An Islamic scholar in my town said Imam Ibn Hajar & Imam Nawawi are innovators, citing some evidences from Fath ul Baari to justify his stands. An example he gave is that Imam Ibn Hajar did some explanations to the saying that Allah has Face, describing it as mercy etc. Please what is your stands?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah are fair-minded in judging others; they do not regard people more highly than they deserve and they do not undermine their position. Part of being fair-minded is recognizing mistakes made by scholars and virtuous people, but also thinking positively of the person and praying for mercy for him. Another part of being fair-minded is warning against his mistakes lest anyone be confused by his status into following him in his error. Ahl al-sunnah would not hesitate to judge the one who goes against the Sunnah deliberately as being an innovator and misguided.
In recent times there have been those who criticized Imam Ibn Hajar and Imam al-Nawawi, and ruled them to be misguided innovators! In some cases this folly has reached such an extent that they said that their books, Fath al-Baari and Sharh Muslim, should be burned!
This does not mean that they did not make some mistakes with regard to some issues of sharee’ah, especially with regard to the attributes of Allaah, may He be exalted. Our scholars have commented on these errors, explained them and refuted then, but at the same time they prayed for forgiveness for them, praised them when they deserved it, prayed for them, and advised others to benefit from their books. This is the fair-mindedness for which Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah are known, unlike those who judged them to be misguided innovators and called for their books to be burned, and unlike those who quoted their words as evidence as if they were revealed words and regarded what they said as truth concerning which there is no doubt. We will quote what we can of our scholars’ words so that the Muslim can judge fairly and with knowledge about these two imams.
1 – The scholars of the Standing Committee were asked:
What is our attitude concerning the scholars who interpreted the attributes of Allaah in a way different from the apparent meaning, such as Ibn Hajar, al-Nawawi, Ibn al-Jawzi and others. Do we regard them as imams of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah or what? Do we say that they were mistaken in their interpretation or that they were misguided in that?
They replied:
Our attitude towards Abu Bakr al-Baaqillaani, al-Bayhaqi, Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-Jazwi, Abu Zakariya’ al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar and others like them who interpreted some of the attributes of Allaah in a way different from the apparent meaning, or referred the matter to Allaah and did not discuss it, is that in our opinion they are major Muslim scholars by whose knowledge Allaah benefited the ummah; may Allaah bestow abundant mercy upon them and reward them greatly on our behalf. They are among Ahl al-Sunnah in that in which their opinions were in accordance with the views of Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them) and the imams of the salaf in the first three generations, to whose goodness the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) bore witness, and they were mistaken in their interpretation of the texts which speak of the divine attributes and they differed from the salaf of the ummah and the imams of Ahl al-Sunnah (may Allaah have mercy on them), whether that has to do with attributes connected to the Essence of Allaah or attributes connected to His actions, or some of that. End quote.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Qa’ood.
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (3/241).
2 –Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked:
With regard to the scholars who made some mistakes about ‘aqeedah (basic tenets of faith), such as the divine names and attributes, and others, we come across their names in the university when studying. What is the ruling on praying for mercy for them?
Shaykh: Such as whom?
Questioner: al-Zamakhshari, al-Zarkashi and others.
Shaykh: al-Zamakhshari with regard to what?
Question: With regard to the divine names and attributes.
He replied:
Whatever the case, there are people who belong to a specific group whose ideas are based on innovation, such as the Mu’tazilah for example, among whom is al-Zamakhshari. Al-Zamakhshari was a Mu’tazili and he described those who affirm the divine attributes as likening Allaah to His creation, and he regarded them as having gone astray, so he was a Mu’tazili. Hence the one who wants to study his book al-Khashshaaf, which is a commentary on the Qur’aan, must be careful about what he says concerning the divine attributes, but with regard to eloquence and literary style he is good and one may benefit a great deal from his book. But it is dangerous for the one who does not know anything about the divine names and attributes. But there are scholars who are known to be good and who did not belong to any specific group of innovators, but in some of their words there are some of the ideas of innovators, such as Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani and al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on them). Some foolish people malign them completely in all aspects. I was even told that some people say that Fath al-Baari should be burned because Ibn Hajar was an Ash’ari. This is not correct. As far as I know, there is no one who served Islam in the field of hadeeth as these two men did. I believe that Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, has accepted their work, and the evidence for that is that their work is widely accepted by the people, the seekers of knowledge and even the common people. Nowadays the book Riyaadh al-Saaliheen is read in every gathering and it is read in every mosque, and the people benefit from it greatly. I wish that Allaah would make one of my books like that; everyone benefits from it in his home and in his mosque. So how can it be said of these two that they were misguided innovators and it is not permissible to pray for mercy for them or to read their books, or that Fath al-Baari and Sharh Saheeh Muslim should be burned?! SubhaanAllaah.
Who could have served Islam and the Muslims as these two men did unless Allaah willed it, so I say: May Allaah forgive al-Nawawi and Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani, and those like them through whom Allaah benefits Islam and the Muslims. Say Ameen to that. End quote.
Liqaa’aat al-Baab il-Maftooh (43/question no. 9).
3 – Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan (may Allaah preserve him) was asked:
There has arisen a difference of opinion among seekers of knowledge about the definition of the innovator. Some of them say that he is the one who says or does bid’ah, even if no proof is established against him, and some of them say that it is essential to establish proof against him, and some differentiate between the scholar who is a mujtahid and those whose principles are contrary to those of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah. Among these opinions is the view that Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi were innovators and that we should not pray for mercy for them.
He replied:
Firstly: It is not appropriate for beginner seekers of knowledge or others of the common folk to dabble in labelling people as innovators or evildoers, because that is a serious matter and they have no knowledge or understanding of it. Moreover this stirs up enmity and resentment among them. What they should do is focus on seeking knowledge, and refrain from speaking of that in which there is no benefit, and which is in fact harmful to them and others.
Secondly: Innovation (bid’ah) is that which has been introduced into Islam that is not part of it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces anything into this matter of ours that is not part of it will have it rejected.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari. If he does something that is contrary to Islam out of ignorance, then he is excused for his ignorance, and he is not judged to be an innovator, but his action is still regarded as an innovation.
Thirdly: If a person makes some mistakes in ijtihaad that are similar to the mistakes of other scholars, such as Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi, and what they said concerning the interpretation of the divine attributes in a manner other than their apparent meaning, he is not to be judged as an innovator, rather we should say that these are mistakes that they made, but we hope that they will be forgiven because of the great services that they performed for the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), for they are great imams who are trusted by the scholars. End quote.
Al-Muntaqa min Fataawa al-Fawzaan (2/211, 212; question no. 181).
4 – Shaykh Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqallaani and others of their ilk, it is wrong to say that they were innovators. I know that they were Ash’aris but they did not intend to go against the Qur’aan and Sunnah, rather they were confused and thought that they following the Ash’ari creed and their confusion stemmed from two things:
1 – They thought that Imam al-Ash’ari said that, when in fact he only said that in the past and later recanted.
2 – They thought that these views were correct but they were not correct. End quote.
From tape no. 666 Man huwa al-kaafir wa man huwa al-mubtadi’
May Allaah have mercy on these two imams, al-Nawawi and Ibn Hajar, and forgive them for their mistakes.
Islam Q&A
[Adapted from: http://www.islam-qa.com/index.php?ref=107645&ln=eng
Adaptation done with respects to grammars, fonts, paragraphing, etc.]
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