Switching from Shafii to Hanafi...

Text:

One of the brothers asked that:

1. I have decided to switch madhab by the grace of Allah from the Shafii to Hanafi. Many things in the Shafii madhab make my life difficult. I also think that the Hanafi position in these things is the correct one. What do you advice me to do in such a situation?

What Allah has commanded us is to obey Him and to follow His beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace). Madhhabs are means to this end. In fact, the scholars of Usul, such as, the author of Musallam al-Thubut (a leading Hanafi usul work) and others have said that anyone who believes that following a madhab is an end in itself they are in danger of falling into innovation. Because it is not something Allah has made obligatory as an end but rather as a necessary means to fulfilling the end which is to obey Allah and to obey His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace).

Therefore one has to see one’s situation. One should follow the madhab that one can learn and apply best. If one has learned a madhab already then the default is that one stick to it. Why? Because one has some knowledge of that madhab and presumably, if one has acted as one should one knows enough to be able to ensure that one’s worship and practice is correct. Otherwise, one has to see one’s situation. If there’s undue difficulty or one does not have access to teachers or to people whom one can ask ones questions or to means through which one can learn the madhab reliably. Because reading alone is not often a reliable means because the fiqh books are books of law. They are technical and detailed. Most people are not given to the careful reading that would enable them to practice soundly rather the overwhelming case is that we need the teachers to explain things. So one should follow the madhab, ya’ani, which one can learn through reliable teachers, through reliable works and are able to ask questions and get reliable answers. What that is in your situation you would know best.

My advice would be to stick to the madhab that you have unless you don’t know anything about the madhabs yet, that is more precautious.

As for saying that many things in the shafii madhab make my life difficult… The hanafi madhab is not the madhab of the liberals either. In so far as it is also exacting. Yes in many ways the shafii madhab is more difficult because there are more obligations in the shafii madhab, more things are obligatory. However, in the hanafi madhab far fewer things are obligatory. For example, in prayer the shafiis have either 17, 18 or 21 obligatory actions depending on how they are classified. In hanafi madhab, its either 5 or 6 depending on how one classifies things. However in the hanafi madhab, we also have wajib which cannot be left. They do not vitiate validity but they vitiate soundness. We also have confirmed sunnas. In the shafii school if you did none of the sunnas of the prayer ever in your life you are not in of itself be sinful, in of itself. In the hanafi madhab, making it a habit of leaving a confirmed sunna is sinful. So each school is easier in certain ways and in certain rulings and more difficult in others. So which one one follows again goes back to one’s situation.

Whenever one finds difficulties in one’s situation and it’s not just a problem that one cannot readily fulfill one’s desires but one is in situation of difficulty or hardship, in such situation one should seek a fatwa. Ask a scholar and you will find that although the default position in a madhab may be more difficult. When there is a genuine need, or genuine hardship or genuine difficulty, that there are dispensations within the school that are available. Shaykh Amjad Rasheed, hafizahu Allah, his answers on shafii fiqh shows that very clearly. Many of his answers he mentions the reliable position in the shafii school and then after that he also mentions dispensations, other positions within the school that are, though less sound, they are followable. So that will be the way forward.

However, if in ones situation one is unable or unsatisfied with that way then there is nothing wrong with switching to another madhab, ya’ani the madhabs are a means to an end.

Then you asked:

2. How can I learn the essentials of a valid wudu and prayer in the Hanafi madhab?

In the Sunni Path archive, in the hanafi section, you will find several answers on essentials of wudu, essentials of ghusl, the essentials of prayer and these would help. Insha’Allah within the month the “Absolute Essentials of Hanafi Fiqh” will be up on Sunni Path. In that there’s very basic of hanafi fiqh explained. There’s nothing like ‘Reliance of the Traveller” for hanafis. Even for shafiis before one relies on the Reliance, it is best that one go through the Maqasid. If one has a teacher or access to a teacher one should really sit with them and learn, particularly a teacher who is solid in his fiqh. They are available in North America and if one is interested send a question to the shafii fiqh list and you can be pointed to reliable teachers whom you can study with perhaps even online.

In terms of specific books, in the hanafi madhab, there is nothing like the Reliance. However, there are reliable books to learn one’s fiqh from. If you know only English then a book whose language may be somewhat ya’ani dull however its rulings are reliable is ‘Taalimul Haq’. This is available online if you search on google. If you need the link for that please send an email. But if you search for Taalimul Haq and I believe its spelled with ‘T a a l i m u l H a q’, you will find various links on it through google. But if you need the link for that we can send that to you insha’Allah. That’s a reliable book generally. Other books if you go on al-rashad.com there are many good books and generally the books on that site are reliable. It is run by scholars of understanding.

Faraz Rabbani

[Transcribed by Sr. Huma Shah, Hanafi Fiqh Service]