ISTIDLĀL IMAM ḤANAFI AND IMAM SYĀFI‘Ī: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISTIḤSĀN ḤANAFIYAH AND QIYĀS KHAFĪ SYĀFI‘ĪYAH METHODS

Abstract

Istḥsān is a secondary source of law as a reference for istinbāṭ min gairi al-nuṣūs (extracting laws from other than naṣ). The position of istḥsān as one of the considerations for ruling is a matter of khilāfiyah. The definition of istḥsān is very varied, each of the four schools of thought has a specific understanding. Among the four schools of thought that use istḥsān are the Baṣrah schools of Ḥanafi, Ḥanbali and Māliki, while the followers of Māliki in Iraq reject istḥsān. Imam Abu Ḥanifah was a popular school of thought and uṣūl fiqh scholar who used istḥsān, while Imam Shāfi'ī rejected and criticized istḥsān as stated in his works al-Risālah and al-Umm (kitab ibṭal al-istḥsān). However, the followers of the Ḥanafi imam refute the understanding of istḥsān put forward by the Shāfi'ī imam and the Shāfi'ī scholars. Some say that the difference between the two lies in the lafaẓ or naming term, while others say it is different. Imam Shāfi'ī uses qiyās khafī which is not istḥsān according to the Hanafis. Some say istḥsān is different from qiyās. Imam Ḥanafi and his supporters tried to find a legal solution through istihsān by rationalizing the 'illat' and considering the maṣlahah while staying within the shara'. On the other hand, Imām Shāfi'ī and his supporters focused more on authentic sources in deriving the 'illat', so they favored qiyāṣ jalī over qiyās khafī by looking at the strength and weakness of the 'illat'. The Hanafis also acknowledged that the qiyāṣ adopted by Imam Shāfi'ī was safer because it was based on authentic sources.