You don't need to worry, Im not going to delete your post just because I have a different opinion than you. I don't think Ive deleted posts for quite a while actually
Didn't you say the following: "
Concerning the middle of Sha3ban, then some posters are glorifying it and mentioning that we should act upon it, praying and fasting and the sort, and know that this is deviation. "
And didn't Ibn Taymiyyah say clearly:
If a person were to pray on the 15th Night, whether alone or in specific congregation, as did groups form the early generations, then this is excellent (فهو أحسن
).
I'd say he was not only glorifying it but also mentioning that we should act on it.
Do you acknowledge that Ibn Taymiyyah did i) acknowledge that the 15th of Sha'ban was a difference of opinion amongst the jurists, and ii) that he held it completely fine for people to pray in it together or in congregation actually saying it was excellent to do so?
See, I'm not trying to prove I'm right or that you're wrong - You can follow whatever you like. I'm just trying to get you to understand that there is a difference of opinion on this night and that if you hold view x (which is legitimate) then you should also tolerate view y (which is also legitimate). That's all.
You see the difference here is that you're not Abdullah Ibn Abbas (r.a.) and I'm not quoting Abu Bakr or 'Umar. (r.a.). Both sides are quoting different scholars and both are using ahadeeth to support our views via the scholars that understood them a certain way. Regarding the half of Sha'ban, there are ahadeeth that are used by both sides and the difference of opinion is about the usage of those ahadeeth - not about following the Messenger (saw) or other than him. Both sides are trying their best to follow the Messenger (saw) albeit they are approaching it in two different ways and this approach is what we're talking about.
We agree on the fundamentals (the 'Usool) but we're differing over the branches (the furu') and we need to remember that and not turn the discussion into differing in regards to the 'Usool. And unfortunetly that's what the mentality I was talking about earlier does - it turns the issue of legitimate differences amongst the furu' into an issue regarding the Usool and that's where the problem lies.
Islamic legal theory, or usul al-fiqh, identifies two spheres of rulings. Issues about which jurists unanimously agree (mujma‘ ‘alayhi), and those wherein they differ (mukhtalif fihi). According to this juristic schema, issues in which there is juristic agreement about - because of the proof-texts being decisive in authenticity, as well as univocal and clear-cut in meaning - are referred to as 'usul, or fundamentals. Contravening them opens a person to legitimate censure, as per the famous hadith: “If anyone of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; if he is unable to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is unable to do this, then with his heart - and that is the weakest of faith.” Issues wherein the actual proof-texts are inconclusive in their authenticities, or equivocal and open to more than one legitimate reading, are known as furu‘; branches.* Here, the jurists of Sunni Islam are guided by the legal maxim: “lā inkār fī masāil al-khilāf - there can be no censure in issues of [legitimate] differing.” One need not spend a great deal of time reading through classical tracts on the duty of commanding good and forbidding evil before encountering an articulation of this famous principle.
Imam Ibn Daqiq al-‘Id, the outstanding Shafi‘ jurist, stipulates: “Scholars only censure what is agreed upon [as being wrong]. As for what is differed over, there is to be no censure of it.”**
*Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmu' Fatawa, 24:172;
**Sharh˙ al-Arba'in al-Nawawiyyah
So this is my point. The jurists have different over thousands of issues from the furu' using the EXACT same evidences - I'm talking about the same EXACT ayaat and ahadeeth and they've reached different conclusions. We need to be able to appreciate and understand why and not claim people are deviated or are insincere towards the sunnah just because they hold a different opinion.
Akhi, my sincere advice to you would be to stop throwing out accusations on those that differ with you. You just accused everyone that holds a different opinion than you on the 15th of Sha'ban as following their desires (again throwing Ibn Taymiyyah under the same banner). Let's not get emotional on these issues.
Of course, and that's why when it comes to the Usool of the religion there is no getting relaxed - thats where the person gets censured. But when it comes to issues of the furu', there is room for a difference of opinion.
I think I'm handling it just well akhi. If you noticed, Im not debating regarding whether the 15th of Sha'ban is legitimate or not, that's not worth it. Rather, Im just trying to get you to understand that there does exist a difference of opinion amongst the Fuqaha. Once that's understood, you can follow whatever opinion you want, I have no problem.
I'm doing exactly that. A year ago, I was throwing out the word bid'ah in regards to the 15th of Sha'ban left and right. But after taking the time to understand why there is a difference of opinion and who held what opinion, it allowed me to see past the fatwas from different websites and understand that the issue is not as black and white as its made out to be.
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