Author: Obaidullah Nimruzi
Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa, “R.A” (Part 5)
The Superiority of Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, in Ijtihad
4. Regardless of the type of attitude that Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, has toward man and his wisdom and the place he assigns to his inferences, in some of the topics related to today’s world, he demands that his viewpoints and the bases of his inferences be reread with a new approach, and from this, some of his progressive fatwas are overlooked.
Women’s Judgment: Regardless of whether women have the authority to judge, the delay in theoretical support and human basis is very important in recognizing this ruling. Abu Hanifa may Allah have mercy on him, in a general view, has placed the principle of the equality of men and women in acquiring qualifications, and this issue is particularly evident in their right to property and the right to judge.
For Abu Hanifa, the deprivation of a spectrum of society from certain qualifications must be supported by a strong support. Therefore, according to the inherent competence of women, he accepts the right to judge as a human task for her; In general, being a woman is not one of the conditions for permission to imitate; Because a woman has the basic qualifications to testify; However, he cannot make a judgment about the limits and retribution, whose testimony is not accepted, and judgment is a function of the ability to testify.
Therefore, Abu Hanifa accepts the woman’s judgment in matters where the testimony of a woman is accepted. As a result of the phrase “in general/originally” defined by Hanafi jurists, the inherent competence of a woman to judge is understood, and not accepting a woman’s judgment in terms of limits and retribution is a temporary and exceptional matter and is in conflict with her chastity and affection , and this does not reduce the human dignity of a woman; rather, by removing such a task from her shoulders, she protects her chastity and affection and gives her a double character; Because in her general attitude, it is not possible to damage the inherent dignity of man and the position of Allah’s successor with some weak narrations and limit her will in fulfilling the position of Allah’s caliph. In his view, the general principles expressed in the Quran are the guarantor of the inherent will of man and his true freedom and his sacred property right. One of the researchers says about this: “When we look at some rulings of Hanafi jurisprudence regarding women, we find that it tries very hard to fully accept the character of a woman just like the character of a man; But because of the fundamental values that protect him from vulgarity. In Islamic jurisprudence, specifically, Hanafi jurisprudence has given complete control over the self to an adult and wise woman and has established the same financial rights for her as it does for men and has given her an independent will so that she can dispose of possessions that the Sharia rules. Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him, believes that a mature and wise woman has complete guardianship over herself in her marriage, and no one has the right to violate this guardianship, and the guardianship of her guardian is a moral and ethical matter.
As can be seen, in the jurisprudence of Imam Abu Hanifa, his general attitude towards women’s character in all fields and affairs is influential, and Hanafi opinions and fatwas are inevitably influenced by such an attitude.
The issue of apostasy: Regarding apostasy, Hanafi jurisprudence looks at cases with more tolerance and considers asking for repentance from an apostate man to be good and generally does not believe in killing an apostate woman: “If a woman returns from the religion, her blood will not be wasted, and in our opinion, Hanafi jurists, we should not kill her…” This ruling is also mentioned in Al-Sir al-Saghir, quoted by Imam Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him.
5. From the sum of the narrations transmitted by Imam Abu Hanifa, it is found that despite the special respect he has for human opinion and wisdom, he never prefers it in the definitive tradition of Al-Sudr of the Prophet; Some of the people of Zahir have said useless insults about this and this is a slander that they attributed to that noble person out of air and prejudice; But the scholars and leaders of Ahl al-Zahir have not succumbed to climate creation and dry thinking; For example, Ibn Hazm clearly states in Al-Ahkam that the Hanafians are co-authors and that the hadith is the preferred one.
With respect to the principles that Imam Abu Hanifah accepted in religious legislation, and his wording was quoted before, undoubtedly that his inference bases do not differ from other religious jurists, except in the method of ijtihad. The leaders of jurisprudence emphasize that the book and the Sunnah are the two main sources of deriving rulings in Islamic jurisprudence; But he believes that in deriving rulings, one should not stop at the boundary of the appearance of the words and expressions of the holy text of the book and tradition, but one should also think about its deep meanings and concepts. At the same time, in addition to the fact that he is very strict in accepting the hadith and its validity, he also considers the implications of the deep concepts and meanings of the hadiths to be involved in the inference, and this phrase is a general and special remark of his, which says: «ما جاء عن الرسول صلىاللهعليهوسلّم فعلى الرأس والعين والصحابه به اخترنا وما كان من غير، فهُم رجال ونحن رجال» Every hadith that reaches us from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him , has a place in our heads and eyes, and what has reached us from the sayings of the Companions, we also accept them, but regarding what reaches us from others, our opinion is this. that they were opinionated people, and we are also opinionated, and we have the right to infer and express our opinion, that is why we see a scholar of Waqadi like Zahabi saying about him: He had a wonderful thought, and he should be considered one of the most profound thinking men of his time. He had great mastery over the details of affairs.
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