What was the madhab of the Prophet?

In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.

If I say something wrong it is from my ego, and if it is the truth, it is from Allah.


“And hold fast, altogether, by the rope Which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves.” (Qur’an 3:103)

I was approached by someone confused with different rulings of different madhaibs, and wanting to know which madhab to follow. This is one issue that I have struggled with in the past, and it is my motivation to go through the formal education to confirm my answer to it. This issue does not come up when everyone is brainwashed to follow a certain fiqh, and told that praying behind the Imam of another fiqh will invalidate their salah. However, in USA, for example, we interact with Muslims from every part of the world, and these differences come into light. If we are living in a community where there is a Masjid following a certain fiqh, it becomes uncomfortable for others to perform their obligations, and are alienated.

Now, if we pay attention to the above verse, which rope Allah is asking us to hold on to. Can we unbound the rope in four threads and hang on to each. May be. It will weaken the strength of our ropes for sure. Hanafi say that wudu is not broken when we touch our wives, but Shafee say that it does. So, how can the wudu be broken and not be broken at the same time. It is impossible. What they say is that to follow your madhab and you will be guaranteed Jannah. It is a mess. On top of that they claim that unity is not broken, as we all are Ahl-us-Sunnah-wal-Jammah. Wow what a scam. Whatever that term means, it does not mean what Allah call us and that is "believers".

So, what should we follow? Answer is very easy. We should follow the madhab of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). His madhab is what is recorded in the Sunnah. In order for us to enumerate his Sunnah as he followed, we need to setup one fiqh which will be a dynamic fiqh that will accommodate all existing madhaibs and reject the incorrect rulings from all of them. This sounds like a tall order, but it is possible and can be done. Interestingly, I just read my course book on Fiqh, and this is the conclusion Abu Aminah Bilal Philips also reached. So, my conclusion continues to be confirmed by the scholars, and seems to be the only way out of this swamp.

I know what you all thinking. What do we do until this fiqh is setup. Here are some advises for people to follow meanwhile.

- Everyone (including women) should study fiqh and keep increasing their knowledge so one doesn't need to ask anyone for most rulings. If one stays uneducated, they deserved to be treated like cattle.

- While one is increasing the knowledge, a family should follow the fiqh of the local masjid. A local masjid is where one performs majority of their salah and not the far corner masjid which you may prefer.

- Within a family, head of the household ( a man) will be responsible for provide rulings, and family members should follow it, except when it goes against the basic Aqeedah (beliefs). family members can  present counter evidences for non-Aqeedah rulings, but mutiny is not allowed.

- If the local masjid has ruling that goes against the Quran and Sunnah, then one can judge with their ability, they should avoid following that ruling.

- Never use a label to refer to the fiqh one follows, rather the person they refer to for guidance should be mentioned that is alive and accessible. Of course, as one's knowledge grows, one should ween off that scholar.

- If one has a doubt on a local ruling, one should ask the local scholar to provide some evidence which can be read in simple terms. Every human should be able to read and understand basic logic concepts that is required to function as a human. If the scholar is not able to provide evidence, this will be a sign of incompetence, and one should consider finding a better scholar to follow.

- Minor issues within community should be deferred to a local scholar and his ijtihad should be followed, and major issues should be debated by an open forum with all evidences considered (this may be difficult to implement)

- All fiqh ruling should be decided by the Imam of the masjid who leads the salah, and not the shura council or trustees. They are responsible to run the masjid and not capable to rule in fiqh.

- If one was born in a different fiqh then the local masjid, then he should either move or surrender to the rulings of locality.

- If it becomes clear to one that the local ruling is a major deviation from the madhab of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). However, it has to be an irrefutable evidence and has to be brought to the local Imam first, and if he refuse to change the ruling due to Taqleed, one should abandon the Imam for that ruling. This is because authority of Imam is weak in USA, but authority of Father is strong in the family. If the authority becomes stronger in a community, and it is part of a global Islamic rule, one should follow the local Imam on all non-Aqeedah rulings.

- Once the common fiqh is setup, all the above rules are cancelled, and one should participate in the dynamic fiqh and select local Imams as strong authorities to implement and debate the common fiqh in the weekly or monthly fiqh reviews. Imam should do a weekly review during the Jumaa Khutba.

I will be following these rules, and I advise others to follow these rules, and avoid fitnah in the community as much as possible, but never compromise your deen (Islam) to the madhab (fiqh) of your forefathers, who may be mistaken.

JazakAllah Khairin

A muttabi and not a muqallid.
AbuArman Jumani