Disadvantages of Personal Taqlid
Now, at the end of this research book, some of the most important harms of personal imitation (taqlid shakhsī) are presented:
1. Due to personal imitation, the blessed verses of the Holy Quran are disregarded.
For example: Karkhi Hanafi (a follower of taqlid) says:
الأصل أن كل آية تخالف قول أصحابنا فإنها منسوخة أو مرجوحة والأولى أن يؤول مع التطبيق
“The reality is that every verse which is against our companions (Hanafi jurists) is considered abrogated or rejected; it is better to interpret it while applying it.”
2. Due to personal imitation, authentic hadiths are disregarded.
For example: The mentioned Karkhi writes:
الأصل أن كل خبر يجي بخلاف قول أصحابنا فإنه يحمل على النسخ أو على أنه معارض بمثله ثم صار إلى دليل آخر
“In our view, the reality is that every hadith which is against the statement of our companions (Hanafi jurists) is considered abrogated or opposed by another narration, then the other evidence is referred to.”
Yusuf bin Musa al-Salti Hanafi said:
من قرأ كتاب البخاري فهو زنديق
“Whoever reads Imam Bukhari’s book (Sahih Bukhari) becomes an infidel.”
3. Due to personal imitation, consensus (ijma’) is rejected in many places.
For example: In Khair al-Qurun, there is consensus that personal imitation is impermissible.
Yet, the followers keep chanting the tune of personal imitation day and night.
4. Due to personal imitation, the testimonies and investigations of the pious predecessors (Salaf al-Salih) are rejected, and sometimes they are openly insulted.
For example: In the Hanafi taqlidi book Usool al-Shashi, Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) is excluded from the rank of ijtihad and fatwa, and it is declared:
وعلى هذا ترك أصحابنا رواية أبى هريرة
“And on this (Usool), our companions have abandoned the narration of Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).”
A young Hanafi follower said centuries ago in the Grand Mosque of Baghdad:
أبو هريرة غير مقبول الحديث
“The hadith of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) is not acceptable.”
5. Due to personal imitation, the followers believe that there can be contradiction between two verses of the Holy Quran.
For example: Mulla Jiwan Hanafi writes:
لأن الآيتين إذا تعارضتا تساقطتا
“Because if there is contradiction between two verses, then both become invalid.”
Whereas, there is no contradiction whatsoever in the verses of the Holy Quran, nor is there any contradiction between the Quran and authentic hadiths. Praise be to Allah.
6. Due to personal imitation, the followers have issued fatwas against their fellow followers.
For example: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Musa al-Balasaghuni Hanafi that he said:
لو كان لي أمر لأخذت الجزية من الشافعية
“If I had the authority, I would take jizya (tax) from the Shafi’is (considering them disbelievers).”
When Isa bin Abi Bakr bin Ayub Akthi was asked why he became Hanafi while his family members were all Shafi’i, he replied: “Do you not want that there be one Muslim in the house?”
One Hanafi Imam al-Safkar Dari said:
لا ينبغي للحنفي أن يزوج بنته من شافعي المذهب ولكن يتزوج منهم
“A Hanafi should not marry his daughter to a Shafi’i, but he can marry a Shafi’i girl.”
Meaning, according to the Hanafis, Shafi’is are considered like the People of the Book (Jews and Christians). See al-Bahr al-Raiq
7. Due to personal imitation, Hanafis and Shafi’is fought bloody wars against each other. They killed each other, broke shops, and burned neighborhoods.
For details see Yaqut al-Hamawi
in Mu’jam al-Buldan
, and Tarikh Ibn Athir
.
Despite these severe fights and killings between Hanafis and Shafi’is, Ashraf Ali Thanwi Sahib writes: “If this were the reason, then Hanafis and Shafi’is would always be at war, but there has always been peace and unity.”
8. Due to personal imitation, a person does not accept truth, justice, and evidence but remains blindly following his alleged Imam without reason.
One person accepted a hadith as strong (i.e., authentic) and took fourteen years to respond to it.
See al-‘Urf al-Shadhi
and Deen Mein Taqlid Ka Mas’ala
.
Mahmood al-Hasan Deobandi says:
الحق والإنصاف أن الترجيح للشافعي فى هذه المسألة ونحن مقلدون يجب علينا تقليد إمامنا أبى حنيفة
“The truth and justice is that Imam Shafi’i has preference in this matter, and we are followers; it is obligatory upon us to follow our Imam Abu Hanifa.”
Ahmad Yar Naeemi Barelvi said: “Because the Hanafis’ proofs are not these narrations; their only proof is the statement of the Imam.”
9. Due to personal imitation, rigid and unlearned followers made four prayer areas in the House of Allah, about which Rashid Ahmad Gangohi Sahib says: “Indeed, the four prayer areas designated in the honored Makkah are undoubtedly blameworthy because the repetition of congregations and division has resulted in one group sitting in the place of another sect and not joining the congregation, and they commit a sin.”
10. Due to imitation, the followers do not hesitate to lie about their opponents and even brazenly lie on the Book and Sunnah.
For example: One person added وإلى أولي الأمر منكم at the end of ﴿فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ﴾ and declared:
“The aforementioned verse in this same Quran is also present in the lowest form.”
Ashraf Ali Thanwi Sahib writes about Ahl al-Hadith: “And they call Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) an innovator regarding Taraweeh.”
Whereas, among the responsible scholars and common people of Ahl al-Hadith, no fatwa has been established that Sayyiduna Umar al-Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him) was an innovator.
We consider every person who calls Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) an innovator as misguided and a devil.
Besides these, there are many other harms of personal imitation, such as sectarianism, innovation, extremism, severe prejudice, and deprivation of research, etc.
The only cure for all these ailments is to act upon the Book, Sunnah, and consensus in the light of the understanding of the pious predecessors (Salaf al-Salih). والله هو الموفق
Hafiz Zubair Ali Zai
