The Taalib ul-'Ilm is the student of knowledge who studies the Deen of Islam in order to increase his awareness and understanding of the wahi whilst referring to the 'Ulamaa in order to comprehend and become acquainted with the wahi. Therefore such a person does not blindly follow the 'Aalim or 'Ulamaa that he refers to, rather he exerts effort in order to understand the wahi for which the hukm is based upon. The Taalib ul-'Ilm is of varying degrees and based upon his level will ask the 'Aalim either for the hukm shar'ie (the divine rule) or he may ask for the daleel shar'ie (the divine evidence) or he may ask for al-Istidlaal ush-Shar'ie (ask for the opinions of the four Imaams and make his own deductions) for a particular issue.
Today we find that there are some people who although claim to be Taalib ul-'Ilm and from Ahl ul-Ittibaa' are in fact staunch blind followers of certain 'Ulamaa.
They have little understanding of the Deen and therefore follow certain 'Ulamaa blindly whilst attacking those Taalib ul-Ilm who try to seek knowledge in order to follow the wahi if they disagree with their shuyookh. This is the disease of hizbiyyah (partisanship) coupled with taqleed (blind following) and is becoming common among certain people. This type of taqleed not only exemplifies the ignorance of the person carrying it out but also creates hatred and divisions between Muslims as a result of it, creating a situation whereby if my sheikh says it is haraam then anyone else who disagrees is wrong and must be condemned. This blind following of personalities, whilst not being able to follow or understand the evidence results in further ignorance and deviation from the path of Ittibaa'.
Likewise, there are some people who follow certain 'Ulamaa and are stubborn in their following of them, they follow these personalities due to their reputation, status or the level of knowledge they attained without care for what is said. This blinds them into accepting all that these people say whether with evidence or without, even if it clearly contradicts the divine texts.
We must understand that the name, status or qualification of a person means nothing unless what he says is based upon the text (Qur'aan and Sunnah) in accordance with the understanding of the Sahaabah, only then is it hujjah (binding) for us to follow. There may be some 'Ulamaa who were great in the past and did much good for the Deen yet they erred and deviated from this path, our obedience cannot be blind to such people as we always assess what they say on the basis of the Qur'aan and Sunnah.
We follow an 'Aalim due to what he says based upon daleel so long as it is in accordance with the understanding of the Sahaabah; and if he were to retreat or change his opinion based upon his desires, ijtihaad or understanding without hujjah from the Sahaabah, then we do not accept this from him as our obedience is to Allah and nobody else. Likewise if an 'Aalim was to change his opinions due to some difficulties or afflictions (e.g. arrest and imprisonment) we do not accept these changes from him unless they are based upon firm established evidence because our following was not to him, rather it was to the wahi that he carried and conveyed.
We therefore call upon all students of 'Ilm and du'aat (da'wah carriers) to reflect upon these few words and to remember that we are commanded to follow the Qur'aan and Sunnah in accordance to the understanding of the Sahaabah, and if anyone was to go against this then there is no obedience to this person whoever it may be. Argumentation and polemics based upon ignorance and blind following is futile and a waste of ones energy. The common enemy that we face is attacking our Ummah and fighting against our Deen with full force, the Tawaagheet are dominant in our lands and are causing destruction day by day. How then can we sit back and debate areas of ijtihaad or issues of difference among the 'Ulamaa when we all know that the enemy is advancing.
How can we continue to attack one another simply because we may disagree with certain opinions when there are much greater things to be dealt with? Gear all your efforts towards speaking up against the tyrants and the Tawaagheet that have waged war against us and our Deen, preserve your energy to strike the kufr and shirk whenever and wherever you come across it by exposing it, educate your Muslim brothers and sisters by calling them to the path of Ahl ut-Tawheed and leave your differences aside for Allah to account us for.
"And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah (i.e. this Qur'aan), and be not divided among yourselves…" [Ali Imran 3:103]
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