Islam FAQ

• Q72: What are the resources of Islamic Law ?
• Q73: Why consensus of people (who are sinners by nature) can be a resources of Islamic Legislation ?
• Q74: Why Islamic law and Juridical system is not another type of Inquisitions ?
• Q75: Religions are about death and Hereafter, so why do we care about a religious Juridical systems ?
• Q76: How come there are different schools of Fiqh ?
• Q77: Why to have scholars ? I an adult, I know what's right and what's wrong, Fatwa is just simple and easy!
• Q78: How Islamic schools started ?
• Q79: What are the major Islamic schools of Fiqh (Mazhabs), nowadays ?
• Q80: Those schools are outdated! we are in year 1428 Hijri!
• Q81: Which school is better ? What is your own Mazhab ?
• Q82: How come that they are different and all of them are valid ?
• Q83: I want to know which school should I learn and follow ?
• Q84: Can a woman be a scholar of Fiqh (Faqeaha) ?
• Q85: You know history is written by the victorious, no one writes the story of victims. What if the acceptance of those 4 schools was due to the support they get from Regimes of that time ?
• Q86: How come those 4 schools are so popular despite that there were many other scholars than the 4 scholars ?

Islamic Law (Shari'ah) and Mazhabs (Islamic Schools of Fiqh)

• Q72: What are the resources of Islamic Law ?
  A: First, we have Quran and Sunnah. Then we have, consensus of Ummah (the Islamic nation, ie. Sahaba, The Companions of prophet Muhammad, then the followers التابعون, then those who follow ...etc), Then we have Ejtihad إجتهاد (Studiousness, deep study to all similar reference cases then use scaling/induction قياس to conclude a judgment about a recent case). And Scholars should consider local cultures and local language conventions when they do not conflict with Islam. And avoiding harm or damage and getting more interests and welfare to people. ..etc.
• Q73: Why consensus of people (who are sinners by nature) can be a resources of Islamic Legislation ?
  A: Not any people, we are talking about Islamic Ummah, their moralities are far higher than all. Because the messenger of Allah said "my Ummah (Islamic nation) will not have consensus on falsehood" and he (PBUH) said "there will always be a group of people from my Ummah on the right, no matter of those who dishearten them" and people asked who are they, he said they are the unity (ie. people of Sunnah and Unity أهل السنة والجماعة) and on another Hadith he said "those who are on the same thing I'm on and my companions" and in another Hadith "take my Sunnah (way) and the way of my orthodox successors (Califs) after me" (ie. Abu Bakir, Omar, Othman and Ali) and so on. And Allah said in Quran { وَلْتَكُنْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرِ وَيَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ } meaning { Let there be one nation of you that shall call to righteousness, ordering honor, and forbidding dishonor. Those are the prosperous. } (V3:104) and he said: { كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَوْ آَمَنَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ لَكَانَ خَيْراً لَهُمْ مِنْهُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ } meaning { You are the best nation ever to be brought forth for people. You order honor and forbid dishonor, and you believe in Allah. Had the People of the Book believed, it would have surely been better for them. Some of them are believers, but most of them are evildoers. } (V3:110) It's not our color, it's not our hypocritical faith, it's out sincere good deeds, so it's part of the Quran and Sunnah to consider the consensus of Umma.
• Q74: Why Islamic law and Juridical system is not another type of Inquisitions ?
  A: There is a well-defined Islamic Juridical system, that is based on justice and physical/materialistic evidences as Imaan (level of belief) and Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety) are in hearts and only Allah knows what are they. Expiation to violations of Islamic law sometimes is required (in order to get forgiveness from Allah), if they are related to rights of people then first one should give them their rights back, then ask Allah for forgiveness, returning to him with real repentance, and serious will not to do it again, doing charity could be done as expiation. In some cases the Expiation is well-defined, for example, the expiation for oath perjury, is to do any of the following three options (after returning people rights of course); freeing a slave or feeding ten different needy people (a meal that is similar to what he usually feeds his family), or clothing ten needy people (clothing similar to what he is usually wears), or if he could not afford any then he has to fast for three days. Expiation is something between one and Allah, on the other hand Islamic Juridical system addresses people rights.
• Q75: Religions are about death and Hereafter, so why do we care about a religious Juridical systems ?
  A: Islam is not another religion, do not project what you know about religions on Islam, for example, about death, the procedure is quite simple, it's just to bury the body as fast as possible after a short prayer, the prayer itself is also so short, it's reciting "الله أكبر" ("Allah is the greatest") four times and after each time we recite a sincere (without sound) supplication (the opening 7 verses of Quran, the Abraham supplication, any supplication to the dead person, supplication for ourselves) then we get back to life. No high cost hypocrisy ceremonies nor expensive baroque stuff.

  Islamic schools defines regulations for all aspect of life, for example, there are permissive regulations for what one is allowed to own or sell, and regulations on how far contracts could go,...etc. (with such regulations many frauds could be stopped) Those regulations compiled by scholars centuries ago, predate many problems recently appeared in man-made regulations.

• Q76: How come there are different schools of Fiqh ?
  A: Short answer, because people differ and Islam recognize that and perfectly suit them all without compromise the principles. The valid schools have same principles, that's why they are called people of branches أهل الفروع. they provide different understanding to the same resources. Our schools are enriched with so many different opinions, understandings, ..etc. This is a positive type of variety and it's an aspect of Liberty in Islam (there is NO Arch-Priest nor Archbishop nor supreme divine Council of Islam). For example, there is no Islamic school that regards drinking, stealing or lying as good things, yet Islamic schools are not identical, even in things regarding عقيدة beliefs/faith (but in branches not in sound beliefs). Let's take a simple example, the well-known scholar Ibn Taimiah regards Physics to be the best worldly science in Islam, then comes Mathematics. The reason he consider it so, is concluded from Sunnah, because Physics have so many useful applications while Mathematics is a certain science that frees the mind but it has fewer direct applications on real world (yet he encourages mathematics). On the other hand, I consider Mathematics better than Physics. He and I, made our points based on the same Islamic resources, ie. the better is the most useful to humanity, but he and I have different understanding to how useful each is, he and I consider both Mathematics and Physics better than poetry or philosophy for example.

  Let's make a hypothetical example where two different scholar one regards an action to be recommended while the other consider it discouraged! I say hypothetical, ie. not real. Let's say a boxer or boxing arena owner have just accepted to Islam, and he asked about boxing, a Saudi scholar told him that it's discouraged as Islam rejects harming other people or harming oneself, this scholar consider boxing as a violent racist sport aimed to entertain some people by harming others, this scholar mention some citations form respectable physicians. He asks an Egyptian scholar who told him that boxing is a useful sport that build human body and enhance one's stamina, on the condition that some regulations are made to make it safe, and he mention some citations from respectable physicians who claim that specific helmets and some safety procedure make it completely safe. The Saudi scholar continues that adding safety procedures changes the question because it is no longer boxing, as such safety procedures are not practiced on reality as they are expensive and reduce the audience. Back to the boxer or the owner, if he choose the Egyptian scholar Fatwa because of money, then he is wrong. If he choose the Saudi Fatwa to appear the one who left his career for Islam, then he is also wrong, as this is a kind of hypocrisy. His decisions should be made for the sake of Allah, it's a matter of which scholar showed sufficient evidences, if one have good knowledge in Arabic language, and the validity of the narrations, and medical science, then he could know which opinion is right, elsewhere he should ask reliable scholars, doctors, ..etc. who are supposed to be neutral (the doctor who works for boxing association is not as neutral as an independent doctor, ..etc). Again this was just a hypothetical problem, and a hypothetical solution. Fatwa is not made like that.

• Q77: Why to have scholars ? I an adult, I know what's right and what's wrong, Fatwa is just simple and easy!
  A: In this life things are not black and white, there are a lot of confusing and misleading facts. For example, why you are supposed to listen to your doctor ? When some Sahaba (Prophet companions) noticed how fast and easy their students (Followers التابعون) took Fatwa, they told them that Abu Bakir and Omar used to gather the whole of Ahlu Badr (more than the best 300 Sahaba) for a single Fatwa! The process of making a Fatwa is to collect all resources related to some problem, then validate them, then understand them, cross compare them ...etc. You are an adult, you are supposed to know how to tell whether something is right or wrong, by following the reasons to know that. Asking scholars is your way to tell. For example, Malik Ibn Anas (one of the 4 major scholar in history) used to say "I don't know", one day, a man told him "I traveled all the way from Morocco [the other side of Earth of that time] just to hear an answer from you!", Malik replied "and that is my answer; I don't know". Ahmad Ibn Hanbal used to tell his students not to write down his Fatwas for many years, "What if I discovered an aspect that I did not consider before, where can I find you to tell you to change it ?" This is Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, one of the four greatest scholars ever, till today!

  Let's take an example, I suppose a non-Muslim reading this article would consider adopting an orphan to be a good deed, well, this is a very shallow emotional judgment based on media hypes. Where as in Islam adoption forbidden! and for a great deep wisdom. Helping orphans in Islam is done through Kafalah كفالة (which means support), where the donor takes care of all the financial needs of a specific orphan, keeping the real name of the orphan unchanged, keeping him with the rest of his family if possible (usually, his mother or his brothers), without messing with the orphan feelings, and in case you don't know adoption in many poor countries is another facade coverage for slavery trade.

• Q78: How Islamic schools started ?
  A: When one face a problem that he don't have a direct answer he has to use Ejtihad إجتهاد, how to conclude an answer from already known reference cases. The first two schools appeared were the Ahlu AlHadith school (narrations, a stream attributed to followers تابعون of some companions like Ibn Omar) and Ahlu Ra'i school (opinions, a stream attributed to followers تابعون of some companions like Ibn Mas'od and maybe Ibn Abbas). The first methodology is about getting as much as possible valid narrations, and only as much as needed induction قياس, this mean that they tend to travel into many places to meet narrators, validate their narrations, cross compare them, ..etc. this school appeared in Arabia, specially Medina, where more than 10 thousand Sahaba used to live (where as there are about 2 thousand Sahaba in far places). The other school is about getting the most common valid narrations they could, and then induce firm bases for judgment based on them, this school tend to prefer direct conclusions over a narration of a single chain حديث الآحاد, this is the school of Iraq.

  Both schools are valid, as in Iraq, it was difficult at that time to know the validity level of every Hadith, because of the far distance and because of having odd sects appeared there who find no problem in lying if it's going to support their point of view, so Ahlu AlRa'i took only the most authentic resources. While in Arabia, the heart of Islamic nation where many reliable narrators lived, they found it illogical to know what prophet Muhammad had said and follow their own desires!

• Q79: What are the major Islamic schools of Fiqh (Mazhabs), nowadays ?
  A: We have four major schools, they are (ordered by birth date of its founder) A school of Fiqh is called Mazhab (z pronounced as "th" as in "the" but not as "three") and the plural in Arabic is Mazahib (but I'll use it in English Mazhabs), It means ways (ie. ways of understanding). The major Mazhabs are the four Mazhabs:

  1. Hanafi school, Abu Hanifa AlNu'man (80-150 Hijri), a Persian who was born in Kufa, Iraq. The first one to combine the two schools, he was a student for more than 4000 followers! and they let him give Fatwas before them! but he was closer to Ahlu AlRa'i school.
  2. Maliki school, Malik ibn Anas (93-179 Hijri), the scholar of Medina, Arabia. He was of Ahlu AlHadith school, he collected Hadith in his book Al-Muatta' الموطأ, he was so smart and intelligent that his name became a proverb used if someone asks another one, the second one could say "لا يفتى ومالك في المدينية" meaning "No other one makes Fatwa if Malik is in the city.", nowadays this school is practiced in north Africa.
  3. Shafi'i school, Muhammad Ibn Idrees Al-Shafi'i AlQurashi (150-204 Hijri) born in Gazza, Palestine, but he lived in Mecca, Medina, Iraq and Egypt).
     Al-Shafi'i was known of his photographic memory as he used to cover the opposite page while he is reading to be able to remember page number (as if he did not do that he would remember both pages at once!), he was certified for Fatwa by his teachers while he is a kid! (but he refused to give Fatwa at that time) He borrowed Al-Muatta' and learn it by heart before he went to Malik in Medina as a student for whole 9 years, Malik had certified him for Fatwa before him. Al-Shafi'i traveled the Islamic world collecting knowledge (all kinds of knowledge, including poetry, to the degree that AlAsma'i الأصمعي one of the most famous Arabic poet said "صحَّحتُ أشعار الهُذَليين على فتى من قريش يُقال له محمد ابن إدريس" meaning "I have validated by Huthali poetry through a kid from Quraish called Muhammad ibn Idrees") Al-Shafi'i had combined both previous schools, he went to Iraq and met Hanafi scholars like Muhammad Ibn AlHassan Al-Shaibani محمد بن الحسن الشيباني (as Abu Hanifa himself died in the year Al-Shafi'i was born) to the degree the Muhammad Ibn AlHassan Al-Shaibani once left an appointment with the Calif (something like President) to stay with Al-Shafi'i. He was closed to Ahlu al-Hadith as he used to say "If it's authentic then it's my Mazhab (doctrine or sect)". Nowadays this school is practiced in so many places in the world.
  4. Hanbali, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal Al-Shaibani (164-241 Hijri), born in Baghdad. He was a student for Abu Yousuf, major Hanafi scholar (Ahlu Al-Ra'i school) then he traveled the entire Islamic world (from Morocco to Khorasan خراسان near Afghanistan) twice in deed! he met Al-Shafi`i and become his smartest student and his friend. He refused to give Fatwa till he was 40 years old, after he had collected almost every knowledge of his time. Ahmad is closer to Ahlu AlHadith, and he have compiled مسند الإمام أحمد, a collection of valid resources.
• Q80: Those schools are outdated! we are in year 1428 Hijri!
  A: No, those schools are maintained till today. by most respectable scholars in so many respectable universities and institutes all over the Islamic world. (for example, there are many books of Fiqh about the moral Islamic regulation of test-tube babies or genetic researches or even animal cloning and there is a book for Muslim Astronauts, which discuss how to practice Salat/Prayer or how to locate the direction of Salat in outer-space! ..etc.)
• Q81: Which school is better ? What is your own Mazhab ?
  A: My Mazhab is the Mazhab of prophet Muhammad[PBUH]; the messenger of Allah. We follow the exact very way of the prophet, we seek it, we follow it. { الَّذِينَ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَاهُمُ اللَّهُ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمْ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ } meaning { who listen to the Words and follow what is finest of it. These are they whom Allah has guided. They are those of understanding. } (V39:18) We don't have rigid understanding for Mazhabs, we are not fanatic about our Mazhabs, { وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعاً وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذْ كُنْتُمْ أَعْدَاءً فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ إِخْوَاناً وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ فَأَنْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ آَيَاتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ } meaning { And hold fast to the Bond of Allah, together, and do not scatter. Remember the Favor of Allah bestowed upon you when you were enemies, and how He united your hearts, so that by His Favor you became brothers. And how He saved you from the Pit of Fire when you were on the brink of it. And so Allah makes plain to you His verses, in order that you will be guided. } (V3:103) That's why we are called people of Sunnah and Unity أهل السنة والجماعة. That's why we are called Salafi. Because if you return to Imam Malik for example and asked him "what is your Mazhab ?" he is NOT going to answer you "I'm a Maliki". So if we find the proof for an opinion that is not from our school we follow the truth regardless from which school of Fiqh did it came from. (you may found a lecture regarding the Mazhab of the prophet by Abu Amina Belal Philips)

  The 4 schools, they all are valid, there is no conflict among them. If you want to praise a Mazhab, just read what the other Mazhabs wrote about it. And actually, scholars of each Mazhab are certified for Fatwa by scholars of other Mazhab, not just certified by even praised! For example, Al-Shafi'i was so closed to Ahmad (Ibn Hanbal), he wrote poems about Ahmad!

   
  قالوا يزورك أحمد و تزوره		قلتُ الفضائل لا تبارح منزله 
  إن زارني فبفضله أو زرته فلفضله		فالفضل في الحالين له 
  

   
  They said "Ahmad visits you, and you visit him" 
  	I replied, favors never leave his house 
  If he visits me, that is a favor he do to me 
  or if I visit him, that is due to his favors 
  	The favor in both cases is his. 
  

  and If you recall Ahmad was a student of Al-Shafi'i! Ahmad said that he had supplicated to Allah every night for 40 years for Al-Shafi'i. Yet, they are different Mazhabs, in many aspects from beliefs to food. and their books are full of debates but with all respect and love (this is called merciful difference). But the difference is not whether one is Islamic and the other is not, as all of them is considered (by the Consensus of the Islamic Nation over time) to be valid understanding of Islamic, and having different valid opinions in the Islamic Nation is mercy. There is no boundary between those Mazhabs, for example, Ibn Taimiah (661-728 Hijri) and and Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (691-751 Hijri) were both Hanbali while their smartest student Ibn Katheer was Shafi'i. And If you read books for later scholars like Ibn Taimiah's books you would see that they list the opinions of each school about a problem and evidences of each then give his judgment based on which evidence is more authentic and rational, and it need not be from the same school they are following, what matters to each scholar is which opinion seems to be more authentic and rational.
• Q82: How come that they are different and all of them are valid ?
  A: The same way some physician recommends tonsillectomy while others rejects this idea completely, even for the same case, both based on same medical science. The same way, one can convert a gray-scale computer image into a black and white (1 bit-per-pixel) image in so many different ways (several dithering algorithms). All different Islamic schools recognize white as white, and black as black, but they have the right to recognize the thin gray-shades in the way that seems to them more rational, in a consistent systematic way. For example, they all take Quran and Sunni as first resource, we have one Quran and it's authentic, but what is the minimum level of authentication for a Hadith (a piece of Sunnah) to be accepted, and regarding consensus of Ummah how it's proofed, and which takes precedence local cultures or public interest.

  If one is walking on the edge of the bridge he will fall down no matter how big the warning sign is, no matter how close or far from the edge the sign was. The straight path of Islam is so wide, to accept all those different understanding, but if one is walking of the boundaries, he might find himself out of all schools. Prophet Muhammad taught us that "Who do a judgment [based on a diligent study اجتهد] but he was mistaken, then he deserve a reward. and who do a judgment, and he was right, his reward is doubled."

• Q83: I want to know which school should I learn and follow ?
  A: Short answer follow Any and don't be rigid, just be a Salafi. The differences are not that much confusing, and usually one won't notice any difference, the differences are noticed in branches issues, rare cases (possibly complex cases assumed for educational purposes) For example, there is a rule in the science called "principles of Fiqh" that says "Avoiding a harms has a precedence over bringing interests" in all schools. Unless you are going to be a Faqeah (scholar of Fiqh), Mufti (an official Faqeah hired to be a consultant for Fiqh issues), a Judge (a Mufti that his judgments are enforceable by law), ..etc. you won't need to deal with such issues. But if you want to be a Faqeah you have to study all schools (comparative Fiqh), then concentrate on one of them.
• Q84: Can a woman be a scholar of Fiqh (Faqeaha) ?
  A: Yes, indeed, one of the best scholars in Islamic history was a woman (A`isha, the wife of the prophet[PBUH] and there many other examples). And one of teachers of the grand scholar Al-Shafi'i was a woman (her name was Nafisa). And there are many Hadiths that encourages teaching women.
• Q85: You know history is written by the victorious, no one writes the story of victims. What if the acceptance of those 4 schools was due to the support they get from Regimes of that time ?
  A: Not in the case of Islamic history. Each one of the four scholars was sent to jail or tortured (or both) for his ideas. For example, Abu Hanifa was offered to be the highest judge and the holder of the official stamp by the Kufa governor والي الكوفة أبو هبيرة (in the Ummaiad Family Reign). Abu Hanfia refused that offer, not only so but he used to directly criticize The Calif (in both Ummaiad and Abbasi Reigns) Specially Al-Mansoor (the second Abbasi Calif), Abu Hanfia was sent to jail and tortured before the public, Among the times Al-Mansoor asked Abu Hanifa to be the judge or else! Abu Hanifa never quit his since of humor as replied "I'm not qualified", Al-Mansoor said "you are lying, you are qualified", Abu Hanifa replied "a liar is not qualified to be a judge!", so they continue torturing Abu Hanfia several times till his death.

  Malik was also tortured before the public by the governor of Medina, tied and dragged till his shoulder was almost broken, and he was imprisoned in his own house. That was because he taught the Hadith "ليس على مستكره يمين" meaning "A promise/swear taken by force is not recognized [in Islam]" which was used by some rebels (like النفس الزكية محمد بن عبد الله بن حسن) to indicate that Bia'a (something like election and promise to obey) to Abbasi Calif, voids because it was taken by force. Malik refused to stop teaching that Hadith, and that was his punishment, people was boiling, till the Calif personally apologize to him. Al-Shafi'i was chained and sent to Al-Rasheed; The Abbasi Calif, for a similar issue.

  Ahmad (ibn Hanibal) faced a second challenge (beside authority related political issues), as AlMa'amoon Calif was a student for Abu Huthail أبو هذيل, a master of AlMu'tazila المعتزلة, an odd sect based on metaphysical beliefs (borrowed from European Philosophy, but given an Islamic appearance), AlMa'amoon was so fond of them and he was convinced by their odd beliefs (regarding Allah and Quran), he sent a message to Baghdad ruler telling him to collect all scholars and tell them to spread those beliefs (the letter mentioned what was supposed to be the proof of such claims), or else! Ahmad disproved them all, and provide a clear answer to all such falsifications, so he and scholars like him was chained and sent to AlMa'amoon. Ahmad was the only one who survived among the scholar who stand firmly and refused to at least stop teaching the real true beliefs of Islam, AlMa'amoon swear that he is going to kill Ahmad, but he died before that. AlMu'tasim the successor Calif did the same, but he did not kill him, he imprisoned Ahmad and tortured him daily for two years, after that all scholar and people gathered and forced AlMu'tasim to set him free. Al-Mutawakil Calif did not have such odd beliefs and he sent for Ahmad to honor him and make him close, Ahmad refused thankfully.

  It's a continuous process since the end of the orthodox Khalifah (Abu Bakir, Omar, Othman and Ali). Not only the 4 scholars, for example, Ibn Taimiah (661-728 Hijri) who is known by the title Sheikh ul-Islam, which mean The Grand Scholar of Islam, who also played a key rule in defeating the Mongolian invasion (Genghis Khan). This great scholar was imprisoned, twice in deed, in Egypt because he taught people not to supplicate to dead people and not to supplicate to prophet Muhammad, and to supplicate to Allah only, as this is an aspect of "لا إله إلا الله". And in Damascus because he stand firmly before odd sects (like Fatalists الجهمية, Al-Mu'tazalah المعتزلة and Al-Rawafed الروافض ..etc) where he died in his prison.

  Please be warned that I'm not saying to rely on those scholar because of emotional reasons as they where tortured and so on rather than because they provide solid proofs.

• Q86: How come those 4 schools are so popular despite that there were many other scholars than the 4 scholars ?
  A: They were popular because they were accepted by people (Ummah), they provided practical convincing answers to people, they had thousands of direct students, many of their students became official judges. They were later adopted by governors (this does not mean that the governors controlled scholars, they only hire judges)