Wassalam
I know all these questions are not strictly related to the definition and explanation of taqleed but as laymen how do we apply this taqleed and what do you advice us to do if we get all confused like me.
Apologies if the questions are confusing or silly and BaraakAllaahu feek for reading them if you've gotten this far.
Look the application and implementation of Taqleed rules is even more important than the theory of Taqleed itself, so your questions are not out of place.
I was raised a hanafi but having done "some" of my own search later, I was told many things that we do are "hearsay" and "bidaah". Now, having read your posts, I'm confused as what to do.
Well it's simple: follow a scholar you trust.
For example:
I learned from the members here that wiping the neck is bidaah in Wudhu, the sujdah sahw we did is wrong, Sujdah sahw is not to be done for every slight mistake in salah, women doing `Ithikaaf in their houses is Bidaah so on and so forth. Now I don't even know `Arabic. I got all this stuff from IslamQA. Having read those fatwas, I follow them. Since this bid`ah call is a rough one, in the begining I went on correcting my family on this that and the other [I can see that was foolish]. So what is to be done is such situations, because apparantly what's bid`ah in IslamQA fatwas is part of the Sunnah here. Am I "obliged" to stay quiet because I have no knowledge of my own, and can I follow IslamQA?
Just follow a scholar you trust. I'll give you the benefit of my opinion though in these specific matters from a Hanafi perspective, since I assume it that some people perceive Hanafi Fiqh to be responsible for this mess:
1. Wiping the back of the neck is not from the original Hanafi Madhhab, but rather was created later on by some later Hanafi scholars. They based this on a Hadith they found, however, its authenticity is severely disputed. Best to leave it out. In addition, in matters as big as Wudu, we should tend to stick to the big things i.e. the clear narrations. Finding something not as famously reported in a matter like Wudu that is very famous in the religion casts doubt on its authenticity according to scholars of Hadith.
2. The original Sajdat 'l-Shaw procedure of the Hanafi School is to do two Salams, do Sajdat 'l-Sahw, come back and do two Salams. A combination of a couple of Hadith in Saheeh Muslim would prove this procedure, so no problem with this opinion. Also, Sajdat 'l-Sahw should be done for what there is proof for Sajdat 'l-Sahw. It is correct that you don't do Sahw for any type of mistake. Details of this can be found in Fiqh.
3. It appears that the stronger narration of the original Hanafi Madhhab does not mention anything about a woman doing I`tikaf in her house. However, in another narration, it does mention that she can do I`tikaf in her dedicated place of prayer house, based on the Hadith 'The earth and been made a place of prayer (Masjid) and means of purification [via Tayammum]', and coupled with the idea that Salah for a lady is best in her house, they ruling is deduced that a lady should also best perform I`tikaf in her house. However, it seems to me that the silence of the stronger narration of the Hanafi Madhhab indicates that this ruling is weak.
Secondly:
Since my source of information is the internet and there are many opinions, what do you advice us in this case. If we follow any scholar whose evidence seems stronger or let's say more convincing to our layman minds, would that be talfeeq batil?
Follow a trustworthy scholar. If you think IslamQA is trustworthy, good. I endorse that as well as a trustworthy website.
And by the way that is not Talfeeq Batil brother. Talfeeq Batil means mixing various rulings up in one place to come up with a new form of action that is not endorsed by anybody. The classic example given is that a man touches a lady and bleeds due to a wound, claiming his Wudu is still intact. This is Talfeeq Batil, because all the scholars who said that bleeding doesn't break Wudu say that it does break when a man touches a woman, and all scholars who say touching a woman doesn't break Wudu say that it does break when one bleeds. In other words, your Wudu is broken in all opinions, so you can't mix it up and say that your whole Wudu is still intact.
Thirdly:
Down here some stuff is rendered permissible with no one knowing it's evidence. For example: If I'm to travel for my classes some 110 miles away from home alone, it's fine. Checking IslamQA, I get I can't even travel my 2.5 min with a non mahram rickshaw driver when I'm late. As far as I can recall, that fatwa didn't share any evidence either [I know as a layman I'm not required to see if the Shaykh feels like it] but as a layman I do get all confused.
Follow a trustworthy scholar. If you want evidence for the contentment of your heart, request politely or ask another scholar.
Fourthly:
At multaqa I was told that we can shorten the prayer if the stay is for three to ten days depending upon distance. I repeated all the prayers that I prayed wrong according to this statement. Now, I've been told that what I did before i.e shortening of prayers if the stay is as long as 15 days [ and the required distance is traveled] wasn't wrong either and is according to the hanafi madhab. How do I know what's right, and what do I follow, considering I don't know anything.
This is a matter that has legitimate difference of opinion, so no worries. If you find out that your action is in accordance to one of the Madhhabs, or a scholar says you were fine in doing so, then you don't need to repeat anything.
