Taqleed-Defination
“Bismillahir Rahmannir Raheem”Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen was Salaatu was- Salaamu ‘Alaa Sayidinaa Muhammadin wa Aalihi wa Asabihi Ajma ‘een (tauheed- risalat- ahkirat and islam-iman-ihsan)
Taqleed —-The Following of the Imams
The literal definition of Taqleed is ‘to put on a necklace or strap around the neck.
In Shariah terms, Taqleed is to deem a person’s verdict and action to be necessary, according to the Shariah, upon another. He is a Shariah Researcher (Muhaqqiq).
“The Prophet ﷺ teaches Muslims the Quran and prudence/wisdom.” 3/ 164
If the intellect was sufficient in understanding it, the Holy Prophetﷺ wouldn’t have been sent. just as how Sayyiduna Rasoolullahﷺ has been sent to explain the Holy Quran, so too have the Mujtahideen Imams been created to explain the Hadith.
Allah (swt) states that He has made the Quran easy for memorizing. He did not say that it was made easy for extracting laws.
If the Holy Quran encompasses everything and is also easy to learn from, what need was there for a Prophet (ﷺ ) to come and teach it to us?
The Quran and Hadith are medicines of lmaan. The Quran and Hadith are spiritual medicine while the Imam is the spiritual doctor.
Everyone cannot extract rules from the Quran and Hadith by themselves. The Quran and Hadith are oceans of knowledge.
Everything is written in books of medicine, but it is necessary for us to go to doctors and acquire prescriptions from them. The Imams of deen are these doctors.
Whoever has lmaan like them(sahaba) is a Mu’min, and whoever’s Imaan is contrary to theirs is out of the deen, “If those people brought Imaan like yours, they would be on the path of salvation (hidaayat).” – 2/ 137
Only those who are far from the Imam in salaah make their namaaz on the voice of the Mukabbireen. People standing in the first row have no need for the Mukabbireen because they can clearly hear the voice of the Imam.Therefore, figuratively speaking, the Sahaaba (ra) were the followers (muqtadis) of the first row and directly gained guidance from the Holy Prophet (ﷺ ). There is no need for them to now seek guidance from another source.
Hanafi, Shafee, etc. are not different paths. Paths become different when beliefs are changed and the beliefs of the four muzhabs are all the same.
It is only in practices and Islamic rules that they differ, just as how the Sahaaba (ra) had different views on certain Islamic rules of Fiqh themselves.
1. Imam Abu Hanifa ra was born in 80 A.H and passed away at the age of70 in the year 150 A.H. His Mazaar is in Baghdad.
2. Imam Maalik ra was born in 90 A.H and passed away at the age of 89 in the year 179 A.H. His Mazaar is in Madina.
3. Imam Shafee ra, was born in 150 A.H and passed away at the age of 54 in 204 A.H. (He was born the day Imam Abu Hanifa ra to passed away.)
4. Imam Ahmad ibn Hambal ra was born in 164 A.H and passed away at the age of 77 in 241 A.H.
Imam Qastalaani ra and Imam Tajuddin Subki ra have explicitly proven that Imam Bukhari ra was a Shafee while Imam Nawawi ra has also gestured towards him being so. Imam Tirmidhi ra, Abu Dawood, Nasaa’i, Daar-Qutni ra and other Muhadditheen were all Shafees, while Imam Tahaawi, Zai’Iee, Aini, Teebi, Ali Qaari, Abdul-Haqq Muhaddith Dehlwi ra and other Muhadditheen were Hanafis.
Taqleed means to follow one of the four Imaams of religion concerning the commandments of Islamic Law (Shari ah). They are Imam-e-Azam Abu Hanifa, Imam Maalik, Imam Shafi’i and Imam Ahmed bin Hambal (radi Allahutala anhum)
The difference of opinion of the four Imaams is only in the laws of Furoo’ (actions) and not in beliefs (Aqaa’id).
The followers of the four Madhabs are commonly known as Hanafi, Maaliki, Shafi’i and Hambali.It is necessary (Waajib) to follow one of them, eg. to perform Salaah, or perform Saum, Zakaah, etc. as per what they have prescribed. This is known as Taqleed Shakhshi.
To follow these Imaams is really following the Holy Quran and Hadith.
Whoever follows one Imaam cannot follow another Imaam .
When I want to talk to allah I say prayers and when I want that he talk to me I recite quran- Hazrath Ali(ra)
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