaf and the
when theyconcluded
majority of the juristsacted upon this
that the rebelswould not be liable for retaliation,
blood-money or expiation,
in cases such as shedding theblood of innocentpeople, which they legitimated
on grounds of some plausible reason (ta'wtl sa'igh), they [rebels]
will not be
held responsible even though the killing and fightingthey engaged inwere
prohibited.121
The aforementionedcondition for the applicabilityof a threatdoes not
need to be repeated in every communication because the knowledge of it is
well known and established in thehearts.
This is just like the promise [of reward] for carryingout a good deed is
for the sake ofAllah and that the
prefacedupon itsbeing done with sincerity
deed was not rendered void by apostasy. This condition, also, is not
mentioned in everyhaditb
which promises a reward foran action.
And evenwhen the conditions necessitatingthe applicabilityof a threat
are present, the threatmight be removed through the existence of an
impediment (mdni). There are various typesof such impediments,including
repentance,asking for forgiveness,
good deeds thaterase sins, tribulationsand
of
calamities, the intercession someonewhose intercessionis accepted and the
Most Merciful.
mercy of the
are lacking?and this
It is onlywhen all of these impediments
will not be
the case exceptwith regard to the one who was arrogant,rebellious and fled
from
Allah in a way similar to thatof a camel strayingfrom itspeople?that
the threat
will be duly applicable to him. This is because the
main functionof
a threatis to emphasise that thedeed inquestion is a cause for thepunishment
mentioned in the threat,thuscreatingthe inference
that thedeed isprohibited
and reprehensible.
However, to say that the existence of the reason for the
threat in any personwould necessitate the occurrence of the consequence (i.e
the punishment) is indeed an absolutely invalid conclusion. [As we have
of
explained], the effect a threatdepends upon the presence of its conditions
to
and the removal of all of the impediments it.
120
See, al-Bukhari, Sahih, Kitab al-Diyat, Bab Qawl Allah Ta'ala wa man Ahyaha; Muslim,
ba'd anQal La Qah ilia 'Hah.
Kitab al-Iman,Bab Tahrim Qatl al-Kafir
Sablhy
121
Ibn Taymiyyah is discussing here is the issue of giving amnesty to rebels and, as he
What
assertssomewhere else, non-belief isnot a legitimatereason forkilling.


350

AHMAD IBN 'ABD
AL-HALIMIBN
TAYMIYYAH

To clarifythis further,
thereare threepossibilities
with regardto theone
did not actupon a givenbadith:
who
First: thathis leaving thehadith is permissibleaccording to the agreement
of allMuslims. An example of this is thepersonwho did not act upon a badith
because he was not aware of it, although he had sought to the best of his
ability to findout about it in view of his need for afatwa or a judicial ruling,
as we mentioned in the case of the rightlyguided Caliphs and others (may
Allah be pleased with them).There is no doubt in anyMuslim's mind that
such a personwill not be liable for the sin resultingfrom theneglect of a deed
[due to ignoranceof the existenceof theobligation/prohibition].
Second: that the leaving of the badith is not permissible. It is highly
unlikely thatwe will find the Imams not acting upon a hadithwithout a

reason,God (theExalted) willing.
legitimate
[Third:]What might be possible, however, is that some scholarsmay
sometimesgive an opinion on an issuedespite the fact that theydid not fully
would give theiropinion without
comprehend the issue in question, so they
fulfilled proper requirementsforgiving a rulingon that issue,even
the
having
though theyhave some understandingand capacity for ijtihadon it.
[It is also possible that] the scholar is deficient in his deduction, so he
would conclude with an opinion without an evidence for such conclusion
or
even thoughhemight have used some formof ijtihad he would arriveat his
opinion before having takenhis reasoning to its appropriate conclusion, even
where he is basing his opinion on some evidence,or hemight be influenced
by
a custom or predisposition
which preventshim froman exhaustive treatment
of the issue
which would include a studyof that
which opposes his view, even
ifhe based his opinion on some ijtihadand reasoning.This is due to the fact
that the [precise] limit [or extent] towhich it is necessary to determine ijtihad
might not be precisely identified the
by
mujtahid.
This is the reason that the scholarsused to fear that the recognised form
of ijtihad (al-Ijtihadal-Mu'tabar)
might not have been achieved on a given issue.
indeed a sin but the punishment for the sin is only applicable if its
This is
performer did not repent.Moreover, the sin can be erased by asking for
forgiveness,
doing good to others, [undergoing]tribulation,intercession,and
Allah's Mercy.
However, not includedunder this [i.e. the one who is pardoned] is the
one who is overcome and defeatedby his desire to the extent thathe supports
what he knows to be false, or the one who asserts authoritatively the
correctnessor errorof an opinion without knowing the evidence for
what he
or
either in affirmation negation. Indeed, these two are in the
claims,
Hellfire,
as theProphet (peace be on
"The judges are of three types: two in
him) said,


The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams

The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (8)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (10)

Ähnlich wie The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams

Ähnlich wie The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams (20)

Mehr von Sayogyo Rahman Doko

Mehr von Sayogyo Rahman Doko (10)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

The Removal of Blame from the Great Imams