Issues and Questions
Prayers with Pictures in the Room, Madhahib and Unity

By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Garden Grove, CA

Q 1. I am a new Muslim with a question concerning Jesus. What happened on the day of crucifixion? My (Muslim) husband doesn’t explain it so I would understand. He mentioned someone else took his place. Can you fill me in so that I could spread the right message to others when asked.
A 1. There is a great deal written on this subject by the commentators of the Qur’an and many other Muslim writers. This is not the place to go in any detail about this subject. You may read some good Qur’anic commentaries such as Yusuf Ali’s translation and commentary or Maulana Maududi’s Towards Understanding the Qur’an and other writings on this subject. Briefly, let me tell you that Allah in the Qur’an (Surah al-Nisa’ 4:157-8) says “And concerning their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah’s Messenger.’ They killed him not, nor crucified, but it appeared so to them. Indeed those who disagree concerning it are in doubt about it. They have no (true) knowledge about it except that they follow conjecture. Surely they did not kill him. But Allah did take him up unto Himself. Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.”
Thus, according to Allah’s testimony in the Qur’an, the crucifixion did not take place and Jesus was not killed or died on the cross. In the Gospel of Luke, it is also written: “And he (Jesus) withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup (meaning death) from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him…” (Luke 22:41-43) Some Muslim scholars (such as Ibn Taymiyah in his book al-Jawab al-Sahih) have expressed that Jesus - peace be upon him - prayed to Allah to remove the cup of death from him. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala who loved and cared for Jesus did not refuse his prayer. It is Allah’s way that He accepts the prayers of His Prophets and Messengers. Thus, Allah accepted Jesus’ prayer and willed what Jesus himself willed. Allah saved Jesus - peace be upon him - from the pain and agony of death on the cross. He sent His angels to strengthen him (i.e., to support him and to give him the assurance that Allah would save him), and then they took him away from those who tried to kill him. The crowd, however, became confused and some of them thought that they killed Jesus - peace be upon him. Allah has informed us that this indeed did not happen.
There were many groups among early followers of Jesus who also believed that Jesus was saved from the death on the cross. They did not believe that he was crucified. However, slowly the doctrine of crucifixion (and with it the doctrines of redemption and atonement) became the orthodox doctrine and the Church condemned other positions. The Qur’an took the early and the true position in this matter. The Qur’an has emphasized both the humanity of Jesus as well as his greatness as a Messenger of Allah.

Q 2. Are we allowed to pray in a room where there are pictures and photographs?
A 2. As long as the pictures and photographs are not in front of you towards the direction of Qiblah and they do not distract you from your concentration in your Salah, you are allowed to pray in that room. But if the pictures are towards the direction of Qiblah, then they should be removed from there or you should find another room for prayer.

Q 3. How and why did the four Madhahib - the Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali - emerge and evolve? Why do Muslims follow one school in one country and another school in another country? Why this lack of uniformity?
A 3. As long as the Prophet - peace be upon him - was with the Ummah, he was the Imam. Muslims followed the Qur’an and the explanations of the Prophet - peace be upon him. Whenever they needed any explanation, they went to the Prophet and he either waited for the divine revelation in order to answer them, or gave them his own answers according to the authority that Allah gave him. We, however, know that the Prophet - peace be upon him - also allowed sometimes the variety of opinions among his Sahabah in certain matters.
After the Prophet’s departure from this earth, his Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa’ al-Rashidun) were the leaders of the Ummah. Unlike the Prophet, they were not the recipients of Divine revelation (wahy), but they had the full authority to interpret the Shari’ah in their time. Their knowledge, piety and religious authority made the people to go back to them for any final decision. The Caliphs used to consult many Sahabah, but then whatever decision they would make, theirs was the final word. In other words, we can say that there was only one Madh’hab during the time of al-Khulafa’ al-Rashidun. They kept the unity and uniformity of the Ummah.

We know that when Muslims differed on the readings of the Qur’an, the Caliph Uthman - may Allah be pleased with him - sent his authorized copy to all provinces and removed all other copies of the Qur’an from circulation and burned them. Thus, he was able to keep the unity of the Ummah.
However, with the emergence of the Umayyad rule, the situation changed. The Umayyad caliphs did not have the same religious authority as the previous Khulafa’. Some of them deviated from the true path of Islam. Many jurists and scholars used to avoid them, and they began their teachings independently in their own locations. The great Sahabah and their followers (tabi’un) went to different areas and taught and preached to their local people. There was no central authority that could unite all the opinions at that time. The Islamic State was expanding. This set a trend for the development of various schools of interpretations under various able scholars and jurists.
The Hadith was also not fully collected. So, there were two main trends among the early jurists: those who relied on Hadith only, while there were others who frequently used Qiyas and Ra’y. This situation continues throughout the Umayyad period.
After the Umayyad (661-750 CE) came the Abbasids. They were also not the ideal caliphs like al- Khulafa’ al-Rashidun, but in comparison to the Umayyads, they were more supportive of Islamic law and its scholars. During their time various scholars were encouraged to write books on Islamic laws. They also patronized the collection of early Fatwas. The Caliphs encouraged religious discussions and debates. Various scholars had the opportunity to debate their positions with others. Due to more discussions and debates, some people changed their opinions. Some schools were eliminated and others merged into major schools. Thus, four major schools of Fiqh came about. The crystallization of four major Madhahib of Islamic Fiqh came about by the 3rd century of Hijrah or the 9th century of the common era, before this there were about twenty different Madhahib.
Once the Madhahib became established in different areas, the local teacher used them to teach the Shari’ah to their students. The local courts applied the decisions and Fatwas of their local jurists. Thus, in a natural way the Madhahib spread in different areas.
Although we do not have uniformity among Muslims at this time, we should still try to unite them with tolerance and broadmindedness. We should unite them as much as possible.
I am pleased to see that the fanatical loyalty to a particular Madh’hab among Muslims is decreasing, alhamdulillah. Now Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali and even Ja’fari pray together and work together. We read each other’s books and attend the Islamic conferences together. In America this is happening much more than in any other place. I hope this trend will continue and our unity as well as the unity of the whole Ummah will increase, by the Grace and Mercy of Allah. Ameen.