IMAM – GREAT PRIMARY & EXPERT OF HADITHS ARE MADZHAB
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings
According to Imam Hambali, at least one Madhhab Imam has memorized the Qur'an and mastered 500 thousand hadiths. The Imams of the Madzhab can be said to have lived 2-3 generations after the Prophet. So the teachings of Islam are still relatively pure. Not too deviant.
Imam Malik is Tabi'it tabi'in. While Imam Shafi'ie is a student of Imam Malik and teacher of Imam Hambali. Imam Syafi'ie memorized the Qur'an at the age of 7 years. He memorized the book of Hadith Al Muwaththo at the age of 10 years. It is estimated that he has mastered more than 1 million hadiths which God willing is purer than now. From the Qur'an and Hadith which they mastered as well as the worship practices of the tabi'in/tabi'it tabi'in, they compiled a guide to fiqh as it is today.
So if more than 1000 years after the death of the Prophet there are those who try to do what the Imams of the Madhab did while they do not necessarily memorize the Qur'an and master more than 1 million hadiths and can no longer see the worship practices of the tabi'in / tabi'it tabi 'in (Muslims who live 1-2 generationsafter the companions of the Prophet) and consider their group to be more "nunnah" than the Imams of the Madhhab, that is a lie.
In fact, many Imams of Hadith are of the same sect as
Imam Bukhari
Muslim Imam
Imam Nasa'i
Imam Baihaqi
Imam Turmudzi
Imam Ibn Majah
Imam Tabari
Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani
Imam Abu Dawud
Imam Nawawi
Imam as-Suyuti
Imam Ibn Kathir
Imam adz-Dzahabi
Imam al-Hakim
All of them belong to the Shafi'ie school of thought
So it would be wrong if there are groups who are not hadith experts who feel superior to the hadith experts above and choose not to have a school of thought and try to compose their own Fiqh.
Often people have the wrong perception in viewing the schools of jurisprudence. It is as if the sects are fragments of the ummah to contradict each other in all respects.
In fact, the emergence of this school can be said as a means to make it easier for people to understand sharia texts. Because not everyone is able to draw legal conclusions. Not everyone is able to perform ijtihad according to the rules.
Imam Bukhari is also a madhhab
Do not think that the madhhab is only for ordinary people, even the great scholars are also madhhab. In the book of Al-Imam Ash-Shafi'i Bainal mazhabaihil Qadim wal Jadid, Dr. Nahrawi Abdussalam writes that among the followers of the Shafi'i school is Al-Imam Al-Bukhari, a hadith expert whose book is the most authentic in the world after the Qur'an.
Al-Bukhari is indeed a hadith expert and the most critical in selecting hadith. However, he is not an expert on ijtihad who maintains his own law to the level of an absolute mujtahid. In the matter of drawing legal conclusions, he uses the methodology used in the Shafi'i school. Thus he is one of the great scholars who have a school of thought, namely the Shafi'i school.
Imam Bukhari learned Shafi'i fiqh from Imam al Humadi, a friend of Imam Shafi'i who studied fiqh with Imam Shafi'i while in Makkah al Mukkaramah.
Imam Abu 'Ashin al Abdadi in his book "Thabaqaf" explains that Imam Bukhari also studied Fiqh and Hadith from Za'farani, Abu Tsur, and Al Karabisi, all three of whom were students of Imam Shafi'i.
In the book "Faidhul Qadir" syarah Jamius Shaghir in juz I also explained that Imam Bukhari took fiqh from al Haimidi and other friends of Imam Shafi'i.
Shaykh ad-Dahlawi mentions in Al-Inshaf fi Bayani Asbab al-Ikhtilaf "Including this group (followers of the Shafi'i school) is Muhammad bin Isma'il al-Bukhari. Indeed, he is one of the followers of Imam Shafi'i. Among the scholars who say that Imam Bukhari belongs to the Shafi'iyyah group is Shaykh Tajuddin al-Subki. He said, "Imam Bukhari studied religion from Imam Shafi'i. He also postulated about the inclusion of Imam Bukhari in the Shafi'iyyah group, because Imam Bukhari has been mentioned in the Tabaqat Shafi'iyyah book."
Therefore, most scholars attribute him to the Shafi'i madhhab in the field of Fiqh.
There was also among the students of the As-Shafi'i school of thought who later advanced to the point of being able to create their own istimbath methodology, so that he later founded his own school, namely Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. Was As-Shafi'i angry that his student founded his own school? He commented, "I left Baghdad and there is no one more faqih than Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal."
If only the number of sharia texts were only 6,000 verses from the Quran plus 5,000 authentic Bukhari hadiths, of course it would be very easy for everyone to become religious. But know that the texts of the Shari'a are much more than all that. Al-Quran is only 6,000 verses, but what about the hadith of the Prophet? Is the hadith only authentic if Bukhari alone says it? Of course not, because Imam Bukhari is only one of the hundreds or thousands of muhaddits in this world. It is a big mistake to think that only the hadiths of Bukhari are true and that all hadiths other than those contained in the authentic books must be rejected.
This is only in terms of the number of sources of sharia texts, even though the issue of religious law is not solely determined by texts, but further than that, each text still has to be investigated for its strength, then compared with one another.
Why should it be?
Because there are so many sharia texts that at first glance differ from one another, not only in their editorial but in terms of their essence. Imagine, there are two texts that are both authentic, both are listed in Sahih Bukhari, but one says it's haram and the other says it's halal. If so, what shall we say?
Of course it requires an in-depth study from all sides, as well as special abilities in doing so. At least the person conducting this study has the ability to perform ijtihad to a certain degree. And there must be strong logic to be able to say the final conclusion, whether the law is halal or haram.
Then to whom do we leave this problem? Is there a board of experts who want to do it thoroughly, thoroughly and completely?
The answer is, it is the scholars of these schools who have contributed greatly to carrying out the 'mega project'. And they -thank God-- are pious people, experts, experts, geniuses and sincere, because they never ask for payment.
The period of development of the major schools of jurisprudence began in about half a century after the death of the Prophet SAW, namely since the year 97 Hijriyah. It is marked by the birth of the first Imam of the Madhhab, namely Abu Hanifa, who has succeeded in combining the arguments of the Qur'an and Sunnah in accordance with the logic of legal reasoning. Then followed by Imam Malik, Imam As-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal rahimahumullah. They are all teachers of Muslims, because they are the ones who have been instrumental in carrying out legal isitmbath from the Qur'an and Sunnah, so that they can describe Islamic laws in detail, detail, complete, even covering all aspects of life.
In fact, they have laid the foundations of legal istimbath, which later became the capital as well as a model for all scholars in the world to do so. It can almost be said that there are no scholars who are able to carry out different legal istimbath, except using one of the methods they have pioneered.
That's why their four schools of thought have survived for thousands of years, and even managed to become an eternal scientific discipline throughout the ages.
Differences in Madzhab
But what's interesting, although each has a method of legal istimbath that is sometimes different, but actually the interpersonal relationship between them is very close. Far from the picture of Christian religious sects that actually kill each other. They actually learn from each other and develop each other's teachers and students. And most importantly, no one insults the opinions of teachers or students. Everyone is very respectful, not just small talk, but straight from the heart.
As for the difference of opinion between them it is very possible to happen. Didn't even in the time of the Prophet SAW, the companions often disagreed with each other in drawing legal conclusions. What are the good deeds of the companions lacking? But in matters of opinion on the issue of ijtihad, an Umar may not agree with the ijtihad of the Prophet Muhammad, except when revelation is revealed.
Even the prophets sent by Allah, did not escape from differences of opinion in legal matters. They often have different points of view, even though they both receive revelations from Allah.
Including the angels who are infallible, it is narrated that they also like to have different opinions. For example, in the case of entering heaven a criminal who has killed 100 lives. The angel Rahman wanted to take him to heaven, but the angel of doom wanted to take him to hell. Angels can have different opinions among themselves.
So if the companions may have different opinions, the prophets often have different opinions, it is even possible for the angels to have different opinions, it is very human if the priests of each school have special privileges in drawing legal conclusions on millions of items of sharia texts.
All were greatly influenced by the background of the priests' lives, including their socio-cultural habits, the availability of raw materials, and even the findings in the field of science and technology.
No one is the most authentic
Perhaps the question will arise, if these schools exist and their existence is acknowledged, then which one is the most authentic?
All answers are authentic, in the sense that all of them are the result of extraordinary ijtihad by the scholars, whose validity has been guaranteed. It can be said that all of them are authentic and all of them are true. Any Muslim has the right to belong to one of the schools of thought, or to take one opinion from the many opinions of each school.
We are like entering a giant hypermarket, where it is filled with various necessities which of course have been selected. There is a wide variety of goods with various brands and vendors available. Of course all have passed the selection and trial. Each of course with its own characteristics and features. It's just our taste that decides. And we don't need to impose our personal tastes on others. Because everyone's tongue is not the same, so also the needs of each person are not the same.
But what if there are schools that are not authentic or even deviant?
Of course it would naturally be eliminated from the historical stage. In the past, there were not only those 4 schools of thought, but dozens and even more. But by natural selection, only those 4 schools of thought managed to survive.
If we compare it to the hypermarket earlier, consumers already know which products are of high quality and which are just 'cheats'. Soon goods that are of less quality will not sell well in the market and eventually will not be produced anymore.
But can we change schools or take opinions at random?
Actually Rasulullah SAW never stipulates to us that if you have asked person A, then don't ask person B anymore. His command is to ask people who are in accordance with their expertise. Even if there are a lot of people, it doesn't matter. In fact, the more alternative answers, the better. Because we can do a comparison of all the answers.
With the hypermart logic above, it is perfectly permissible for us to buy goods from different manufacturers, which are important according to our needs. There is no obligation to only buy from one manufacturer.
Although there is also no prohibition, someone can feel comfortable with one brand and not want to replace it with another brand. So starting from clothes, vehicles, food, including his electronic devices, all come from the same manufacturer.
So Islam allows a person to stick to one school only, if he is willing and wants it. But do not let his personal taste is forced on others.
Isn't this difference in sects often the trigger factor for division?
Instead of fussing over differences in views between schools, we are actually very happy and benefited greatly from the different views of various schools of thought.
Because the Islamic world is very wide, stretching from the western end of Morocco to the eastern end of Marauke, there must be various kinds of differences in the conditions of society. And all of that definitely requires the right sharia answer.
With the intellectual treasures inherited from the founders of that school, we can easily solve many problems. All of them are legal and correct, it's just a matter of dealing with various types of problems.
Only those who are too layman and lack good insight, who want to fight with fellow Muslims just because of differences in sects. We really love that there are still people like that. For example, as soon as he saw his brother praying that was not the same as the way he prayed, he was immediately scolded and cursed, even accusations of heretics were repeatedly leveled at him. Even though the knowledge possessed is only limited to one or two references, but his demeanor and style are like a royal mufti. Nauzu billahi min zalik.
Padahal meski seandainya di dunia ini hanya ada satu sumber nash syariah saja, misalnya hanya ada Al-Quran saja, pastilah umat Islam tetap berbeda pendapat dalam menarik kesimpulan hukum.
Padahal kita punya jutaan sumber nash syariah, dgn beragam kemungkinan nilai derajat keshahihannya, dgn beragama esensi kandungan materinya, dgn beragam redaksinya, semuanya hanya akan sampai kepada satu titik, yaitu perbedaan pendapat.
Kalau setiap perbedaan pendapat harus ditanggapi dgn cacian, makian, tuduhan ahli bid’ah dan seterusnya, ketahuilah bahwa semua itu justru mencerminkan kedangkalan ilmu para pelakunya. Sama sekali tidak menggambarkan keulamaannya.
Oleh:Ust. Ahmad Syarwat Lc & Ust. Agus nizami