Benefit 5: What constitutes Manhaj As-Salaf?
What is meant by Manhaj Salaf As-Sālih, which must be adhered to in order to understand the texts, is what they were upon collectively - not individually. Or what they agreed upon - not what they differed concerning.
And their agreement on a matter comes in two forms:
The first form:
They all say the same thing and are vocal about this, like in the issues of Creed (’Aqīdah); for they were all on the same Creed, and they all professed this.
For example: the belief that the Qur'ān is the uncreated Speech of Allah, and that whoever says it is created then he is a disbeliever. This is from the Manhaj us-Salaf, because all of the Salaf, collectively, were on this same belief.
The second form:
A statement emanates from some of them; three or four of them for example, and they profess this and it becomes something well-known from them, and it is not known that anyone from the Salaf opposed them in this, therefore this matter becomes an issue of manhaj that we must follow; this is what is known as Al-Ijmā’ As-Sukooti (silent/tacit concensus), and there is no doubt that during the time of the Sahabah, this (Al-Ijmā’ As-Sukooti) is a valid proof (Ḥujjah), for two reasons:
The first reason:
The Sahabah were together and not separated. Unlike those after them, the countries expanded and people became dispersed.
The second reason:
The Sahabah would profess the truth, so if any of them heard a false statement been uttered, they would not hesitate to denounce it. Therefore, if it has not been relayed with certainty that any of them opposed in this, then the matter in question is considered to be from the Manhaj As-Salaf, from the angle of Al-Ijmā’ As-Sukooti.
What is meant by Manhaj Salaf As-Sālih, which must be adhered to in order to understand the texts, is what they were upon collectively - not individually. Or what they agreed upon - not what they differed concerning.
And their agreement on a matter comes in two forms:
The first form:
They all say the same thing and are vocal about this, like in the issues of Creed (’Aqīdah); for they were all on the same Creed, and they all professed this.
For example: the belief that the Qur'ān is the uncreated Speech of Allah, and that whoever says it is created then he is a disbeliever. This is from the Manhaj us-Salaf, because all of the Salaf, collectively, were on this same belief.
The second form:
A statement emanates from some of them; three or four of them for example, and they profess this and it becomes something well-known from them, and it is not known that anyone from the Salaf opposed them in this, therefore this matter becomes an issue of manhaj that we must follow; this is what is known as Al-Ijmā’ As-Sukooti (silent/tacit concensus), and there is no doubt that during the time of the Sahabah, this (Al-Ijmā’ As-Sukooti) is a valid proof (Ḥujjah), for two reasons:
The first reason:
The Sahabah were together and not separated. Unlike those after them, the countries expanded and people became dispersed.
The second reason:
The Sahabah would profess the truth, so if any of them heard a false statement been uttered, they would not hesitate to denounce it. Therefore, if it has not been relayed with certainty that any of them opposed in this, then the matter in question is considered to be from the Manhaj As-Salaf, from the angle of Al-Ijmā’ As-Sukooti.