handling difference of opinion in an organization

[mahin]

I'm reposting this message as it did not totally satisfy the nature of the thread it was previously on.

Assalaamu alaikum,

I actually have a question quite relevant to the one on this thread. Let's say you're running an organization(MSA) and are faced with an issue that scholars of the Hanbali madhab have a certain position on, and the scholars of the other madhabs are on the other side of the ball. Should the person in charge totally avoid the issue(if he himself is in doubt) or should he follow one of the opinions??(even if those under him in the organization disagree with him?) BTW, this is not an issue of hypothetical fiqh(I'm dealing with it right now)..I may be Bengali but I'm not that Hanafi ;) Jazakum Allahu Khair.

P.S. Shaykh Yaser, in regards to my name, I figured it out!!..I actually have been pronouncing it wrong for the past 20 years :) .. My dad actually pronounces it differently(so the meaning is not slandered). Abu Hurayrah pointed this out to me.

[curious]

AA Mahin,

I have no answers (yet), but your post tweaked my curiosity! Please dont be so mysterious/ vague! Can you describe the situation or at least categorize the controversial issue/action/decision?? Many of us are leaders in organizations and might benefit from this discussion. Also, you never know, maybe someone else has already been there, done that, and can lend some insight.

JazakiAllahkhairan!

[puddingshop]

me too! inquiring minds want to know!

[Nazia Awan]

Assalaamu'alaikum,

Very interesting question. I am looking forward to the answer.

As a side note, during our "Fiqh of Love" class, we obviously discussed the different opinions of the 4 imams regarding various issues in marriage. One of the students asked what a couple should do if each follows a different madhab...(Allahu A'lam, the question was in everyone's minds when we discussed whether or not to give the engagement gifts back. Some scholars said "yes", some said "no". :) ). Shaykh Yaser responded that they should both turn to a local Imam or Islamic authority in the community to settle their issues.

So I am looking forward to this response.

wasalaamu'alaikum

[mahin]

Assalaamu alaikum,

I'll try to be more specific while staying a bit vague, due to the interests of the organization... From my understanding, Shaykh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid(hafidhullah) on islamqa.com said that sisters should only speak out of necessity for this prevents fitnah...now I understand the shaykh is a student of Shaykh Bin Baz(rahimullah)..so the question is..is he using the Usul of Imam Ahmad's(rahimullah) madhab(I'm assuming that Shaykh al-Munajjid is Hanbali since he was Shaykh Bin Baz's student) where something halal can be made impermissible due to the "possibility" of fitnah??? and If this is the case, can I enforce a Hanbali opinion on an entire organization??? I mean, if sisters want to present something at an MSA meeting, can I enforce this ruling(and not let them speak period) even though we're not a Hanbali MSA??? Or do I let them, provided that I know they're credible and won't speak alluringly..and provided that they're also decked out in niqab?? (We've never had a sister get up and present anything as long as I have been involved in MSA..however a few years ago I heard that there was a big fit thrown about a sister doing one of the lectures during Islamic Awareness Week) Also, a brother who spoke at our MSA said that according to Imam Abu Hanifa(rahimullah), a woman would be allowed to become President in MSA(deducing from the hadith about the Queen of Persia, where supposedly the Imam said that a woman cannot be governor or khalif, but can hold lower positions; ie MSA President) ...this won't become an issue until probably next year..but let's just say I've got a very strong feeling it will be an issue..and we've never had a women president here..so how do we accomodate this ruling as well??? Sooo..let's see what Shaykh Yaser has to say about this.. :)

PS I also did not confirm that this was Imam Abu Hanifa's(rahimullah) opinion, as I could not find anything on it.

[Yaser Birjas]

Difference of opinion is not evidence by itself to allow or ban something simply because there is a difference of opinion over it.

The scenario you mentioned (banning something fearing the fitnah) –saddul Dhraae’e- is not just the opinion of Imam Ahamd, Imam Malik also speaks strongly about this and sure all the U’laama agree that if practicing a permissible matter will lead to something haram then restraining the free practice of it will become essential.

The problem with most organizations is that they are governed by constitutions, so it doesn’t really matter what you think of it as a president of group A or B, unless the system is like the one man show thing.

Wallahu Aa’alam

[mahin]

Jazakum Allahu Khair for the swift reply