Question: I came from a strong 'Salafee' background and I have learnt a lot about following a Madhab, a great amount from you. Why is it permissible to follow the ruling of a student of an Imam if it differs from the Imam, eg. Imam Abu Hanifa and Abu Yousuf? What about the students of the Imam's students, who some happen to be founders of other schools of thought?

Answer: Undoubtedly, the Imams of Fiqh were indeed blessed with a great amount of knowledge in the field of the sciences of Islam. Their mastery and expertise in the fields of the Holy Quran, the blessed Sunnah, the eloquence of the Arabic language, the principles governing the Tafseer of the Holy Quran / the Ahadith / Islamic Jurisprudence and the religious verdicts of the Sahabahs and Tabi'een are unquestionable. They achieved their knowledge from the illustrious Tabi'een scholars who were the students and children of the Companions of the Prophet (s.a.s). On account of this excellence, they were unanimously accepted as great Mujtahids and masters of Islamic learning. This wide acceptance did not only come from the common Muslims living at that time, but more so, it came from the greatest Tabi'ee and Tab'ut Tabi'ee scholars living in that pious era of Muslims, (the second century Islam) who awarded them the great status of being an Imam in the Islamic sciences. Scholars as well as non scholars were amazed at their great knowledge and expertise, and were convinced that they were upon the truth. This conviction brought about the general acceptance by all scholars of the second century until today and all have accepted the fact that the four mazhabs represent the Fiqh of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah.

Notwithstanding their greatness in the field of knowledge and their elevated position among the people, they always humbled themselves for Islamic learning. The love and respect that these Jurists and Imams showed for each other was so great that they visited and sat in the study circles of each other. They disagreed on certain matters but remained brothers and friends. Imam Abu Hanifah, thirteen years older than Imam Malik sat in the lessons of Imam Malik who respectfully welcomed him and made himself next to him. Imam Malik, in a similar manner benefited greatly from the discourses of Imam Abu Hanifah. Imam Muhammad bin Hasan, the famous student of Imam Abu Hanifah, went to Madina and learnt Al Muwatta from Imam Malik for three years after the death of his teacher, Imam Abu Hanifah. Imam Malik and Imam Abu Hanifah both learnt Hadith from Imam Muhammad bin Shihab az Zuhri, and Zuhri, the teacher did not feel it was below his dignity to learn from Imam Malik, his pupil. Both of these Imams learnt Ahadith from other famous Tabi'ee scholars like Imam Jafar As Sadiq, Muhammad bin al Munkadir and others. Both of these Imams, Imam Abu Hanifah (80-150 A.H.) and Imam Malik (93-179 A.H.) were the jurists who inherited the legacy of the special knowledge of the Tabi'een with all its bearings, agreements and controversies. They developed the similar attitudes of their predecessors in relying on the Quran, the Sunnah and the opinions of the companions, especially the cause of Ijma as the main source of law, followed by Ijtihad.

Thereafter appeared the era of the other great Imam, Muhammad bin Idrees Ash Shafi (150-204 A.H). He studied hadith under Imam Malik for a long period and also learned the fiqh of Imam Malik. When he reached Iraq, he was awarded the opportunity of attaining knowledge from Imam Muhammad bin Hasan, the student of Imam Abu Hanifah, and he remained in his company as a faithful student for a period of ten years. While speaking about his teacher Imam Malik, Imam Shafi said, 'If Imam Malik and Sufyan bin Uyaynah were not there, there would not have been the science of hadith in Hijaz.' He also said about the Muwatta of Imam Malik, 'There has never appeared a book closest to the Quran than the book of Imam Malik.' Imam Shafi also praised the great ability of his other teacher, Imam Muhammad. About him, he said, 'When Imam Muhammad used to discuss any juristic point, it seemed as if a revelation was descending.' He also said, 'I have not witnessed anyone more versed with the Quran than Muhammad Ibn Hasan.' At another place he said, 'My greatest benefactor in the science of Fiqh is Muhammad Ibn Hasan.' He also said, 'Allah assisted me with knowledge by the medium of two personalities: through Sufyan Ibn Uyaynah in the field of hadith and through Muhammad Ibn Hasan in the field of Fiqh'.

The other great Imam who was a comtempory of Imam Shafi was Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal (164 -241 A.H). He is also counted amongst the students of Imam Shafi. Apart from Imam Shafi, Imam Ahmad studied from Imam Abu Yusuf, one of the students of Imam Abu Hanifah. Imam Ahmad says, 'When I intended to study Hadith, I went to Qazi Abu Yusuf. Thereafter, I went to others to transcribe Ahadith.' From this discussion, it can be seen that the renowned four jurists and Imams of Fiqh had great love and respect for each other. They benefited from the knowledge of each other and also respected the opinions of one another. Allah blessed them with a wealth of knowledge, understanding, insight and the extraordinary ability of ijtihad which others did not possess. They became the custodian of the legacy of the Prophet (s.a.s) which was handed down to them by the pious generation of the Tabi'een and Tab'ut Tabieen. The people at their time and afterwards saw in them the signs of true knowledge, and recognised their trustworthiness, reliability, piety and righteousness. They accepted them as leaders and followed their Fatawas (verdicts), opinions and explanations, recognising that they were in accordance to the teachings of the pious predecessors from among the Tabieen and the Sahabahs (Companions) which they received from the beloved Prophet (s.a.s).

With respect to the differences that are to be found among them, these exist basically in the area of the furu'aat (tiny branches of fiqh) and are not in the matter of the usool (fundamental principles) of belief. These differences existed mainly due to the differences that came down from the Companions of the Prophet (s.a.s) which came about due to each person's own knowledge and personal observation of the actions and statements of the Prophet (s.a.s). Hence, the statements, actions and religious verdicts of these companions continued to move down to each succeeding generation and so, the differences also were handed down. Seeing that the Fiqh of the four Imams are based on solid and well established evidences, the scholars of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah (from the very beginning of the development of the Mazahib until today) have unanimously declared that they are all upon the Haqq (the truth) and that they represent the Fiqh of the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah (the Sunni Muslims). These differences were never seen as reasons for disunity or disharmony, but instead, were always accepted and tolerated since they had the endorsement of the Salafus Saaliheen (the pious predecessors).

While commenting on this, the renowned scholar, Dr. Taha Jabir Al Alwani writes, "Like the Sahabahs (Companions) and their immediate successors - the Tabi'een - the leading scholars of the second and third centuries had many differences on issues which required ijtihad. Since their differenes were not motivated by any form of egoism or desire to create discord, one can venture to say that they were all on the right path. It is perharps no exaggeration to say also that these scholars were singularly dedicated to the pursuit of the truth and to attaining the pleasure of Allah. They were highly trained and qualified, and this is why their verdicts were accomodated by scholars of all ages. It was common practice among them to endorse the judgements of those who passed sound verdicts irrespective of the school of law they belonged to and to ask Allah's forgiveness for those who seemed to have erred. They had a high mutual regard for one another. (The Ethics of Disagreement in Islam pg. 91).

With respect to the differences between the students of a particular Imam and the teacher, this has also been accepted. In fact, one would see in the writings of these Imams that they encouraged their students to investigate and research, since they were also known to have the ability of Ijtihad. A study into the lives of the students of the Imams would reveal that they were also great scholars of hadith, tafseer and fiqh, and were blessed with great understanding and intelligence. Their teachers saw this ability of Ijtihad (in their students) and impressed upon them to also investigate jurisprudential matters in accordance to the guidelines set by the laws of the shariah. It was for this reason, the students also ventured into this field and investigated certain mas'alas. As a result of their research, they sometimes concluded with the same findings of their teacher and at times, differed from him. This difference however, was never seen as an opposition to the Mazhab itself or their teacher, since in most cases the students had used the principles established by their teacher for their research and investigation. In this regard, the following is a beautiful explanation on this issue which has been given by many jurists:

"Imam Abu Hanifah has, on account of precaution, piety and the fear of Allah, advised his students that if they should come across any stronger evidence then they should adopt it and should not give consideration to his preferred statement. He explained to them that if they found a strong evidence for his revoked statement, then they must adopt that as their ruling.

Based on this guideline, the students researched those opinions and verdicts of their teacher (Imam Abu Hanifah) in which there were several narrations coming from him. In these, they looked at the evidences and chose that which was the strongest (according to them). However, in doing this exercise, they were very careful and cautious and did not step out of the narrations which have been recorded from their teacher. In this respect, it is recorded that the great students of Imam Abu Hanifah like Abu Yusuf, Muhammad bin Hasan, Imam Zufar and Imam Hasan bin Ziyad, used to swear with strong oaths that they did not oppose their teacher in any ruling, instead, they adopted such an opinion which actually came from him and was one which he had given in the past. They accepted the opinion which they saw as the best on account of the strength of the proof which their teacher had himself given for that opinion. It is for this reason, the opinions of the students of Imam Abu Hanifah are considered to be the verdicts of the Mazhab of Imam Abu Hanifah. (Guidelines for Fatawas pg. 83 - Shaikh Mufti Muhammad Salman).

In Al Fatawa Al Walwalijiah, it is written that Imam Abu Yusuf said, "Whatever opinion I have adopted in opposition to what my teacher, the great Imam have said, is in reality one of his previous opinions." Imam Zufar has also stated, 'In whatever ruling I have opposed my teacher, Imam Abu Hanifah, and wherever I have given an opinion, it is in reality one of his opinion which he had revoked.' This is the case with the students of Imam Abu Hanifah, and their individual investigations and researches were based upon the advice which their teacher had given to them. Notwithstanding their great ability to give opinions and verdicts, they continued to adhere to the verdicts and principles which their teacher had given. Their decision to remain on this path was on account of the greatness of their teacher's knowledge and the soundness of his proofs and arguments. In the field of ahadith, he always took that which was sound and authentic and transmitted by reliable and trustworthy scholars. He adhered to that which was handed down to him from the great predecessors from among the tabeeen and the tabut tabieen and always followed the path that lead to piety and righteousness.


And Allah knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan