S A L A F I Y Y A
We will say at the very outset that the books written by the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnat (rahmat-Allahi ta'ala 'alaihim ajmain) do not mention anything in the name of "Salafiyya" or a "Salafiyya madhhab." These names, forged later by the la-madhhabi, have spread among the Turks through the books of the la-madhhabis translated from Arabic to Turkish by ignorant men of religion. According to them:
"Salafiyya is the name of the madhhab which had been followed by all the Sunnis before the madhhabs of Ashariyya and Maturidiyya were founded. They were the followers of the Sahaba and the Tabiin. The Salafiyya madhhab is the madhhab of the Sahaba, the Tabiin and Taba at-Tabiin. The four great imams belonged to this madhhab. The first book to defend the Salafiyya madhhab was Fiqh al-akbar written by al-Imam al-azam. Al-Imam al-Ghazali wrote in his book Iljam Al-awam 'ani 'l-kalam that the Salafiyya madhhab had seven essentials. The 'ilm al-kalam of the mutakhirin (those who came later) began with al-Imam al-Ghazali. Having studied the madhhabs of the early 'ulama' of kalam and the ideas of Islamic philosophers, al-Imam al-Ghazali made changes in the methods of 'ilm al-kalam. He inserted philosophical subjects into 'ilm al-kalam with a view to refuting them. Ar-Radi and al-Amidi conjoined kalam and philosophy and made them a branch of knowledge. And al-Baidawi made kalam and philosophy inseparable. The 'ilm al-kalam of the mutakhirin prevented the spreading of the Salafiyya madhhab.
Ibn Taymiyya and his disciple Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya tried to enrich the Salafiyya madhhab which later broke into two parts; the early Salafis did not go into details about the attributes of Allahu ta'ala or the nass of mutashabih. The later Salafis were interested in detailing about them. This case becomes quite conspicuous with the later Salafis such as Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya. The early and the later Salafis altogether are called Ahl as-Sunnat al-khassa. The men of kalam who belong to Ahl as-Sunnat interpreted some of the nass, but the Salafiyya opposed it. Saying that Allah's face and His coming are unlike people's faces and their coming, the Salafiyya differs from the Mushabbiha."
Answering Al-Albani's Sifah Salaah al Nabiyy
( صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم )
Sayf ad-Din Ahmed ibn Muhammad
Moving the Finger in Tashahhud
With reference to al-Albani's recently translated book "The Prophet's Prayer described from the beginning to the end as though you see it (Sifah Salah-al-Nabee)", al-Albani claimed (pg. 66):
"Further, the Hadith that he would not move his finger does not have an authentic Isnad, as I have explained in Daeef Abi Daawood (175)."
But when I looked this Hadith up in the English Translation of the Sunan of Imam Abu Dawood (1/984, pg. 252) I found that Abdallah ibn al-Zubair (Allah be pleased with him ) said :
"The Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to point with his finger (at the end of tashahhud) and he would not move it."
But lo and behold, this very Hadith has not been listed In "Daeef Ahadith of Abu Dawud's Sunan", by his followers; which means to the user of this list that this Hadith is acceptable to them, and is either of the rank of SAHIH or HASAN to the user of this list! Imam Muslim (Rahimahullah) also reported Ibn al-Zubair (Allah be pleased with him) narrating from his father: "That when the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) sat for supplication, i.e. Tashahhud, he placed his right hand on his right thigh and his left hand on his left thigh, and pointed with his forefinger, and placed his thumb on his (middle) finger, and covered his knee with the palm of his left hand." (Sahih Muslim, 1/1202, English ed'n)
According to the Hanafi, Hanbali and Shafi'i Madhhabs, one should not continuously make supplications with the fore-finger. It is written in the English translation of Fiqh-us-Sunnah, by As-Sayyid Sabiq, (vol. 1, pg. 157): "Wa'il ibn Hajr (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) would place his left palm on his left thigh and knee. He would place the end of his right elbow upon his right thigh and would then close his right hand, forming a circle. In another narration it states, he would make a circle with his middle finger and thumb and point with his index finger, and (Wa'il) saw him moving it to make supplications (related by Ahmad)." Explaining the Hadith, al-Bayhaqi (Rahimahullah) says, "The implication of 'he would move it' is that he would point with it, not that he would continue to move it." This would be in agreement with the narration of Ibn az-Zubair (Allah be pleased with him), who reported, "The Prophet (Peace be upon him) would point with his finger while supplicating, and he would not move it." This is related by Abu Dawud with a Sahih chain. An-Nawawi also mentioned it
(NB - Both Imams al-Bayhaqi and Nawawi were great Shafi'i scholars of Hadith who followed this Hadith of Ibn al-Zubair, besides so many other scholars of Hadith).
Now, there is also a footnote (no 11) by the translator Jamal Zarabozo who said, "In his notes to Mishkat al-Masabih, al-Albani has discussed the Hadith of Wa'il ibn Hajr and of Ibn az-Zubair. He said that the first Hadith has a Sahih chain. The narrators of the latter Hadith (i.e of Ibn al-Zubair) are all trustworthy. Muhammad ibn Ijlan (a narrator in the chain going back to Ibn az-Zubair) has some weakness due to his memory, but his memory was not so poor as to drop to the rank of hasan (a good Hadith). Therefore, the statement recorded by Sabiq that the chain is Sahih is incorrect (i.e only if you accept al-Albani's classification of Hadith); The important words in the latter Hadith are, 'and he would not move it.' According to al-Albani this addition is irregular and rejected (shadh and munkar)."
And I Say: "al-Albani's followers have not said that it is shadh and munkar in their Daeef Ahadith of Abu Dawud's Sunan !"
Again referring to Fiqh-us-Sunnah (vol. 1, pg. 158), Sabiq says: "According to the Shafiyyah, one points with the finger only once, when saying 'except Allah' in the statement bearing witness. The Hanafiyyah raise the finger in the denial part of the Statement (there is no God) and put it back down during the confirmation part (except Allah). The Malikiyyah (see below for the Maliki view) move the finger to the left and to the right until they finish the prayer. The Hanbaliyyah point with the finger every time they mention Allah, as a reflection to the oneness of Allah, and they do not move it."
Another two Hadith on this issue have been related by Imam Muslim (Rahimahullah) in his Sahih: "Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) reported that when the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) sat for the tashahhud he placed his left hand on his left knee, and his right hand on his right knee, and he raised his right finger, which is next to the thumb, making supplication in this way, and he stretched his left hand on his left knee. Another version on the authority of Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) says: When the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) sat for the tashahhud, he placed his left hand on his left knee and placed his right hand on his right knee, and he formed a ring like (Arabic number 53) and pointed with his finger of attestation. (Also) Ali ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'awi reported: Abdullah ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) saw me playing with pebbles during prayer. After finishing the prayer he forbade me (to do it) and said: Do as the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) used to do. I said: How did Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) do? He said that he (the Messenger of Allah) sat at tashahhud, placed his right palm on the right thigh and closed all his fingers and pointed with the help of the finger next to the thumb, and placed his palm on his right thigh." (Sahih Muslim, 1/1203-4, English ed'n)
Read more: Answering Al-Albani's Sifah salaah al Nabiyy (Sall Allahu 'alaihi wa Aalihi wa sallim)
WHO ARE THE AHL AS-SUNNAH WA'L JAMA'AH?
Sayf ad-Din Ahmad
Many people today like to classify themselves as belonging to the Saved Sect (Firqatun-Najiyyah) - Ahl as-Sunnah Wa'l Jama'ah; but do these people really know which is the Saved Sect, from the many sects we have today? The following is an attempt to clarify some misconceptions by way of definitive proofs from the Qur'an and Sunnah, as well as quotes from the profoundly learned Classical Scholars of Islam. Know that there is only one Saved Sect in Islam, and this is the original pristine form of Islam that has been transmitted to us by Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala in his Qur'an, his Rasul (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim), the blessed Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) and the great scholars of Islam (Allah's mercy be upon them all) who have been following their Straight Path for more than one thousand years of Islam's history.
The first question that should be raised is: "What differentiates one sect from another sect?" The answer to this is simple and definitive! Know that the chief characteristic that distinguishes one sect from another, lies not in the differences of opinion that its scholars have attained by making Ijtihad from the sources of the Shari'ah (this leads to the formation of the Madhhabs), but rather the actual belief (Aqeedah or I'tiqad in Arabic) that the scholars and laity of the sect in question are clinging onto - since the founding of their respective sect.
According to the unknown author of the book Belief and Islam (pp. 78-9), the faith of the People of the Sunnah and Jama'ah was spread as follows: "Nowadays, some mouths frequently use the name of "Salafiyya". Every Muslim should know very well that in Islam there is nothing in the name of the Madhhab of Salafiyya but there is theMadhhab of the Salaf as-salihin who were the Muslims of the first two Islamic centuries (i.e; the Companions, their successors and the followers of the successors) which were lauded in a Hadith sharif. The ulama of Islam who came in the third and fourth centuries are called Khalaf as-sadiqin. The i'tiqad (belief) of these honourable people is called the Madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah. This is the Madhhab of Faith, tenets of faith. The beliefs held by the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them all) and by the Tabi'un (Allah's mercy be upon them all) was the same. There was no difference between their beliefs. Today most Muslims in the world are in the Madhhab of Ahl as-Sunnah (i.e; most Muslim's claim to be Sunni's). All the seventy-two heretical groups (see later for the actual Hadith and its commentary) of bid'ah appeared (mainly) after the second century of Islam. Founders of some of them lived earlier, but it was after the Tabi'un that their books were written, and that they appeared in groups and defied the Ahl as-Sunnah.