Which mazhab is the best? Ours?

I went for Friday prayers at the main mosque in Bamiyan, a city and province in the mountains of northern Afghanistan. They are mainly from the Hanafi school of jurisprudence, as opposed to the Shafi'i here in Malaysia.

The way the prayers were conducted were slightly different in the arrangements of the sermon and optional prayers which I wasn't used too. And neither did I understand the sermon.

But it was no big deal. The Hanafi school is one of the four main Sunni schools, or mazhabs, and it's aqidah (creed) is the same. The only difference is the interpretation of fiqh (jurisprudence) and rituals.

So it is no problem for a Shafi'ifollower like me (being from Malaysia) to pray alongside those from the other mazhabs. Through my travels around the world, I have prayed alongside all of them.

Now back to northern Afghanistan on that Friday afternoon about three years ago. After Friday prayers concluded, I managed to catch up with the Afghan Imam who had led it. He was young and very handsome.

I told him where I came from and told him why I was in his country (I was shooting a documentary). We chatted for a while when he brought up the subject of the different mazhabs between our regions.

"Shafi'i mazhab has beautiful teachings. I admire the strong faith that the Malaysian Muslims have. They are known around the world to be very devout in their faith," he smiled.

I mentioned to him that I noticed the differences in how they conducted Friday prayers the Hanafi way and I was unfamiliar, so I mainly just followed the crowd in the mosque.

"That's okay. We are all Muslim and we share the same faith. Our structure may be different but our hearts and intentions are the same. We are brothers," he said in response.

Being the humorist and comedian that I am (and usually in the most inappropriate times!), I mentioned to him that he is the most good-looking imam I had ever met! He laughed and we hugged goodbye.

With all the negative attention that the recent "I Want to Touch a Dog" campaign has been receiving, I can't bring myself to ignore the matter and not comment about it at all because I feel I need to.

We all know that the Shafi'i mazhab considers dogs as unclean and if you have touched a wet dog or its saliva, you need to cleanse yourself through a process called "sertu".

It's not difficult, just some water and some dirt. In fact, there are even special soap bars that are sold to make things even simpler and almost similar to washing yourself with normal soap and water.

Now, because of the brouhaha about the campaign apparently being unIslamic, accusations have been thrown at the organisers claiming that they are insulting Islam, and even violent threats were made.

Those who say that the campaign is wrong give justification that is just too simplistic. "Not everything about faith has logic" or "You're not an ulama so keep quiet" doesn't go down to well with the thinking crowd.

First, let me state that nowhere in the religion, nor in any of the mazhabs, does it state that touching a dog is haram and sinful. The only difference is in the matter of cleansing yourself after coming into contact with one.

The National Fatwa Council released a statement in response to all the brouhaha saying it is against the mainstream Islamic practice in the country to touch dogs because we follow the Shafi'i school.

And the minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khair Baharom, was reported to have said that Muslims must comply with the stipulated code when it came to touching dogs.

Yes, there are other mazhabs that do not see dogs to be as unclean as the Shafi'i mazhab does, namely Maliki. Remember, it is just fiqh or jurisprudence, interpretation or school of thought.

Now if you take that and also all the negative reactions towards the campaign, it can almost be implied that it seems that Muslims in Malaysia can only follow the Shafi'i mazhab and nothing else.

Does that mean Malaysians cannot choose to follow any other Islamic school of jurisprudence? Not even any of the other three Sunni mazhabs that technically is still within Islam (Shia is already out of the question!)?

Does it mean that Malaysia looks at all the other mazhabs as wrong and only the one mazhab practised by the majority in the country is the one true form of Islam?

And for all those who have been throwing all kinds of accusations and threats towards the organisers of the campaign and even the attendees, how really Islamic is that?

I hope that Malaysians can get past petty and insignificant issues and see the broader picture. Realise that there is a whole big world out there and that we are not living in a shell. The truth is out there. – October 24, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.