We will be
serialising the book "Al Jaami'u li Ahkaam is Siyaam" throughout the
blessed month of Ramadhan. Please note this is a draft translation from Arabic.
If any confusion arises from the translation then please refer to the original Arabic book.
Al Jaami'u
li Ahkaam is Siyaam
"A complete guide to the rules
of fasting"
Sheikh Abu Iyaas Mahmood bin
Abdul-Lateef bin Mahmood ('Uwaydhah)
First Edition
All praise is to Allah سبحانه وتعالى Lord of the worlds, Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem, the Owner of the
Day of Judgment and prayers and peace are upon the Messenger of Allah who was
sent as a mercy to all mankind. May Allah's prayers and peace be on him and on
his family and companions.
This is a book about the laws of fasting which I have
named 'Al Jaami'u li Ahkaam As Siyaam' (A complete guide to the rules of
fasting). It has been written as a follow up to the book 'Al Jaami'u li Ahkaam
As Salaah' (A complete guide to the rules of prayer). I have followed the same
methodology in this book. From the beginning of 'Ahkaam at Tahaarah' (rules of
purification) I have followed and specified an effective model and methodology
for the writing of Fiqh. The reader now has at his disposal two complete books
of Fiqh representing a specific model.
This was my intention when issuing these two books and I
believe that they are sufficient to act as a blueprint for the fuqahaa
(jurists) and mujtahideen (Scholars) in their work without the need to expand
the examples. I do not claim that I have produced for the reader a complete
series on Islamic fiqh but I only aimed to present the most correct example and
model for the presentation of fiqh. I believe these two books are sufficient to
achieve this purpose.
The methodology I have used to write fiqh achieves the
following:
1. To present all of the texts from Al Quraan Al Kareem
and the As Sunnah Ash Shareef which relate to an issue (mas'ala) from the
issues of fiqh. I have done this without summarizing the evidences that are in
accordance with the Jurist's own view and which support his Ijtihaad whilst
leaving out all other evidences like a great number of scholars from the past
and present have done.
2. The use of Saheeh and Hasan Ahaadeeth only and leaving
all others categories. This includes all weak forms of Hadeeth, and I mean
those that the Muhaddithoon (Hadeeth Scholars) have agreed upon. These hadeeth
are not allowed to be used by anyone in the deriving of Al Ahkaam Ash Sharee'a
and not even in the merits of actions. As for Ahaadeeth which the Muhaddithoon
have disagreed upon in terms of them being sound or weak, then if it was in
agreement with other sound saheeh and hasan ahaadeeth or if it was alone in its
section then I accepted it. However if it contradicted the saheeh or hasan
hadeeth (in meaning) then it was rejected and left.
3. To show the opinions of the Fuqahaa, Ulamaa and A'immah
in every mas'ala (issue) of the masaa'il to the greatest extent possible. This
enriches the study and it displays the strength of the extracted Ahkaam (rules)
in comparison to others. Its case is like the natural pearls displayed beside
those which are artificial and manufactured and if the natural pearls would be
shown to people by themselves then the people would not have been able to sense
their beauty and excellence or appreciate their value.
4. To work with all the texts (evidences) related to an
issue of the issues and not neglecting any. This is because the reality of the
Nusoos (texts) is that they are not contradictory to each other in origin.
There has never emanated from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ahaadeeth which are contradictory except and only in the
very rare case of Nuskh (abrogation). As for what we see of ahaadeeth that are
contradictory within most of the fiqhi issues then this goes back to the sanad
(chain) and this requires us to look at and explain. The weak forms of
ahaadeeth and by greater reason (baab awlaa) the ahaadeeth al mawdoo'a (missing
link in sanad/chain of narration) need to be distanced. All the weak ahaadeeth
that have no origin to them but have been spread in the books of fiqh, Usool ul
Fiqh need to be separated from those which are sound i.e. saheeh and hasan.
5. Examining the texts and extracting the Ahkaam from them
only occurs in three ways:
i. By bringing of the texts one with another, by
explaining one text with another text, and this is the strongest method to
extract.
ii. Or by explaining a text in accordance with knowledge
of the sharee'ah
iii. Or thirdly by explaining the evidence with firm
knowledge of the Arabic language which is distant from weak and strange
interpretations.
A text is therefore understood by another text, or by
knowledge of the sharee'ah or by submitting to a firm knowledge of language. In
relation to the far off interpretations, regretful explanations and the process
of making the texts agree with the opinion of an Imaam or madhhab, all of this
has to be abandoned from the study of fiqh so that fiqh and sharee'ah maintains
its honour and high status. This is to protect them against any alien or
foreign intrusion or western infiltrations as we have seen in many books of
fiqh particular from authors in our present time.
6. The origin for every Muslim is to be restricted in his
actions by the hukm shar'i. He should commit to it with confidence and
contentment and not to take it and act according to it if he is doubtful in its
correctness. In order to help the Muslim with this peace of mind in what he is
following is hukm shar'i, we have proceeded with this methodology which
incorporates the Ahkaam with its evidences, with proofs of its correctness and
likewise proofs for the error in other opinions.
7. The Sahaabah (rah) used to receive/understand the texts
of al-Quran al-Kareem and the as-Sunnah an-Nabawi in a natural way similar to
how we receive speech between and amongst ourselves. This means that just by
hearing the ayah or hadeeth they would understand the desired meaning straight
from the Arabic and sharp intellect and as such rarely disagreed in the
extraction of the Ahkaam. The taabi'oon and taab'i taabi'oon (first and second
generations after the Sahaabah) followed this same methodology and after them
came the period of the Fuqahaa after them. At that time the madhaahib of fiqh
(schools of thought) were established and what accompanied that of partisanship
and intolerance. Fiqh began to take a new orientation and progressively became
distanced from the natural way to ways that could be described as manufactured.
This means that the manufactured means overcame/dominated the Fuqahaa in their
istinbaat (extraction) process. This was the same for every Faqeeh who followed
a Madhhab or Imaam. His efforts were directed to giving victory to his madhhab
or Imaam. They became involved in forms of debate and 'ilm ul-Kalaam
(scholastic debate) and were affected by it to a lesser or greater extent. In
addition they placed down different Usooli principles, increasing its scope and
complexity so fiqh became manufactured with nobody understanding its precise
details except their respective specialists. With time the process of
receiving/understanding the texts naturally stopped completely. The Istinbaat
(extraction) of Ahkaam became limited to the new breed of fiqh and then even those
who practiced it declined in number gradually until the doors of ijtihaad were
closed.
In relation to this I say that the main reason for the
closing of the doors of Ijtihaad and the disappearance of the mujtahidoon was
due to the fact that fiqh became manufactured with its principles and Usool
which were rarely understood and comprehended by those wishing to learn, let
alone the ordinary people due to its complicated nature and ramifications. The
Ulamaa of every madhhab proceeded to place Usooli principles (qawaa'id
usooliya) specific to his madhhab with all of its branching and ramifications
(additional problems/complications). As a result of the Usooli principles
becoming over complicated, this had ramifications on ijtihaad and the resultant
Ahkaam, to the point where a lot of these Ahkaam were outside the realm of
soundness.
So that fiqh returns to its natural way and away from
these over complications and ramifications and so that the madhabi differences
are lessened and what accompanies it of partisanship and in addition to create
the path to increase the number of mujtahidoon, I have come up with this
model/methodology which I believe is the most sound for the writing of fiqh.
Inspired by the way that the Sahaabah (rah) received and understood fiqh and
distancing myself from the over complications in understanding. Due to this the
noble reader will find that the Usooli principles rarely appear in this model
and what does appear is free of depth or complication.
The difference between the method of the Sahaabah (rah)
and those who came after was that the Sahaabah (rah) use to place the text in
front of them relying on what came to their minds from their understanding of
the Arabic language. In addition to their knowledge and experience of how the
texts lived in their surroundings and circumstances taking the text with
simplicity without complication. As for those who invented the new way of fiqh,
they placed the differing Usooli principles in front of them as their starting
point with all of its branches, complicatedness and details. They then made the
people subservient to these principles. From this many and diverse meanings
sprung out linked to the different branches and ramifications. This is where
the biggest dispute occurred between them (new fiqh people) as every one of
them held on tightly to a specific meaning/wording that he had understood, and
with the hukm which he had extracted according to what he had put down of the
detailed principles specific to him. He strove to defend it and respond it so
as to seek victory for the madhhab of his Imaam. All of this led to a situation
where the study of fiqh produced a lot of varied and different Ahkaam. This
included the Saheeh (sound), Da'eef (weak) and Shaadh (rare/strange). If a
reader looks at the vast quantity of opinions in every single matter it will
give him a head ache. If someone would like examples of what I have stated then
let him look up the fiqhi opinions in the following issues:
When is Laylat ul Qadr?,
Does sleep break the Wudoo?,
What is the middle prayer (salaatul wustaa)?
You will find in these issues and others like them huge
and wide differences especially in the book Fathul Baari of Ibn Hajar Al
Asqalaani and also in the Sharh (explanation) Saheeh Muslim by Imaam Nawawi.
8. In relation to getting rid of the manufactured method
of extracting the Ahkaam Ash Sharee'ah and Ijtihaad and the return to the
natural method which was dominant in the first three generations, those of the
Sahaabah, those who followed them and those that followed them. The only way is
through the devotion/dedication to the texts of Allah's سبحانه
وتعالى book al-Majeed and the noble
ahaadeeth through reading, memorisation and explanation. This is a devotion and
pursuit which is correctly described as the eternal living of the sharee'ah
texts which continues years after years, until we have acquired the ability and
knowledge which the Sahaabah (rah) of the Prophet of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم possessed. This requires a working
relationship with the sharee'ah texts in understanding, extraction and
indications in exactly the same way that we possess the ability that we work
with speech amongst ourselves. We would therefore understand the texts as we
understand our speech amongst ourselves and without this methodology the doors
of Ijtihaad will never be opened. If they were to be opened however, then it
would not lead to the correct form of Ijtihaad which possesses the quality of
endurance and continuance.
At this point I have a very important remark to make and
that is that the Mujtahid can either be a Mujtahid Mutlaq or a Mujtahid in a
Mas'ala as is known amongst the fuqahaa. There exists a great deal of benefit
for fiqh and Muslims in both these forms of Mujtahid.
As for the Mujtahid in the Madhhab, who proceeds with
ijtihaad in accordance to the Usooli principles which were established by their
Imaam. If this Mujtahid gives free reign to his mind and understanding in the
extraction of Ahkaam and he doesn't restrict himself to what his Imaam arrived
at then there is no problem in this and the benefit is like the other
categories of Mujtahid. An example of this is Ibn Mundhir from the Shaafe'iyah.
As for when this type of Mujtahid doesn't exit from the Ijtihaad of his Imaam
and his only aim and goal is to give victory to his Imaam and madhhab then this
form is accused of being away from integrity and the true context and is in
many situations veiled from the sound opinion and correct Hukm. At Tahaawiy
from the Hanafiyyah is an example of this approach.
Here I have another important point and that is that the
Muslims are in need of a radical thought revolution away from imitation in
order to revive and remove backwardness from it. Islamic fiqh is in need of
this creative non-imitational revolution in order to bring it back to life.
This revolution will not take place however by widening the scope of education
in the Islamic Sharee'ah faculties and universities and will never occur in
this way. This is as long as they continue on their current methodology as they
have, including al Azhar University, adopted the manufactured approach and have
stubbornly latched themselves to it. I sent my book (al Jaami'u li Ahkaam is
Salaah) to Al Azhar and received the response that this book is not according
to our methodology!!
Therefore we do not find a university or college of
sharee'ah that graduates Mujtahidoon or even Fuqahaa. They only graduate
Muta'allimoon (people who have studied) and Mutafaqqihoon (students of fiqh).
The difference between the Faqeeh and mutafaqqih is that the Faqeeh possesses a
specific opinion of his own in the fiqhi issues whereas the mutafaqqih doesn't
possess his own opinion and only possesses opinions from other fuqahaa. If we
asked a question in a Mas'ala then he would only respond by saying what the madhhab
of so and so says on such and such in the issue. He vary rarely outweighs
between two opinions and even if he attempts Tarjeeh (outweighing) then the
opinion he outweighs isn't even his own opinion but an opinion of a Faqeeh from
amongst the fuqahaa.
I view that the only real solution is to return to the way
of the Sahaabah (rah) in the way of taking in (the texts) and deriving the
rules. This could be if all of the universities, colleges and centers of
sharee'ah adopted this method and made all curriculums established on its
basis. As long as this does not happen then the situation will remain in a
rigid and lifeless state.
I wanted to mention these eight main points so as to
explain my model and define it as well as to elaborate its aim and need. My hope
is that there will arise from this noble Ummah men who will tread the path of
this methodology returning to the origins of the Islamic fiqh with its beauty
and greatness. They will take the new matters, realities, actions and problems
and derive for them the correct Islamic rulings.
In this book I have stated the number of each hadeeth as
it has been established from its source something which did not occur in the
previous book despite its precision and complete accuracy. This is therefore an
additional benefit making it easier to return back to any hadeeth which the
reader wishes to view its source.
I also committed to writing the name of the person whose
speech was affirmed in the book in the introduction of the narrators in the
case where there were many narrators. This is what I made reference to in the
introduction of the book (al Jaami'u li Ahkaam is Salaah). In this book I have
found it sufficient to cite the established hadeeth number as reference except
in a few instances where there was a need to mention a secondary statement so I
cited a further number.
You will find at the end of the book a reference of all
the sources relied upon for this work. This includes some information so that
any revision will be more efficient and that the truthfulness of the texts
mentioned can be verified. In most of these sources the ahaadeeth have been
ordered as a series of numbers and in some cases according to the subject
matter without citing the number series. So those that have been dealt with
according to the first method I have established the series number (raqm
mutasalsal) and for those of the second method I have cited the page number
where the hadeeth is located. For example (250/4) means the fourth part
(volume) page number 250. However in the case of Al Mu'jam Al Kabeer of Tabari
and Al Musnad of Abi Ya'la Al Moosally the first number represents the part
(volume) whilst the second represents the hadeeth number.
I ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى As Samee'u l Aleem to accept from we what I have spent in
effort and what I have intended to achieve and that this book is met with the
same acceptance as the first book. All praise belongs to Allah firstly and
lastly.
Al –Khamees (Thursday)
28 Jumaada al Awwal, 1423 Hijri
8th August, 2002
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