Differences Of Opinion

Dealing with Differences – فقه الاختلاف

Imam Shafi’ii debated an issue with Yunus al-Sadafi (Abu Musa).
They separated their ways.
Later, Imam Shafi’ii came back to him, grabbed his hand and said:

يا أبا موسى، ألا يستقيم أن نكون إخوانًا وإن لم نتفق في مسألة!
“O Abu Musa, can we not remain brothers, even if we disagree on an issue?”

Imam Dhahabi commented on this, praising the intelligence of Imam Shafi’ii and saying that people’s views will always differ:

هذا يدل على كمال عقل هذا الإمام ، وفقه نفسه ، فما زال النظراء يختلفون

[“Siyar A’lam al-Nubala”, 8/240].

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Disagreement is human nature.
If 1 issues separates us, there are 1000’s of issues that bond us.
We don’t have to agree on everything.
We can agree to disagree.