It is a well-known fact that any approach to knowledge that does not have within it a means for re-evaluation, correction, and reform is destined to not only perpetuate errors but will also engender bigotry.
If we look at the qualities of the greatest scholars and thinkers, we find that they had the presence of mind to reconsider their opinions at all times and revise them when necessary.
This is why we see that al-Shāfi`ī had and “old” school” and “new school”. He developed what is referred to as his “old school” while he was living in Iraq. Then, after moving to Egypt, he reassessed all of his views and methodological assumptions and revised almost every opinion that he had. In this way, he developed what would come to be known as his “new school”.
Not only had his knowledge and understanding grown deeper, but he was also more experienced and had a greater perception of life. The experience of living in a new culture heightened his sensitivity to people’s varying needs, circumstances, and customs. He had grown older and his thought had become more mature. He was more secure and did not have to worry about his reputation, nor about what he would to say to those who had learned from him his earlier views.
Al-Shāfi`ī was not alone in this. For all the great scholars, we find numerous issues where two or more opinions have been related from them.
Abū Yūsuf said: “I have never expressed an opinion that differs from Abū Hanīfah’s except that it was an earlier opinion of his that he later discarded.” Here we have a situation where Abū Hanīfah changed his mind about some issues. But we also see that his student was willing to differ with him on many of his teachers opinions while following his teacher’s principles. When he did so, he found that that he was in agreement with earlier opinions his teacher had expressed.
For Mālik, over 70,000 of his legal opinions were transmitted by his students who went to Iraq. However, due to Mālik’s habit of revising his opinions, this led to a serious amount of differences between what would later develop into the Iraqi and Western branches the Mālikī school.
Likewise, the later scholars of the Hanbalī school had to develop a complex set of terminology to negotiate all of the different and conflicting opinions that were narrated from Ahmad b. Hanbal and his senior students. These were ultimately compiled by Abū Ya`la al-Farrā’ in his book Narrations and Viewpoints. The Hanbalī schools was enriched by the various perspectives it contained on legal issues, since it is the nature of the finer points of Islamic Law to accommodate such a scope of opinion.
It takes a strong, sincere heart to abandon one’s own opinion and adopt that of one’s critic. When one is truly seeking Allah’s pleasure and His grace in the Hereafter, it becomes much easier. The four imams were certainly of that calibre.
They did not give in to the pressures of their followers. They did not become sensitive to the personality disputes that inevitably come from living in the public eye. They did not cause division by demanding that their students follow them to the exclusion of others, and they never abided that anyone insult those who disagreed with them. Their students and the large following they had were naturally a source of great social pressure on them, however they did not let this affect them. They kept themselves intellectually and emotionally independent of their followers, while always treating them with respect and consideration.
The imams, during their careers, were first subjected to political persecution. They were each put under great pressure to comply with the state’s wishes in their teachings and conduct. We can all see how this was a great trial. What we often forget is that the popularity they gained thereafter was an equally difficult trial.
When someone has fame and a large following, it is easy to fall into the trap of becoming a follower in the guise of a leader. The power of popular opinion is no less dreadful than that of the state. There is pressure to maintain appearances. There are pressures to hold one’s own against one’s peers and supposed rivals. Everyone is watching.
However, the imams did not gain their reputations with the people through flattery or through indulging their wishes. In fact, they openly avoided a sector of the population, this who wasted their time in useless debate, who were not an insubstantial group among the people associated with religious knowledge.
Whenever scholars, thinkers, and intellectuals become enamoured of those around them, they get distracted from those who are sincere by other people of meaner temperaments. Indeed those people distract them form their own thoughts. They to measure their words, consider what to say and what not to say. They have to be careful not to cause division and dissention, or bring about confusion.
At the same time, they have to maintain a good connection with the public, to be aware of their concerns and to keep abreast of developments in society that need to be addressed. A careful balance must always be maintained between intellectual independence on the one hand, and public engagement on the other.
You cannot simply cut yourself off from the people if your opinions are to have any value. This is why it is a sign of utmost nobility to be able to admit you are wrong and publicly change your mind. It is not an easy thing to do.
Sheikh Salman al-Oadah
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