Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 822 [Read full issue]
Insubstantial Differences
Dissension (ikhtilaf) over the details of formal worship, including variations in the forms of the call to and 'setting up' of the canonical prayer (adhan, and iqamah); the Id prayer; prayer at times of fear for one's safety; and other such rituals which vary in form but are the same in essence are, according to Ibn Taymiyyah, a type of ikhtilaf al-tanawwu, that is, an insubstantial difference of opinion. As opposed to ikhtilaf al-tadadd (a substantial difference of opinion amounting to contradiction), ikhtilaf al-tanawwu consists of preference of one of two or more equally valid views, over the others, which should be presented and evaluated as such. The essence of preference lies in the recognition of the basic validity of multiple views, one of which may be recommended, while the others are neither denounced nor rejected as false.
Abdullah ibn Masud narrates: "I heard a man reciting a verse of the Quran which I had heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) recite differently. So I took him by the hand and led him to the Prophet and mentioned the matter to him. Then I noticed (a look of) displeasure appear on the Prophet's face and he said: 'Both of you are right (kilakuma muhsin) [so] do not disagree [over this]. For those who came before you disagreed [over trivialities] and consequently perished.'" [Mishkat]
Ibn Taymiyyah explains this hadith by saying that the Prophet forbade disagreement which consists of juhd, that is, denial of the truth and veracity of the opinion or conduct of the other party. This was the case in the foregoing Hadith, where the Prophet drew attention of the parties to the fact that disagreement over insubstantial matters is basically destructive. The parties were both reciting the Quran but with different dialectical variants, which was why the Prophet declared them both to be muhsin (doing something good and proper), but corrected them for questioning the validity of their different opinions on something non-essential - the variant readings.
Compiled From:
"Freedom of Expression in Islam" - Mohammad Hashim Kamali, pp. 144, 145