Accept four Imam's Madhab compulsory or not compulsory?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
as
salam alikum burhan bahi.i am asking one quitions about imams.
we can
accept four imams compulsary,or not compalsary,please give me
answer
my quition
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Answer:
Accept four imams Madhab
In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask
for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever
He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that
there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
Dear and Beloved brother in
Islam, first and foremost allow us to clarify what exactly is meant by the
Arabic term ‘Imam’. The literal meaning
of ‘imaam’ is a ‘leader’. All the
Prophets of Allah Subhanah were ‘imaams’ or leaders of their people,
culminating in the Last and Final Messenger of Allah, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah
(saws) being the ‘Imaam’ or leader of all mankind.
After the death of the Prophet
(saws) and until the time of the Rightly Guided Khalifahs, the ‘imaam’ was the
political as well as the religious leader of the believers, but after their
demise the connotation of the term ‘imaam’ became distorted and only the
religious leaders came to be recognized as ‘imaams’, and the political leaders
as ‘Khalifahs’ or ‘Kings’ or ‘Sultans’, etc.
Thus it is not true there are
only four imaams of the believers, for in the times after the death of the
Prophet (saws), literally thousands if not millions of believers were
recognized and chosen as the ‘imaams’.
Amongst all the eminent
religious scholars, the rulings and opinions on Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) of
the four eminent and recognized ‘imaams’, namely Imam Malik, Imam Shafei, Imam
Abu Hanifah, and Imam Hambal were best documented, preserved, accepted, and
followed by the believers.
Your
Question: we can accept four imams compulsary,or not compalsary
In light of the clear guidance
of the Quran and the Sunnah, there are six things which form the articles of
faith or ‘emaan’ in Islam; if one does not believe in even one amongst these
six articles of faith, he would leave the fold of Islam:
If one does not believe in one,
or even a part of one amongst the above listed six articles of faith, he would
leave the fold of Islam and be considered a disbeliever in the Sight of Allah
Subhanah.
Belief in the four imams is
neither an article of faith, nor compulsory for one to be regarded as a
believer in the Sight of Allah Subhanah.
The Truth is brother, the four eminent imams did not
invent or bring something new to the deen of Islam revealed on Prophet Mohamed
(saws), but simply gave their rulings and opinions upon issues of Islamic
Jurisprudence and Fiqh in light of the guidance of the Glorious Quran and the
authentic traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws). None of the ‘madhabs’ have any difference of
opinion in any of the foundational
matters in the deen. They are all
absolutely unanimous in the subjects like Tawheed, Message,
Hereafter, Imaan, etc. The difference
of opinion arose between the companions and between the scholars on very small
matters of Jurisprudence, and each amongst them gave rulings and opinions on
that matter in light of the evidence and guidance from the Quran and the
Sunnah.
Thus, regardless if one accepts and follow the opinion of
any one, or the best ruling of one regarding a particular matter amongst these
eminent ‘imams’, provided his intention is to follow the guidance of the Quran
and the Sunnah, there is absolutely no harm.
The difference between following any of the four madhabs, would be the difference between following
something which is very good to something which is excellent! It was never a situation that one imam was
right and the other was wrong, for each
and every one of these respected ‘imams’ based their opinion on nothing but the
Quran and the Sunnah.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to
Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only
Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in
Islam,
Burhan
