Question:
Assalamoalaikum dear Sheikh,
I hope you’re well.
What are we to make of the remarks that the respected scholars Ahmed ibn Idris, Ibn Arabi, Yusuf Qaradawi were mujtahid mutlaqs, and we can follow their personal madhabs?
JazakAllah khair Sheikh
Answer:
Alaykum Salam,
Their rank of mujtahid mutlaq is disputed. I asked two of the senior living fiqh teachers, Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bugha and Dr. Nur al-Din `Itr, whether Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi met the requirements of a mujtahid mutlaq and they repeatedly declined to answer. Furthermore, such personal views do not have the clout, authority or rigor of the mass-transmitted madhhabs, and following them represents on the whole a parting of ways with “the
Greatest Mass” (sawad al-a`zam) enjoined upon us in the Shari`a. At the very least it is not a cautious nor a precautionary path. But (i) in isolated matters, and (ii) only by a `alim, then yes it is permitted, and in no other case.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
