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Fatwa CenterPledging allegiance to a given Shaykh
Question
Yesterday I was talking to ones of person, he was stressing on the Peers (bayah), he said unless one is not submitted to one peer, he will not achieve the joy of Eemaan (belief). My question is how far is true and needed to be under one peer. If a Muslim is not under one peer or person guidance, is that ok for him to be separate and get knowledge from scholars and practice?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
It is not correct to say that whoever does not pledge his allegiance to a given Shaykh will not taste the sweetness of faith, as we have not heard that any scholar of our righteous predecessors
said so. It is not an obligation on a Muslim to pledge his allegiance to a given Shaykh or to affiliate with him. If he does not do any of this, he is not sinful and this does not affect his faith. Rather, one could be sinful if such allegiance to a Shaykh is done like the way the innovators do it. For more details on allegiance, please refer to Fatwa 83352.
As regards seeking knowledge by attending the circles of scholars then this is what is required. It is said: ‘Whoever learns from a book [and not from a teacher] then his mistakes are more than his correctness/accuracy.’ It is for this reason that it is urged to seek knowledge from the scholars. It is also religiously required to keep company with the scholars and righteous people to learn and acquire from them what is in accordance with the Sunnah.
Allaah Knows best.
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