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Fatwa CenterDifferences between Islamic schools
Question
Allaah sent a complete message to the humanity. This message, which was the Quran, which was thoroughly explained by the Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, in a way that left no space for the difference of opinion among the people in any issue. In light of the above, what are the reasons which led to the appearance of different Islamic schools and what is their impact on the individual and on the society in a point of view of upbringing? Also, what are the reasons which led to the appearance of different interpretations of the Quran and their impact on the individual and on the society?
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.
If one looks to the Islamic groups, he will clearly notice that they are the outcome of ideologies, all of which aspire to establish the religion of Allaah on earth. However, these groups differed as to which category of Islam they would start with and which one they should focus on.
Some of these groups are of the view that it is a necessity to focus on turning the heart into a righteous one. The heart is the part of the body which, if it becomes righteous, all the parts and limbs of the body will become righteous as well, but if it is corrupt, all the parts and limbs of the body will be corrupt as well, because it is the monitor of all the body. Therefore, by making the individual righteous, all the society will become righteous. Nonetheless, some other people are of the view that one must focus on establishing a state which will run and govern according to Allaah’s Laws. If this is achieved, then this is the best way of turning the entire nation into a righteous nation. Allaah Says (what means): {[And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give Zakat and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allaah belongs the outcome of [all] matters.}[Quran 22:41].
Another group focuses on turning the belief of the nation to be correct and safe from associating partners to Allaah, and endeavour to make the correct belief be firmly engraved in the hearts of the believers, and finish all forms of associating partners to Allaah.
Therefore, if we take a close look at these ideologies, we will notice that there is a correlation between them and that all of them agree on the foundations and principles of Islam; they only differ in priorities, but this does not affect the essence of religion.
As regards the reason of the appearance of various interpretations of the Quran, there is no doubt that the Book of Allaah contains the treasures of all sciences but the scientists are unable to deduce all of them, so each one tried to deduct what appeared to him.
So some of them focused on the interpretation of the Quran by interpreting some verses by other verses, or by the Sunnah, or by the sayings of the scholars from our righteous predecessors
. The best example of this is the interpretation of At-Tabari and Ibn Katheer.
Others focused on deducing jurisprudence rulings from the Book of Allaah, this trend is represented by Al-Qurtubi, Ibn Al-‘Arabi and Ash-Shinqeeti.
Other interpreters of the Quran are of the view that it is a necessity to focus on the linguistic side of the Quran, this trend is represented by Az-Zamakhshari [in his book Al-Kash-Shaaf] and Abu Hayyaan [in his book Al-Bahr Al-Muheet].
Therefore, we notice that the scholars complement each other, and thanks to their efforts, we have today a precious jewels which are an enrichment to the Book of Allaah. This indeed has great benefits on the Muslim nation.
Finally, it should be noted that the achievements of the above scholars are not infallible. They are humans, so whatever good they did, we thank them for it, and whatever errors and faults they had, in comparison to their innumerable good deeds, are meaningless.
Allaah Knows best.
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