IJMAA OF EVERY ERA IS A HUJJAH

tfahmAssalamu `alaykum. Lately i've been coming across some really weird principles and new notions which are widespread among some groups and brothers. Though this opinion is held by some dhahiree scholars (even which is arguable as to what exactly they mean as they seem to believe in ijmaa` but say it is not authentically established after the sahaaba and they also seem to take ittefaq as a hujjah- nevertheless) , this is in contrast to the majority a very odd opinion. And likewise In my last two articles i tried to keep it short and refute similar odd notions


1) those who deny ahl adh-dhikr from being `Ulema "as well"

Link: http://fahmalhadeeth.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-scholars-are-ahl-dhikr.html

2) those who accuse the Muhadditheen of concocting every single usool.

Link: http://fahmalhadeeth.blogspot.com/2014/12/defending-muhadditheen-from-forging.html

This article is a similar small effort to explain that After Qur`an was-Sunnah - Ijmaa` is the biggest of hujjah. So much so that many of the past scholars ; in fact a very large group of them said that even in the face of a khabar ul-waahid (a type of hadeeth) or a dhanni or ikhtalaafi hadeeth- Ijmaa` takes precedence 

Note: All translations are rough but retaining the context of the quotes of scholars and i haven't inserted the `arabic script to keep it short . This compilation is a mixture of my notes , study and fatawa of Shaykh Zubayr `Ali Zai rahimahullah found in Maqalat 5 and Shaykh Fawzan hafidhahullah 

I will not go into the defintion, the differences in it and etc. This is for the Muslims who don't put their thinking and intellect above the Ahlus sunnah of 14 centuries and accept Ijmaa` as a proof to some era atleast. As for those who don't accept it at all then they are from the deviated individuals about whom the prophet sallalahu `alayhi wa sallam said :

".....that whoever opposes the jama`ah then kill him [Saheeh Muslim]
and Ibn Hajar Asqalani rahimahullah explained that

"...a denier of Ijmaa` is included in the one who seperates the jama`ah"
[Ref: Fath ul-Bari 12/204] ,

And some of the salaf have made takfeer upon such a man , as will be shown below. So in this article i am directly going to jump to showing the validity and hujjah of ijmaa` in every era biidhnillahi ta`ala . 

Defending the Muhadditheen from forging self concocted principles - A reply to the fans of Mawdudi and ilk

INDEX 

1. Why this article 

2. Ten Summarized points to briefly (shortly) refute the allegation (those who intend to read more in depth can scroll down to the following sub-topics , otherwise this sub-topic is enough i believe to convey my message) 

3. A collection of some Verses  which are used in developing the sciences of hadeeth 

4. A collection of some Ahadeeth which are used in developing or extracting the sciences of hadeeth 

4.1) The Proof of sincerity


4.2) The Proof of adhering to the chain of narrators

4.3) The proof of taking only from the righteouss

4.4) The Proof of studying the biographies of the narrators

4.5) The proof of studying the birth and death date of narrators

4.6) The Proof of not lying when transmitting narrations

4.7) The Proof of refuting false narrations and beliefs using a variety of means

4.8) The Proof of refuting and criticising the narrators

4.9) The proof of abandoning the claim of one who is untrustworthy and speaks out of personal grudge

4.10) The Proof of defending the Pious scholars even if by disparaging those who deserve it. 

5. Concluding statement

6. Relevant reads

THE SCHOLARS ARE AHL DHIKR

This is a very quick brief compilation, quoting some of the muffassireen and grand `Ulema of the Muslims Ummah of different backgrounds who have used and understood the term Ahl-Dhikr in the verse " so ask the people of dhikr..." to mean or imply as `ulema or scholars . 

Now the topic of the obligation of studying under scholars or their virtues and the multitudes of qur`anic verses in this regards have been addressed or compiled here in both English and Urdu along with Arabic quotes. 

Link: http://the-finalrevelation.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-obligation-and-importance-of.html

Likewise , a detailed article warning and refuting the people from self interpreting this deen in any way whatsoever has also been drafted here: 

Link: http://the-finalrevelation.blogspot.com/2014/02/warning-from-self-interpretation-of.html

So this article will only quickly share quotes with rough or no translation for students to understand that Ahl dhikr ALSO means `Ulema (as some brothers belonging to certain fan clubs of Mawdudi or others seem to deny) 


Firstly a quick brief comprehensive explanation of the verse " so ask the people of dhikr ..if you do not know" 

the below passage in short explains that there are various opinions among the salaf with regards to this verse and can be divided into two main groups 

1- who say ahl dhikr here in "accordance" to the asbaab an-nuzool (causes for the revelation of this aya) are the jews and christians . (this is further divided into the believers among the jews and christians and so on and so forth) and they also do not deny that ahl dhikr also means scholars 

2- the other party says this means both the above one as well as scholars.

تفاسير بعض السلف لأهل الذكر أنهم أهل الكتاب أي أهل التوارة والإنجيل ، وهم العلماء بها وبما فيها لأن المقصود من السؤال وهو الجواب لا يتحقق إلا منهم دون سائر أهل الكتاب .
وهذا تفسير ابن عباس ، وتلميذه مجاهد بن جبر ، وسياق الآيات يساعدهم على اختيار هذا القول فيما يبدو لي .

وعبدالرحمن بن زيد بن أسلم يذهب إلى أن أهل الذكر هم علماء المسلمين ، حيث قال : نحن أهل الذكر ، ثم استشهد لصحة تفسيره بقوله تعالى : إِنَّا نَحْنُ نزلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ ) وقرأ( إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِالذِّكْرِ لَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ ) ... الآية. وذهب كثير من المفسرين المتأخرين إلى هذا القول .

لكن الآيتان مكيتان ، وقريش لن تصدق المسلمين فيما يقولون لو سألوهم وأجابوهم ، فالذي يظهر أن قول ابن عباس ومجاهد هو الصحيح في تفسير هذه الآية . وهو أن المقصود بأهل الذكر هم علماء أهل الكتب السابقة .

غير أنه يصح الاستدلال بهذه الآية على أن أهل العلم بعلمٍ من العلوم يجب أن يرجع إليهم في ذلك العلم ، وهي من هذا الوجه أشبه بقاعدة قرآنية ، لكن السؤال عن المقصود بها في هذه الآية ابتداءً عندما خوطب به قريش حين نزوله والله أعلم .

وقد كتبت هذا دون مراجعة للتفاسير على سبيل المدارسة .

Some quotations from the Muffassireen and shuyukh quoting our aslaaf and as well as their explanations for ahl dhikr implying towards `ulema from various books of theirs