Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalamualaykum waRahmatullah,

1.Please can you tell me under which circumstances a person may change his Imam, i.e. A Shafi`i follower wanting to become a hanafi. Are there any restrictions on this.

2. How should this transfer take place? Is it just through intention in the mind?

3. If a person changes his Imam, can he carry on performing the Salat in the same way, as long as he performs the fardh actions as stated in any of the 4 Madhabs?

4. Are actions such as RafiedDain (raising hands before and after ruku etc. part of a specific madhab or are these just taken from proof of hadith. For example can a hanafi also carry out Rafieddain?

May Allah reward you,

Wassalam. 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

How to change madhab?

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Q-1: Please can you tell me under which circumstances a person may change his Imam, i.e. A Shafi`i follower wanting to become a hanafi. Are there any restrictions on this.

Q-2: How should this transfer take place? Is it just through intention in the mind?
No matter what madhab or maslak a believer may choose to follow; the Imaan or Articles of Faith of a true believer can never change! Iman is a thing completely different to the madhabs! Imam Shafei, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and all the other great scholars of Islam did not come with a new religion, whereby a change of Iman was required to follow any of their schools of thought! They were all true believers, and never ever did any of them differ on the issue of Imaan or Articles of Faith, which are six:

Belief in Allah Subhanah

Belief in all His appointed Messengers

Belief in all His Revealed Books

Belief in the Angels

Belief in the concept of the Hereafter

Belief in the Divine ‘Qadr’ or Decree of Allah Subhanah.

Thus if one who follows the Shafei School of Thought, and feels that the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifa on a matter of ‘Fiqh’ or Islamic Jurisprudence is closer to the command of the Quran and Sunnah; there is absolutely no harm in accepting the opinion of Imam Abu Hanifa.

The question of changing a believers ‘Imaan’ does not arise when he chooses to follow a particular School of Thought!

Q-3: If a person changes his Imam, can he carry on performing the Salat in the same way, as long as he performs the fardh actions as stated in any of the 4 Madhabs?

Q-4: Are actions such as RafiedDain (raising hands before and after ruku etc. part of a specific madhab or are these just taken from proof of hadith. For example can a hanafi also carry out Rafieddain?

There is absolutely no difference of opinion in the ‘fard’ or obligatory matters, especially where the five obligatory ‘salaats’ are considered in the four recognized madhabs!

The difference might be in some small matters of ‘fiqh’ or Islamic jurisprudence; and if one chooses to take the opinion of one of the Imams above the other because he believes it is closer to the command of Allah and His Messenger (saws); there is absolutely no harm. Thus it does not matter if one prays with his hands folded or straight, or one practices ‘rafadain’ or not, etc.; for these are not considered the obligatory acts in prayer. If one follows any of the schools of thought of the respected Imams and believes that the opinion of the Imam is the closest to the command of Allah and His Messenger (saws); his prayer will be considered valid and acceptable in the sight of Allah Subhanah, Insha Allah.

The important thing is to obey and follow Allah and His Messenger (saws), not the madhabs!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan