Question:
Assalamualaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu,
I have not made Bayat yet, but am interested. My main reservation is whether or not we are allowed to follow fuqaha who do not follow the Shaykh. I am following the Shafi’i madhhab and am following a specific faqih on many issues, but he does not follow the Shaykh. Can we follow a Faqih whose positions on legal issues (not on tassawuf nor ibadat) may differ from the Shaykh even if the daleel of the Faqih is stronger? What if the positions of the Faqih does not contradict the rulings of the Shaykh, can we then follow the rulings of the Faqih as well as the Shaykh? Since I’m still new to learning about the Tareeqah I do not know if Shaykh Nazim issues many fatawa and thus if this is a relevant question. Jazak Allah Khair
Answer:
Alaykum Salam,
Evidently we are allowed since Mawlana Shaykh Nazim followed the Hanafi madhhab in most issues for as far as we and our elders have known–even though his shaykh in Tariqa, Mawlana Grandshaykh, was Shafii. (Granted, Mawlana Shaykh Nazim does recite the Basmala aloud and he also recites qunut in the Fajr prayer; but in most issues he typically follows Hanafi practice.)
The “strength of the dalil” is often a conjectural matter and you yourself may see the same dalil with different eyes one or five or ten years down the road. In actual practice also, leeway and difference of opinion are part of the knowledge of both fiqh and tasawwuf. Therefore, as Mawlana and your teacher would both want you to, keep an open mind
and keep learning and practicing to your best ability.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
