Quenching A Future Imam's Learning Aspiration
There is some confusion regarding the text of AI-Fiqh al-Akbar at this point. There are three separate statements found, some of which are mentioned in some editions but not in others. They are as follows:
(1) “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ died on faith,”
(2) “The Prophet’s uncle and ‘Ali’s father, Abu Talib, died an unbeliever,” and
(3) “The parents ofthe Messenger of Allah died on unbelief (al-kufr).”
Mufti Zameelur Rahman explains that when fuqahāʾ in ḥanafī fiqh talk about “al qadr al masnūn” (recommended length) for the beard, they do not mean that trimming less this length (one-fist) is merely contrary to a recommendation. Instead, quite the contrary, the wordings in the mutūn are discussing the recommendation of trimming a beard that is in access of one-fist down to one-fist. This excerpt from Mufti Zameel’s longer critic of Sheikh Ṣalāḥ is a prime example of how a matn text can be misconstrued without proper context.
Muftī Shafīʿ raḥimahullāh used to jokingly say that there is a Maulavī Malāmatī Firqah (sect), in which whenever people see any issue, they will find a way to divert its blame to the Maulavī (scholars)… Whatever a Maulavī does, they will find a negative angle to it… If the poor Maulavī decides to seclude himself …
The general principle regarding “means” (asbāb) is that they should not be regarded as the “cause”, rather considering them as a means to conclude the outcome is permissible. However, sharīʿah has excluded ʿulūm al-nujūm (astrology) from this principle. This means that sharīʿah has strictly prohibited deducing outcomes using astrology as a means (and not a cause).
Generally people tend to make preference of one action upon the other according their own rationality. If some individuals do use Shar‘ī’a as their benchmark to establish preference then too they seldom look into the matter with care. Is the shar‘ī evidence sufficient or not? Is it even compatible in the scenario or not? Hence, …
While explaining the purpose of marriage: {وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا لِتَسْكُنُوا إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُمْ مَوَدَّةً وَرَحْمَةً إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ} [الروم: 21] …And from his signs is that he created for you from yourselves a pair so that you may find solace with her; and He made between you …
“Prostration of gratitude” in terms of fiqh means that when some blessing of Allāh is bestowed, or when Allāh Taʿālā opens the doors of myriads of bounties upon His servant that it is mustaḥabb (desirable) and afḍal (virtuous) to face the Qiblah and prostrate.