- Hanafi (TheLevant, Turkey, the Balkans, Central Asia, Indian subcontinent, Iran, Afghanistan, China)
- Maliki (North Africa, West Africa, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain)
- Shafie (Egypt, Yemen, Somalia, Djbouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sth Iran, Southeast Asia, Swahili Coast, Maldives, South India)
- Hanbali (Saudi Arabia, Qatar)
Lets be realistic here... There is no one in our society today that has a greater intellect than the four great imams of Islamic fiqh ie jurisprudence: Imam Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man, Imam Malik bin Anas, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal and Muhammad ibn Idris Ash-Shafie. Not only were they scholars and master minds; mufaqiheen and muhadditheen, they earned the grandeur title of Mujtahid imams, the highest ranking scholarship one can achieve as a Muslim.
The Funnyeth Claim: Claim
So some Muslims say: Oh! Don't be silleh! All the madhhabs are right, hear ye! one and all Muslims! Let us, in our infinite super intellectual wisdom brain power fantasticness chooseth whatever ruling we find to be the best and follow that! :D Who said we should follow just one! yer?
Umm.. yeah...
The Funnyeth Claim: Refutation
Yes indeed, all four madhhabs are correct and they back their rulings using pure Islamic sources: ie: Quran and haddith, yes indeed there are only about 15-20% differences in rulings amongst the four madhahib.. but in believing the claim above. You are essentially going on one of two assumptions:
Assumption 1:
You are so intellectually gifted by Allah, that you know all the intricacies and differences of opinion in the four madhhabs so much so, that you have the luxury of picking and choosing whatever ruling you want to follow... Umm... what in the who?
Studying one madhhab is hard enough, let alone all four. Clearly no one fits this bill.
OR..
Assumption 2:
Your assuming your understanding of fiqh and haddith is so much greater than the four imams that you are indeed more knowledgeable than all four put together mashaAllah! and you have the right to pass judgement on which ruling is better than that other.
It's as though, you, in your 21century jeans, bare head and beardless face are fit enough to be their teacher (if only they were living!) and you can mark their fiqh homework and say, Oh Imam Shafi'e, yabni, my dear son, ya habibi! you got this fiqh ruling wrong! No no no! In fact the very answer to this issue that Allah is talking about concerning the waiting period of a divorced woman in surat Al-Baqarah of 3 Quru' (ie:cycles) is NOT indeed cycles of purity, but rather cycles of menses... That was the answer of your peer, Imam Hanafi, so give him a pat on the back yabni. InshaAllah next homework you will be able to produce better understanding! :D .....
... Delirious wasn't just an Eddy Murphy skit.
So to conclude: 1. No one is smarter than the four imams 2. No one knows all four madhhabs.
So... Applying logic, it only makes sense to do what the many Muslims over the 1400+ years have done and that is stick to one madhhab. It's less confusing to study just one and it keeps your nafs in check so it's not picking and choosing whatever rulings it wants to follow.
Just to clarify. Anyone that thinks they can make-up fiqh rulings today- I don't care how great a sheikh they are- by simply looking at a haddith or reading it or reading a Quranic verse and refuting/opposing any of the great Imam's rulings ... I ask you to show me evidence that you have a similar/greater level of aimah and ijtihad to your name. Otherwise, your refutation of any of their rulings is plain ignorance and arrogance on your own behalf. If they deem something to be ok, then it's ok, if not then it's not, if they teach me how to communicate with Allah and I accept it, how ignorant would I look saying I don't agree with more petty issues. It'd be silly to assume that a haddith that you read that appears to be contradictory to any of their rulings would be a haddith they didn't already take into consideration. How do I know they took it into consideration? Because they are muhadditheen- they have the highest level of scholarship in haddith studies and they have memorised much more haddith than you can even deem possible today.
The Why is it dangerous question:
In actual fact, fuqahaa2 say it is haram to pick and choose rulings based on your whims and desires. The general rule of thumb is, follow one madhhab and when you experience difficulty in a certain circumstance, you go to a sheikh and ask for his advice, to which he can tell you well, in this circumstance, you can follow the Hanafi/Maliki etc. opinion with regards to this matter so that it is easy for you- after all Allah says the differences among you is a rahma- a Mercy. So that when you are in trouble you can still look back to Islam and find your answer, that way you have true guidance from the religion in all your affairs.
So to demonstrate how impractical it is to use coctail ideas with fiqh I want to use a funny example inshaAllah:
In an Islamic marriage you have integrals and other things that are recommended but not necessary. ie:
1. Bride and Groom
2. Proposal and acceptance
3. Guardian
4. Two witnesses
5. Dowry
According to the Hanafi Maddhab all are integrals except having a Guardian
According to the Maliki Maddhab all are integrals except having 2 witnesses and
According to the Shafi'es all are integrals except having a Dowry, it's considered a gift from the Groom, so it's not an integral.
So if we pick whats easiest of the four madhhabs to make life easier for us, all we need to do is, strike out what's not an integral according to the four madhhabs and you end up with: The Easiest Marriage In Human History Ever Plus Inifinity and One!
1. Bride and Groom
2. Proposal and acceptance
Boy meets girl. Oh asalamulaykum! I like you, girl: Oh walaykumusalam, I like you too! Do you want to get married? Yes sure!
And just like that.
They're married.
What will become of our deen when we pick and choose like this? Yes the Islam is meant to be easy, but Allah also says, wa firru ilallah! And race towards Allah! ie put some jihad into it, put some effort and sacrifice for Allah! Whoever thinks this deen is easy, thinks the price of Jannah is easy. It's not. The self needs to be restrained and needs to have limits set. It can't free reign and then we say Oh but the deen is supposed to be easy! SubhanAllah.
So in conclusion:
1. No one today is smarter than the four great Imams.
2. No one has the ability to learn all four madhhabs- even if you do, since you don't have the same level of scholarship you can't say which ruling is or isn't better.
3. Picking and choosing whatever ruling you want leaves the door open for your nafs to rule you and not for you to rule it. How much times over and over again have we been warned against the nafs by Allah and His messenger!?
4. Follow one madhhab, cocktails were only invented for non-Muslim drinks.
I rest my case.
Allah knows best.
