Ahl as Sunnah vs the "Salafi" Movement - Their Denial of Taqlid and of the Ijtihad of Past

Ahl as Sunnah vs the "Salafi" Movement - Their Denial of Taqlid and of the Ijtihad of Past Sunni Scholars

Radd al Salafiyya - Refutations

Written by Al-Shaykh Jamil Effendi al-Siqdi al-Zahawi

Page 11 of 22

7: Their Denial of Taqlid and of the Ijtihad of Past Sunni Scholars

Since the statements of the Mujtahids of the past -- may God have mercy upon them -- and the established religious rulings to which they have arrived clash with what the deviant sect of Wahhabis have devised in the way of unwarranted innovation, that sect deemed it a necessity to deny the validity of their ijtihad, reject the soundness of their opinions, and declare whoever followed their opinions to be an unbeliever. The result of this is that they have the freedom of action to establish themselves far and wide and to scream and play with the religion just as their passions dictate. Thus, they pave the way for founding the basis of their clear misguidance. For if they did not deny the ijtihad of the Mujtahids of the past, then their application, in accordance with their whim, of the verses of the Qur'an revealed concerning idolaters to Muslims and to those who make their petitions to God for the sake of the honor of His Messenger and respect of the saints (awliya) could not have been brought to pass. That is because they focus on what no Mujtahid said in the first place and what none of Imams of the Religion accepted.

All of this misguidance is due to the unwarranted innovator Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab who displayed marked resemblance to those who claimed prophethood like Musaylima and Abu al-Aswad al-Anasi and other liars. For he was concealing in himself the establishment of a religion which imitated the pattern of those liars. But he feared to show people his lies unlike they who showed their lies. What he made appear to people he put in the guise of support of the Islamic faith while he painted this picture in people's minds that he simply wanted pure monotheism and that people had become idolaters. Thus, the jihad with people followed so that they might "return from their idolatry." Therefore, Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab claimed absolute ijtihad for himself and charged with error whoever preceded him belonging to the Mujtahids -- those great figures who dipped from the sea of knowledge of the Prophet -- and declared disbeliever their followers. He did not permit imitating the opinions of anyone other than himself, although he allowed anyone his of his ignorant followers to interpret the Qur'an in whatever mode their limited understanding gave them access, and to derive legal rulings from them on the basis of their weak grasp of its meaning. It was as though he permitted any one of his followers to be a mujtahid. Look at the way he played with religion and toyed with the Shari`a of the Faithful Messenger of God!

As for his claim of absolute ijtihad, it is pure silliness on his part and shameless impudence with regard to the Arab language since he was not in his time one of those recognized for being foremost in knowledge. On the contrary, he was not even numbered among those who were considered by masters in the Hanbali madhhab as having any weight whatsoever, not to mention being considered an absolute mujtahid in the religion.

Ijtihad has conditions which the ulama have agreed upon without exception and it is not permissible for any individual to be an imam in the religion and in any of the schools of Islamic Law, unless he has fulfilled them.

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