30. And [we believe and are certain] that he [Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)] is the seal of the prophets; Imaam of the God-fearing; leader of the messengers and Habeeb [beloved] of the Lord of all creation.
Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani: This belief is established in many ahadeeth that the Ummah has received with acceptance. The explainer has mentioned some of them (on p. 169 of the fourth edition), so do refer to it, as it benefits knowledge and certainty, for indeed he is certainly, sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the leader of the messengers.
And it is with sorrow that I say that this belief is not believed by those who give the condition for the hadeeth that must be believed in that it reaches the status of mutawaatir. So how would those who categorically state that ‘aqeedah is not taken except from the Qur’aan, like Shaykh Shaltoot
[1] and others, believe?
And I have refuted all of them, from twenty angles in my book ‘The Obligation of Accepting the Hadeeth al-Aahaad in ‘aqeedah and a Refutation of the Doubts of those who Differ’.
[2] At the end of the book, I cited some twenty examples of established ‘aqeedah contained within the authentic ahadeeth that would be necessary for them to reject and this belief [mentioned in this point of at-Tahhaawiyyah] is one of them. So refer to it, for it has been printed and is important.
[1] Mahmood Shaltoot – from the masha’ikh of Azhar, from 1958 to 1963, the year in which he died. His biography is in al-A’laam (7/173) by az-Zirikli.
Shaykh Shaltoot has a good word that may (!) oppose that which is famously attributed to him (that which our Shaykh mentioned on him here), for in his treatise ‘Bid’ah, its causes and harms’, p. 30 with my footnote under the section Causes of Innovation under the heading ‘Giving the Intellect the Benefit of the Doubt in Legislation’ and said, ‘Indeed Allaah gave the intellect a limit to which it can comprehend and did not give it the capacity to comprehend everything…’ He then said, ‘…and much innovation is introduced in this manner – by the ruling of the limited intellect, may of the affairs of the unseen that have been reported in authentic ahadeeth are rejected – like the Siraat [Bridge], the meezaan [the scales], the gathering of the people, bodily bliss and punishment, seeing al-Baari, and other than these that the intellect cannot grasp or understand, from this, the descent of Isa bin Maryam, about which the ahadeeth are authentic…’
Shaykh Ali: So you see, may Allaah preserve you, that his speech with regards to matters of the unseen hinge upon the authenticity and establishment of ahadeeth – so if the texts are proven, faith in that which they necessitate is obligatory – without putting the condition that they reach the level of mutawaatir, or the fact that they are ahaad, or other than this.
And this is certainly the preferred opinion.
The Imaam Ibn Abil-‘Izz al-Hanafi said in his explanation (p. 355), ‘And the narration of the individual [Khabar al-waahid], if the Ummah accepts it, in action, belief and faith, benefits certain knowledge in the opinion of the majority of the Ummah and it is one of the categories of Mutawaatir – and the Salaf never had any difference in this.’
Imaam al-Bukhaari committed an entire Book in his Saheeh with the title ‘The Narrations of Individuals’ [Akhbaar al-Aahaad] in which he establishes his proofs and consolidates the foundations of its acceptance.
And even if it is the case that Shaykh Shaltoot’s view was that belief is not established with the narrations of individuals, it is a rejected, quashed opinion.
And if we consider and accept that which he eluded to in his book ‘al-Bid’ah’, it could be taken to be a withdrawal of that which he had previously said. And this is what we hope from Allaah, the exalted and High, and indeed, He is Able to do that.
[2] It was printed some years ago. [Translated in English and available online
http://d1.islamhouse.com/data/en/ih_...elief_Laws.pdf (accessed 27 Safar 1435AH/ 31/12/13CE- Translator’s Note]