মাসিক আত-তাহরীক The principles of Imam Abu Haneefah (Rh)
Imam Abu Haneefah (Rh) has prohibited strongly the blind following (Taqleed) of his Rai and declared in unequivocal voice that whenever any saheeh hadeeth is available then that would be my Mazhab (See footnote 3). Therefore, Abdul Wahhab Sha‘rani Hanafi (898-973 A.H.) says,
إِنَّهُ لَوْ عَاشَ حَتَّى دُوِّنَتْ أَحَادِيْثُ الشَّرِيْعَةِ .... لَأَخَذَبِهَا وَ تَرَكَ كُلَّ قِيَاسٍ كَانَ قَاسَهُ وَ كَانَ الْقِيَاسُ قَلَّ فِيْ مَذْهَبِهِ كَمَا قَلَّ فِيْ مَذْهَبِ غَيْرِهِ...
‘If Imam Abu Haneefah would have been alive in the (golden) age (third century hijra) of Hadeeth collection and compilation then he would have accepted these and would have rejected all the Qiyasi Fatwas i.e. decisions by analogycal deduction he had given so far, and the Qiyas would have been less in his Mazhab also, as has been in other Mazhabs (Schools of thought)... What have been said that Imam Abu Haneefah would give preference to Qiyas over documents, are the saying of his Muqallids i.e. his blind followers, who have considered it indispensable to practice on the Qiyas of the Imam and have rejected Hadeeth which have been proved authentic after the death of the Imam. The Imam is not responsible for this matter, but his blind followers would be held responsible’.[1]
Virtually the Qiyas of Ahlur Rai in opposite to the Ahle hadeeth is dependant on the Usool-i-Fiqh i.e. the formulas of practical law made by their respective Mazhabi scholars, not on the Hadeeth.
