THE IMÂMS OF THE FOUR MADHHABS AND OTHER SCHOLARS (I)

There is only one true path regarding the knowledge of i’tiqâd [belief; the tenets to be believed]. This is the Madhhab of (Ahl as- Sunnat wal-jamâ’at). Four great persons caused us to learn the path of Muhammad ’alaihis-salâm without changing, distorting it. They showed the true path to all the Muslims in the world. The first of them is Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa Numân bin Thâbit. He is one of the greatest Islamic scholars. He is the leader of the Ahlas Sunnat. The second is Imâm Mâlik bin Anas, the third is Imâm Muhammad bin Idrîs Shâfi’î, the fourth is Imâm Ahmad bin Hanbal (rahmat-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în). Today, anyone who does not follow one of these four imâms is in a great danger. He has deviated from the true path. In this book, we have communicated the issues on namâz [ritual prayer] according to the Hanafî Madhhab. We have taken excerpts from the books of great Hanafî scholars and simplified them. Two disciples of these four imâms reached a very high degree in the knowledge related to îmân [belief; faith]. Hence, the madhhabs in i’tiqâd are two. The îmân which is in accord with the Qur’ân al-karîm and the hadîth-i sherîfs is the one reported by these two persons. These two persons spread the îmân knowledge of the Ahl as-Sunnat which is the party who are saved from Hell. One of them is Abû Mansûr-i Mâturîdî, and the other one is Abûl Hasan Alî Ash’arî.

These two imâms communicated the same belief. There are some minor differences between them; however, these differences are not important. They are the same in fact. The scholars of Islam are praised in the Qur’ân al-karîm and the hadîth-i sherîfs. In an âyat- i karîma, it is declared, purporting: “Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?” In another âyat- i karîma, it is declared, purporting: “O Muslims! Ask and learn what you do not know from those who know!”