Answered by Shaykh Musa Furber
Sidi Faraz I’m certain Shaykh XYZ stated the Hanbali position is to make sincere tawba and don’t worry about qada prayers…
I do not find Sheikh XYZ listed in any books of students of Imam Ahmad (Allah be pleased with him and them), their students, and so on, up until this very day. So shall we give Sheikh XYZ’s word concerning the Hanbali madhhab precedence over what the madhhab’s mujtahids have said, such as Imam Ahmad himself, Ibn Al-Jawzi, Ibn Qudamah, Al-Mardawi, Al-Hajjawi, Mar`i bin Yusuf, Al-Buhuti, Al-Ba`li, Al-Safarini, and virtually every single Hanbali scholar other than Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah (Allah have mercy upon them all)?
Shall we just take this quote without context at face value and declare it the official position of the Hanbali madhhab, or shall we see what the reference books and living scholars of the madhhab have to say?
If someone wants to know the position in the Hanbali madhhab used for fatawa they go to: Kashshaf Al-Qina`, Al-Raud Al-Murbi`, Sharh Al-Muntaha (all by Al-Buhuti), Dalil Al-Talib (Mar`i bin Yusuf), or Nail Al-Ma’arib (Al-Taghlabi). If they want to list opinions in the madhhab then they go to: Al-Mughni (Ibn Qudamah), Al-Furu` (Ibn Muflih), or Al-Insaf (Al-Mardawi). Otherwise they must remain silent, regardless of how famous and knowledgeable they may be in a different madhhab.
We all need to remember the two basic principles that we were supposed to get drilled into our heads that first hear we sat in lessons with our mashayakh
1. When quoting: use what is authentic
2. When making a claim: provide evidence
I have stated what is to be found in the books of the Hanbalis and I have stated what one of two Hanbali muftis here in Damascus has said. So, shall we take Hanbali fiqh from its reference works and living scholars, or shall we take it from someone whose expertise lies elsewhere? I don’t know about you, but when I need a tooth pulled I go to a dentist, even though I have a plumber next door.
This position that these people are having so much trouble over is well known to be one of the personal preferences of Ibn Taymiyyah (Allah have mercy upon him). You won’t even find it mentioned in most basic reference books of Hanbali fiqh.
If today’s great scholars cannot show respect for the expertise of others, how do they expect their students to ever learn it?
Wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.
wa al-salamu `alaykum
–musa
Faraz: The following is taken from the Hanbali fiqh list:
Bismillahi Al-Rahmani Al-Rahim
Q: I’d like to know what the hanbali position is on missed prayers. I know that the hanafis, shafi’is and malikis say one has to make up all missed prayers. I HEARD that the hanbalis say one doesn’t have to as long as tawba was done. Is that true? In either case, can you please offer daleel as to the how or why the madhab came to it’s position?
Another question, a bit off topic, the previous question is more important though.
Do hanbalis take rulings from Ibn Taymiyyah? What about Ibn Qayyim? Was Ibn Qayyim as controversial as his teacher, Ibn Taymiyyah? Why do “salafies” use Ibn Qayyim as an example for not following a madhab when he was hanbali
A
wa `alaykum al-salam
In sha Allah I will give a few quick notes here, and within a few days will write something longer concerning the issue of making up missed prayers. It is an issue that keeps coming up, so it is only fair that someone does a proper job at it.
The official position of great scholars such as Al-Khirqi, Ibn Al-Jawzi, Ibn Qudamah, `Ali Al-Mardawi, Al-Hijjawi, Al-Buhuti, Mar`i bin Yusuf, Al-Ba`li, and others (Allah have mercy upon them all) is that missed prayers must be made up, and that they must be made up in order unless it has been forgotten or the present prayer’s time becomes constricted.
Ibn Taymiyyah and a few early scholars (Allah have mercy upon them all) were of the opinion that missed prayers do not need to be made up, since the person has become an apostate by intentionally missing the prayer and just as a kafir is not required to make up prayers when he enters Islam, neither is an apostate. I have yet to see something convincing that shows that this was ever used as the official position in the madhhab at any time, rather it seems to be a personal opinion that some scholars held.
We can see that the vast majority of Hanbali scholars, both pre-Ibn Taymiyyah and post-Ibn Taymiyyah, rejected this position. How, then, can someone follow it and claim to be following the Hanbali madhhab? The people after Ibn Taymiyyah who rejected it (Allah have mercy upon him and them) were not against Ibn Taymiyyah, rather they had a great deal of respect for him. But they were first and foremost Hanbalis, and so when they weighed his opinion against the principles of the school they rejected it.
In sha Allah I will look into this issue in depth.
And Allah knows best.
The Hanbalis in the next few generations after Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim Al-Jarwizzah (Allah have mercy upon them all) took the opinions of these two scholars and they reconciled them (for want of a better term) with the madhhab, weighing which opinion was strongest with respect to the foundations and principles of the school. Sometimes the position they took was taken, and sometimes it was not. Ibn Qayyim (Allah have mercy upon him) is just as controversial as his teacher, if not more so since he was the one who recorded and systematized Ibn Taymiyyah’s ideas. And whether or not people want to admit it, these two controversial figures did have an influence on Islam that will always be with us; some of the influences were good, and some of them bad.
And Allah knows best.
As for why the Salafis like Ibn Qayyim (Allah have mercy upon him), it is probably because he is a scholar that the people they do not like (the vast majority of the scholars of Ahl Al-Sunnah) have virtually left these two scholars alone and have said many negative things about them–some justified, some perhaps not. But you should be aware that what the Salafis relate from these two people is not always complete. Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim (Allah have mercy upon them both) were two of the great supporters of taswwuf, something that very few Salafis seem comfortable with.
Also, Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim (Allah have mercy upon them both) saw themselves as reformers, which is something the Salafis like to position themselves as.
And Allah knows best.
wa al-salamu `alaykum
–musa