"to deny anything established through Ijmaa of Sahaaba [radhiallaahu anhu] is also Kufr"

Question

in answer to question # 14135 regarding eating the meat of shia you mentioned: "to deny anything established through Ijmaa of Sahaaba [radhiallaahu anhu] is also Kufr"

so what about the salafis that deny that taraweeh is 20 rakaats? was this based on ijmah also? and in addition they don't believe that three talaaqs in one sitting is three but instead it is one. was this also not based on ijma? both situations were formulated by hazrat Umar (ra). so if that is true then would the salafies also be branded as kaafir?

Mufti Ebrahim Desai · Accepted Answer

In our response to question 14135, we have pointed out some independent principle causes of Kufr. We did not deal with the issues of an opposing principle. If there is an independent and singular cause of Kufr, that will indeed be Kufr. However, if the cause of Kufr is opposed by another principle cause of Imaan, then it is a different issue.

Salafis claim that Taraweeh is eight Rakaats based on a Hadith. We claim Taraweeh to be 20 Rakaats based on Ijmaa of the Sahaaba [radhiallaahu anhum]. This Ijmaa is opposed by another principle issue which is Hadith. This is an academic difference based on substantiations of Shari’ah. Therefore, Salafis are Muslims. We cannot declare them as Kaafirs. These type of academic differences is normal among the Fuqahaa. Each one has adopted a view based on some principle which is opposed by another principle. However, it must be pointed out that the analogy on the differences among the Fuqahaa is only on differences of principles and do not constitute Kufr. It does not serve to support the Salafi’s procedure and approach in making deductions on Shari’ah.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Ebrahim Desai

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