Legacy of Our Scholars

In the Name of Allah, Most Kind, Most Merciful.

Praise be to Him Who said, “Indeed We, We have revealed the Remembrance, and We are its Protectors.” (15:9) Peace and blessings of Allah be upon His servant who said, “Indeed I was given the Book and similar to it along with it…,”¹ namely, the Sunnah, the ways and practices of the Prophet. In this narration is a clear indication that the Prophetic Sunnah, similar to the Quran, has been divinely preserved, for the Sunnah is from the Quran itself as Allah, Glorified and Majestic, says, “Say: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger…”(3:32)

Throughout the years of Islamic history, the Sunnah has been preserved by some of the greatest prodigies to ever have treaded the earth. From our primary exemplar, Abu Hurairah, may Allah be well pleased with him and all the Companions, to the Commander and Master of hadith, Imam al-Bukhari, to Imams such as Al-Daraqutni, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Al-Suyuti, and so forth, the Sunnah has been preserved with the outmost precision and proficiency.

‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, one of those given the rare title of ‘Amir al-Mumineen fi al-Hadith’ – the Commander of the Believers in Hadith² – said, “This isnad is deen and were it not for the isnad, he who wanted to say anything would say what he wanted.”³ Isnad – the unbroken chain of narrators to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him – is a characteristic distinctive to the Muslim Community which none besides, past or present, comes even close to enjoy.

In order to preserve the Sunnah, our scholars spared no efforts in differentiating the weak from the authentic, in recording the names, lineages, towns, travel records, births and deaths of those who they narrated from. They did the same for the teachers of these narrators as well as their students, memorizing as well the records of their integrity. A science of astonishing scope – tackled by just as astonishing men and women. These Keepers of the Sunnah, they were far from ordinary men, nor did they attain what they attained through ordinary means. Rather, they spent literally everything they had – from the clothes off their back, to their limbs, food and sleep, all the comforts of the world, and at times, even the necessities. The great imam of the science of narrators,⁴ Abu Hatim al-Razi said, “I stayed in Bosra in year 114 [AH] for eight months and I had it in myself to stay one year. Then my money expired! So I began selling my clothes, little by little until I had no expenditure left. I would go with a friend of mine to the mashaikh (teachers) and hear from them until evening. My friend would leave and I would return to an empty house such that I began to drink water from hunger.”⁵

Imam Yahya ibn Abi Kathir said, “Knowledge is not attained through bodily comfort.”⁶

Imams Abu Hanifah; his student, Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybani; Malik; and numerous others, would stay up entire nights, praying Fajr with the same wudu they had for the ‘Isha prayer.⁷

Imam al-Sha’bi, a prominent tabi’i, traveled from Kufa to Mekkah for just three narrations which were mentioned to him and said, “Perhaps I may meet a man who met the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him.”⁸ This statement was the objective of all our scholars – closeness to the most beloved person to their souls, peace and blessings be forever upon him; traveling on foot across the Islamic world – which then extended from Spain to the borders of China – in order to obtain knowledge of the Prophetic Sunnah.

It is no wonder that these generations – with their fervent aspirations and noble intentions – reached in a few years what latter generations have not achieved in life times.

Imam Ahmad ibn al-Hanbal was asked, “If a man was to write 30,000 ahadith is it not sufficient for him?” Imam Ahmad remained silent. The man asked, “Sixty thousand?! Imam Ahmad remained silent. He asked, “One hundred thousand?” Imam Ahmad said, “Then he knows something.”⁹

Imam al-Bukhari’s legendary intelligence and memory can hardly be fathomed. He said, “I wrote on more than 1,000 mashaykh, from each one 10,000 [ahadith] or more; There is not a hadith with me except that I remember its isnad.”¹⁰

Imam Malik was appointed to teach at the age of 17 after his teachers professed to his knowledge of hadith and fiqh. He said, “I didn’t take the seat of fatwa [issuing legal rulings] until seventy shuyukh of the people of knowledge attested that I was worthy of the position.”¹¹

Imam Al-Shafi’i was authorized to give fatwa when he was 15 years old.¹² Imam Sufyan al-Thawri, also granted the title of the Commander of the Believers in Hadith and who was had his own madhab (school of thought, i.e. he practiced ijtihad), was asked for fatwa even before he grew facial hair.¹³

The young ages of these Imams should not fool anyone to think lightly of their accomplishments. History has not seen the like of what these Imams accomplished in their 15/17 years from others in decades; it may even be said, history has since never seen the likes of these scholars. To issue legal rulings (give fatwa) and practice ijtihad, (independent judgment based on the interpretation and application of the usul or foundations of Islamic law)¹⁴ is the summit of Islamic scholarship which is reached only after exhaustive study in numerous sciences. Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni (the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries, i.e. Mekkah and Medinah) ‘Abd al-Malik al-Shafi’i (of the Shafi’i madhab) says in his book on usul, Al-Waraqat: “The conditions of being a Mufti [one who issues legal rulings], is that he must be a scholar of the Sacred Law, knowing the resulting laws as well as their principles, [knowing] that which is differed and agreed upon, and that he have perfected all the tools of ijtihad: knowing that which is necessary to derive laws of grammar and language and the science of narrators, the commentary of the verses and ahadith that comprise laws…”¹⁵

Knowledge of the commentary of the verses/ahadith consists of knowing that which abrogates and that which is abrogated, the events surrounding the revelation of the verse/hadith, its meaning, its chain of narrators, the biographies of the narrators, knowing the conditions of legal analysis (qiyas), the raison d’être or the motives/underlying principles (‘ilah) of the rulings, etc.¹⁶ One of these sciences alone, be it a ‘tool’ science (one that is not directed related to the Sacred Law) – such as the Arabic language – takes years of toil to master. The fact is that it was not simply through scholarly pursuits our predecessors attained unto what they attained, rather, or perhaps, moreover, it was due to their complete realization of the saying of Allah, Most High, “And have God-fearingness [taqwa] and Allah will teach you.” (2:48) When they, may Allah reward them, fulfilled their duties toward their Lord, their Lord eased for them what would otherwise have been nearly impossible.
In his Tahdhib al-Kamal, a compilation on the biographies of hadith narrators, al-Hafiz Jamal al-Din al-Mezzi al-Shafi’i, reports on the authority of Yusuf ibn Asbaat: Sufyan al-Thawri said after we had prayed ‘Isha, “Give me the water jug.” I gave it to him and he took it with his right hand and put his left on his neck. I slept and woke up and dawn had broke. I looked and lo! The water jug was in his right hand just as it was! I said, “Dawn has broke!” He said, “I have not stopped pondering over the Hereafter since you gave me the water jug until now.”¹⁷

These were our scholars – faithful worshippers and diligent workers.
Nonetheless, despite their depth and command in their sciences, they were never satisfied with stopping with what they had; never did they hesitate to take knowledge wherever they found it – be it from their peers, or even their own students or those who differed with them in methodology.

Look, may Allah have mercy on you, how one of the greatest imams of hadith of all time, Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Qattan, after correcting his teacher, Sufyan al-Thawri, Sufyan says, “You are right, Yahya. Show me your books!”¹⁸ Sufyan, whilst being the Commander of the Believers in hadith (as previously mentioned), did not let his eminent position deter him from accepting his student’s correction; moreover, he requested to read his books!

Look, as well at how Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybani (one of the founders of the Hanafi school), even after taking his fiqh from Imam Abu Hanifah, travels to Imam Malik in Medinah to hear his Muwatta’ and study his methodology of fiqh. Muhammad spent three years taking from Malik. After the latter’s death, when Muhammad would narrate on his authority in ‘Iraq, all the people would gather and the streets would be filled.¹⁹

Look at Imams al-Shafi’i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal who traveled around the Islamic world in pursuit of knowledge, (this after being recognized as prominent scholars themselves). They both took from Imams Muhammad and Malik. Imam al- Shafi’i memorized the Muwatta’ in nine days, and then traveled to Imam Malik to hear it directly from him.²⁰ (In this there is indeed a profound lesson for us today; Imam al-Al-Shafi’i wasn’t satisfied with having the book memorized – he insisted on hearing it from Imam Malik himself. Today, with hundreds of books found on a single CD, so many would call reading (not memorizing) in this way “knowledge”. These are those who have never tasted the secret fruits of isnad – the fruits of sitting in front of a shaykh who sat with a shaykh, who sat with a shaykh…on and on until reaching the ranks of the Sahabah, and then to the peak, the end of all aspirations – the Seal of Musk, our Beloved Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be forever upon him. May Allah never prevent us from this blessing.)

The Maliki scholar, al-Hafiz Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, in his book Al-Intiqa fi Fada’il al-A’imat al-Thalathat al-Fuqaha (The Selection on the Virtues of the Three Fuqaha (Imams Abu Hanif, Al-Shafi’i and Malik)), records that Imam al-Shafi’i said about Imam Malik: “When the scholars are mentioned, Malik is the star.”²¹ He said about Imam Muhammad, “I never saw anyone more knowledgeable about the Book of Allah than Muhammad ibn Hassan.”²² His praise of Imam Abu Hanifah is well known: “People are dependents of Abu Hanifah in fiqh.”²³

A telling fact about the spirit of the scholars amongst themselves is that fifteen scholars – none of the from the Hanafi school – compiled books on the virtues of Imam Abu Hanifah!²⁴

Though each of these Imams had their own methodology in deriving legal rulings, this did not hinder them from benefiting from each other or from conceding to each other’s merits. On the contrary, they deliberately sought out each other in order to understand the other’s view, this being from nothing else except their staunch commitment to the Truth, their only objective being to win unto understanding what Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, intended for mankind. The “two schools” of Imam al-Shafi’i serve as prime examples in this regard: the old and the new; his old school comprising of his opinions before his travels and his new school of those after his travels; making it obvious to all that the goal was Truth, far from obstinacy in methodology and legal rulings.

How true is this statement from Shaykh Ibn al-Taymiyyah when he says in response to the attacks of some ignoramuses on Imam Abu Hanifah: “Indeed Abu Hanifah – though some peopled differed with him in matters and disapproved of [these matters] – let no one doubt his fiqh, understanding, and knowledge; for they have transmitted on him matters intending by them to defame him and [these matters] are absolute lies…Whoseover thinks of Abu Hanifah or other than him of the scholars of the Muslims that they intended to go against an authentic hadith (because of legal analysis (qiyas) or other than this) – he has indeed mistaken them and has spoken from conjecture or from caprice!…We have made this clear in the booklet Raf’ al-Malaam ‘am al-A’immat al-‘Alam (Lifting the Blame of of the Great Scholars) and we clarified that not one of the scholars of Islam goes against an authentic hadith without an excuse , rather they have about twenty excuses.”²⁵

Another crucial factor which promoted the success of our predecessors, and hence, our deen in general, is that they were not beguiled by their intelligence; rather, it was this very brilliance which enabled them to affirm what they knew and acknowledge that which they knew not.

Yahya ibn Ma’een, one of the pillars of the science of narrators and hadith in general (he wrote 600,000 ahadith by hand),²⁶ said when asked a question on divorce, “Ask the people of knowledge.”²⁷ The Imam meant by “the people of knowledge” the fuqaha, i.e. the scholars of law (fiqh); for it does not necessitate that a scholar of hadith be a scholar of fiqh.

Al-Hafiz al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said, “Let it be known that [obtaining] a lot of the books of hadith and its narration – a person does not become a faqih [scholar of law] by it. He only learns fiqh by extracting the meanings of [the hadith] and probing deeply into [the hadith].”²⁸ This same understanding is clearly articulated by Imam Ahmad when Muhammad ibn Yazin al Mustamliy asked him about Ahmad’s teacher – Abd al-Razzaq, “Did he have fiqh?” Ahmad said, “How little is fiqh amongst the people of hadith.”²⁹

As the statement of Imam Ahmad suggests, many of the scholars of hadith did not have fiqh. Since fiqh intrinsically involves much more comprehension and astuteness than hadith, it is more challenging and therefore harder to find.
Anas ibn Sirin said, “I went to Kufa and I saw in it 4,000 studying hadith and 400 had become knowledgeable in law.”³⁰

Ishaq ibn Ibraheem said, “I used to meet in Iraq with Yahya ibn Ma’een and Khalaf…and our companions. We would study one hadith from two/three different chains. Yahya ibn Ma’een would say, “And this chain and this chain…” I would say, “Isn’t this [hadith] authentic by our consensus? They would say, “Yes.” I would say, “What is its meaning? What is its purport? What is its fiqh?” All of them would remain silent except Ahmad ibn Hanbal, for he would speak with strong words.”³¹

This is why even the giants from amongst the hadith scholars would not venture to derive legal rulings themselves; instead, they would defer this to the specialists in fiqh. One of these giants, Yahya ibn Sa’eed al-Qattan, one of the Commanders of the Believers in Hadith (of who Imams Ahmad and ‘Ali ibn al-Madini said they never saw the likes of)³² said, “We do not belie Allah; we haven’t heard of judgment better than the judgment of Abu Hanifah and we have adopted most of his views.”³³

Likewise, Waki’ ibn Jarrah, another wonder from the scholars of hadith,³⁴ would not give legal rulings from himself; rather he would give the ruling of Abu Hanifah. Yahya Ibn Ma’een, who was one of Waki”s students, said, “I never saw anyone better than Waki’; he would face the qiblah, memorize his narration[s], pray at night, fast consecutively, and give fatwa (legal ruling) by Abu Hanifa’s views.”³⁵

‘Abdullah Ibn Wahb, who first began as a student of hadith and then continued to become the one of the greatest student of Imam Malik (second only to Ibn al-Qasim), said, “Were it not that Allah saved me through Malik and al-Layth I would have perished.” He was asked, “Why is that?” He said, “I attained a lot of ahadith and it confused me; so I would present that to Malik and Al-Layth and they would say, ‘take this and leave this.'”³⁶ In another version: “I used to think that everything that was narrated on the Prophet peace and blessings of Allah upon him, was applied…”³⁷ Ibn Wahb, himself being a scholar of hadith, referred to Imams Malik and Layth³⁸ for their expertise in fiqh. Imam Al-Shafi’i eloquently described this collaboration between the scholars of hadith and fiqh when he said to some hadith scholars: “You are the pharmacists and we are the doctors.”³⁹

Even with their renowned expertise in the field of ahadith, with people flocking to them from around the world to hear and ask them about a hadith, they never dared to venture into issuing legal rulings as it was not their domain.

It was this spirit of our predecessors – of selfless commitment to the Truth with acknowledgment for all those who strive on this path and concession for those who have strode it – that our tradition was built on for centuries. Our scholars exerted everything in their ability to serve the Ummah, and in that which was out of their reach, they diligently gave genuine advice. Through these remarkable personalities, Allah preserved our deen, the ahadith through the muhadithoon, and the laws through the fuqaha.

Today, Muslims have drifted away from these concepts and ideals which for so long shaped our tradition. True scholarship has become rare and when present, has become difficult to perceive. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, warned about this state of affairs; he said: “Indeed Allah does not remove knowledge by taking it away from the servants rather He removes it by the death of the scholars, such that when there is no scholar left, people take as leaders ignoramuses. They are asked and they give rulings without knowledge, deviating themselves and others.”⁴⁰

Yet, alongside this warning, the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah upon him, also gave a glad tiding, saying, ” There will not cease to be a group [of people] from my Ummah standing firmly on the Truth, not harming them whoever opposes them, until the matter of Allah comes [to pass] and they are thus.”⁴¹

Furthermore, the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, gave us the key by which to solve this predicament of ascertaining who this group is, saying, “Indeed Allah will not unite my Ummah on misguidance.The hand of Allah is with the community (jama’ah); whosoever deviates, deviates to the fire.”⁴²

The jama’ah of the Muslims is not merely the community existent today in America or a contemporary group calling to “reformation” of what was agreed upon since the beginning of Islamic history. Nor is it a group innovating ideas since two or three – or even five – centuries old. Rather, it is the group of the tradition which Muslims across the world and in all generations of Islamic history have associated with; the way of our predecessors, the way of the overwhelming majority of the scholars of this deen.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, wholly fulfilled his duty of guiding us to that in which is our salvation, and our scholars followed by preserving the deen, elucidating it, and advising us likewise. The liability of seeking out this jam’ah now lies on each one of us; who we choose to associate ourselves with today, we will be with them tomorrow in the Hereafter.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “This knowledge is deen, so let one of you look to whom he takes his deen from.”⁴³

And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.