“Why follow a madhhab when you have the Qur’an and Sunnah?”
Imam Ibn Uyaynah said:
“Hadiths are a source of error: except for the fuqaha’.”
🧵 A thread on taqlid, ijtihad, and the safety of the Ummah:
Imam Ibn Uyaynah said:
“Hadiths are a source of error: except for the fuqaha’.”
🧵 A thread on taqlid, ijtihad, and the safety of the Ummah:
There are people today who mock the study of furu’ , opting to make statements such as:
“I don’t follow madhhabs, I follow the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
This is not humility, rather arrogance dressed as piety.
And the scholars have warned us about this.
“I don’t follow madhhabs, I follow the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
This is not humility, rather arrogance dressed as piety.
And the scholars have warned us about this.
Some go further: they call others to abandon the madhahib completely thereby urging Muslims to take rulings straight from the Qur’an and Hadith.
Even though they themselves don’t have the tools to do so.
Here is where the real danger lies.
Even though they themselves don’t have the tools to do so.
Here is where the real danger lies.
Many of the Ulamah have mentioned that Taqlid is obligatory on anyone who is not a mujtahid
Even those who reach limited ijtihad still follow the framework of the madhhab.
What would be the exception?
The rare soul who meets every condition of absolute ijtihad.
Even those who reach limited ijtihad still follow the framework of the madhhab.
What would be the exception?
The rare soul who meets every condition of absolute ijtihad.
If someone tells you “All you need is Qur’an and Sunnah,” ask:
Do they know naskh?
Do they know the conditions of a hadith’s application?
Do they know the usul, the language, the dalalat?
Because the sahabah and their students did.
Do they know naskh?
Do they know the conditions of a hadith’s application?
Do they know the usul, the language, the dalalat?
Because the sahabah and their students did.
The gates of Ijtihaad have not closed. Ijtihaad, however, is for the Mujtahideen
If you’re not one of them?
You follow a Mujtahid. You cannot make it up as you go.
Such is the mercy of Allah’s Shariah: it gives structure and not chaos.
If you’re not one of them?
You follow a Mujtahid. You cannot make it up as you go.
Such is the mercy of Allah’s Shariah: it gives structure and not chaos.
So what is ijtihad? Who qualifies?
To begin, you need:
Mastery of Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and logic
Usul al-fiqh
Hadith sciences
Knowledge of consensus, abrogation, qiyas
Insight into every condition of revelation
To begin, you need:
Mastery of Arabic grammar, rhetoric, and logic
Usul al-fiqh
Hadith sciences
Knowledge of consensus, abrogation, qiyas
Insight into every condition of revelation
To quote a hadith as an evidence, one must know when a hadith was said.
Who said it.
To whom.
In what circumstance.
Whether it was abrogated.
Or meant to be universal.
Or specific.
Who said it.
To whom.
In what circumstance.
Whether it was abrogated.
Or meant to be universal.
Or specific.
Does the man on YouTube, TikTok, or Telegram shouting “Qur’an and Sunnah only!” lead you to the legacy of Islamic Scholarship?
Or is he just a slick speaker playing with sacred texts?
Blind imitation of him is still taqlid, just taqlid of someone unqualified.
Or is he just a slick speaker playing with sacred texts?
Blind imitation of him is still taqlid, just taqlid of someone unqualified.
Imam Ibn Uyaynah said:
“Hadiths are a source of error—except for the fuqaha’.”
Because a layperson may think a hadith is clear when it’s not.
He may miss the hadith that qualifies it.
Or not know it was abrogated.
“Hadiths are a source of error—except for the fuqaha’.”
Because a layperson may think a hadith is clear when it’s not.
He may miss the hadith that qualifies it.
Or not know it was abrogated.
“But you’re leaving clear Qur’anic verses and sound hadith to follow Malik and Abu Hanifa?!”
No: we follow the Qur’an and Sunnah through those who understood it better than we ever could.
This is humility. This is safety.
No: we follow the Qur’an and Sunnah through those who understood it better than we ever could.
This is humility. This is safety.
If we say “Malik said,”
We mean: “Malik said as based on his deep understanding of Allah’s Word, and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ.”
These are not just random opinions.
They were rooted in a system of divine knowledge, passed through the best of generations.
We mean: “Malik said as based on his deep understanding of Allah’s Word, and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ.”
These are not just random opinions.
They were rooted in a system of divine knowledge, passed through the best of generations.
It’s not about “Allah said” vs “Imam said.”
It’s:
“I understand Allah’s command through the lens of a scholar who understood it better than I do, with tools I don’t have, from chains I don’t know.”
That’s taqlid.
That’s Islam’s safety net.
It’s:
“I understand Allah’s command through the lens of a scholar who understood it better than I do, with tools I don’t have, from chains I don’t know.”
That’s taqlid.
That’s Islam’s safety net.
So what do the Imams bring?
Context
Nuance
Principles
Chains of transmission
Deep Arabic mastery
Memory of thousands of hadith and verses
Consensus of their generation
They are our bridge to the Book and Sunnah.
Context
Nuance
Principles
Chains of transmission
Deep Arabic mastery
Memory of thousands of hadith and verses
Consensus of their generation
They are our bridge to the Book and Sunnah.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“The best of generations is my generation, then those after them, then those after them.”
Every one of the four madhhabs preserves that knowledge, from those generations.
To abandon them for some TikTok sheikh is pure madness.
“The best of generations is my generation, then those after them, then those after them.”
Every one of the four madhhabs preserves that knowledge, from those generations.
To abandon them for some TikTok sheikh is pure madness.
The early Dhahiris tried this in Andalusia. They mocked the madhhabs. Allah erased them.
Every time this ideology returns, it’s refuted, by the pen and the sword of scholars.
Don’t revive deviation. Revive tradition.
Every time this ideology returns, it’s refuted, by the pen and the sword of scholars.
Don’t revive deviation. Revive tradition.
Follow those who followed the Prophet ﷺ best.
Not your ego.
Not an Instagram da’ee.
Not someone calling you to “Qur’an and Sunnah” while ignoring the centuries of usul built to preserve them.
Stay grounded. Stay guided.
Not your ego.
Not an Instagram da’ee.
Not someone calling you to “Qur’an and Sunnah” while ignoring the centuries of usul built to preserve them.
Stay grounded. Stay guided.
May Allah make us from those who hear the truth and follow it.
May He protect us from hollow piety and arrogant self reliance.
And may He preserve the path of the scholars who carried His Shariah to us.
Ameen.
May He protect us from hollow piety and arrogant self reliance.
And may He preserve the path of the scholars who carried His Shariah to us.
Ameen.
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