What is the difference between the titles "Sheik" and "Imam" ? What qualifications must one have in order to attain these titles?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The religion which Allaah has chosen is the religion of
Tawheed, Islam, for which He sent the Messengers and revealed the Books. It
is by His grace towards His slaves that He has preserved this religion and
decreed that it will survive and continue and its basic principles will be
preserved through the sincere and devout scholars who are entrusted with the
Revelation and who bear that trust and deliver it as enjoined by their Lord.
Among previous nations in history there has been distortion
and changing of the contents of the messages of the Prophets to a great
extent, because most of their scholars betrayed the trust and sold the
covenant of Allaah for a small price. They were misled by their whims and
desires and by the shaytaan, and they introduced into the religion things
for which Allaah gave no permission. One of the most serious ways in which
they distorted the message of the Prophets was by introducing the principle
of al-waasitah (mediation) between Allaah and His creation, between the
almighty Lord and His slaves, thus aiming to protect the thrones of the
tyrants who oppressed the people thereby and held their destiny in their
hands, through the body that spoke in the name of “heaven”. They invented
names and titles
for this organization and classified them in varying degrees
and levels, where the clergyman could progress through the ranks that had
been invented in the name of “the Lord” until he reached the position of
acting as the deputy of “God” as the “high priest” or “pope”.
The English historian Wills said in his book, Milestones
of Human History (3/270):
But even though the fully-developed Christianity of the
fourth century preserved the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels as its
foundation, it was in essence a sacerdotal religion of the type that had
been familiar to people for thousands of years. The altar was the focus of
its elaborate rituals and the essential act of worship was the sacrifice
consecrated by the priest for the Mass, and it had a structure that quickly
formed, composed of the deacons, priests and bishops. End quote.
This body developed its authority and its method of
organization from the political hierarchy of the Roman Empire as Shaykh
Safar al-Hawaali said in his book al-‘Ulmaaniyyah (79):
The presence of priests and monks within the Roman Empire
helped to support their position and reinforce it, because they copied from
the political system and hierarchy of the state the idea of creating a
priestly system and hierarchy. Just as the state system resembled a pyramid
with the emperor at the top and the troops at the bottom, the church system
also resembled a pyramid, with the pope at the top and the priests at the
bottom. As a result of the principle of separating church and state, the
empire took care of sponsoring the church hierarchy, and did not find
anything in it that contradicted or opposed the state hierarchy. Thus it was
settled and became strong. End quote.
But in the sharee’ah of Islam that was divinely protected,
you do not find the kind of class system that could reinforce tyranny and
oppression, and you can only find texts which speak of equality among all
people and state that the best of them are those who are most pious and
closest to Allaah and who follow His laws most closely.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, the most honourable of you with Allaah is that
(believer) who has At‑Taqwa [i.e. he is one of the Muttaqoon (the pious)]”
[al-Hujuraat 49:13]
“And for all, there will be degrees according to that
which they did, that He (Allaah) may recompense them in full for their
deeds. And they will not be wronged”
[al-Ahqaaf 46:19]
Hence the essence of Islamic sharee’ah is based on cancelling
out the mediation of bandits who come between the people and Allaah in the
name of “mediation” or “intercession”. Islam attributes this attitude to the
mushrikeen whom fought the message of Tawheed, of whom Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“And they worship besides Allaah things that harm them
not, nor profit them, and they say: ‘These are our intercessors with
Allaah.’ Say: ‘Do you inform Allaah of that which He knows not in the
heavens and on the earth?’ Glorified and Exalted is He above all that which
they associate as partners (with Him)!”
[Yoonus 10:18]
The guided French scholar Naasir al-Deen Dinet said:
The issue of mediation was one of the major issues in which
Islam superseded all other religions, because there is no intermediary
between Allaah and His slave. There are no priests or monks in Islam; these
intermediaries are the cause of all evil in other religions and that is
indeed the case no matter what their beliefs and no matter how sincere they
are and how good their intentions. The Messiah himself understood that. Did
he not drive the sellers out of the temple? But his followers do not act as
he did, and today if Jesus were to return how many like the sellers in the
temple would he drive out? End quote from al-‘Ulmaaniyyah (p. 81).
As for the status of the fuqaha’ and scholars in Islam, it is
purely academic, i.e., whether a person has enough knowledge to qualify him
to talk about religion is based on his studies and academic qualifications
and what he has learned from universities, study circles and books. It has
nothing to do with any religious hierarchical body or priestly rituals that
give them authority in the name of the Lord. Rather it is a level of
specialized knowledge – as in any other field of knowledge studied by
specialists. They may be correct or incorrect, and they are subject to
criticism on the basis of evidence. None of them has any authority or power
to declare things halaal or haraam, or to issue commands and prohibitions,
except the Lord of the Worlds. They are no more than conveyors of His laws,
and teachers who tell the people of what was revealed from the Lord of the
Worlds. Moreover, as we have pointed out, they are not infallible in their
understanding of the message brought by the Messenger of Allaah (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or in the way they preserve it and
convey it. Rather the infallible ruling, which Falsehood cannot come to it
from before it or behind it (cf. Fussilat 41:42), and which is to be
referred to in the case of a dispute, is the Revelation of Allaah, may He be
exalted: His Holy Book and what is narrated in saheeh reports from the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then that on which
there is consensus among the ummah, for his ummah cannot agree on
misguidance.
The titles and names that the scholars bestow on some of
them, or that the people bestow on them, are only referring to the level of
knowledge that a person acquires of the rulings of sharee’ah. There may also
be a kind of distinguishing the type of knowledge in which a person has
specialized, such as faqeeh and mufti for those who have specialized in fiqh
and issuing fatwas, respectively, or mufassir for the one who has
specialized in tafseer or commentary on the Book of Allaah, or muhaddith and
hafiz for those who have specialized in the study of hadeeth.
The scholar may also be given titles of praise for his vast
knowledge and learning, such as Shaykh al-Islam or ‘Allaamah or Imam and
other such titles which ascribe knowledge and learning to those who are
entitled to them. In no way are they meant as indicators of priestly status
that has been earned in a gradual manner through stages of devotion and
monasticism.
Even describing the academic level by using these titles is
not something precise, such that the one who reaches a certain level will be
called by a different name than someone who has reached a lower level.
Rather they are relative descriptions and do not refer to precise
distinctions between one level and another, and they are not indicative of
different levels of knowledge, rather they point to general praise or
particular specializations.
There is no precise difference between the titles of imam,
‘aalim and Shaykh and it is not permissible for anyone to understand their
usage in books or by scholars in terms of the innovations of other nations
with regard to clergymen and priests.
And Allaah knows best.
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