al-Ittiba li-Ibn Abi al-Izz
- Author died
- 792 AH
- Editions
- ‘Ālam al-Kutub
al-Ittiba (Adherence) is a legal and methodological treatise written by the Hanafi jurist and judge Ibn Abi al-Izz (731–792 AH / 1331–1390 CE) on the obligation of adhering to revealed proofs and the censure of partisan legal conformism .
Background and Purpose
The treatise was composed as a refutation of an essay written by Ibn Abi al-Izz's contemporary, Akmal al-Din al-Babarti (d. 786 AH), who argued for the preferential obligation of blindly following the legal school of Abu Hanifa . Ibn Abi al-Izz identified what he considered serious errors in Babarti's arguments and wrote the work to warn against forbidden sectarian division and following personal inclinations, grounding his intent in Quranic directives to maintain unity and shun discord .
Method and Core Arguments
Ibn Abi al-Izz articulates a fundamental distinction between taqlid (blind imitation) and ittiba (following sound evidence) :
- Adherence to proof versus imitation: He clarifies that following a scholar's position after its supporting textual proof becomes clear is not taqlid, but adherence to the proof itself, unless one specifically intends to follow the scholar regardless of the evidence .
- Cross-school preference: If a follower of Abu Hanifa, Malik, al-Shafi'i, or Ahmad ibn Hanbal sees that another school's proof is stronger on a particular issue and adopts it, he has acted properly, and his religious integrity and probity remain uncompromised .
- Critique of partisan extremism: Ibn Abi al-Izz argues that whoever fanatically insists on adhering to one specific individual besides the Prophet ﷺ, viewing that figure's statements as exclusively binding over other imams, has fallen into grave misguidance and ignorance, treating a fallible jurist like a prophet .
- Precedent of early Hanafi masters: He supports his arguments by citing the statements of Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf, who prohibited accepting their legal rulings without knowing the evidence upon which they were based .
Modern Editions
The work was edited by Muhammad 'Ata'ullah Hanif and 'Asim al-Qaryuti and published by al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah in Lahore .
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