Thirdly: Evidence of its allegory from the consensus.
A consensus by the nation of Islam among the companions‒may Allah be pleased with them all‒, the followers, the competent interpreter Imams and the other Muslim scholars after them, to date and until Allah inherits the earth and what is upon it, on the allegory of the Sunnah and the necessity to cling to it, bite on it by the back teeth, refer to it in arbitration, the necessity to apply it and follow its guidance in all aspects of live of the Muslims. None entered into controversy in this stark reality, but a group among whose alienation from the consensus of the nation does not count them among Kharijites and Rafidis, and revived their doctrines among the advocates of atheism in our era.
Imam Ash-Shawakaani said: "The confirmation of allegory of the pure Sunnah, its independence with the legislation of regulations, is a religious necessity, and none disagrees in that but he who has no luck in the religion of Islam." (1).
Imam Ash-Shaafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "I have not heard of anybody of ordinary attribution or attributed himself to knowledge- disagrees on the fact that Allah made it compulsory to follow the order of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and submit to his rule: in that Allah - the Almighty – did not make for anyone after him, but to follow him, and that no statement is binding, in all cases, except by the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger, and that whatever else beyond them succeeds them, and that Allah imposed upon us, and upon those after us and before us, to accept the information from the Messenger of Allah at once."(2).
He also said: " people agreed unanimously that he to whom the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was made clear: he must not leave it for whatever a person among the folk may say." (3).
These words from Imam Shaafi'i embodied certain matters:
The first: That, following the command of the Prophet and be content with his ruling, is a duty.
The second: That, no statement is binding, in all cases, except by the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and whatever else succeeds them.
The third: That Allah has enjoined on those in the era of Shaafi'i, and those after him and before him: acceptance of information from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
Ibn Taimiyah, the Sheikh of Islam, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "let it be known that none of the imams universally accepted by the nation, would deliberately contravene the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, in a matter pertaining to his Sunnah, minute be it or great; they are agreed with certitude on the necessity to follow the Apostle, and that every person among people is taken from his words and cast aside, except the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
But, if to one of them was found a saying, which was preceded by an authentic Statement contravening it, he must have a good excuse for casting it aside, and all the totality of excuses are three categories:
One of them: his non-belief that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said it.
The second: his non-belief that that issue is meant by that saying.
The third: his belief that that ruling is abrogated (4).
Yes, there are those who attribute themselves to knowledge, and deny the allegory of the Sunnah on its own merit. But, if we searched into his affair, and unearthed the depths of his secrets, we found him one of three:
The first of them: A man infiltrated into the religion and not a believer, he is rather a heretic concealing his apostasy and shows Islam to effect misconceptions in its principles, aspiring to plot against it and its folk, undermining its foundations and demolishing its basis. While he fears to openly challenge the Muslims in their faith and the Quran, which is its basis and the basis of all of its evidence – so he comes to them from another side, which is challenging the Sunnah which, without it, the book would not have been understood; its provisions and laws would have been disrupted, and thus its existence becomes as nothing, and would be a toy in their hands, they interpret and explicate it according their purposes and whims, claiming that they are able to understand it, demonstrating adherence by this saying of the Almighty and the like: (Nothing have we omitted from the Book) [Al-An'am/38] says: (and We have sent down to you the Book explaining all things) [An-Nahl/89].
That was the truth intended for falsehood; it embodied the whole law, and it is the basis for all its laws and provisions, and we will show later on‒Allah willing‒that this does not produce for them what they intend from falsehood and aspire to invalidate the allegory of the Sunnah.
And the second of them: A man who showed his apostasy openly and unveiled the mask off his face, and that is as one might say: "Gabriel made a mistake with the Message to Mohammed , peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, the Prophet is fact was Ali ‒may Allah be pleased with him.
And the third of them: A safe and secure man seeks to arrive to the truth, and to worship his Lord in the proper way, but is of naive mind; opinions draw him right and left, forward and backward.
The demons of the atheists and the heads of the heretics‒"Those who pretend to stick to the religion, have affection for it and defend it"‒ allure him to their corrupt opinions and false doctrines, with the sharpness of their tongues and false manifestations of righteousness, and provide him with what they call arguments and evidence, and cover truth with falsehood claiming the preservation of the religion and its liberation from the doctrines of innovators. So, he takes those views from them in good faith and safety of intention, believing its truth and strength of its similitude, calling to it, diligent in defending it, unaware of what is therein of wrong and heresy, and the resulting evil and depravity, and for a certain reason it was said: "A sane foe is better than an ignorant friend."
There is no doubt that people like these, their contravention does not affect holding a consensus of the competent interpreters on the allegory of the Sunnah, and the necessity to embrace it, until it became of the issues known from the religion, by necessity.(5).
(1)- Irshaad Al-Fuhool 1/158.
(2) – I'laam Al-Muwaqqi'een 2/364.
(3) - Ibid 2/361.
(4) – Raf' Almalaam 'Anil-A'immatil-A'laam pp. 22-23.
(5) – Allegory of the Sunnah p. 343-345.
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