Customer Reviews

The Differences of the Imams

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A friend of mine lent me this book after we had been in a few discussions over variations in ahadith. She kept telling me that I should really read this book and it would help me understand my concerns in a new light. This book was really informative for me, answered so many things I've wondered about, such as how two hadith can differ on the same subject, yet still both be equally legit and accurate. This book gave me many new insights into issues I had never thought of before. I was able to read this book very quickly and easily, yet felt it packed a lot of information in a concise and well laid out manner. The text is clearly written and translated, and I appreciated the care and time the author put into citing references and thoroughly illustrating each point he made.

The author writes from a Hanafi perspective, yet only shares generously of all of the four major schools evenly and kindly. In other words, I feel the author's goal was not to promote one school of thought as much as to present the importance and equal legitimacy of them all, and how followers of each can harmoniously worship and learn together in the Ummah.

I really recommend it to any Muslim who is concerned about about the importance of fiqh (Islamic Law) and how it impacts our daily living as Muslims. I also feel this book would be helpful to non-Muslim students who are studying Islam to a deeper degree of study, as it includes important historical points of interest, as well as ideological references which link to both history and modern practice.

All in all, well worth the read.

The original title "The Differences of the Imams" was published in April 2004 by White Thread Press. About a year later in 2005, a condensed version of only 77 pages was published by Ahmad Printing Corp. or Darul Ishaat publisher in Karachi, Pakistan, and with a slightly different spelling of "Imams" as "Imaams" in its title: "The Differences of the Imaams" by the same author and translator (and distributed by Darul-Uloom Al-Madania at 182 Sobieski St. in Buffalo, NY; but no ISBN!). While the 2004 edition (which I have not read) apparently contained extensive footnotes of the citations listed in that work, the abridged 2005 edition does not (which leaves a reader frustrated in trying to learn the source or citation for the quotes provided in the paperback). What I really liked about this booklet was that it listed at least 10 "reasons for the contradictions of narrations" and 8 reasons "for the differences of opinion" in fiqh analysis. Amazingly, the author provides an even-handed analysis as to why there seems to be so many contradictions between the various ahaadith on similar subjects. Essentially, most of the hadith were not compiled into collections until 225 years after the death of the Muslim prophet Mohammad. But the discrepancies arose by various people hearing or seeing what Mohammad had to say or act. This book details at least 10 reasons for these conflicts (so read this book). Essentially, people at the same prayer session with Mohammad heard different sayings (hadith) or saw different prayer practices, and while each observer may have been correct with his observation, because they were seen at different times or their memories may not have recalled the same expressions, "differences" of exactness were recorded, but all could be valid depending upon which fiqh school a Muslim is obligated to follow. Also, the validity of some hadith depends upon the "chain of narrators" of the hadith. A hadith may have been passed down between 4 or 7 different individuals before it was recorded by Bukhari or Malik or one of the other compilers. The truthfulness or validity of any hadith can be challenged based upon how sober or senile a transmitter/narrator may have been -- all of which adds more "differences" of opinion. The author does not stipulate which school is "better" than the others; he wants to review WHY differences occur. Differences are recorded for different acts of prayer, sex, washing, etc. When I first read the bed while in bed late at night, I found it boring and constantly fell asleep quickly. But reading it while standing up during my lunch hour, I realized how informative this book really is; lots of good critical analysis. The author questions why differences of opinion occurred, but does not question Islam itself. Some chapter titles: reasons for the differences of propositions and traditions; reasons for the contradictions of narrations; contradictory ahaadith; two categories of laws; caution in textual narrations; reasons for the differences of opinion; basis of rejection and preference; assessment of a narrator; principles of the jurists; the multi-faceted methods of inferring; and the approach of the Hanafi school of thought.

Pretty good explanation of why there are a myriad of opinions among the scholars on issues that you would've thought were cut and dried. Recommended if you have doubts; if not, you'll probably just be bored and better off getting a real introduction to the sciences of hadith.