In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“Is he who payeth adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing, bewaring of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, (to be accounted equal with a disbeliever)? Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only men of understanding will pay heed.” (39:9)
The Splendor of Knowledge in Wisdom.
By Dr. Hamzah Ibn Fayi' Al Fathi.
May Allah preserve him: The Virtue of Fairness.
The great scholar Al Shawkani, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Who passed away in the year 1250 AH.
If you prepare your soul, O student, for fairness,
And for avoiding partisanship toward any school of thought,
Or toward any specific scholar,
And instead regard all people as being on the same footing,
In that they all belong to the Sharia,
Governed by it in a way from which they can find no escape,
Nor can they turn away from it,
Let alone ascend to a position above that,
Where it would be mandatory for anyone in the Ummah to act,
According to the opinion of only one of them,
Or be bound to follow him and accept his word,
Then you have attained the greatest benefits of knowledge,
And gained its most precious treasures.
Among the most noble qualities of a student of knowledge,
Is preparing the soul for fairness and justice toward opponents,
In matters of debate, ijtihad, and critiques.
There is no sanctity for a school of thought, a sheikh, a method, or a book,
At the expense of a proof or an established text,
Or a transmitted consensus.
Infallibility belongs only to the legal proof,
Not to the scholar or the jurist,
Because he is a human being who is sometimes right and sometimes wrong,
And everyone’s opinion may be accepted or rejected,
Except for the occupant of the greatest grave, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
This is the most precious benefit of knowledge:
Fairness and devotion to the truth,
And showing no favoritism to anyone whatsoever,
Because academic sycophancy is a form of partisanship,
And a distancing from the truth,
And a corruption of the path and of ijtihad.
And in the Qur'an:
"Do not follow desire."
If a student is raised upon this,
His religion remains intact and his approach becomes wholesome,
His qualities improve, and his knowledge is blessed.
He will never be a true scholar,
Until he devotes himself to knowledge, casts aside desire,
Lives for the proof,
And follows the path of the Imams who preceded us,
By drinking from the ocean of the Book and the Sunnah,
Rather than the abyss of blind imitation and partisanship.
As Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
"Do not imitate me, nor imitate Malik, nor Al Shafi'i,
Nor Al Awza'i, nor Al Thawri,
But take from where they took."
And the source of their taking is the Revelation,
Not the venerated books of the school of thought,
Nor the reliance upon sheikhs,
Or the repetitive texts studied by students.
And Allah is the One whose help is sought.
How beautiful it is for jurists to read,
The books of those who disagree with them,
And to receive them with respect,
Without partisanship for one school of fiqh over another,
But rather seeking the truth,
And becoming acquainted with the views of their opponents,
Especially since some sectarian books,
Diminish the status or the proofs of others.
Our judge, for all of us, is the Book and the Sunnah,
And the proper application of evidence from them.
Peace.