The Principles of Legal Opinion Concerning Islamic Law in Hanfi School of Thought

Abstract

There are rules for everything and same goes for Fatwa where it is mandatory for every Mufti to learn the specified rules and abide by them, if he does not follow the prescribed rules his Fatwa will be considered void. One of the most common misconceptions amongst Muslims is that Shariah is the same for all the Muslims and it includes all the issues; however, in reality the texts of Shariah are not confined and it does not cover all the issues and circumstances that evolve with time, vary from place to place, and customs as well. This is the core for the need of Fatwa, for verily if Fatwa did not exist people would have face a lot of hardships regarding numerous issues. Allah Almighty does not not impose any hardship on human being in the religion. Hence, Fatwa is required for every age and era, it is necessary for every Mufti to be cautious about it because people follow the Islamic teaching according to Fatwa, and its authenticity depends upon the correctness of Fatwa and Mufti, and same goes for its incorrectness as well. In every school of thought there are specified rules and regulations for Fatwa and they abide by them. Therefore, it is obligatory for a Mufti to learn their rules and try to the best of his knowledge to avoid mistakes. The principles of Fatwa are very important, one of these principles states: Fatwa will be on preferred statement, but at the time of need. To issue a Fatwa, it is essential to have read its fundamental books. The paper discuss fatwa according to Hanafi’s school of thoughts and their specified principles which are being followed.