A Muhaddith or A Faqih

A Muhaddith or A Faqih

By the
Muhaddith, Shaykh, Allamaa’
Muhammad Nasir uddeen al-Albaani

Compiled and Translated

By

Abbas Abu Yahya

Shaykh al-Albaani – may Allaah have mercy on him – was asked:

‘What is the connection between the knowledge of Fiqh (understanding of the religion) and the knowledge of hadeeth?  Is it necessary for a Muhaddith (scholar of hadeeth sciences) to be a Faqihi (scholar of Sharia’), or is he just a Muhaddith?’

So he answered:

‘It is necessary for a Faqihi to be a Muhaddith but it is not necessary for a Muhaddith to be a Faqihi, since a Muhaddith is already naturally a Faqihi.

Did the Companions of the Prophet -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam- study Fiqh or not?  What was the Fiqh that they used to study?

It was what they used to take from the Messenger of Allaah -sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam-, so they used to study hadeeth.

As for these Fuqaha (scholars of Sharia’), who study the statements of the scholars and their Fiqh and do not study the hadeeth of their Prophet which is the spring of Fiqh, then it is said to these people: it is obligatory to study the knowledge of hadeeth since we cannot conceive there being a correct Fiqh without knowing, memorizing and authenticating the hadeeth and knowing the weak hadeeth, while at the same time we cannot imagine a Muhaddith not being a Faqihi.

The Qur’aan and the Sunnah are the two sources of Fiqh, of all Fiqh.  As for general Fiqh today then it is the Fiqh of scholars and not the Fiqh of the Book and the Sunnah.

Yes, some of it is present in the Book and the Sunnah and some of it is expression of opinions and Ijtihaad (deriving an opinion from the Book and the Sunnah) but much of what they have opposes the hadeeth because they did not comprehend the knowledge.’

* Taken from: ‘al-Asalaah Magazine’ vol. 7 Dated 15^th Rabi al-Awwal 1414a.h.

He also said the following in a recorded lecture on cassette tape entitled: ‘Haqeeqat al-Bida’ wal-Kufr’:

‘The Sharia’ is not just taken from the texts nor from just one Ayaah or one hadeeth, rather it is all that is collected on that specific issue.  Therefore it is not just obligatory to collect all the texts regarding Fiqh issues so that we can know what abrogates from what is abrogated, the specific from the general, the absolute from the limited and …… and….etc, rather gathering the texts for ‘Aqeedah is foremost by a long way.’

* Taken from ‘Manhaj as-Salafi inda Shaykh Nasir ad-Deen al-Albaani’ p.61