AL-MUSTANAT AL-MU'TAMAD

Al-mustanat al-mu’tamad. The author, Ahmad Ridâ Khan al-Barilawî, as an ’âlim in the Hanafî madhhab, shows that ’Alî al-Qârî’ (d. Mecca, 1014/1606), who was also a Hanafî, was wrong and had no authority in Islam, and defends and praises al-Imâm as-Suyûtî, who belonged to the Shâfi’î madhhab. The ’ulamâ’ of Islam have always done the same and defended the right, paying no attention to the difference of madhhabs. The upstart reformers, however, attack the Ahl as-Sunna by attributing the groundless stories in the books of their lâ-madhhabî friends and the slanders in the books of the enemies of the Ahl as-Sunna to the Ahl as-Sunna. And, with a view to blemishing the scholars of fiqh and the most valuable books of the madhhabs, Rashîd Ridâ calls on such a person as ’Alî al-Qârî’, who was as excessive as to say “disbelievers” about the blessed parents of our master Rasûlullah (sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam), as a witness for himself.

A poem:

You were created from a drop of water, don’t forget!

Never hold yourself equal with scholars!

Listen to what ordered Mustafâ!

Respecting scholars is respecting me!