The Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ states about Abû Bakr as-Siddîq ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ as follows: “With the exception of prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawâtu wa-s-salâm’, the sun has not risen or set over a person superior to Abû Bakr. He states in another hadîth-i-sherîf, “I have poured into Abû Bakr’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ chest all the knowledge that Allâhu ta’âlâ poured into my chest.”
The Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ states as follows in one of thehadîth-i-sherîfs in praise of ’Umar-abnil-Khattâb ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’: “If another prophetwere to come after me ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ would be (that) prophet.” Our Prophet‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ asked Jebrâîl (the Archangel Gabriel) about the grade of Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’. “(The Angel) Jebrâîl as I am, were I to state all the virtues and perfections that ’Umar is endued with, beginning to recount them one by one by the time when the universe was created, I would not have completed my account of them at the time of Doomsday,” was the Angel’s answer. However, all the superiorities of Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ would add up to only one of the superiorities that Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was graced with.
It is stated as follows in one of the hadîth-i-sherîfs praising Imâm ’Uthmân ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’: “Every prophet has a companion in Paradise. ’Uthmân will be my companion there.” It is stated as follows in one of the hadîth-i-sherîfs uttered to describe the high grade of Imâm Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’: “Alî’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ closeness to me is identical with the closeness of the prophet Hârûn (Aaron) to Mûsâ (Moses)‘alaihis-salâm’.” Hârûn ‘alaihis-salâm’ was Mûsâ’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ brother, vizier, and assistant. That the people who deny the Madhhabs have misinterpreted and distorted these hadîth-i-sherîfs is explained in the book Documents of the Right Word, which also provides the answers they deserve. Imâm Ahmad ibn Hanbal states that no other Sahâbî has the number of hadîth-i-sherîfs uttered about him equal to that of the hadîth-i-sherîfs uttered about Imâm Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’.
2– The second difference is that the Ahl as-sunnat Muslims state that the wars among the Ashâb-i-kirâm were intended not for worldly gains but for the establishment of truth. They know that all the Ashâb-i-kirâm were far from vices such as grudge and animus. For, all the Ashâb-i-kirâm had attained perfect purity owing to the sohbat and guidance of the Best of Mankind, and vices such as grudge and animus had been extirpated from their hearts. Each and every one of them had attained the grade of ijtihâd. Since every mujtahid had to act upon his own ijtihâd and finding, they would necessarily disagree on points whereon their ijtihâds turned out differently, and it would be correct for every one of them to follow his own ijtihâd. Then, their disagreements as well as their agreements were correct. Their disagreements did not stem from their sensuous desires and ambitions or from their nafs-i-ammâra. They were the natural fruits of differing ijtihâds.
Ijtihâd means to bring a covert (Islamic) commandment to light by comparing the unclearly stated commandments to those which are stated clearly. This work is commanded in the âyat-i-kerîmas reading as, “Fa’tabirû...” and “Was’alû ahl-az-zikri....” These âyat-i-kerîmas purport to “Apply all your physical, mental and spiritual energy to derive Islamic rules by comparing matters that do not exist in the Qur’ân al-kerîm or in thehadîth-i-sherîfs to those which these sources contain.”
It is stated as follows in the book Mîzân: There are quite a number of âyat-i-kerîmas commanding the work of ijtihâd. The blessed meaning of the forty-fourth âyat-i-kerîma of the Nahl sûra is, “So that you should explain what We have revealed to thee....” And the blessed meaning of the fifty-ninth âyat-i-kerîma of Nisâ sûra is, “Consult to the Book of Allah and to the hadîths of the Messenger!” Thisâyat-i-kerîma commands to perform ijtihâd.
Of the disciples of Imâm a’zam Abû Hanîfa, the most eminent ones of those who had attained the grade of ijtihâd were Imâm Abû Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad, Imâm Zufar, and Ibn Nujaym ‘rahima humullâhu ta’âlâ’. They disagreed with Imâm a’zam only in a few matters. They acted upon their own ijtihâds in those matters. For it was farz (fard) for them to act upon their own ijtihâds in those matters, and they were not permitted to follow Imâm a’zam’s re’y and ijtihâd.
By the same token, each and every one of the Sahâba-i-kirâm was a mujtahid in every sense of the word, and therefore it was farz for them to act upon their own re’y and ijtihâd in matters that were not clearly stated in âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs. So they did not adapt themselves to the re’y and ijtihâd of those Sahâbîs who, they knew, were superior to them. For this reason, throughout the lifetime of the Sarwar-i-’âlâm ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and also during the caliphates of the Khulafâ-ir-râshidîn (the four earliest Khalîfas, namely Abû Bakr, ’Umar, ’Uthmân, and Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum ajma’în’), those blessed Sahâbîs who were sent out to distant countries on the mission of teaching Islam would be told to make qiyâs (analogy, comparison) in matters without clear explanations in âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs. For instance, when the Most Honourable of the entire creation assigned Mu’âz bin Jabal ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ as the governor of Yemen, he questioned him, “What will be the basis of your decisions and orders there?” “I shall act upon the Book of Allâhu ta’âlâ,” was the latter’s answer. Then the blessed Prophet proceeded, “What will you do when (you encounter matters whose solutions) you cannot find in the Qur’ân al-kerîm?” This time, Mu’âz bin Jabal was ready with the answer, “I shall adopt the hadîth-i-sherîfs of the Prophet of Allâhu ta’âlâ ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ as the guiding principles and laws whereon to base my decisions, and act upon his statements, manners and behaviours.” The Best of Mankind pressed on, “What will you do if you cannot find a clear answer among Rasûlullah’s utterances, either?” The reply was, “I shall act upon my own ijtihâd without going beyond the area drawn by âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs.” When the Rasûl-i-ekrem ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ heard these answers, he paid hamd and thanks to Allâhu ta’âlâ for the knowledgeability and greatness Mu’âz bin Jabal ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was endued with. This event is written in books on the branch termed Usûl-i-fiqh, in Menâr and in its annotation Ibn Melek ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’.
A group of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ fought against Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum’ because their ijtihâd differed from his ijtihâd. Shiites call those people ‘disbelievers’. They curse them with all sorts of abominable invectives because those people fought. Yet the fact is that the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ had had ijtihâds different from that of our master the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ in several matters whose solutions required ijtihâd. They had not been blamed for those different ijtihâds of theirs. Nor had they been told to recant their ijtihâds by the angel who had brought down the Wahy afterwards.
Then, can those who disagreed with Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ in ijtihâd ever be called ‘disbelievers’? Can the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ ever be blamed for this? Quite a number of Muslims disagreed with him in ijtihâd. And they were mostly the greater ones of the Ashâb-i-kirâm; in fact, some of them had been blessed with the good news that they would go to Paradise. It is not something easy to call them ‘disbelievers’ or even to criticize them. It was these great people who conveyed to us half of the Islamic religion. Wouldn’t aspersions cast on them be destructive of half of the religion? How can these great people ever be spoken ill of despite the fact that no Islamic scholar has refused a single hadîth-i-sherîf quoted by any one of them? All the hadîth-i-sherîfs they communicated have been accepted by all the learned Muslims regardless of their rank positions and branches in the Islamic sciences. The second most authentic Islamic book after the Qur’ân al-kerîm is (the book entitled) Bukhârî-i-sherîf. Shiites believe so, too. This faqîr, [i.e. Imâm-i-Rabbânî himself,] heard Ahmad Tabtî, an eminent Shiite scholar, acknowledge the fact that after the Kitâbullah (the Book of Allah, the Qur’ân al-kerîm) Bukhârî is the second most authentic book. That book contains hadîth-i-sherîfs conveyed by those (of the Ashâb-i-kirâm) who did not follow Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ as well as by those who followed him. The wars among them did not by any means damage their justice and rectitude. The book quotes hadîth-i-sherîfs on the authority of Hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ as well as those on the authority of Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’. Had there been any obscurities or blameworthy aspects about Hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ or his quotations, the blessed compiler (of the book Bukhârî-i-sherîf) would not have written in his book any hadîth-i-sherîfs on the authority of him. The early Islamic scholars and the experts of hadîth always did so, i.e. they fully trusted in the authenticity of all the hadîth-i-sherîfs conveyed by all the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ and, holding the disagreements that had taken place among them above themselves, they indiscriminately wrote in their books all the hadîth-i-sherîfconveyed by all of them. Having disagreed with Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ (on the part of the Sahâba) was not a sin or a fault in their view. It must be known well that Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was not necessarily right in all the (other) matters whereon he disagreed with the others. Nor were those who disagreed with him always wrong. It is true that he was right in (the disagreements that were fomented into) the so-called wars. Yet this does not mean that he must have been always right. In fact, it was by no means a rare event that the greater ones of the Tâbi’în and the religious leaders did not follow him and acted upon their own ijtihâds. If the right had always been on his side, no one would have disagreed with his ijtihâd. For instance, Qâdî Shurayh ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’, one of the greater ones of the Tâbi’în and an upper-class mujtahid, did not base his judgement on his ijtihâd and refused Imâm Hasan’s testimony. Other mujtahids also followed Qâdî Shurayh’s example and did not accept sons as witnesses for their fathers. In many other occasions, ijtihâds disagreeing with that of the exalted Imâm (Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’) were preferred. Our conscientious readers are quite aware of these facts. Then, it is not something sinful to have disagreed with Hadrat Alî’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ ijtihâd. Nor is it permissible to censure those who did so.
Âisha-i-Siddîqa ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ’ was the darling of Allâhu ta’âlâ’s darling. She was so beloved to our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ that he would always have her with him. He passed away in her room, in her bed, and with his blessed head on her lap. He was buried in her musk-smelling room, and he has been there ever since. Aside from all these superiorities and values, she was a great scholar and a mujtahid. Our master the Prophet‘alaihis-salâtu wassalâm’ had left to her the task of teaching others half of the religion. Whenever the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ encountered a puzzling question, they would come to her, ask her and learn the answer from her. It is something incompatible with Islam to criticize and cast abominable aspersions on such an exalted and blessed person, who had attained the highest honours such as Siddîqa and Mujtahida, only because she did not agree with the Emîr [Alî] ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’. A person who believes our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ will not utter such words. As Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was our Prophet’s sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ son-in-law and paternal first cousin, likewise Âisha ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ’ was his zawja-i-mutahhara (one of his pure wives), and a most beloved one, too.
Until a couple of years ago, whenever this faqîr [Imâm-i-Rabbânî means himself] gave food to miskîns (very poor Muslims), I had been making my niyyat (intention for a certain act of worship, e.g. charity) to (present the blessings earned by means of the charitable act to) the souls of the Ahl-i-abâ. In other words, I used to send the blessings to the souls of Alî, Fâtima, Hasan and Husayn ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’ as well as to the soul of the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. One night I had a dream. In the dream, I saw the Fakhr-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and made salâm to him. He would not take my salâm, and turned his face away from me, stating, “I ate my meals in Âisha’s house. Those who wanted to send me food would send it to Âisha’s house.” I realized that the blessed Prophet’s turning his face away from me was because I had not added Hadrat Âisha’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ’ name to the blessings that I had been pronouncing on the souls of the aforesaid blessed people after distributing food (to poor Muslims). From then on, I have added Hadrat Âisha, and even all the Zawjât-i-mutahhara (the blessed wives of the Prophet) into my niyyat. Ever since, I have been adding the names of all the Ahl-i-bayt ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ into my prayers. For, those people, too, (i.e. the Zawjât-i-mutahhara,) were among the Ahl-i-bayt. Then, distress caused to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ through (something done against) Hadrat Âisha-i-Siddîqa would be deeper than that caused through Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’. Any person with common sense and reason will know this fact well. Indeed, these words of ours are intended for those who love and respect Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ because they love and respect our master, the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. If a person loves him directly, without the sake of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ in between, then we have no words to say to him; he will not take advice. His purpose is to demolish Islam and to defile Islam’s tenets.
These people want to eliminate Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’, to establish a new religion without him, to love and attach themselves directly to Imâm Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’. As a matter of fact, the annals of humanity teem with depictions of tyrants and dictators with a number of idiotic lackeys and hangers-on around them toadying and trying to ingratiate themselves with the hope of worldly advantages. All those flatterers, and the people they lackeyed to and made partners to our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and even to the Creator, Allâhu ta’âlâ, in greatness, tumbled down, their bodies rotting, putrefying, and degenerating into noisome sights. Their dirty souls went straight to Hell, the place of torment and retribution for the unrestrained life they had led in the world and for the insults they had flung at Islam. They saw that they had been wrong.
It is an act of disbelief, aberration and heresy to turn away from Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ and to hold someone else above him and more beloved than him. Imâm Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ hates people who do so. All the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’, including Hadrat ’Uthmân and Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’, are loved for the sake and love of our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. For, it is stated (in a hadîth-i-sherîf), “He who loves them, does so because he loves me. And their enemy, is so because he is my enemy.”
Talha and Zubayr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ were two of the greatest Sahâbîs and were also among the (people who were blessed with the good news that their destination was Paradise and who have been called) Ashara-i-mubashshara. How can one ever censure them despite the fact that they were given the good news that they would go to Paradise? To curse them means to curse yourself. As ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was about to pass away, he nominated six people he thought eligible for caliphate and recommended that one of them be chosen for the office. He himself could not make a choice among those six people. Two of those six great people were Talha and Zubayr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’. Both of them relinquished their right of candidature in favour of the other four. Talha ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was the kind of person who sacrificed and slew his own father on account of his impudent behaviour towards the Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. Allâhu ta’âlâ praises him for that behaviour in the Qur’ân al-kerîm. As for Zubayr (radiy-Allâhu ’anh’; theProphet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ reports that his murderer is in Hell. Those who censure and curse him are no less wicked than his murderer. Both of them are among the greatest Islamic luminaries and are very much beloved of all Muslims.
How could one ever find justification for belittling the Ashâb-i-kirâm in the face of the fact that they worked night and day and beyond the limits of human energy in their championship of the cause of Islam and in their enthusiasm to support the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’? They sacrificed their property in the way of Allâhu ta’âlâ. They left their relatives, families, children, homes, houses, streams, fields and trees for the love of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. They gave priority to his blessed body over their own, and to love of him over their affection for their property and progeny. They are the people who attained the honour of having kept company with the Best of Mankind, whose sohbat, i.e. company, togetherness, embellished them with such blessings and high grades as have never fallen to others’ lot. They eye-witnessed miracles and wonders. They observed blessings and pieces of knowledge which others have never had the chance to know of. They were endued with such purity of heart and spiritual maturity as no one after them has ever been given. Mountains of gold others paid in the name of charity would not deserve even half the next-worldly blessings and rewards that those most fortunate people earned by giving a handful of barley as alms. Allâhu ta’âlâpraises them as follows in the Qur’ân al-kerîm: “I am pleased with them. And they, in turn, are pleased with Me.” People who nurse a grudge and enmity towards them are described as “kâfirûn (disbelievers, unbelievers),” at the end of Sûra-i-Fat-h. Then, enmity towards them should be avoided with the same dread as one would feel towards becoming an unbeliever. The excessive affection which those blessed people felt towards the Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ made them beloved to him. They cannot be criticized for having disagreed on some matters and having acted upon their own ijtihâd. Their disagreement was intended to find the truth and (to obey the commandment telling each and every one of them to act upon his own ijtihâd and) not to adopt someone else’s ijtihâd. By the same token, it would have been wrong for Imâm Abû Yûsuf to have followed Imâm a’zam Abû Hanîfa, (who was his teacher) ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’, after having attained the grade of ijtihâd. It was correct of him to follow his own ra’y. Imâm Shâfi’î ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ would follow his own ra’y instead of adopting the ijtihâds of the Sahâba-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’. He always considered it the right way to make a judgement in accordance to his own ra’y and not to follow any Sahâbî’s ijtihâd, regardless of who the Sahâbî was and how great he was, including the Siddîq-i-a’zam (Hadrat Abû Bakr) and Imâm Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’. Since it was possible and permissible for any mujtahid not to adopt the words (ijtihâds) of a Sahâbî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, why should the Sahâba-i-kirâm be held culpable for having disagreed on matters of ijtihâd or for having discussed those matters among themselves? From time to time, the Sahâba-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’ did disagree with the Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ on some matters (whose solutions necessitated the onerous job) of ijtihâd, and they were not condemned, reprehended or criticized for having disagreed with our master ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’; nor were they prohibited from doing so. If Allâhu ta’âlâ had been displeased with those disagreements on the part of the Sahâba-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’, certainly He would have prohibited them from doing so and would have declared that He would torment those who were responsible for the disagreements. As a matter of fact, He warned and reprehended some of them for talking loud with the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’.
For the same matter, when the blessed Prophet consulted with the Sahâba-i-kirâm about what they should do with the prisoners captivated in the Holy War of Bedr, they offered differing opinions. ’Umar-ul-Fârûq and Sa’d ibn Mu’âz ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ were of the opinion that the captives should be killed. The other Sahâbîs ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’ said, “Let’s demand a ransom for their release.” The Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ accepted the second opinion and set the captives free. Upon this an âyat-i-kerîma was revealed to state that the first opinion would have been correct.
Realizing the greatness of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ and what the Madhhabs are, requires knowing well what ijtihâd is.
Do not take pride in your
property;
Nor at all say, “There is none else like me!”
It takes an adverse wind to winnow
away all that’s yours,
Rendering an abandoned chaff of thee.
IJTIHÂD
‘Ijtihâd’ means ‘to endeavour hard, to exert oneself, and to work as hard as one can’. The purpose in performing ijtihâd is to work hard and to try to derive new rules from theQur’ân al-kerîm by analogy, i.e. by comparing the âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs with hidden meanings to overtly stated ones. For instance, the blessed meaning of the âyat-i-kerîma commanding to obey your parents is, “Do not say, ‘Fie on you’, to them!” No mention is made to battery or invective. Since the exclamation “Fie on you,” which is by far milder than these forms of maltreatment, is expressed literally, mujtahids have deduced by ijtihâd that it must certainly be harâm (forbidden) to beat or curse or insult one’s parents. Likewise, the Qur’ân al-kerîm literally prohibits consumption of wine, without naming the other hard drinks. The reason for the prohibition of wine is that it blurs one’s mind and suspends one’s mental activities, as is understood from the (Arabic) expression used in the âyat-i-kerîma.[24] Hence, mujtahids have deduced by way of ijtihâd that all sorts of drinks carrying the features that cause wine to be forbidden must be forbidden as well; so they have stated that all sorts of intoxicants are harâm. Allâhu ta’âlâ commands to ‘do ijtihâd’ in the Qur’ân al-kerîm. It is understood from various âyat-i-kerîmas that scholars of high grade and profound knowledge have been enjoined that they should perform ijtihâd. Then, ijtihâd is (an Islamic commandment called) farz enjoined on people in possession of full authority, eligibility and expertise, i.e. those who have the ability and capacity to understand the rules and matters hidden in the âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs whose meanings cannot be understood clearly, by way of analogy, deduction and induction from their significations, tenors of discourse and denotations.
Being worthy of the grade of ijtihâd requires a number of conditions and qualifications to be fulfilled. First of all, it is necessary to have full knowledge of the higher linguistic and literary branches of the Arabic language in addition to a perfect commitment of the entireQur’ân al-kerîm to memory; to know the ma’nâ-i-murâdî (the intended meaning), the ma’nâ-i-ishârî (the denotative meaning), the ma’nâ-i-zimnî (the implied meaning), the ma’nâ-i-iltizâmî (the preferential meaning) of âyat-i-kerîmas; to know when and for what reason and about what each âyat-i-kerîma was revealed and whether it is kullî (general) or juz’î (special, particular), nâsikh (abrogating) or mansûkh (abrogated), muqayyad (limited) or mutlaq (absolute, unrestrained), in addition to many other facts about them; to know how they were derived from the qirâ’at-i-sab’a and qirâ’at-i-’ashara and qirâ’at-i-shâzza; to know by heart all the hadîth-i-sherîfs in the (six grand books of hadîths called) Kutub-i-sitta and in the other books of hadîth; to know when and why each hadîth-i-sherîf was uttered and the extent of its comprehension; to know the contextual and the temporal order of hadîth-i-sherîfs, (i.e. what hadîth-i-sherîfs preceded and followed what others,); to know the matters they concern; to know the events whereon they were uttered; to know the names and biographies of their conveyors and reporters; to master the methods and rules of the Islamic science called fiqh; and to have an extraordinary spiritual wisdom and an illuminated and pure heart and conscience equipped with light of îmân and tranquility to learn and understand the twelve basic sciences, the symbols and signs of âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs and their apparent and spiritual explanations.[25] These sublime qualifications and faculties are the requirements and conditions of the rank of ijtihâd. However, people with such powerful mental faculties and virtues could be trained and educated only with the blessing of sohbat, which rose with our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and attained its zenith in his time, termed the ‘Asr-i-sa’âdat (Era of Happiness), preserving its impetus during the centuries of the Ashâb-i-kirâm, the Tâbi’în, and the Taba’i tâbi’în. As time plodded along leaving the Era of Happiness farther and farther behind, thoughts and ideas were polluted, heresies appeared, and scholars in possession of these superior and valuable merits became fewer and fewer, completely dwindling away by the end of the fourth (Islamic) century. These facts are written with clarity in the books Mîzân-ul-kubrâ, Radd-ul-muhtâr, and Hadîqa.
The blessed meaning of the âyat-i-kerîma reading as Fa’tabirû is: “O, you, owners of wisdom! In matters beyond your mental capacity, adapt yourself to those who know them and who have attained full penetration in the depths of those matters.”
The exalted people who have attained the grade of ijtihâd have to act in accordance to their own ijtihâd. They cannot adapt themselves to other mujtahids’ ijtihâds. In fact, this rule applied to cases of the same nature during the lifetimes of prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawâtu wa-s-salâm’, too; any one of the sahâbîs (companions) of a prophet would act in accordance to his own ijtihâd even when his ijtihâd was contrary to that of his prophet. A question may arise at this point. Did prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawâtu wa-s-salâm’ perform ijtihâd, too? Yes, they, too, made ijtihâd by comparing the commandments which Allâhu ta’âlâ did not state overtly to those which He stated overtly. However, what made their ijtihâd, which was naturally susceptible to erring, different from others’ ijtihâd was that it was at the same time susceptible of correction; that is, when their ijtihâd led them to an incorrect conclusion, Allâhu ta’âlâ would immediately send Jebrâîl ‘alaihis-salâm’ and rectify their error by way of Wahy. In other words, prophets’ ‘alaihim-us-salawâtu wassalam’ ijtihâd would never remain incorrect. For instance, the ijtihâd performed by the Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and some of the Sahâba-i-kirâm concerning the policy that should be followed with the prisoners captivated in the Holy War of Bedr turned out to be at loggerheads with the ijtihâd of ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ and a few other Sahâbîs. Upon this an âyat-i-kerîmaarrived and thereby Allâhu ta’âlâ declared to them that Imâm ’Umar’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ ijtihâd was correct. Likewise, the Sûra Abasa was revealed for the correction of an error of ijtihâd. [Tafsîr-i-Husayn Kâshifî.] Another example is Hadrat ’Umar’s ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ ijtihâd for the elucidation of the delicate situation involved in when our master, the blessed Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ ordered (the Sahâbîs around him) to bring him an inkpot and a pen as he was about to pass away; this event will be dealt with later in the text.
After the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’, scholars of high grade were raised; among them were the four widely known leaders (of Madhhabs, namely, Imâm-i-a’zam Abû Hanîfa, Imâm-i-Mâlik, Imâm-i-Shâfi’î, and Imâm-i-Ahmad bin Hanbal), and other scholars who performed ijtihâd within the Madhhabs (of the previous four leaders); a few of them were Imâm Abû Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad, Imâm Zufer, Ibn Nu