7 - "In many countries, it is seen that the Hanafis do not perform salat together with the Shafi'is. Saying 'amin' loud behind the imam and moving the finger up when reciting the Tahiyya have been causing enmity."
 
 

The books of all the madhhabs clearly write that a Muslim who belongs to a madhhab can perform salat behind one belonging to another madhhab. The idea that the small differences concerning the 'Ibadat of the four madhhabs will cause enmity originates from the day-dreams and slanders of the enemies of the madhhabs, that is, the mulhids and zindiqs. In every part of the world Muslims of the four madhhabs have been performing salat behind one another, for, they all know and love one another as brothers. The great wali, profound alim Hadrat Mawlana Diya' addin Khalid al-Baghdadi (d. 1242/1826) was a Shafi'i. His murshid (guide, alim, ustadh) Hadrat 'Abdullah ad-Dahlawi, who gave him faid (the outpouring that flows from the murshid's heart to the disciple's heart which thus attains motion, purity and exaltation) and the khilafa [(certificate of) authority to instruct others] was a Hanafi. Hadrat 'Abd al-Qadir Al-Geilani (d. 561/1165) was a Shafi'i. Seeing that the Hanbali madhhab was about to be forgotten, he became a Hanbali in order to protect and strengthen it. Jalal ad-din Muhammad Mahalli (d. 864/1459), writer of the tafsir book Al-Jalalain, was a Shafi'i; Ahmad ibn Sawi (d. 1241/1825), who was a Maliki, wrote a commentary (sharh) on this tafsir book and facilitated its spreading far and wide. While interpreting the sixth ayat of Surat Fatir in this commentary, he wrote: "The la-madhhabi who live in the Hijaz, in Arabia, claim that they alone are Muslims. They say that the Muslims of Ahl as-Sunnat are polytheists, though Ahl as-Sunnat are the true Muslims. They are liars. We wish that Allahu ta'ala will annihilate these heretical people." Hadrat Ahmad ibn Sawi's annotation (hashiya) on the tafsir book Al-Baidawi won a great fame, too. The famous alim al-Baidawi (d. 685/1286) was a Shafi'i. His tafsir is one of the most valuable tafsir books. Most 'ulama' of the four madhhabs praised and wrote commentaries on it. For example, the commentary by Shaikhzada Muhammad Effendi, a Hanafi alim, is famous and very valuable. As all Muslims know, the number of the books written by the 'ulama' of the four madhhabs, in which they express their praise and love for one another, exceed thousands. [See below, the 36th article, for "moving the finger up."]