Q: I have a lot of confusion from few months and it’s affecting my mental health. Please help me to come to a conclusion.
My brother married to a Salafi women (extreme) and she always has an argument with us that we are following a wrong path and all Muslims have to do research in order to come to a right path just like non Muslims have to do research in order to find the truth of Islam. She claims that we Muslims also have do research in order to come to true the path. She always shows the hadith from Bukhaari ,etc. to prove her point and to be honest by looking at the hadith she seems correct to me and moreover my brother is also inclining towards Salafism now.
Some of the arguments that our family had with her as follows:
(1) Women's prayers are similar to men and she shows a hadith where the prohet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) told to read as you see me praying
(2) You can't do qurbani on Muhammed's (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) name as it is biddah and she tells the logic that Muhammed (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) doesn’t need sawab of it
(3) Zakatul fitr in cash
(4) Quran recitation for the deceased
(5) 1 rakat witr can also be read
(6) Combining salah for travel and important works
(7) Masah on cotton socks as she told that Allah wants ease for us but scholars have made it difficult by laying down so many conditions to it. (I personally feel quite attracted by these logics as washing the feet outside is very difficult for wudhu so if we take her opinion it will bring a lot of ease)
(8) 3 talaq is one as she said Umar (radhiyallahu anhu) has imposed it to three as it has always been one at the time of prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and she shows a Hadith that clarified her point to these clearly.
And many others rulings, etc.
One thing I want to mention that my family is not religious or you can say not much knowledgeable into these type of stuff and they are easily influenced by it and I am the youngest member of my home so no one listens to me.
And recently I noticed that 80 percent of the top famous Islamic scholars also belong to Salafi fiqh and more and more people of my surroundings are becoming Salafis (recently my whole uncle's family became Salafi's). They also have the same argument saying that imaams are not prophet’s and they can make mistakes and they always say the quote's of an imaam that if the hadith is saheeh then that is my madhab.
Basically they are trying to say that there are lot of mistakes in fiqh especially in Hanafi fiqh saying that Imaam Abu Hanifa didn't have much resources in his time nor did he travel so much so he gave rulings just on the basis of Quraan mostly that is why there are a lot of contradictions in ther rulings with the Saheeh Hadith.
They also say that the 4 imaams followers are doing the similar thing what the Arabs used to do in jaahiliyat that following their elders blindly without any proof . I don't know but I find their arguments quite attractive that we should follow Saheeh Hadith and Quraan.
I also done research myself but I couldn’t judge which one is correct. When I read or listen to Salafi scholars, they seem correct and when I listen to Hanafi scholars, they seem correct to me. What to do now? Please help.
Am I following the right path by being a strong DEOBANDI HANAFI follower or am I on the wrong path? Please guide me and give answers based on rationality and not just that you are following Hanafi so Hanafi will be correct. As a Muslim, should I research about it and not merely believe just because my grandfather follows Hanafi fiqh?
