Traces of Ideological Bias In The Science Of Cerh And Ta'd?l And The Defense of Abu Hanifah: In The Example of Laknaw?'s ar-Raf wa't-Takm?l fi'l-Jarh wa't-Ta'd?l

Abstract

The science of al-jarh and ta'dil was revealed together with isnad in order to preserve the words transmitted from the Prophet in a sound manner and to convey them to the next generations. Islamic scholars in every generation took new measures to convey the hadiths of the Prophet. They separated the reliable narrators from the untrusted in the context of the science of jarh and ta'dil, and wrote volumes of books on this subject. The science of jarh and ta'dil, whose main goal is to reveal whether the hadiths come from reliable narrators, has identified the flaws that negatively affect the reliability of the narrator, such as justice and restraint. However, it is also stated that the critic who uses the science of jarh and ta'dil should be free from some defects in the case of criticism. One of these flaws is being a bigoted person. According to some, the concept of taassub (bigotry) is derived from the word asabe and implies loyalty to relatives, while others use it with the same meaning as ideology, expressing blind adherence to an idea and thought without accepting any conflict. Therefore, those who adhere to any ideological idea and do not accept criticism are called bigots. People displaying bigotry are most evident in the sects. Particularly in religious sects such as Shia, Kharijite, Mutazilite, and Murjia, as well as in practical sects such as Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, and Hanbali sects, bigotry did not hesitate to criticize their opponents harshly when necessary. It became a prominent characteristic among the members of Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl ar-Rey. Some scholars also attempted to refute criticisms against the sects to which they belonged and wrote refutations. While some of them treated these refutations as stand-alone studies, others included them in their works. Similarly, besides those who duly rejected the criticisms made against their own sect or ideological ideas with evidence, there were also those who responded harshly to these rejections. Scholars who engaged in such criticism could not avoid displaying bigotry. In this regard, some scholars belonging to Ahl-i Hadith also criticized Abu Hanifah, a member of Ahl-i Rey. Imam Shafii and Ahmad b. Hanbal, like Hanifah, had supporters who duly rejected Abu Hanifah's views and expressed their opinions with their own evidence, as well as critics who criticized Abu Hanifah harshly. Indian hadith and Hanafi scholar Abdulhay al-Laknawi also attempted to address the criticisms directed at Abu Hanifah with his own evidence. One of his works in which he defended Abu Hanifah and responded to opposing criticism is ar-Raf wa't-Takmil fi'l-Jerh ve't-a'dil. In the aforementioned work, Laknawi addressed the subjects of jarh and ta'dil and also responded to criticisms against Abu Hanifah from time to time. In fact, one third of his work consists of his answers to these criticisms. In this article, Laknawi's responses to the criticisms directed at Abu Hanife in his work ar-Raf va't-Takmil, apart from the issues of jarh and ta'dil, will be discussed. While defending Abu Hanifah, Laknawi, who thinks that these criticisms against Abu Hanifah are due to bigotry, will also include the opposing party's denial of bigotry and his refutations against them. Additionally, we will investigate whether Laknawi, as an advocate for Abu Hanifah, could avoid displaying bigotry voluntarily or involuntarily. Thus, we aim to determine the traces of ideological bigotry in the science of jarh and ta'dil and assess the overall strength of Abu Hanifa's defense.