A Balanced Approach to the Nawawi Case – Shaykh Dr. Ayman al-Anqari (Professor at Ibn Saud University in Riyadh) on the ongoing discussion about an-Nawawi:
“As for clarifying the condition of people like an-Nawawi, who is known for his fanaticism towards the Ash’ariyyah – and adh-Dhahabi mentioned in Tarikh al-‘Islam that an-Nawawi was a fanatic Ash’ari who was zealously committed to the Ash’ari methodology¹…
“The point is that it should be clarified that people like an-Nawawi and his like should not be called Imams.
“I remember our Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz, during one of his gatherings of knowledge, when one of the students said: ‘Al-Imam an-Nawawi said’, the Shaykh alerted him and said: ‘Do not say Imam, but say al-Hafidh. Al-Hafidh an-Nawawi.’ Meaning: he should not be described as Imam.
“The man was a fanatic supporter of the Ash’ariyyah. And whoever reads the explanation of an-Nawawie on Sahih Muslim, will find this clearly and explicitly, when he speaks about the verses and narrations regarding the Attributes of Allah. Here he either follows the path of distortion (at-tahreef) or the path of at-tafweed (not accepting the meaning).
“Also, the man engaged in Sufi practices. For example, he was known for wearing the khirqah (special Sufi cloak) of the Sufiyyah. His condition is known.
“The point here, with regards to these people who ascribe themselves to knowledge, like an-Nawawi, is that no high status should be given to them.
“One can benefit from their books, such as their books on jurisprudence (al-fiqh) and the traditions, but only to a certain extent. They do not reach the level of being Imams.
“The reality is as follows: the current problem is that many Harakiyyeen and Ikhwaani’s who dilute (the disputes with deviants) and call for laxity, have caused a melting away of the differences between Ahl as-Sunnah and Ahl al-Bida’ such as the Asha’irah.
“As a result, the disputes are merely considered as ‘just differences of opinion’ and ‘an-Nawawi can be right and can also make mistakes’ and ‘so-and-so can be right and can also make mistakes’.
“Whilst what we are talking about here is a fundamental principle – there is a dividing line. Whoever is not on the belief of Ahl as-Sunnah should be declared misguided and an innovator. Whoever he may be. But this does not mean that one cannot benefit from him in some matters, as I mentioned with regards to jurisprudence (al-fiqh) or the narrations. […]
“Clarifying such matters and issues, discussing them and clarifying the truth, is an important matter, so that Ahl as-Sunnah are not harmed and so that no individuals are counted among Ahl as-Sunnah who do not belong to it.
“Many people now think that an-Nawawi and his likes belong to Ahl as-Sunnah, while in reality he does not belong to Ahl as-Sunnah. He is a fanatic Ash’ari.”
End of the transcript of the audio by Shaykh Dr. Ayman al-‘Anqari (may Allah preserve him)
[1] There is some doubt about the statement of adh-Dhahabi after the debate between Sh. Muhammad ibn Shams ad-Deen and Hasan al-Husayni, because it appears in some manuscripts in the margin and therefore it is not clear whether it is the statement of adh-Dhahabi himself or of as-Subkie. However, this does not affect the point.
Source: @r_abukhuzaymah (On Twitter)
Link: https://twitter.com/r_abukhuzaymah/status/1685031615368404992?t=ASlgTFA5EqYuSyr5if7xkA&s=19
(Disclaimer: This article has been shared here only to preserve it for reference, authenticseerah.wordpress.com doesn’t own it or agree to everything that is written in it word-for-word.)
Saheehus-Seerah 