(Part 13)
The Continuation;
The Second Topic: History of Taqlid (Imitation)
The Second Speech: Imitation in Islam
Among the Companions were great figures capable of deriving rulings and understanding narrations. These were the mujtahids of the Companions. Others among the Companions (who could not perform ijtihad) would follow the opinions of their senior counterparts. For example, the eminent Companion Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud (, himself a scholar and mujtahid, said regarding following ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (:
لو ان الناس سلکوا وادیا و شعبا، و سلک عمر وادیا و شعبا لسلکت وادی عمر و شعبه ( 1422،289)
“If people take one valley or path, and ‘Umar takes another valley or path, I would take the valley and path of ‘Umar.” (al-Qattan 1422 AH, p. 289)
This shows that some Companions did indeed engage in taqleed of their more knowledgeable peers.
Allah the Almighty is the protector of His religion and has left no room for disagreement in the fundamental tenets of faith, acts of worship, and the general principles of Sharia. Differences in subsidiary matters are among the blessings of Islamic Sharia, reflecting its breadth and ease. Disagreements are only invalid when they stem from personal whims or blind prejudice. (al-Qattan 1422 AH, pp. 219–220)
The jurists and senior Companions (disagreed on many secondary issues, often related to ambiguous verses in the Qur’an, hadiths they heard, or their ijtihad when no direct text existed.
During the Companions’ era, many disagreements occurred, and some were resolved with consensus — such as choosing a caliph after the Prophet’s death, dealing with those who withheld zakat, the issue of inheritance from the Prophet, the burial place of the Prophet, compiling the Qur’an, and organizing state records. However, other issues remained unresolved, such as:
Distribution of war booty from conquered lands, Punishment for drinking alcohol, Riba al-Fadl (usury in exchange), Triple divorce, Tarawih prayer, Waiting period for pregnant women, Certain inheritance matters
These unresolved issues led Muslims in different regions to follow specific Companions and practice taqleed. (al-Qattan 1422 AH)
The Third Article: Taqleed After the Era of the Successors (Tabi‘in)
The era of the younger Companions and elder Successors (Tabi‘un) was marked by political strife, which led to major tribulations for the Muslim Ummah. The most severe included the emergence of the Khawarij and Shi‘a sects, and the martyrdoms of Hussain ibn ‘Ali (and Abdullah ibn Zubayr ).
In this period, scholars exerted immense efforts to preserve the Sunnah. They established rigorous methods for collecting hadith, such as: Investigating chains of narration, Critiquing narrators, identifying signs of fabricated narrations, Developing the science of Jarh wa Ta’dil (criticism and accreditation of narrators). As a result of these efforts, the science of hadith was compiled before the science of jurisprudence (fiqh). (al-Qattan 1422 AH, pp. 262–288)