By Shaykh Muhammad Taha bin Yusuf Karaan
Question:
The Sunni viewpoint that leadership after Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) had to be decided upon through consultation, and you use two verses of the Qur’an to prove their point. However, it is an undeniable fact that the second khalifah, ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with him) was appointed by the first khalifah, Abu Bakr (Allah be pleased with him) and not chosen through some method of consultation. This indicates to me that Abu Bakr went against the Qur’an by not consulting the people, and ‘Umar also went against the Qur’an by allowing himself to be put into a position of power in an illegitimate fashion, i.e. appointment by Abu Bakr. How do you reconcile their action with your theory that the matter of leadership must be decided by consultation with the community?
Founder of Asha’irah
The virtues of the day of ‘Ashura, its importance and the reason for its significance have already come to your knowledge. The reason is that Musa (peace of Allah be on him) and the Bani Isra’il were rescued from Fir’awn and his army on this day. As a token of gratitude, Musa fasted on this day. In emulation, Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) also fasted on this day and instructed the Muslims to do the same. While the compulsion to fast on this day has been waived, the fast has still been retained in the Shari’ah as an optional but highly commendable deed. It is perhaps because of this same incident that people are encouraged to spend freely on their families on this day. Allah knows best.
The ‘ulama of Deoband have surpassed the rest as far as preservation of dīn, opposition of rivals and the reformation of the Muslim Ummah is concerned. They always held fast to the Shari’ah and were never influenced by external factors. The reality of the matter is that, had it not been for Dār al-’Ulūm Deoband, it would be very unlikely that we could have had this opportunity to witness Islām in this pure and pristine form.
Regarding Imam Abu Hanifah’s allegedly having studied under Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, please be informed as follows:
Where ever we are and where ever we go, we need to beseech Allah Ta’ala that He makes us a key for opening the doors of virtue and locking the doors of vice (مفتاح للخير ومغلاق للشر). Shaykh Sayyid Abu ‘l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Nadwi (Allah have mercy on him) once visited our madrassah in Moa during our student days. He stated,
