TO FOLLOW ONE OF THE FOUR MADHHABS It is not permissible for those who have not reached the grade

of ijtihad [1 ] to draw rules from the Nass [2], that is, the Book and the Sunna [3]. Now some ignorant people claim that they have reached the grade of absolute ijtihad, tha t they can draw rules from the Nass and that they no longer need to follow one o f the four madhhabs [4], and they abandon the madhhab they have followed for yea rs. They attempt to refute the madhhabs with their unsound thoughts. They make s uch ignorant, stupid statements as, We will not follow the opinion of a religious man who was as ignorant as we are. Deluded by Satan and provoked by the nafs [5 ], they claim superiority. They cannot realize that by saying so they reveal not their superiority but their stupidity and ignominy. Among these, we see also th ose ignorant heretics who say and write that everybody should read and derive ru les from tafsir books and [the Sahih of] al-Bukhari. O my Muslim brother! Comple tely avoid making friends with such idiots or supposing that they are religious men! Hold fast to the madhhab of your imam! You are free to choose whichever you like of the four madhhabs. But it is not permissible to collect the facilities (rukhsas) of the madhhabs, that is, to unify the madhhabs, which is called talfiq [6]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------GLOSSARY [1] ijtihad: (meaning or conclusion drawn by a mujtahid by) endeavouring to unde rstand the hidden meaning in an ayat or a hadith. [2] nass: (general term form) an ayat or a hadith; an ayat or a hadith that open ly states whether something is ordered or prohibited. [3] sunna: i) act, thing that was, though not commanded by Allahu taala, done and liked by the Prophet (alaihi s-salam) as an ibada (there is thawab if done, but no sin if omitted, yet it causes sin if continually omitted and disbelief if disli ked; the Sunna; i) (with fard) all the sunnas as a whole; ii) (with the Book or Quran al-karim) the Hadith ash-sharif; iii) (alone) fiqh, Islam. [4] madhhab: all of what a profound alim of (especially) Fiqh (usually one of the four-Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki, Hanbali) or iman (one of the two, namely Ash-ari, M aturidi) communicated. [5] nafs: a force in man which wants him to harm himself religiously; an-nafs al -ammara. A negative force within man prompting him to do evil. (Nafs-i ammara). Nafs is ammara by creation, that is, it always wishes evil and harmful deeds to be done. It is reluctant to obey the Shariat. The nafs of a man who obeys the Sha riat and makes progress in the way of tasawwuf becomes mutmainna. It wishes to ob ey the Shariat. [6] talfiq Eclecticism; unification of madhhabs; collecting the permitted, easy things of madhhab