Ichtilāf

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Ichtilāf Arabic إختلاف, DMG iḫtilāf is a technical term in Islamic jurisprudence and denotes dissent , i.e. the difference of opinion among legal scholars both within a legal school and between the various legal schools in Islam . It is the opposite of Idschmāʿ , the consensus of legal scholars, which is the third source of legal discovery.

The term is also used in the sense of “variant”, “difference” in other Islamic scientific disciplines: “ichtilāf al-qirāʾāt” (reading variants of the Koran ), “ichtilāf ar-riwāyāt” (variants of the hadith tradition).

The evaluation of Ichtilāf in the Quran and Hadith

In the Qur'an, the term Ichtilāf is always assessed negatively and primarily refers to the diverging opinions between the Ahl al-Kitab , i.e. Jews and Christians ( Sura 2 , verse 213; Sura 3 , verse 19). However, it is also stated that discord corresponds to the divine plan of salvation: “And if your Lord had wanted, he would (actually) have made people into a single community (umma wāḥida) . But they are still divided (muḫtalifūn) - except for those whom your Lord has had mercy on (raḥima) . For this purpose he (just) created them ”( Sura 11 : 118 f.).

The steady growth of traditions as statements of Muhammad and his companions in all spiritual centers of the Islamic world in the 8th and 9th centuries favored the emergence of controversial doctrines both in Fiqh and in the interpretation of the Koran text. Already in the first large collections of traditions there are records that warn of such a development in the Islamic community . Troubled by the disputes over the text of the Koran, a companion of Mohammed is allowed to speak to the caliph Uthman ibn Affan as follows:

“Do something in this community of (Muslims) before they disagree about the Scriptures, as was the case (earlier) with the Jews and Christians."

- al-Bukhari : Kitāb 66, Chapter 3 : Rudi Paret (1979), p. 524

The negative connotation of the term Ichtilāf given in the Koran is also expressed in a saying attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, which is said to have said:

“My community will not be of one mind in error . Therefore, hold on to the great majority when you see ialtettilāf coming! "

- Ibn Madscha , Kitab 36, Chapter 8 : Rudi Paret (1979), p. 524

The position of Ichtilāf in legal doctrine

Originally there were different doctrines and legal conceptions in the schools of law that existed in the centers of the Islamic empire - Medina , Kufa , Basra , Baghdad , Fustat , Kairouan , al-Andalus and the like. a. - originated in the 8th and 9th centuries are possible. However, they were only permissible if they were based on ijtihād , in the independent interpretation of the Koran and Sunna . If there is no generally accepted evidence (Arabic: dalīl) of these interpretations, the legal doctrine does not speak of Ichtilāf , but of " Chilāf ", contradiction, deviation.

“Without this prerequisite it would hardly be understandable how in the second century, both in ritual and in legal questions in the various orthodox Maḏāhib, even within one and the same Maḏhab, different doctrines could arise, with which the harmonizing theology then nothing else knew how to begin when they saw them as equal next to each other, and even explained their differences as a blessing for the Islamic community. "

- Ignaz Goldziher : Muhammedanische Studien, Vol. 2, P. 74

Already the Umayyad - Caliph Umar II († 720) is said to have sent a decree to the provinces of the Islamic empire with the statement that everyone has to abide by the teachings of the local lawyer.

The controversial doctrines were not alien to Islamic law from its inception; Finding the law through Idschtihad, through the endeavor to derive new legal norms while observing the Koran and Sunna, only led to controversial doctrines in the applied doctrine of duty (furūʿ), but not in the foundations of Fiqh (uṣūl). For example, there is no controversy about the duty to say the five prayers prescribed by law every day; How they are carried out in detail within the framework of the prayer ritual, however, can vary depending on the school of law and allow Ichtilāf .

Through the institutionalization of Ichtilāf and mutual tolerance of controversial doctrines, “a pluralism within Islam, or at least recognized within the Sunnis, arose . However, it is essentially limited to the law, and within this area by and large to the material of the four schools of law that have prevailed over time and have now also achieved equal validity ... iḫtilāf does not come for the basic truths of belief into consideration, since they are undisputed common property. "

Over the centuries, the diversity of opinions, also from a legal point of view, has been assessed in a positive way. Because Ichtilāf turned out to be a way of giving legal teaching flexibility. According to later legal scholars, the Sufyān ath-Thaurī († 778), who worked in Kufa, already taught:

"Do not say: The scholars have become divided in this and in that case (iḫtalafa) , but says: The scholars have given space to the community in such and such a case."

- Rudi Paret (1979), p. 526.

Ichtilāf as God's grace

To justify the differences of opinion that arose in the course of the idschtihād, reference was made early on to an alleged prophetic word: “The dissent of the community is a grace” (Iḫtilāf al-umma raḥma) . Josef van Ess pointed out that it is composed of the core terms of Sura 11: 118f and thus represents an interpretation of this passage from the Koran. This principle is also ascribed to the founder of the Hanafi school of law, Abū Hanīfa, as a creed. A variant of the sentence that put more emphasis on the early church was: "The dissent of my companions is a grace" (Iḫtilāf aṣḥābī raḥma) . Both versions of the sentence were later included in hadith collections.

Due to the Qur'anic - and there negative - meaning of the term Ichtilāf and its use in the hadith literature, the word “raḥma” in this sentence was probably initially interpreted in the sense of “forbearance”: “If disagreement occurs within the community of believers , God forbids Grace for justice. ” Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje took the view that originally“ a concession from God, because of human weakness, was meant ”. Over the centuries, however, the prophetic word about dissent as God's grace has been positively reinterpreted. Ignaz Goldziher understands accordingly in the above saying the term raḥma as “outflow of divine mercy”

However, not all scholars agreed with this phrase. Al-Jahiz, for example, left his ridicule at this and said: If the disagreement were a mercy, it inevitably followed that the consensus was a punishment. But this is remote. Against the alleged prophetic word, the statement of ʿAlī ibn Abī Tālib is also cited in Saheeh al-Buchari with regard to a certain legal question: "Decide as you have decided so far, because I do not love the difference of opinion so that there is agreement among people." Assessment of the legitimacy of the admissibility of controversial doctrines can therefore already be assumed in the oldest history of jurisprudence from different, conflicting currents.

The doctrine based on the above, attributed to the Prophet Mohammed, about the admissibility of Ichthilāf as God's grace and his indulgence towards the Islamic community has its opponents up to the modern age. This included in particular the representatives of the Manār school, Muhammad Abduh and Raschīd Ridā . In their opinion, the Qur'an itself provides evidence that the saying is inauthentic: "And this is your community. It is a single community. And I am your Lord. You should fear me (alone). But they fell into different groups Groups apart "( Sura 23 : 52-53).

The Ichtilāf literature

The oldest writings, which contain the controversial doctrines and the refutation of the legal teachings of the "opposite side", come from Abū Yūsuf , a student of Abū Ḥanīfa, from the 8th century. They are not in originals, but in excerpts from Ash-Shafid and with his comments in the tradition of his disciples in the Kitab al-Umm, in Ash-Shafid's main work. The orientalist Joseph Schacht subjected these tracts to a critical analysis. Ash-Shaibānī , a contemporary of Abu Yūsuf, treated in his Kitāb al-Huddscha fī ichtilāf ahl al-Kufa wa-ahl al-Madinaكتاب الحجة في اختلاف أهل الكوفة وأهل المدينة / Kitāb al-Ḥuǧǧa  / 'The Book of Evidence on the Controversial Legal Teachings Between the Kufens and Medinensern' the Ichtilāf between the Malikites of Medina and the teachings of his master Abū Ḥanīfa. It is the oldest surviving work in this genre of legal literature.

Ash-Shāfidī not only evaluated the ichtilāf works of his Hanafi predecessors, but also wrote a treatise on the controversial doctrines between himself and his teacher Mālik ibn Anas , which were developed in the processing and transmission of his disciple ar-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaimān al-Murādī ( † 884) under the title: Ichtilāf Mālik wa-asch-Schāfiʿī  /اختلاف مالك والشافعي / Iḫtilāf Mālik wa-aš-Šāfiʿī is also preserved in his Kitāb al-Umm. His work entitled Ichtilāf al-hadīth on controversial doctrines in the interpretation of the hadith is devoted to the analysis of those prophetic hadiths as sources of jurisprudence that have been interpreted differently by the schools of law for the purpose of justifying their own legal conceptions. The book is therefore arranged according to the chapters of Islamic jurisprudence.

The analysis of the hadith literature by legal scholars was necessary because hadiths could be used as the basis of argumentation (huddscha) in legal doctrine even with incomplete isnads and regardless of different judgments of the hadith criticism. Among the traditionalists , at-Tirmidhi († 892) in particular showed interest in ascribing the hadiths handed down in his work as sources of legal argumentation to the law schools concerned. His traditional collection thus offers very good insights into how legal scholars deal with the written hadith material.

Title page of the unique copy: Ichtilāf al-ʿulamāʾ. Copy: 1251.

The Kitāb ichtilāf al-ʿulamāʾ is one of the oldest, fully preserved works of this genre of legal literature كتاب اختلاف العلماء / Kitāb iḫtilāf al-ʿulamāʾ  / 'The controversial doctrines of the scholars' by Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazī († 906 in Samarqand ), who became known mainly through this book in the Islamic East. The work is arranged according to the chapters of Fiqh , in which the author systematically presents the controversial doctrines of the four schools of law without putting his own views in the foreground.

One of the most important works in this field was written by At-Tabarī († 923) under the title ichtilāf al-fuqahāʾ  /اختلاف الفقهاء / iḫtilāfu ʾl-fuqahāʾ  / 'The controversial doctrines of the legal scholars', of which only a few fragments are available. In its present form, the work is considered to be a careful summary of the controversial legal teachings of its predecessors, the representatives of jurisprudence in the Umayyad period of the late 7th and early 8th centuries.

The Ichtilāf al-fuqahāʾ  / written by at-Tahāwī († 933) is based exclusively on Hanafi legal theory.اختلاف الفقهاء / Iḫtilāfu ʾl-fuqahāʾ  / 'Controversial doctrines of legal scholars'. The author presents the doctrinal differences between the four orthodox schools of law.

The law school of the Mālikites produced an Ichtilāf work relatively late, which is limited exclusively to the internal madhhab doctrinal differences. The author is the Andalusian scholar Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr († 1071); from his work under the title ichtilāf aqwāl Mālik wa-ashābihi  /إختلاف أقوال مالك وأصحابه / iḫtilāf aqwāl Mālik wa-aṣḥābihi  / 'Controversial doctrines of Mālik and his followers' only the first part has survived .

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd ar-Rahmān as-Dimaschqī († 1370) wrote a work on the consistent and divergent teachings of the four orthodox schools of law with the rich title: Rahmat al-umma fī ichtilāf al-aʾimma  /رحمة الأمة في اختلاف الأئمة / Raḥmat al-umma fī iḫtilāf al-aʾimma  / 'God's grace for the community (of Muslims) in the disagreement of scholars'. The author endeavors to mediate in a harmonizing way between the teaching divergences of the legal schools on the basis of the Shāfiʿite teaching.

Ichtilāf and Fatwa

Controversial doctrines are especially common in the fatwa system of Islamic jurisprudence, in the legal opinions of the Mufti , which cover all areas of the religious and profane life of Muslims. Even the prohibitions documented in the Koran can be interpreted differently. In a report by ʿ Alī Efendi († 1692) - according to the Hanafi school of law - it says:

“Is the intoxicating sweet drink known as višnāb (sour cherry water ) permitted if it is not consumed with the intention of cheering and in a non-intoxicating amount? - Responsum: It is allowed with the Greatest Imām and with the Imām Abū Yūsuf , with the Imām Muḥammad it is forbidden. In our time it is preferred to make an expert judgment according to the word of Imām Muḥammad. "

- ʿAlī Efendi: Chapter: Ašriba. No. 1 .: Johannes Benzing (1977), pp. 15-16

The school founder Abū Hanīfa is meant as “the greatest imām” ; Imām Muḥammad is asch-Shaibānī , the important representative of the Hanafi school of law in the 8th century.

literature

  • Johannes Benzing: Islamic legal opinions as a folklore source. Academy of Sciences and Literature. Mainz. Treatises of the humanities and social science class. Born 1977. No. 3.
  • Norman Calder: “Ikhtilâf and Ijmâ 'in Shâfi'î' s Risâla.” in Studia Islamica 58 (1983) 55-81.
  • RY Ebied & MJL Young: An unpublished legal work on a difference between the Shāfiʿites and Mālikites. In: Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica. 8, pp. 251-262 (1977)
  • Ignaz Goldziher: Muhammadan Studies . Vol. 2. pp. 73-87. Hall as 1890
  • Ignaz Goldziher: On the literature of Ichtilāf al-maḏāhib. In: Journal of the German Oriental Society (ZDMG), 38 (1884), p. 669ff.
  • Ignaz Goldziher: The Ẓāhirites . Their teaching system and their history. A contribution to the history of Muslim theology. Leipzig 1884. pp. 84-102
  • Miklós Murányi : Religious Literature in Arabic. Fiqh. In: Helmut Gätje (Hrsg.): Outline of Arabic Philology. Vol. 2, pp. 299-325; here pp. 304–305. Dr. Ludwig Reichert Publishing House. Wiesbaden 1987. ISBN 3-88226-145-5
  • Samuela Pagani: "The Meaning of Ikhtilāf al-Madhāhib in ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Shaʿrānī's al-Mīzān al-Kubrā" in Islamic Law and Society 11/2 (2004) 177-212.
  • Rudi Paret: Inner-Muslim pluralism. In: Ulrich Haarman and Peter Bachmann (eds.): The Islamic world between the Middle Ages and the modern age. Festschrift for Hans Robert Roemer on his 65th birthday. Beirut 1979. pp. 523-529
  • Joseph Schacht: An Introduction to Islamic Law. Oxford University Press. 1971. p. 67; 114
  • Joseph Schacht: The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence . Oxford University Press. 1967. pp. 290-328
  • Otto Spies and Erwin Pritsch: Classical Islamic Law . In: Handbook of Oriental Studies. 1. Dept., Erg.Bd. III: Oriental law. Leiden / Cologne 1964, pp. 269–270
  • The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 3, p. 1061

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AJ Wensinck and JP Mensing (eds.): Concordance et indices de la tradition musulmane . Brill, Leiden 1943. Vol. 2, p. 68b
  2. ↑ al-mausūʿa al-fiqhyya . 5th edition. Kuwait 2004. Vol. 2, p. 292
  3. ↑ di between 719 and 815
  4. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher: Muhammedanische Studien , Vol. 2, p. 74
  5. ↑ See: The Encyclopaedia of Islam .New Edition. Brill. Suffer. Vol. 10, p. 931
  6. ↑ R. Paret (1979), pp. 525-526
  7. ↑ See his Theology and Society in the 2nd and 3rd Century Hijra. A History of Religious Thought in Early Islam . Volume IV. Berlin-New York 1997. p. 659.
  8. ↑ See R. Paret (1979), p. 523
  9. ↑ Cf. van Ess 659.
  10. ↑ See R. Paret (1979), p. 524; Joseph Schacht (1973), p. 67
  11. ↑ See R. Paret (1979), pp. 524-525
  12. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher (1884), p. 94.
  13. ↑ See Goldziher 1884, 101.
  14. ↑ According to tradition, the legal discussion there asked whether it is allowed to sell slaves who have given birth to Muslims.
  15. ↑ Translation: Ignaz Goldziher (1884), p. 98 after al-Buchārī: aṣ-Ṣaḥīḥ : Faḍāʾil aṣḥāb an-nabīy (The Virtues of the Companions of the Prophet), No. 10
  16. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher (1884), pp. 98–99
  17. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher: The directions of the Islamic Koran interpretation . Brill, Leiden 1920. pp. 326-327
  18. ^ Ignaz Goldziher (1884), pp. 670-671
  19. ^ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature. Brill, Leiden 1967. Vol. 1, p. 421. Nos. IV. And V .; The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 3, p. 1061
  20. ↑ Joseph Schacht: The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press. 1967. pp. 290-328
  21. ^ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature . Brill, Leiden 1967. Vol. 1, p. 432. No. XII .; The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition.Brill, Leiden. Vol. 3, p. 1061
  22. ^ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature . Brill, Leiden 1967. Vol. 1, p. 487. No. 2 .; The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition.Brill, Leiden. Vol. 3, p. 1061; R. Brunschvig: Polémiques médiévales autour du rite de Mālik. In Etudes d'Islamologie. Vol. 2, pp. 65-101
  23. ^ Fuat Sezgin: History of Arabic literature . Brill, Leiden 1967. Vol. 1, p. 489. No. IV.
  24. ↑ Printed in Beirut 1985 (the information in Fuat Sezgin, vol. 1. p. 489. No. IV must be added)
  25. ↑ M. Muranyi (1987), p. 305
  26. ^ The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. Brill, suffering. Vol. 3, p. 1061
  27. ↑ Fuat Sezgin (1967), p. 494; the work title "ichtilāf al-fuqahāʾ" given there and on p. 881 (register) must be corrected
  28. ^ Printed from the unique copy in the Yūsuf Āgha library of Konya in Beirut 1986
  29. ↑ Joseph Schacht (ed.): The Constantinople fragment of the Kitāb Iḫtilāf al-Fuqahāʾ of the Abū Ǧaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Ǧarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī. Brill, Leiden 1933. Other parts were published in the Friedrich Kern edition. Cairo 1902; 2nd Edition. Beirut, (undated)
  30. ↑ The work was first printed in 1971 in Islamabad
  31. ↑ Printed in Beirut 2003. In the publisher's introduction (p. 9) further ichtilāf works of Maliki provenance are mentioned, but they have not survived
  32. ^ Carl Brockelmann: History of the Arabic literature. Second edition adapted to the supplement volumes. Brill, Leiden 1949. Vol. 2, pp. 111-112
  33. ↑ Ignaz Goldziher: On the literature of ichtilāf al-maḏāhib . In: Journal of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (advertisements), (ZDMG) 38 (1884), pp. 669–682; here: 669–670. - Printed several times in the Orient: see Otto Spies and Erwin Pritsch (1964), p. 270; second edition, Cairo 1967