Do the Differences Between the Legal Schools Render Our Worship Full of Errors?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam aleikum,

Why do schools of fiqh contradict themselves to the point that something valid in one school is invalid in another school like wudu after touching a woman for example?

If we say that there is valid opinions that could be wrong, wouldn’t that imply that we have a religion were error exists? Why have truth and error been mixed up in Islam and became labelled as “valid opinions”?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.

All of the legal schools are valid and sound to follow, and correct according to their own, specific legal theory and methodology. The differences found between them are a mercy, as the scholars have mentioned, and it is difficult to understand the intricacies without spending some time learning how the general principles are applied and how law is derived.

I’d recommend reading: (1) The Differences of the Imams by Shaykh Zakariyya Kandhlawi, and (2) The Influence of the Noble Hadith Upon the Differences of Opinion Amongst the Jurist Imams by Shaykh Muhammad Awwamah.

Please also see: A Reader on Following Schools of Thought (Madhabs)

And Allah alone gives success.

wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani