Types of Mujtahids and their qualifications? [Archive]

Abu Hafsa

18th January 2007, 01:18 PM

Qualifications of the Muftī:

In the previous edition of Nidā’ At-Tawhīd, we began discussing the qualifications that a person must have in order to be a Muftī and in order for a person to be able to seek a Fatwā from him. We mentioned: Islām, Maturity (Puberty), Sound Mindedness, and Justice (‘Adālah). We also mentioned knowledge of the Sharī’ah, and said that we would leave it for the next edition.

The following is a small explanation of what the scholars mentioned is necessary for the individual to have Knowledge of the Sharī’ah in order for him to be permitted to issue a Fatwā.

Knowledge of the Sharī’ah (Islāmic Legislation)

The scholars have mentioned five categories of knowledge beneath this issue. The first is; knowledge of the Qur’ān and its sciences. The second is knowledge of the Hadīth and its sciences. The third is knowledge of the consensus and issues of difference (of opinions). The fourth is knowledge of the Arabic language. And the fifth is knowledge of the fundamentals of Fiqh (jurisprudence).

Imām Ash-Shāfi’ī, may Allāh be merciful to him, said: “It is not allowed for anyone to issue a Fatwā in the Religion of Allāh, except for a man who knows the Book of Allāh through its abrogating (texts) and its abrogated (texts), its clear and its ambiguous, its interpretation and (the details of its) revelation and (whether it was revealed) in Makkah or in Al-Madīnah, and what was intended by it and why it was revealed. Then after that he should be sure sighted regarding the Hadīth of the Messenger of Allāh, may the Blessings and Peace of Allāh be upon him, concerning the abrogating (texts) and the abrogated (texts). And he should know from the Hadīth what he knows from the Qur’ān (i.e. the same details). And he should be sure sighted in the language; sure sighted in the poetry, and that which he requires for the knowledge of the Qur’ān. And he should use justice with this and speak sparingly. And after this, he should be commanding (in knowledge) upon the disagreements amongst the people of the regions (i.e. the scholars of the different parts of the world). And after that he should be gifted. So if he is like this, then it is (allowed) for him to speak and issue Fatwās regarding what is permissible and what is unlawful. But if he is not like this, then it is (allowed) for him to speak concerning knowledge and not to issue Fatwās.”

And Imām Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said, “It should be that if a man puts himself forward to issue a Fatwā, that he should be knowledgeable of the Sunnahs; knowledgeable about the matters of the Qur’ān; knowledgeable about the authentic chains of narration. And the disputes of those who disagreed came only due to their lack of knowledge concerning that which the Prophet, may the Blessings and Peace of Allāh be upon him, came with from the Sunnahs and their lack of knowledge concerning what is authentic from them versus the deficient.”

These are general explanations of what the Muftī requires in order to give a Fatwā. Other scholars also mentioned in detail what they saw as necessary for the Muftī to have in order to be fit for giving a Fatwā.

One of those was Imām Ash-Shawkānī, may Allāh be merciful to him. He said, “The first, that he be knowledgeable concerning the Texts of the Book (i.e. the Qur’ān) and the Sunnah. But if he is lacking in any one of the two, then he is not a Mujtahid [one qualified to perform deductive reasoning (Ijtihād)], and it is not allowed for him to perform Ijtihād (deductive reasoning). And it is not a condition for him to know all of the Book and the Sunnah, rather that which has to do with the rulings from them. Al-Ghazālī and Ibn Al-‘Arabī said that the amount of that in the Noble Book is five hundred Āyahs. And the claim of a specific number restricted to this is only when considering the outward appearance (of the Āyah), as the Āyahs in the Noble Book which legal rulings can be extracted from are many multiple times that. Rather, anyone who has a sound and full understanding can extract rulings from the Āyahs that were narrated in the stories and the similitudes.”

What is being mentioned here is that some scholars said that the number of Āyahs in the Qur’ān that have to do with rulings is five hundred. The Imām then explains that this would be concerning the Āyahs that are specifically related to rulings, but that there are many more Āyahs than that which can have rulings extracted from them, such as the Āyahs that discuss stories of the past nations, etc.

The Imām then continues, “And it is said that all that they meant by that was the Āyahs that indicated rulings firstly and specifically, not those which were from the path of inclusion and necessitating. And Al-Māwardī mentioned from some of the People of Knowledge that the restriction of those who restricted it to the specific number was only due to the fact that they saw that Muqātil Ibn Sulaymān specifically mentioned the Āyahs of rulings in a compilation and he made them five hundred Āyahs.”

What is being said here is that some of the Scholars mentioned five hundred Āyahs because they were following what was stated by Muqātil Ibn Sulaymān in his book on this issue, and not due to the fact that they actually are restricting it to five hundred.

He continues, “The Ustāth (teacher), Abū Mansūr said that it is a condition that he knows that which has to do with the ruling of the Shara’, and it is not a condition that he knows what is in it from the stories and the admonitions.”

What this means is that the people of knowledge mentioned that in order for someone to give a Fatwā, it isn’t necessarily a condition that he has the whole Qur’ān memorized. Rather, he only needs to have memorized the Verses of the Qur’ān that relate to Fiqh, as that is where the Fatwas would relate to.ffice:office" /><O:p></O:p>

He continues, “And they differed concerning the amount that is sufficient for the Mujtahid (to know) from the Sunnah. As it was said, five hundred Hadīths, and this is from the strangest of what is said, because the Hadīths which the Shar’ī rulings are taken from are thousands upon thousands. And Ibn Al-‘Arabī said in ‘Al-Mahsūl’ that it is three thousand. And Abū ‘Alī Adh-Dharīr said: I said to Ahmad Ibn Hanbal: How many Hadīths are sufficient for a man to give a Fatwā? Is one hundred thousand sufficient for him? He said: No. I said: three hundred thousand? He said: No. I said: four hundred thousand? He said: No. I said: Five hundred thousand? He said: I hope so. Some of his companions said that this is to be understood upon carefulness and severity in giving Fatwās, or that he meant to describe the fullest of the jurists. As for that which it is a must to have, then Ahmad, may Allāh be merciful to him, said that the fundamentals which the knowledge about the Prophet, may the Blessings and Peace of Allāh be upon him, revolve around should be one thousand two hundred.”

What is meant here is that when the scholars mention large numbers like this, they are discussing the conditions for someone to be from the highest levels of scholars, or they are giving higher conditions in order to show that giving a Fatwā isn’t an issue to be taken lightly. One thing to keep in mind though is that many of those who place themselves in a position to give Fatwas on world issues have never even read ten thousand Hadīths, let alone memorized five hundred thousand. Many of them have not read the six main books of Hadīth, but instead take their Hadīths from books such as “Fadhā’il Al-A’māl” or “Ihyā’ ‘Ulūm Ad-Dīn” and “Fiqh As-Sīrah”, which are known to have weak and even fabricated Hadīths in them. So do we say that these people have met the standards in Hadīth to issue Fatwas? Of course not.

The Imām continues, “Abū Bakr Ar-Rāzī said: It is not a condition for him to be able to bring to mind all of what was narrated on that topic, as it is not able to encompass it. And if it was possible, then all of what was narrated would not be present in his mind at the time of Ijtihād.”

This means that it isn’t necessary for him to have all of those Hadīths in his head all the time, as that is something that isn’t possible, or not possible except for a very few number of people, from those whom Allāh blessed with the strongest of memories.

He continues, “And Al-Ghazālī and a group of the scholars of the fundamentals said that it is sufficient for him to have a source which gathers the Hadīths concerning the rulings, like “Sunan Abī Dāwūd”, and to know “As-Sunan” by Al-Bayhaqī, or a source in which attention was paid to gathering the Hadīths of the rulings. And it is sufficient for him to know the places of each chapter so that he can review it at the time of need, and Ar-Rāfi’ī followed him in that. And An-Nawawī disputed with him and said: It is not correct to use the example of “Sunan Abī Dāwūd”, as it has not included the authentic Hadīths about the rulings, nor most of them. And how many are there in Sahīh Al-Bukhārī and Muslim from the Hadīths of the rulings that are not in “Sunan Abī Dāwūd”. And likewise was stated by Ibn Daqīq Al-‘Êd in “Sharh Al-‘Unwān”: The example of “Sunan Abī Dāwūd” is not good in our opinion for two reasons: The first, because it does not include the Sunan that are needed. The second, because in it there are some of that which are not used as evidence in the rulings.”

What is meant here is that some scholars stated that after the scholar becomes well acquainted with the books of Hadīth and knows them very well, it isn’t a condition that he has them all memorized. Rather, it is enough for him to have the books accessible to him and to know where to look in them in order to extract what he needs from that which he forgot. Then the example of “Sunan Abī Dāwūd” was given. The Imām mentioned some scholars who disagreed with this example due to the fact that “Sunan Abī Dāwūd” doesn’t have all of the necessary Hadīths in order to make a Fatwā, as well as the fact that many of the Hadīths in this book are unacceptable due to their chains of narration. Some points to keep in mind here are that “Sunan Abī Dāwūd” is from the most important books of Hadīth, as it is one of the Six Source books that the scholars mentioned. Another point is that this book has over 4500 Hadīths. Despite these two points, the scholars didn’t consider it sufficient for a person to rely on this book alone. So what would we say about those who have not read it, nor have it in there possession?

The Imām then said, “And there is no difference (in opinion) that the words of the People of Knowledge in this issue are from the category of exaggeration, and some of it is from the category of understating. And the truth in which there is no doubt and no misunderstanding is that it is a must for the Mujtahid to be a scholar concerning that which the encompassing books of the Sunnah include, which the people of that science authored, like the Six sources, and those which are included in the same category as them. Also, he must have a commanding grasp of that which is included in the Musnads and the Mustakhrajāt and the books whose authors took care in confirming their authenticity.”

What is being discussed here is what types of books the scholar needs to know well in order to issue a Fatwā. He mentions the Six Books, which are the following books of Hadīth. 1- “Sahīh Al-Bukhārī”, 2- “Sahīh Muslim”, 3- “Sunan An-Nasā’ī”, 4- “Jāmi’ At-Tirmithī”, 5- “Sunan Abī Dāwūd”, 6- “Sunan Ibn Mājah”. He also mentions that they should know what is included in the Musnads. A Musnad is a book of Hadīth in which the Hadīths are arranged by the person at the top of the chain of narration, i.e. the Companion, instead of by the chapters according to Beliefs and Fiqh issues. Some examples of Musnads are the Musnad of Imām Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, and the Musnad of Imām Abī Ya’lā Al-Mūsalī. The Imām also mentioned the Mustakhrajāt. These are books in which Hadīths are mentioned and their chains of narration are discussed and then judged upon to be authentic or otherwise. Some examples of these books are “Nasb Ar-Rāyah” by Az-Zayla’ī, “At-Talkhīs Al-Habīr” by Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalānī and “Al-‘Ilal Al-Mutanāhiyah” by Ibn Al-Jawzī. The Imām then mentions that the scholar should know the books in which the authors took care in confirming their authenticity. This would include “Sahīh Ibn Hibbān”, “Sahīh Ibn Khuzaymah” and “Al-Mustadrak ‘Alā As-Sahīhayn”. The point of mentioning these books is so that the reader has an idea how much a person should know before being a qualified Muftī. Then we need to ask ourselves, ‘Out of all of the people who sign papers and call them Fatwas and call themselves Muftīs, how many of them know these books by heart? How many of them know them well, even if not by heart? How many have even read these books? How many have even seen all of these books? And as a final point on this issue, it should be kept in mind that the Six Books alone, not including the Musnads and other books that were mentioned and those that weren’t mentioned, just the Six Books have over thirty thousand narrations, some of which are repeated in some of the books and some of which are unique to each book. And add to that that the Musnad of Imām Ahmad on its own has over twenty six thousand narrations.

Ash-Shawkānī then continues, “And it is not a condition that they are memorized and easily referenced in his mind. Rather, he should be from those who are able to extract them from their places by searching for them, when he is in need of that. And he should be from those who are able to differentiate between the Sahīh of them, as well as the Hasan (i.e. good chain) and the Dha’īf (i.e. weak chain). In a way that he can know the condition of the men in the chains of transmission, with a level of knowledge through which he is able to judge upon the Hadīth with one of the aforementioned descriptions. And it is not a condition for him to have memorized the condition of the men by heart, rather what is taken into account is that he has the ability to research the condition of the men in the books of Al-Jarh Wat-Ta’dīl. While he has a full understanding of that which necessitates a Jarh and that which does not necessitate it, from the causes, and that which is accepted from them and that which is rejected, and that which is defaming from the defects and that which is not defaming.”

Here, the Imām mentions the issue of Al-Jarh Wat-Ta’dīl. Al-Jarh Wat-Ta’dīl means the criticism and declaration of trustworthiness. It is the science of studying the men in a chain of narration and deciding whether they are acceptable or not, based on the information that is known about them. He also mentions that it isn’t enough that the scholar knows what is in the aforementioned books. He also has to be able to differentiate between the accepted Hadīths and the rejected ones. He mentions that if the scholar doesn’t have the conditions of all of the narrators in his mind, then he at the very least has to be able to have access to the books of this science and know how to go about judging on the chains of narration. He mentions that he should be able to look at what is said about a particular man and know that if something bad is said about him, whether or not that comment is something that makes the Hadīth unacceptable.

He goes on, “The second condition, is that he is knowledgeable concerning the matters of Ijmā’, so that he does not issue a Fatwā contrary to that which the Ijmā’ took place upon, if he is from those who state the proof of Ijmā’ and sees that it is a Shar’ī evidence. And it is rare that someone who reaches the level of Ijtihād will be unaware of that which the Ijmā’ took place upon from the matters.”

This paragraph is discussing the issue of the consensus of the Muslim scholars. This is an important issue, because you will find many people who have memorized much, if not all of the Qur’ān, as well as much of the Sunnah, yet they continuously contradict the consensus of the Muslim scholars. Many of these types of people claim to be Muftīs and are called Muftīs by the people who don’t know better, yet we find them making claims that were never stated by any scholars of the past. We see some claiming that it is not allowed to destroy idols that are worshipped besides Allāh, if they are part of the history of a country. We find them making false claims, like Jews and Christians will be in Paradise and that they are considered Believers in Allāh. We also see some people who sign so called Fatwas who even claim at one time or another the Drūze are Muslims. All of these things are statements that were made up by these so called People of Knowledge without consulting the consensus of the Muslim scholars. People who do this are not considered Muftīs, as they either do this for one of two reasons: 1- They know about the consensus that has taken place, yet they disregard it, so it is not trusted that they will ever be honest in their Fatwas. 2- That they are ignorant of many of the issues on which a consensus was formed, therefore they are lacking this condition, so they do not have the qualifications of a Muftī. So beware of so called people of knowledge, even those who may be in the communities in our cities and our province, as they are not to be sought out for Fatwas due to their blatant contradictions of the Ijmā’s of the Muslim scholars.

The Imām continues mentioning the conditions, “The third condition, is that he is knowledgeable of the language of the Arabs, in that he is able to explain that which has come in the Book and the Sunnah from the unclear phrases and the likes of that. And it is not a condition for him to have that memorized by heart. Rather, what is taken into consideration is that he is able to extract them from the books of the Imāms who worked in that, as they have made it clear with extreme clarity, and they have scrutinized it with extreme scrutiny. And they organized them according to the letters of the alphabet, in an organization that is not hard to understand and not hard to research in. Rather, the only ones who are able to know their meanings and the specifics of how they are assembled and that which they include from the slight distinctions is he who is a scholar in grammar, morphology, vocabulary and expression.”

Here the Imām discusses a bit about the issue of knowing he Arabic language. When looking at people who place themselves as Muftīs or people who are considered Muftīs by the general population, we have to keep this issue in our minds. Many of those who are Imāms in Masjids and who issue and sign false Fatwas do not know Arabic at all. Many only memorize the Qur’ān and Hadīths and know their meaning through translations. So if the Imām mentioned that they need to be able to explain the unclear statements from the Qur’ān and the Sunnah, or at the very least be able to research what they need to from the books of the Arabic language, then we see that many so called Muftīs fall short of this condition. Not only do they not know Arabic well enough to explain unclear issues, but they wouldn’t be able to research what they needed to as they might only know English, Urdu, Punjabi, or another language that doesn’t give them the sufficient means to fulfill this condition. Another point to keep in mind is that even many of the Imāms in Masjids who are Arabic don’t necessarily have the means to explain what is needed, as they don’t have a full grasp of the traditional Arabic language, as is wide spread in many parts of Bilād Ash-Shām, Misr and many of the gulf states.

The Imām mentions the final condition of Shar’ī knowledge, “The fourth condition, is that he is a scholar in the science of Usūl Al-Fiqh (the fundamental rules of Fiqh), due to it including that which is needed. And it is upon him to extend his determining in them and to research in its condensed and its full length (books), as much as his ability will take him. As this knowledge is the pillar of the canopy of Ijtihād and its basis, upon which the pillars of its building stand. And it is upon him to look into every issue from its issues to the extent that he will reach to what is the truth in it. Because if he does that, then he will be able to refer the branches to their origins with the least of actions. And if he lacks in this science, then the referring becomes hard for him and he will become confused in it and make mistakes. Al-Fakhr Ar-Rāzī said in “Al-Mahsūl”, and how great is what he said, “Verily, the most important science for the Mujtahid is the science of Usūl Al-Fiqh.” Al-Ghazālī said, “Verily, the greatest of the sciences of Ijtihād are based upon three sciences: The Hadīth, the language and the Usūl Al-Fiqh.”

Here, the Imām ends his listing of the conditions of giving a Fatwā by mentioning the condition of knowing the rules of Fiqh. This is important, because the majority, if not all of the mistakes that a scholar makes is based upon this issue. Even if someone has memorized the Qur’ān and a large amount of Hadīths, they still need to know how to apply them, and what to do if two Texts appear to be contradictory. So we find those who don’t know the rules of Fiqh very well continuously making mistakes and choosing the weaker of the statements of the scholars in an issue. You see them praying contrary to how the Prophet, may the Blessings and Peace of Allāh be upon him, prayed. You see them always saying that everything is ok and never being offended by what anyone does,. You find them giving Fatwas that permit many forbidden things, with the excuse that we are living in the west. They also will continuously make the excuse and permit things based on the idea that the Religion is easy, and that there shouldn’t be hardships. These are the types of things to look for from people when trying to see how established they are in the rules of Fiqh. The reason that they do this is because this is the easiest and most effortless way to come to a conclusion anytime there needs to be any sort of studying of the evidences.

Knowledge of the Current State of Affairs

(Knowledge of the People and Their Customs)

Ibn Al-Qayyim said, “As for his (Imām Ahmad’s) saying, ‘The Fifth; Knowledge of the People,’ this is a great fundamental, which both the Muftī and the ruler require, because if he is not a jurist (i.e. fully comprehending) in that – a jurist in the ordering and the forbidding – and then he implements one upon the other (i.e. knowledge of the Sharī’ah without knowledge of the people or vice versa), (nothing happens) except that what is corrupted is greater than what is rectified. So if he is not a jurist in the ordering and he has knowledge of the people, then the oppressor will appear to him like the wronged person, and vice versa, and the truthful one in the appearance of the liar, and vice versa. And the plotting, deceiving and trickery will surround him. And the zindīq will look like a Siddīq to him. And the liar in the appearance of the truthful one. And every liar will wear false clothing, underneath which are sins, lies and immorality. And he, due to his ignorance of the people and their conditions, their customs and their traditions, cannot differentiate this one from that one. Rather, he must be knowledgeable in knowing the plots of the people, their deceptions, their trickery, their customs and their traditions. Because the Fatwā changes due to the changing of the era, the place, the customs and the conditions. And all of that is from the Religion of Allāh, as its clarification has passed, and with Allāh is the Granting of Success.”

Ibn As-Salāh said: “It is not allowed for him to issue Fatwās regarding the oaths and the testimonies and the likes of that from what relates to the terminology unless he is from the people from the country which is speaking or if he is at their level in experience concerning the intent of their speech and the usage of it. Because if he is not like that, then his mistakes will be many against them in that regard, as has been seen from experience, and Allāh knows best.”

This is the last issue that a person must possess in order to issue a Fatwā. The reason for this, is as Ibn Al-Qayyim stated, “Because the Fatwā changes due to the changing of the era, the place, the customs and the conditions.” This is because many things may be offensive to one people, and not to another. Many phrasings may be considered swearing to one people and not to another. Also, there may be some phrasings which are considered agreements and promises according to the customs of one people, while another people do not consider them to be promises nor agreements. Likewise also with the issues of divorce, as has been lengthily discussed in the books of Fiqh. Also, another issue that is affected by this and that has been witnessed as of late, is issues that affect a community. Many times, Imāms are brought from other parts of the world in order to lead a Masjid. Once they are here, they are put in the place of Muftī or a judge amongst the people. You will often see them saying things like, “It is obligatory upon all the Muslims in this community to do such and such an act.” Often, these things that they are discussing are issues that aren’t clear cut in the Sharī’ah, but rather are subject to the Ijtihād of the people of knowledge who know the situation in that area. Other times, you will see them issuing Fatwas about issues that are clear cut in the Sharī’ah, and claiming that it is in the benefit of the people to do the opposite, so they not only contradict the Sharī’ah, but they do so claiming that it is due to the condition of the people, while they are ignorant of that also, as they have only come to this area lately. They say that it is obligatory to vote for such and such a candidate, or that the Muslims in this community need to do this, or that. Another important point under this topic is that many of the so called Muftīs arrive here and fall into a certain group of people. They assume that this group of people cares about the community and have good intentions, so they follow their whims and desires, because they think that they are doing good for Islām. While there are unaware that those who live and have grown up in this community believe the opposite about these issues, but due to them being ignorant of the conditions of the people and the area that they are in, they are negligent of all of these issues.

“Al-Faqīh Wal-Mutafaqqih”, Vol. 2/157

“Al-Faqīh Wal-Mutafaqqih”, Vol. 2/157

“Irshād Al-Fuhūl”, First Edition, pg. 233-235

“I’lām Al-Muwaqqi’īn”, Vol. 4/204-205

“Adab Al-Muftī”, Pg. 115<O:p></O:p>