Author: Obaidullah Nimruzi
Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa, “R.A” (Part 6)
The Superiority of Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, in Ijtihad
6. From the totality of what has been said, the features of Imam Abu Hanifa’s jurisprudence can be listed in the following cases:
1- Abu Hanifa and his followers considered jurisprudential issues to be rational matters that should be legislated to secure the interests of the people.
2- It was very difficult to ascertain the authenticity of hadiths.
3- He considered the scope of opinion, comparison, and judgment to be broad.
4- Generalization in the fundamentals and detail in the branches; this is why we see that in the narrations transmitted from the Imam, in addition to the events that occurred and emerging events, many hypothetical events are also mentioned that are likely to occur in the future, and this feature can greatly contribute to the expansion and comprehensiveness of jurisprudence in space and time.
5- modernism; The element of modernity was one of the important components of Iraqi jurisprudence in general and Abu Hanifa’s jurisprudence in particular, and this important feature should be considered as the decipherer of many complexities of matching the Islamic tradition with contemporary realities; Because the passing of Abu Hanifa’s jurisprudential views opened up a space for thinkers from which to respond to many challenges of the Islamic world today. By accepting the vote, Abu Hanifah provided the opportunity for the entry of new ideas, and besides, he praised the sanctification of human wisdom at the highest levels of hearing as a divine gift, and in the society, he was going to keep the lasso of absolute hearing on his pollen, wisdom from Leave out the hadiths whose authenticity has not been proven.
I deeply believe that by referring to the correct principles that he discussed and presented, we can look at contemporary cases with a new approach and respond to broader issues in the context of Islamic jurisprudence by laying down new rules.
Development of hypothetical and deterministic theorems.
6. Abu Hanifah and his students knew that the wide influence of jurisprudence should be taken before the issues that were discussed in their time; Of course, such an attitude was well known before him in the school of jurisprudence influenced by the views of Ibn Masoud. But since Abu Hanifah’s jurisprudential position in Islamic civilization was known, we have seen many more minor issues raised in a wide range. In this point of view, it was completely accepted that the knowledge of jurisprudence can be advanced from its time with the assumption of possible cases and not only emerging topics but also excluded topics should be addressed.
From my point of view, such an attitude had several effects: firstly, it added to the depth and richness of Islamic jurisprudence and placed more topics in the realm of this knowledge, and after that, when such a point of view becomes a culture, it can also solve many of the problems of our time.
7- As mentioned, Abu Hanifah praise’s opinion; But he did not sanctify it, and he is almost one of the first to introduce critical logic into the field of jurisprudence, as he himself acted with caution in the Fatwas of the Companions. However, he was quite critical of the jurisprudential viewpoints of his subjects, and he saw the way in criticizing his views as well, as it is narrated from him that he said: “This is the opinion that we have reached, and it is the best promise that we have been able to reach.” . Then, if someone else comes up with a better promise than this, it will definitely be closer to the truth than us.” From this narration, several important points can be clearly obtained, which should be taken into consideration especially in our times:
A: He did not have a bias towards his opinions and the criterion was the basis of his reasoning.
B: He accepted the criticism in principle.
C: It accurately recognizes the position of the vote as a ruling based on suspicion, because he openly accepted the deviation from it to a more reasoned point of view.
D: It opens the way for the criticism of the future and today it is right for the followers of their sincere jurisprudence to be exposed to this great judgement.
8- Appreciation as a solution and not an inferential source; As far as this pen has researched about the appreciation of Hanafi jurisprudence, I believe that Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him, accepted analogy for two important purposes, firstly, to reduce the objections of the Ahl al-Hadith to some extent, and secondly, in any case, analogy is an exercise for human wisdom. was considered and could be effective in the growth of votes; But he did not accept the analogy as absolute and limited the possibility of applying the analogy as much as he could. As Jisas says in the description of Istihsan: “Istihsan consists of abandoning analogies and acting according to a ruling that is better than it.
Continues…
