Our differences are not that many…

Recently, Allah (swt) gave me a reason to contact various mashaikh from various different madhabs from all over the world. Some of these are very well known globally, others, locally. The reason I contacted them was linked in a way to an issue which came about due to difference of opinion amongst madhabs. To be honest, I expected a wide variety of different opinions because the nature of the issue was such that I didn't expect the different madhabs and opinions to agree upon it. Yet, SubhanAllah, almost every response I received, before dealing with the question, dealt with the matter of disunity and those who cause disunity. They didn't point fingers at one madhab or the other for the cause of it. One very well known sheikh was so passionate about the subject that he wrote back concentrating solely on the issue of disunity due to difference of opinion and forgot to mention the answer to my question!

SubhanAllah, not one of them said that my madhab is better than the other. Not one of them told me to make the difference in madhabs and difference in certain fiqh opinions a major issue. Rather, their advice was about bringing people together and not allowing the shaytaan to create barriers amongst the Muslimeen. Don't get me wrong, this is not to say that we should all be jolly Muslims and allow the wrong to take place just because somebody believes it to be right based upon what their forefathers or the local peer/imaam/sheikh told them. However, the way we advise and the way we narrow-mindedly put up barriers simply because somebody is not from the same sect/madhab as us, needs to change.

I wish the so-called 'followers' of these Imaams would take a moment to read up on what the Imaams said about each other despite their differences:

It is reported that Yunus ibn 'Abd al A'la heard al Imam al Shafi'i say: "whenever the 'Ulama' are mentioned [and their work and knowledge compared], Malik outshines them all. No one has ever done me a greater favour than Malik ibn Anas."

Al Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: "Until al Imam al Shafi'i came along, we never thought of things like the general and the specific al 'Umum wa al Khusus"

We as Muslims need to realise that our differences are not that many. Some may be major, but, if we are so open to the idea of a respectful discussion with those who are not-yet-Muslims then why can we not afford the same respect amongst ourselves?

[ In case you're wondering, almost all agreed with me on the subject I wrote to them about  but that's another topic for another day ]