Fiqh al-Sirah of Shaykh Buti

Can you draw a map to help explain?

 

imam nawawi said: yidah, p455 which is translated by abu hamzah.



imam nawawi explains how you enter the masjid and stand in front of RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam and say salam, and THEN move further up and when you have gone beyond the qabr, you turn towards the qiblah. imam nawawi explains the etiquette, the adab of standing in front of RasulAllah ﷺ and the story of the bedouin reported by utbi and that one should do tawassul of RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam for oneself.





after this, he says: move further up near the side of his head and stand between the qabr al-sharif and the pillar; and he means in line with the qabr. in which case, one would not turn their back towards the qabr. as he says that you go further inside and enter the rawDah.

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there is an interesting perspective here.

in imam nawawi's time, and indeed until recently, even after wahabi dominance, people would enter the qabr al-sharif from the side of the feet - and that is the adab; also mentioned in the quote from ibn humam cited below. imam nawawi says:

1. so you enter, say salam facing the qabr al-sharif

2. go further up, next to the head-side and turn towards the qiblah.

3. and then go further up and enter the rawDah.​

those who have been fortunate to visit* the habib ﷺ will easily recognise this because the existing pattern is that you enter from the head-side and exit from the foot-side.

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as you can see, this is nowhere near shaykh bouti's opinion, which is his own aberrant view against almost all sunni scholars in later times.

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*it is said imam malik disliked EVEN saying "ziyarah" because 'visit' 'ziyarat' in arabic has connotations of 'visiting the dead' and RasulAllah ﷺ is alive. imam subki said (vide khafaji, sh.shifa 5/102):



it seems [narrations that mention the word 'ziyarah'] did not reach imam malik raHimahullah, along with that which is reported from him that it is disliked to say: "we visited the Prophet" [zurna al-nabi] because such a term is commonly used for the dead and he ﷺ is alive in his grave. it is also said that he [malik] disliked saying so because going there [to visit the habib ﷺ ] is not for his comfort or benefit, rather [this visit] is out of our eagerness to earn reward. imam subki said: and this is the best explanation of imam malik's statement. even though none of the above is disliked. (i.e. it is permitted for one to say: visit the nabiy ﷺ or visit the qabr of nabi ﷺ etc.)

Allah ta'ala knows best.

 

disclaimer: as i have said before, there are things that i don't agree with shaykh bouti - simply because i prefer the opinions of far greater men than him. yet, his contribution to sunnis and refutation of salafis cannot be ignored. and certainly, people should not defame the dead. after shaykh bouti's (in sha'Allah) martyrdom, i prefer to keep silent about him even if i may refute his opinions. nas'alu Allaha al-aafiyah.

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abu hamza says on p16 of his refutation:


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this gives the impression that imam nawawi also favoured the opinion proposed by shaykh bouti that it is desirable to turn towards the qiblah with the qabr behind one's back. this is a serious distortion of imam nawawi's position - and exact opposite of his position in yidaH and other works.

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abu hamzah quotes imam nawawi thus:

Then he proceeds towards the The Sacred Resting Place, stopping between it and the pillar. And he faces the Qibla, and he glorifies Allāh and extols His praises, and he supplicates for himself with whatever concerns him, and whatever is dear to him, and for his parents, and for whosoever he wishes from his kin, his teachers, his brothers, and the rest of the Muslims. Then he advances towards the Sacred Resting Place and remains abundant in supplications and prayers.
​

[end of quote FTA]

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let us see what imam nawawi said:

new edition of yidah (p.450); old edition with haytami's sharh: (p.494).




imam nawawi says:

when one comes to the noble tomb (qabr al-karim) he should turn his back towards the qiblah and face (yastaqbil) the wall of the qabr and stand at a distance of four cubits (arm's length). in iHya'a ulum al-din, (imam ghazali says) that one should turn his face towards the wall of the tomb (qabr) at a distance of four cubits from the pillar near the head-side of the tomb...​

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now imam ibn Hajar al-haytami in its sharh says: (p.494)

his saying: "with the back to the qiblah" this is our madh'hab and the madh'hab of majority of scholars (jumhur), because just as he (sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) were alive (i.e. not passed away), contrary to the opinion of abu hanifah and others.​

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imam al-haytami is a shafiyi and he just mentioned what he might have read in some hanafi text and his mention of imam azam's opinion is not taken into account.

because, ibn humam in fat'h al-qadir said: 3/169

"that which abu layth said that one should stand facing the qiblah, is a rejected opinion because it is narrated by imam abu hanifah raDiyAllahu anhu in his musnad from ibn umar raDiyAllahu anhuma that he said: "it is from the sunnah that that you come to the blessed grave of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam from the side of qiblah and keep you back towards the qiblah and face the blessed grave and with your face towards it say: "assalamu alayka ya ayyuha'n nabiy"​

[will translate the whole passage which is fragrant, beautiful and full of sweetness, later in sha'Allah thats explain WHY you should stand there facing him sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam; read this and compare dry passages elsewhere. nas'alu Allaha al-aafiyah].





imam khafaji also said so in his nasim al-riyaD sharh of shifa li qaDi iyaD: 5/105


the correct report of abu hanifah's opinion is that one should turn their back to the qiblah and face sayyidu'l awwalina wa'l aakhirin. sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam.




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but what about abu hamza's clip? don't be surprised, but it is indeed there in yidah. and in sha'Allah i will explain it shortly.

wa billahi't tawfiq.

 

i have been busy and i had not seen @Abu Hamza 's article below. a brother sent me a PM asking whether #5 was ok and so skimmed through most of the article and reached page 16 to see what exactly was it about.

so brother abuHamza says:


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and then he quoted from Yidah of Imam Nawawi to prove his point.

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brothers, i understand you admire shaykh buti but one need not distort opinions of imams to prove him right (when he is obviously wrong). there is absolutely NO comparison of imam nawawi's stand with sh.buti's. as such, i had not seen this passage before (or if i have i don't remember) because i read very little from contemporary scholars, and mostly upon need or referred to; unless, they are like sayyidi abdullah sirajuddin al-Halabi.

as i said, shaykh buti comes across very dry according to my taste and this one passage is enough to turn me off from his books. in these matters, i do not like fence sitters or diplomatic answers or the so-called "balanced viewpoint". shaykh buti treats ibn taymiyyah's opinion with kid-gloves. one should have said: "claiming that visiting the habib is bid'ah, is a heresy itself and was first propounded by ibn taymiyyah - and that is one of his worst legacies." in an apologetic footnote that is aimed to avoid criticisms of salafis, he says that the hadith of ziyarah are 'lax' or 'weak'. even though great muhaddithin like qaDi iyad, nawawi and subki insisted on using them as proof. alas, buti should have stayed in the shadow of imam subki's "shifa al-saqam" which reduced ibn taymiyyah's bluster to rubble.



anyway, sh. buti says as mufti wajid has quoted:




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actually, there are a number of issues with this passage. in spite of his erudition, and in spite of his READING imam ibn aTayillah's hikam - shaykh buti remained dry. may Allah ta'ala forgive him. and he cannot see the problem, though it is in front of him.

for example, he says: "dua' is addressing (khitab) to Allah azza wa jall. and in addressing Allah taala, it is not permissible to join (yushraka) anyone together with him".

this is totally absurd. what does he want to say? is turning towards something else other than the qiblah "associating partner to Allah"? or does he mean including those beloved to Allah in one's dua to Allah ta'ala as a wasilah, as tawassul is "associating a partner"?

sub'HanALlah! as if this man was ignorant of the hadith, though he was an erudite scholar! for example, take the hadith of tirmidhi #3491:




"O Allah give me Your Love and the love of those, whose love will benefit me near you."

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and even more specifically, the hadith of the blind man #3578:




"i turn towards you by (the wasilah/means) of your Prophet, the prophet of mercy..."

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shaykh buti's passage is incoherent (saying it with utmost restraint - i would have used harsher words if it was someone else) at best. according to him: "and the best manner to turn towards Allah azza wa jall, for dua' is to turn towards the qiblah"

sub'HanAllah! the qiblah became qiblah because of RasulAllah SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam. if it were not for HIS wish, we would still be praying facing jerusalem - and if so, shaykh buti would have to say: "the best manner is to turn towards jerusalem".





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buti says: "do not heed many whom you will see opposing this (i.e. not facing qiblah and facing the blessed qabr) from the ignoramuses and heretics. [juhhal, mubtadiyin]"

according to buti's description, the sahabi, sayyiduna anas ibn malik, imam malik, qaDi iyaD, imam nawawi among numerous imams were all jahils and heretics. al-iyadhu billah.

qaDi iyad quotes in his shifa:



reported by ibn wahb, imam malik concerning a person who greets (says salam to) RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam and prays: "he should stand facing the qabr al-sharif and NOT (facing) the qiblah; he should draw closer and say salam and should not touch the qabr with his hand." [the blessed grave was not enclosed in imam malik's time and was visible].

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in the previous narration in shifa:



someone (a tabiyi) said: "i have seen anas ibn malik, who came to the blessed grave of the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam and stood there; he raised his hands, and i supposed he had started to pray (salat); then, he greeted the Prophet SallAllahu alayhi wa sallam (i.e., said salam) and left".

it could be interpreted that he raised his hands for dua facing the qabr; or facing the qiblah (because the narrator mistook it for prayer, he must have been facing the qiblah).

while there is scholarly difference of opinion, shaykh buti's statement is abominable and deplorable because he calls those who do not agree with him (in this issue) as ignoramuses and heretics.

i will never recommend anyone to read this book.

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while shaykh buti's admirers call him as "ghazali of our time", i find it difficult to agree with them. because according to buti's description, even imam ghazali is among "juhhal and mubtadiyin" - al-iyadhu billah.


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coming up next, in sha'Allah: critique of abu hamza's distortion of imam nawawi's statement.

Allah ta'ala knows best.