• Www.IslamicBooks.Website by Shaykh Muhammad Sultaan al-Ma'soomee al-Khajnadce Checked, introduced, it's ahadeeth verified and annotated by Shaykh Saleem al-Hilaalee Edited and Translated b·; Daawood ibn Ronald Burbank ~ ~ ~i, ·' f ' "f. 1 ;~ \ /• Al-Hidaay_ah P-UBL-ISH~IN·G: .w& ,D,,I,,S,,T1R11-BUT-ION j~ ,!.?iJ'C.i;a-u Www.IslamicBooks.Website ISBN 1 898649 01 4 British Library Cataloguing in F:;blication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from.the I3riti:.;h Library. First Edition. 1414 AH/1993 CE (0 Copyright 1°93 by Al-Hidaayah All rights rcscrul'd. No part of //,is p11/Jlicatio11 may /1e reproduced in any /a11g11age, ston.:rl in a rrtricml s_11stc111 or tra11s111itted i11 1111y form vr /iy a11y mcr.11s electro11ic. 111ccl,1111ical. plwtocopyi11x, recording or othcnuisc iPit/1()11/ tl,c cxprcs~ pa111issio11 of the copyrisht ml'lll'r. Printed by All Trade Printers. Birmingham. U.K. Typeset and Editing by Al-Hidaayah PublishiAg & Distribution Published by: AI-Hidaayah Publishing & Distribution P.O. Box 3132 13irminghnm United Kingdom B10 YAW Tel/ Fax: 0217531889 Www.IslamicBooks.Website CONTENTS IntrodbuycS tailoeanel m- Hilaalee Biogroaftp hhaeyu thor V ThOeb ligoaftr ieofne rbraictnkotg h Beo ok xiii antdh Se1 11f1onJrau hd gement AuthoIrn·tsr oduction 1 Chap1t Terh Ree aloifEt cy1 1amnaId1 s1l aam 4 Chap2t Berl ind-foolfalM ondwhihnngb . 9 noOtb ligantoRorer cyo mmended Cl,n3p TtehrBe a soifts h Dee eonfl s/inAsmc tion 12 accortdoti hnBego oakn tdh Seu nnah Chap4t eBrl ind-foolfalP oawritniPgce urlsaorn 19 MadBei ndbiynL ga tFeorl lowers Chap5t Weri lilbt e A skeidnt hGer aavbeo wuhti ch 21 MndhlornnbFe o llowed? Chap6t erTs haey itnhgia itt's O bligtaoFt oolrlayo w 23 PartiMcaudlhalrirn sBb a' suepdo Mna tters ofP olitics Ciin7p tAedr- Dehlav.'eet·hsMa atVd ehrhinfbisc ation 25 araeni nnovation Urnpt8c Hr ew hoB linFdollyl Aonwyso Anpea frrto m 30 Alla·Msae hs s�n(g e*ir sA ) s traanyId g norant!! Www.IslamicBooks.Website Chnpter 9 Ibn ul-Hammaam 's Verification that Sticking 32 to a Particular Madhhab is not Obligatory Chnpfer 10 The Imnam who is Followed a11d Obeyed 36 is the Prophet ( ~ ) Chapter 11 Following of the Mndhlwbs has Resulted 37 in Disunity and Disagreements Chnpter 12 The Mndlrlwb of Abu Haneefah is Acting 41 upon the Book and the Szmnah Chnpter 13 The Mujtnhid may be Correct or Incorrect 45 but the Prophet ( ~ ) is Infallible Chnpter 14 The Truth is not Confined within the Opinion 51 of Anyone except Allaah ·s Messenger ( ~ ) Chnpter 15 A very Important Note 54 Chnpter 16 The Ummnh will only be Corrected 58 by that which Corrected its Beginning Chnpter 17 The statement of al-Fakhr ar-Raazee 59 Chapter 18 The Greatest Imaam is Allaah's Messenger 60 Chapter 19 Allaah has Ordered us to Proceed upon 64 the Straight Path Chapter 20 Truth Accepted only From the People 68 of Their own Mndhhab Chapter 21 The Prophet ( ~ ) did not Make it a Duty 72 to Follow a Single Madhhab Glossary 80 Www.IslamicBooks.Website Introduction Verily all praise is for Allaah. We praise Him, seek his help and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allaah from the evil within ourselves and from our evil actions. Whomsoever Allaah guides, none can misguide and whomsoever Allaah misguides. none can guide. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah. alone. having no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. 0 you who believe! Fear Allaah as He should be feared and die' not except as Muslims.l 0 mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord. Who created you from a single person (Aadam) and from him, He created his wife (Eve) and from them both He created many men and women; and fear Allaah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights) and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (i.e. kinship). Surely. Allaah is ever an All~Watcher over you.2 1. Stior.ih A.11-'lmr,1,rn Cl): 1()2 2. Sooriltun-Nis.i,1 (.fr I Www.IslamicBooks.Website c±~$t~1 ;J;_;~r~r~,:&~re;.B ~~ i:_ ~~G;j~~ ~~_;~1~_;:_;~J~~f a_;m~ 0 you who believe! Keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him, and speak (always) the Truth. He will direct you to do righteous deeds and will forgive you your sins. Whosoever obeys Allaah and His Messenger has indeed attained a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-Fire and made to enter Paradise)) To proceed: Anyone who comes across the discussions of the followers of the madhhabs will not doubt that the misfortune of blind following of madhhabs is one of the causes of decline of the Muslims and their backwardness. It has transformed their minds so that they do not think except with the minds of other people. The Imaams and their first students -rahimahumullaah -did not blindly stick to their own opinions like these followers who have forgotten a large portion of the advice given by the Imaams. Thus Shaytaan has caused enmity and hatred between them so that they relit a fire which Allaah had extinguished and in reality, they turned away from the sayings of the mujtahid Imaams and clung onto the hypothetical answers given by late-comers who did not leave anything of the madhhabs except their names. This fact has been understood by many scholars throughout the ages and so they have written about it and done well. But the work of 'Allaamah al-Ma 'soomee - rahimahullaah - Hadiyyat us-Sultaan ilaa Muslimee Bilaad il--Yaabaan (Sultaan's Gift to the Muslims of Japan) is, 1. Sooratul-Ahzaab (33): 70 -71 .II Www.IslamicBooks.Website despite its :::mall size, perhaps one of the most beneficial books written on the sub,cct. I say this due to its excellent style and strength of proofs. to the point that I regard it to be a fatal blow to the misfortune of blind following of madlz/wbs. This fine work has been published a number of times previously and the publishers are to be thanked. However, unfortunately very little explanation was given along with it. Its a/wadeeth were quoted without mentioning their sources or being checked. So it was necessary to produce a new edition containing more easily accessible proofs. particularly when many scholars have requested it. Thus, I have taken pains for which I hope Allaah will reward me on the Day of Judgement and that He will make it beneficial for the worshippers. I have provided all the references for the Qur·aanic aaynahs and prophetic alwadeeth which the author mentioned as proof but did not quote their references from the Book of Allaah and where they were to be found in the reference works of lslaam. the books of the pure 5111111a/J. So I have provided the number of the nayah and which soomh it occurs in. I have also quoted the source for each J,ndccth. preceding that with the ruling about its authenticity, depending upon the work of Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen a 1-Albaanee. when the hndedli is not to be found in either of the two Snliec/is. I have further, wherever possible, provided references for the quotations from the scholars. If I found any disparity. T ,,ffirmed the text as it is to be found in the original source and left the wording .1s quoted by the author. I also noticed that some points neL'ded further explanation and elucidation. so I added small footnotes. I ,1lso nl)ticed some places containing that which was superfluous. so I left it out. If I have done what is fitting and arrived at what is correct. then: 111 Www.IslamicBooks.Website My guidance cannot come except from Allaah, in Him I trust and unto Him I repent.1 If I h;we erred or fallen short, then: I free not myself (from the blame). Verily. the (human) self is inclined to evil. except when my Lord bestows.His mercy (upon whom He wills). Verily. my Lord is Oft-Forgiving and the Bestower of Mercy.2 l ask All,1ah. thL· Hlcssed and Most High. to make this work beneficial to the Muslim~. Those who do not give precedence to anything before Allaah and His Messenger. so that they may unsheath the sword of knowledge. which is: ·Af/1111/, snys ... HisMesse11gersnys ... · And ride upon the back of truth. which is acquiring knowledge along with its proof. Thus expelling from lslaam the alterations of those going beyond bounds. the false claims of the dec~ptive. the misinterpretations of the ignorant and the bigotry of the blind-followers: those who pick and choose from the Qur·aan and divide up their DCt.>11 into sects and bccornc separate groups. I ,1sk tk1t He (Allaah) accepts it and rewards its author. editor and publisher with good. Abu Usc1amah Sc1lccm al-Hilaalec> I. Soor,1'1 I h>,>d (11 ): 88 2. Soor,1h \'011,111 (12): S1 iv Www.IslamicBooks.Website BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR1 • His Time and Environment The worst manifestation of the following of madhhabs appeared in the later ages when blind-following increased and spread rapidly amongst all the people, to the point that hardly a single place was safe from it. From those lands attacked by blind-following of madhhabs were the lands beyond the Tigris where it encamped with all its callousness and encircled its people just as the bracelet encircles the wrist. They believed that a Muslim was he who followed Abu Haneefah -rahimahullaah -and that the Maalikees, Shaafi'ees and the Hanbalees and Ahl ul-Hadeeth were all upon error and misguidance. They said that it was not permissible to marry a Shaafi'ee woman since they are unbelievers since they declare 'I am a believer if Allaah wills.' They considered it obligatory to give pledge of allegiance to a Soofee Shaykh and that the best of them are the Naqshabandees. They further claimed that Ahl us-Sunnah are the Maatureedees and Ash'arees and that other than them are innovators. It is in the midst of this Soofee/Hanafee environment that al-Ma·soomee grew up. • His Ancestry and Birth He was: Abu 'Abdul-Kareem, Muhammad Sultaan ibn Abee 'Abd' llaah Muhammad A wroon ibn Muhammad Meer Sayyid ibn 'Abd ir-Raheem ibn 'Abdillaah ibn 'Abd il-Lateef ibn Muhammad Ma'soom, known as al-Ma'soomee al-Khajnadee. He was born in I. 501,rces for his biography are Bid·a111t-Ta·ass11b il-Madhhabee of Muhammad ·Eed ·Abb. . asee (pp. 274 -275) and M11klttasar Tarj11111alt Haal M11/ra111111ad S11/taa11 which is included in his work H11k11111/laa/r il-Waa/rid is-Samad fet! H11k111 it-Taa/ib 111i11a/-Mayyitil Madad (pp. 47 -96). V Www.IslamicBooks.Website