Compiled

by

Sayf ad-Din Ahmed ibn Muhammad

AHADITH ON INTERPRETING THE HOLY QUR'AN WITHOUT SOUND KNOWLEDGE

There are a number of Hadith related to the issue of interpreting 

the Holy Qur'an without sound knowledge.  Two of them are found 

in the collection of Ahadith known as Mishkatul Masabih by Imam al-

Tabrizi (ash-Shafi'i), one from Ibn Abbas and the other from Jundub 

(Allah be pleased with them):-

(A)           Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the 

Prophet (Peace be upon him) as saying: "He who speaks about the 

Qur'an on the basis of his personal opinion (only) would find his 

abode in Hell fire.  In another version: He who speaks about the 

Qur'an without sound knowledge of it would find his abode in Hell 

fire." (Tirmidhi).

(B) Jundub (Allah be pleased with him) reported the Prophet (Peace 

be upon him) as saying: "He who speaks about the Qur'an on the 

basis of his personal opinion (by any accord) he commits an error, 

even if he is right." (Tirmidhi and Abu Dawood).  (See Mishkatul-

Masabih, 1/234-235, English ed'n)

The above two Hadiths have also been quoted by Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya in 

his Muqaddima fi usool al-Tafseer (English trans'n by M.A.H. Ansari 

under the title: 'An Introduction to the Principles of Tafseer', pg. 

60) where he said after quoting Jundub's (Allah be pleased with him) 

version: "Al-Tirmidhi thinks that this Hadith is rare (gharib). Other 

scholars of Hadith are not sure about the veraciousness of Suhayl ibn 

Abi Hizaam, who is one of its transmitters (in the Sanad).  However a 

number of scholars from the companions and others have been reported 

to have condemned in the same vein the effort to explain the Qur'an 

without knowledge."  But in the footnotes on the same page of the 

above book (no's 158 and 159) it was stated that al-Albani had declared 

both Hadiths (A) and (B) above to be DAEEF in his checking of Mishkatul-

Masabih.  

I say: this is only one opinion out of many on the status of the above 

Ahadith.  It seems that even Ibn Taymiyya after quoting the Hadith 

from Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) accepted it, (although he 

had reservations about the Hadith from Jundub) since he kept quiet 

about declaring it inauthentic; but Allah knows best.

In fact Imam al-Tirmidhi classified the Hadith reported from Ibn 

Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) to be Hasan Sahih (see Ulum al-

Qur'an, pg. 132, fn. 20, by Ahmad Von Denffer) and the Hadith 

related from Jundub (Allah be pleased with  him) was classified to be 

Hasan, by the great scholar of Hadith, Imam al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505; 

Rahimahullah) in his al-Jami al-Saghir.  This classificaton was also 

said to be Hasan, by al-Imam Munawi (d. 1031/1622; Rahimahullah) 

in his checking and commentary of Imam Suyuti's above named book; due 

to the existence of other variant narrations that strengthen it.  

(vide: Fayd al-Qadir Sharh al-Jami al-Saghir, vol.6. pg. 191-92, by

Imam al-Munawi).  Other narrations on this issue are as follows:- 

Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him) reported the Prophet (Peace 

be upon him) as saying three times: "Opinion based arguments 

(controverting) about the Qur'an are Kufr."  Then he said: "What you 

know of it, act upon it; and what you are ignorant of, refer to one 

who knows (e.g. a qualified Mufassir)."  (related by Imam's Ahmad and 

Abu Ya'la; see also Sunan Abu Dawood, 3/4586; English ed'n for half 

of the narration)

Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) said: "I will give an 

exemplary punishment to any man brought to me who is not knowledgeable 

in Arabic yet interprets (tafsir) Allah's Book."  (related by Imam 

al-Bayhaqi; see Hafiz al-Dhahabi's at-Tafsir wa'l Mufasiroon, vol. 1, 

pg. 274 )      

Imam Mujahid (Rahimahullah) the disciple of the great Companion Ibn 

Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) said: "It is not permissible for 

anyone who believes in Allah and the last day to interpret Allah's 

Book if he is not knowledgeable in the Arabic language."  (vide: 

Mabahith fi Uloom al-Qur'an, pg. 331, by M. al-Qattan)    

I leave it to the noble reader to decide whose classification you 

would prefer!  May be those ignorant people who go around interpreting 

the Holy Qur'an without the requisite qualifications (as amongst the 

generality of the "Salafiyya") in their 'study' circles, may take heed 

of the above Hadiths and their classifications by the great scholars 

of Hadith.

DA'EEF AHADITH AND THEIR APPLICABILITY TO ISLAMIC DECREES (FATAWA)  

I now wish to convey to you the honourable reader, a short but 

detailed explanation of what is a Daeef (weak) Hadith, and when 

they can be applied and practised by the dictates of Islamic 

Jurisprudence.  The reason for writing this account is simply due 

to a very common misunderstanding amongst many of the so called 

"Salafiyya" and other ignorant people, who have not even scratched 

the surface of the Science of Hadith, and the way scholars rate 

Hadith (tasheeh), as well as differences of opinion (Ikhtilaf) in the 

final classification of Hadith; hence they are generally incapable of 

knowing when a Daeef Hadith can be used in Islamic rulings, even 

though many of the prominent Mujtahid Imams themselves used to 

do so in the absence of an authentic narration.

Instead many ignorant people have been causing an unjustifiable fitna

(mischief), by accusing usually the ignorant believers of following 

"Daeef Ahadith", and I say, this is due to their ignorance of all the 

available channels of transmission (Asanid) for a particular Hadith.  

Since many a time a Hadith may be classified as being Daeef through 

one particular Isnad, and just because of this, many of the ignorant 

members of the "Salafiyya" become absolutely convinced that whoever 

follows, and practises this particular "Daeef" Hadith is an innovator

(Mubtadi)!  This I believe is the "wrong" approach to classifying 

Ahadith, because other chains of transmission (Sanad) must be considered, 

and if this is done, a singular Daeef Hadith through one Isnad could 

even eventually reach the level of Hasan li ghairihi (a good Hadith due 

to other narrations supporting and strengthening it).  This is also the 

chief reason why the 'Salafiyya' and their "scholars of Hadith and Fiqh", 

are trying to demolish the Taqleed of the Mujtahids.  They claim that 

the followers of the four schools of Fiqh are "contradicting" the 

authentic Sunnah by following many Daeef Ahadith based rulings!  

Usually, what is found amongst such people who claim to be scholars of 

Hadith, is that they don't always try their utmost to find other 

supporting narrations to give a more realistic, and acceptable 

classification.  For example, when I compared the list of Ahadith declared 

to be Daeef in the Riyadh us-Salihin (by Imam Nawawi), as checked by 

al-Albani and Shaykh Shu'ayb al-Arnaoot (from Amman, Jordan) separately; 

I noticed that Shaykh al-Arnaoot took greater pains to declare many 

Daeef Hadith to be Hasan Li Ghairihi, whereas al-Albani hardly bothered 

to raise the rank of a singular Daeef Hadith to Hasan Li Ghairihi by 

investigating other supporting routes of narration!  Insha'Allah we 

should all follow the authentic Sunnah when it is definitely proven 

and cannot be explained away by other authentic interpretations and 

evidences.  

The following discussion has been derived from the English 

translation of Umdat al-Salik wa Uddat al-Nasik (The Reliance of the 

Traveller and Tools of the Worshipper, by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Naqib 

al-Misri [d. 769/1368; Rahimahullah], trans. by Noah Ha Mim Keller, 

W48.0, pg. 954-957).  NB- the abbreviations for the following quote 

are:-

A=Shaykh Abdal Wakil Durubi,  N=Shaykh Nuh Ali Salman, 

n=translators remark

"(A:) Weak  (daeef) is a term for any Hadith with a chain of 

transmission containing a narrator whose memory was poor, one who 

has not trustworthy, not identified by name, or for other reasons.  

But weak cannot simply be equated with false.  Were this the case , 

mere analysis of the transmitters would be the universal criterion for 

the acceptance or rejection of particular rulings based on hadiths.  

While scholars do use this measure in upgrading the work of 

preceding generations of legal authorities, they have not employed it 

as a simplistic expedient to eliminate every piece of legal information 

that is connected with a weak hadith, because of various 

considerations.  One of these is that when a piece of information is 

received through a means of transmission that may or may not be 

trustworthy, we generally have doubts about it.  But when one and 

the same piece of information reaches us through several completely 

different channels, even though each one may or may not be 

trustworthy, the logical probability of the information's falsity is 

much reduced.  And if we receive the very same information from 

ten such channels, the possibility of its falsity does not usually even 

come to mind.  This verificatory principle has two important 

implications, one being the obligatory nature of belief in Hadiths that 

are mutawatir, and the second being the weight that Hadith scholars 

give to multiple means of transmission, which can raise a Hadith 

from well authenticated (hasan) to rigorously authenticated (sahih), or 

from weak (daeef) to well authenticated, as described in the following 

account of a Hadith's reclassification by a major specialist in Hadith 

forgeries. 

('Ali Qari:)  The Hadith "I am the city of knowledge and 'Ali is its 

gate," was mentioned by Tirmidhi in his Jami', where he said it was 

unacknowledgeable.  Bukhari also said this, and said that it was 

without legitimate claim to authenticity.  Ibn Ma'in said that it 

was a baseless lie, as did Abu Hatim and Yahya ibn Sa'id.  Ibn Jawzi 

recorded it in his book of Hadith forgeries, and was confirmed by 

Dhahabi, and others in this.  Ibn Daqiq al-'Eid said, "This Hadith is 

not confirmed by scholars, and is held by some to be spurious."  

Daraqutni stated that it was uncorroborated.  Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani was 

asked about it and answered that it was well authenticated (hasan), 

not rigorously authenticated (sahih), as Hakim had said, but not a 

forgery (mawdu'), as Ibn Jawzi had said.  This was mentioned by Suyuti.  

The Hadith master (hafiz) Abu Sa'id 'Ala'i said, "The truth is that the 

Hadith is well authenticated (hasan), in view of its multiple means of 

transmission, being neither rigorously authenticated (sahih) nor weak 

(da'if), much less a forgery" (Risala al-mawdu'at, 26 ).

(A:)  Thus, when the person who has related a Hadith is an Islamic 

scholar of the first rank, it is not enough for a student or popular 

writer to find one chain of transmission for the Hadith that is weak.  

There are a great many Hadiths with several chains of transmission, 

and adequate scholarly treatment of how these affect a Hadith's 

authenticity has been traditionally held to require a master (hafiz), 

those like Bukhari, Muslim, Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir, or Suyuti who have 

memorized at least 100,000 Hadiths - their texts, chains of 

transmission, and significance - to undertake the comparative study 

of the Hadith's various chains of transmission that cannot be 

accurately assessed without such knowledge.  Today, when not one 

Hadith master (hafiz) remains in the Muslim Community, we do not 

accept the judgement of any would-be reclassifiers of Hadith, no 

matter how large their popular following, unless it is corroborated 

by the work of previous Hadith masters.

Another reason why weak cannot simply be equated with false is the 

fact that weak is an attribute of the Hadith's chain of transmission, 

while false is an attribute of the Hadith's text.  These are two 

different things, and the relationship between their respective 

reliabilities is a probablistic expectation (istinbat) that is 

neither strictly casual, nor yet a necessary logical implication 

(lazim), there being four logical possibilities for any Hadith:

(1)  A sound text and sound chain of transmission, as with well-

authenticated (hasan) and rigorously authenticated (sahih) Hadiths;

(2)  A sound text and an unsound chain of transmitters, reflecting the 

possibility that a transmitter with poor memory, or unknown to the 

person who recorded the Hadith, or one not trustworthy, is in principle 

capable of relating the Hadith correctly;

(3)  An unsound text and unsound chain of transmitters, as with 

Hadiths that are forged (mawdu');

(4)  or an unsound text and a sound chain of transmitters, reflecting 

the possibility that one of those who classify the personalities and 

reliability of various Hadith transmitters could in principle make an 

error in their ijtihad regarding a particular person.

Because of the distinction between text and transmission, forms of 

evidence other than the authenticity rating of the chain of narrators 

are sometimes admissible, as when there is a consensus of legal 

scholars who have received the Hadith with acceptance, which is an 

acknowledged form of corroboration for Hadith of the second type 

mentioned above.

(Isma'il Ansari:) Ibn Hajar 'Asqalani says: "Among the characteristics 

that necessitate acceptance is for scholars of Sacred Law to have 

concurred on applying implications of a Hadith.  Such a Hadith is 

acceptable, even obligatory to apply, as a number of the Imams of 

fundamentals of Islam (usul) have explicitly stated.  Shafi'i, for 

example, says, 'What I have said about water when its taste, odour, 

and colour change, has been related from the Prophet (Allah bless 

him and give him peace) through a channel of transmission that Hadith 

scholars do not confirm the like of, but it is the position of all 

scholars without a single dissenting voice I know of.'  And he said of 

the Hadith,  'There is no bequest to an estate division heir' - 

'Scholars of Hadith do not corroborate it, but all scholars receive it 

with acceptance and apply it.'"

Ibn al-Qayyim, in his I'lam al-muwaqqi'in, when discussing the Hadith 

of Mu'adh about judgements (A: in which the Prophet (Allah bless him 

and give him peace) asked Mu'adh ibn Jabal when dispatching him to 

Yemen how he would judge, to which Mu'adh replied that he would judge 

first by the Koran, then the Sunna, and then by his own reasoning 

(ijtihad)), says, "Legal scholars accept it and employ it as evidence, 

from which we learn that they hold it to be rigorously authenticated 

(sahih), just as we learn of the Prophet's saying (Allah bless him and 

give him peace):

(1)  "'There is no bequest to an estate division heir.'

(2)  "'[The Hadith about the sea,] Its water is purifying.'

(3)  "'When buyer and seller differ about the price they have agreed 

upon and the merchandise still exists, each swears [N: that his side 

of the story is correct] and [N: they cannot agree] they cancel the 

sale.'

(4)  "'The killer's extended family is responsible for the indemnity.'

"Even if these Hadiths are unauthenticated in their chains of 

transmission, since virtually all scholars have related them, the 

Hadiths' authenticity, which they accept, eliminates their need to 

verify the channels of transmission, and so it is too with the Hadith 

of Mu'adh: the fact that all scholars have adduced it as evidence 

eliminates the need for their checking its means of transmission."

And Ibn 'Abd al-Barr says in al-Istidhkar, concerning Tirmidhi's 

having related that Bukhari said of the Hadith of the sea "Its water 

is purifying" that it was rigorously authenticated (sahih)- "Hadith 

scholars do not consider Hadiths with the like of its chain of 

transmission to be rigorously authenticated (sahih), though I hold it 

to be so, because scholars have received it with acceptance" (al-Isaba 

fi nusra al-Khulafa' al-Rashidin wa al-Sahaba, 11. 8-9 ).

(A:) Among the primary textual evidence for the admissibility of such 

Hadiths is the word of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): 

"Allah will never make my Community concur upon misguidance, and Allah's 

hand is over the group." (This is a Sahih Hadith related by Imam al-Hakim).

So it is inadequate for someone who proposes to annul a ruling of 

Sacred Law to adduce that the Hadith supporting it has a weak chain 

of transmission, unless he can establish both that there are not a 

number of similar variants or alternate channels of transmission that 

strengthen it, confirming this by means of a text by a Hadith master 

(hafiz); and that the meaning of the Hadith has not been received 

with acceptance by the scholars of the Muslim Community. "

Let me now quote the opinion of one the foremost Shaykh's of the 

"Salafiyya", Taqi ad-Deen Ahmad ibn Taymiyya.  He said in his 

recently translated book "Muqqaddima fi Usool al-Tafseer" ('An 

Introduction to The Principles of Tafseer', trans. by Muhammad 

Abdul Haq Ansari, pg. 38): "The point we are making is that multiple 

means of transmission, without prior discussion or agreement between 

the reporters usually guarantee the validity of the content of the 

Hadith transmitted.  However, those who are acquainted with the lives 

of transmitters can make better use of the Hadith.  They can also 

use the Ahadith which are reported by transmitters who are not well 

known or who are quite weak in their memory, as well as the Ahadith 

which are mursal (a Hadith where the name of the Companion is missing, 

but attributed to the Prophet by a disciple of a Companion).  Many 

scholars have noted down Ahadith of this type.  They think that even 

though by themselves these Ahadith do not prove anything, they can 

nonetheless be used to strengthen other Ahadith."  Then Ibn Taymiyya 

said later on the same page: "The scholars of Hadith often use a Hadith 

which suffers from error caused by weakness of memory as supporting 

evidence.  They have even considered some Ahadith reported by reliable

(thiqah), true (sideeq) and correct narrators (al-dhabt) to be weak in 

which they are able to find out some defects.  The science that discusses 

these reasons is called 'ilm ilal al-Hadith, the science of the hidden 

defects of Hadith, which is one of their noblest disciplines...."

Insha'Allah the above discussion may help to alleviate the great 

misunderstanding amongst the non-specialists of the Science of Hadith.  

Is it not true that: "Only a fool speaks about a subject without 

knowledge; leading himself astray, and those who listen to his false 

decrees even further astray?"  May Allah keep us on the Straight Path!

IJTIHAD, TAQLEED AND THE "SALAFIYYA" SECT

I would now like to briefly explain some grave misconceptions 

surrounding the important Islamic concepts of Ijtihad and Taqleed, 

and the people who are in opposition to the very concept of Taqleed, 

namely this new movement called the "Salafiyya".  They are also 

known by the names,  'Wahhabi', (one group of the Wahhabi's also 

claim to follow the Hanbali Madhhab; see later) 'La-Madhhabiyya', 

'Ghayr-Muqallidin' or 'Ahl al-Hadith' (this name has been adopted by 

them from the original and authentic group of the pious predecessors 

of Islam) by the opposition as well as themselves occasionally.  Let it 

be known that the above names are all usually representative of the 

samething in beliefs (with some minor discrepancies and different 

interpretations with in their fold), concepts, and usually the practise 

as well, although they have no coherent jurisprudence; all this has led 

to divisions and subdivisions within them.  This is usually derived 

from the works and beliefs of Ibn Taymiyya and his disciple Ibn al-

Qayyim al-Jawziyyah when it suits their mode!  Before I delve into 

the actual subject matter, I feel it is wise to define what is Ijtihad 

and Taqleed respectively, and who do they apply to in principle and 

practise.

According to the divine law of Islam, Taqleed is the acceptance of a 

statement or juristic ruling of an Imam (Mujtahid) of the highest 

calibre, intelligence, learning, as well as piety, on the conviction 

that the accepted statement has been derived in accordance with hard 

facts, and proofs from the fundamental sources (Usool) of Islam; 

namely the Holy Qur'an, Sunnah, Ijma (consensus; of which there 

are various types) or even Qiyas (analogical deduction).  In short it 

is the following of qualified and verified scholarship of an absolute 

(Mutlaq) Mujtahid, as well as the opinions derived by the scholars 

within the Madhhab (school of Islamic jurisprudence) of the Mujtahid 

Mutlaq.  Hence one who follows the opinions of a particular Madhhab 

and its scholars is known as a Muqallid.

The scholars have said that it is not necessary for the common (ammi) 

Muslim to have to ask or know the proofs of things that are prescribed 

by the Shari'ah in terms of practise (Amal), but no scholar has said 

that it is forbidden to know the proofs (dalil) of a qualified scholar 

or authoritative books if one wishes to do so.  What I have just 

described applies to one category of Muqallids, and that is the lot 

of the common Muslim who has not gained the requisite qualifications to 

follow an independent method of deriving laws from the sources of the 

Shari'ah (see the quotes from scholars later).  The other type of Muqallid 

is one who is still a follower of a particular school of jurisprudence, 

but he acquaints himself with the evidences used by the Mujtahids of 

his Madhhab as far as possible; hence he is known as a Muqallid Muttabi'a.

The Muqallid Muttabi'a is usually a man of knowledge ('Alim) who is 

qualified in his own right to convey the rules and laws of Islam, but 

he is not yet qualified to derive new laws from the sources of the 

Shari'ah independently, i.e. he is not a Mujtahid.       

The scholars have said that Taqleed is only permissible in things that 

are to be practised (Amal) according to the divine Shari'ah, but it is

impermissible (haram) in the facts that need to be believed in, thus 

one must know the fundamental beliefs of Islam (Aqeedah, I'tiqad or Iman).

For example, Shaykh Ahmad al-Sirhindi (d. 1034/1624; Rahimahullah) said 

in his Maktubat  (vol. 2, 67th letter): "Among the 73 sects, only the 

Madhhab of the Ahl-as-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah will be saved from Hell.  

Each Muslim has to learn the belief of the Ahl as-Sunnah and correct his 

Iman accordingly.  The majority of Muslims who have spread over the world 

for centuries have been in the Ahl as-Sunnah Madhhab."   It is the Taqleed 

of wrong beliefs (Aqa'eed) which has been condemned by the Qur'an and the

Sunnah; and this may lead one to the fire of hell, even if one claims to 

be a believer. Let it be known that the vast majority of believers amongst 

the pious predecessors (Salaf as-Saliheen), scholars after them and even

 ordinary folk, have had the correct beliefs held by what is regarded as 

the saved sect from Qur'anic and Hadith based evidence; and that is only 

the sect of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah.  The question that may be asked 

by an inquisitive reader is, "Who are the Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah (Sunni

Muslims)?"  For the answer and the characteristics of the saved sect (Firqat

an-Najiyyah) please see later for the scholarly opinions.

Now, the opposite of a Muqallid is one who is known as a Mujtahid.  A 

Mujtahid is a scholar of the highest rank, piety and learning, who has 

gained the requisite qualifications to independently strive, derive, 

and extract the laws of Islam from the fundamental bases (namely the 

Qur'an, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas); and this process is known as Ijtihad

(independent reasoning).  In doing so, the absolute Mujtahid does not 

usually follow the opinions of others without knowing their evidences, 

as well as their justifications.  In fact some scholars have said that 

it is forbidden (haram) for a qualified Mujtahid to make Taqleed of 

others (see below).

Let me now give you just four quotes from some well known scholars, and 

their declarations on Taqleed and Ijtihad:

(A) It was stated in the book: "Imam Abu Hanifah: Life and Work", 

by the well known Historian of India, Allamah Shibli Numani (pg. 

117): "The word Mujtahid has been defined as follows by scholars of 

Hadith like Baghawi (d. 510/1117), Rafi'i (d. 623/1226), Nawawi (d. 

676/1277) and others; thus: "A Mujtahid is one well versed in the 

Qur'an, Hadith, the early schools of law (Madhhabs), lexicology and 

analogical reasoning (Qiyas), that is to say, one who knows all or 

practically all Qur'anic passages, established Traditions (Ahadith) 

from the Prophet (peace be upon him) and sayings of the early 

generations pertaining to legal problems, has the necessary lexical 

learning and is acquainted with all the methods of analogical 

reasoning (this is only a summary of the actual requirements).  If a 

man is deficient in any of these things, he cannot be called a 

Mujtahid and should conform to one or other of the recognised 

schools of law (i.e; only the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i or Hanbali 

schools today)."

(B) Imam Abdal Ghani an-Nablusi (d. 1143/1733, he was an author of 

nearly 500 works; Rahimahullah) said in his well known book, 

Khulasat-ut-Tahqiq: "A Muslim has either become a Mujtahid or has 

not reached the grade of Ijtihad.  A Mujtahid is either Mutlaq 

(absolute) or Muqayyad (belonging to a Madhhab).  It is not permissible 

for a Mutlaq Mujtahid to follow another Mujtahid (i.e; he does not make

Taqleed); he has to follow his own Ijtihad.  However, a Muqayyad Mujtahid

follows his own Ijtihad which he employs in accordance with the methods of 

the Madhhab of the Mutlaq Mujtahid.  The one who is not a Mujtahid should

follow whichever he likes of the four Madhhabs; and when doing an Ibada 

(worship) in accordance with a certain Madhhab, he has to fulfil all the 

conditions required by that Madhhab for it to be Sahih (correct).  If he 

does not fulfil one of these conditions, his Ibada will not be Sahih.  

It has been informed unanimously by the Ulama (Ijma-al-Ulama) that such an 

Ibada will be in vain (ba'til).  Though it is not a must for him to believe 

that his Madhhab is superior (rather they are all equal), it will be good if 

he believes so.  Talfiq, that is, to do any Ibada or any deed in accordance 

with those words of the four Madhhabs that disagree with one another means