If One Knows Some Proofs, Is One Still a Follower (Muqallid)?
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
A muqallid is someone who follows without knowing the proof. So if someone knows some of the proofs of the Hanafi madhab then is he still considered a muqallid?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.
When it comes to primary texts (the Quran and Sunna) and legal rulings, one is either:
- a mujtahid, or
- a muqallid.
A mujtahid can make an independent legal deduction from the primary texts. They must follow their ijtihad.
A muqallid (follower) is one who follows the ijtihad of a mujtahid.
There are degrees of followers—from the unlearned to scholars who are muftis but give religious verdicts following the principles and method of a mujtahid imam.
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
