Keys To Fiqh | T.me/K2Fiqh | #K2FiqhResponses3

A follower on our FB page asked,

“Quick question: were the Sahabah and Tabi’een before Abu Haneefah (the first of the four Imams) following Fiqh of Hadeeth or Fiqh of Madhhabs?…Sure, I’m using those terms in succinct form in reference to your original post. By the former, fiqh derived directly from the revelatory texts and the latter Fiqh learned from one of the madhhabs.”

Response: Jazaakallah Khayran, I appreciate your comments. 

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you understood my post. I believe that there is no difference between the terms Fiqh of Dalil or “Fiqh of Hadeeth” as you termed it with your written definition above & “Fiqh of the Madhaahib”; they are one of the same. The Fiqh of the Madhaahib all return back to the Fiqh of the Sahaabah & their understanding of the revelation. The Sahaabah رضي الله عنهم learned directly from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم how to comprehend the Texts & the Madhaahib are an extension of that understanding.

As al-Haafidh al-Iraaqi stated in his Alfiyyah in Mustalah, line #794:

وهو (أي ابن مسعود) وزيد وابن عباس لهم … في الفقه أتباع يرون قولهم 

That ibn Mas’ud, Zayd bin Thabit & ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهم had followers in fiqh who learned their method in comprehending the texts. 

Ali Ibn Al-Madini stated (in fath al-Mugheeth by As-Sakhaawi 3/105)

 انتهى علم أصحاب رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وسلم – من الأحكام إلى ثلاثة ممن أخذ عنهم العلم، وذكرهم. فهم كالمقلدين، وأتباعهم كالمقلدين لهم

Meaning, that knowledge of the Ahkaam held by the Companions of Allah’s Messenger ends at three (Ibn Masud, Zayd, Ibn Abbas). Knowledge was taken from those three…their followers were like blind followers of them. Meaning, the knowledge of Fiqh of Dalil that was performed by the Sahaabah was passed down until the development of the Madhaahib. 

If you know Arabic, then I would suggest reading the beginning of Alaam al-Muwaqieen أعلام الموقعين عن رب العالمين by Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله to see how the Fiqh of the Sahaabah was transmitted through time to the different Islamic cities and then the Madhaahib.

During the time of the Sahabah the fiqh schools were ascribed to cities. You had the school of Basra for example, the school of Madina, etc. Then came the imams who mastered that fiqh and then subsequently that fiqh was attributed to them.

Abu Hanifa took his knowledge from Ahl al-Kufaa which was the Fiqh taught by Ibn Mas’ud رضي الله عنه. 

Malik learned the Fiqh in Madina which was established by Zayd ibn Thabit, ibn Umar رضي الله عنهما. He also learned from Abu Hanifa’s student Muhammad bin Hasan.

Shaafi’ee learned Fiqh from Malik. He also learned the Fiqh in Makkah which returned back to the Fiqh of Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما and other Sahaabah as well. He also traveled to other places too like Egypt, etc.

As for Imam Ahmad, ibn al-Qayyim said about his fiqh: 

من تأمل فتاواه وفتاوى الصحابة رأى مطابقة كل منهما للأخرى ورأى الجميع كأنها تخرج من مشكاة واحدة حتى إن الصحابة إذا اختلفوا على قولين جاء عنه في المسألة روايتين. 

“Whoever ponders over (Imam Ahmad’s) religious verdicts and the Sahaabah’s religious verdicts will see agreement between the both of them. He will see that it is as if those (fatawa) came from one lantern. So much so, that if the Sahaabah differed into two statements, Ahmad would place 2 narrations for that issue.” (You can find this in Vol 1. Pg. 58, Daar Aalam al-Fawaaid edition just before he spoke about the usul of Imam Ahmad’s Fataawa.)

The Imams’ students and their students came after and developed + refined the Madhaahib for centuries. They utilized the Imam’s Usul & teachings that went back to the Sahaabah’s understanding of the texts. 

Imam ash-Shaatiby stated in al-Muwaafaat under the discussion of Ijtihaad & how deductions are made from the texts: 

كابن القاسم وأشهب في مذهب مالك وأبي يوسف ومحمد بن الحسن في مذهب أبي حنيفة والمزني والبويطي في مذهب الشافعي فإنهم على ما حكي عنهم يأخذون أصول إمامهم وما بنى عليه في فهم ألفاظ الشريعة ويفرعون المسائل ويصدرون الفتاوى على مقتضى ذلك 

“…Like ibn al-Qaasim & Ashhab in the Maliki Madhhab

Abu Yusuf & Muhammad b. Al-Hasan in the Hanafi Madhhab 

Al-Muzany & al-Buwayti in the Shafi’ee Madhhab

They – based on what was related by them – took the Usul & what was based off of those Usul in understanding the wordings of the Shareeah (directly) from their (respective) imams & developed subsidiary issues then issued religious verdicts based on that.” (5/126, Mashur Salman’s taqheeh) 

So in conclusion, the Mahaahib utilized those same rules taught by the Sahaabah to understand Fiqh issues. They are one of the same. To make a difference between the two is a mistake. Wallahu Alam.

There is a difference between *how* scholars of fiqh and hadith explain hadith. Meaning what type of information each scholar chooses to expound on in their works. The scholar of hadith will mention more fawaaid while the Faqeeh will only discuss what is related to his subject. This does not negate anything mentioned above.

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✍️ Abu Awzaa’ee Abdus-Salaam al-Makki al-Hanbali 

🗓 16th Sha’ban, 1441 (4/9/2020CE)

🕋 Makkah al-Mukarramah حرسها الله

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