Defence of the Hanafi Madhab from al-Ahsa

Salam
We have recently made mention of this recent ‘giant’ of Ahsai scholarship. Alhumdulillah I got to know his grandson Sheikh Rayed al-Mulla quite well and read the text Wasilah al-Talab with him. He also kindly pointed me towards some rare works including a manuscript which I hope to edit in the near future (InshAllah). The following information is taken from Sheikh Rayed’s small booklet on the description of the prayer according to hanafi school, along with evidences, interestingly entitled : ‘Sifah Salat al-Nabi’. Sheikh Abd al-Rahman appears to be from the same level of narration as Sh. Yasin al-Fadani, however whereas Sheikh al-Fadani passed away in 1989/1990, Sheikh Abd al-Rahman lived till 2001, when alive possessing one of the shortest chains in the world.
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Allamah al-Muhaddith al-Sheikh Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakr al-Mulla (Allah have mercy on him) said in his treatise ‘Al-Itiraf bi Sihhah Madhab al-Ahnaf’:

Know O seeker of benefit that Abu Hanifah (Allah have mercy on him) was the first of the Imams of Ijtihad, and the earliest of them in terms of preservation of the sunnah and recording of knowledge and legal issues, not least that of fiqh linked to the understanding of the book of Allah and the sunnah of His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace). He met a number of the companions and based his madhab upon the Quran, Sunnah and its rulings. As for that which is said regarding his madhab -which is in opposition to the truth, and is incorrect- has been rejected by the people of truth and verification who are relied upon.  If his madhab were as they claimed, then why does it have a greater following than the others in terms of its muqallids. For we have been ordered to the majority, which is that what the majority of muslims who follow the truth are upon, because this is closer to that which is correct.

He (Allah have mercy on him) also said:

That which is incumbent upon us with regards to our Imams of ijtihad, the people of the four madhabs whose righteousness and virtue is witnessed to, is that we hold a good opinion of them because of the great struggle that they undertook in preserving the pure sunnah by their recording, preserving and guarding it from those who tampered with it. Along with our belief that all of them are upon truth and guidance from Allah, and all of them are agree on the principles of the religion, their difference being only being in the branches, as it is the area of ijtihad. This is according to that which reached them from the sunnah from the evidences related to rulings, each one of them took that which reached him and he regarded as authentic.

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Brief Biography
Allamah al-Muhaddith al-Sheikh Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakr al-Mulla (Allah have mercy on him) was born in to the scholarly ‘al-Mulla’ family which traces its origin back to the noble companion Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Bakr al-Siddiq (Allah be pleased with them both) from the tribe of Quraish.
He was born on the day of Arafah in the year 1323. He kept the close company of his father Sheikh Abu Bakr, and likewise studied with other scholars of his city. He then travelled to Makkah and studied in the Madrassah al-Sawlatiyyah and kept the close company of the scholars of the Hijaz in the Haram al-Makki and Madani aswell as al-Taif.
From the notable Shuyukh he studied with are:
-His father Sheikh Abu Bakr
-Sheikh Muhammad Abd al-Latif al-Mulla
-Sheikh Abd al-Latif al-Jafari
-Sheikh Ahmad al-Aliyy al-Arfaj
-Sheikh Abd al-Aziz al-Ulji
-Sheikh Umar Hamdan al-Mahrasi
-Sheikh Hussein Abd al-Ghani al-Hanafi
-Sheikh Muhammad Yahya Amaan
-Sheikh Hasan Mashat
-Sheikh al-Sayyid Muhammad Abd al-Hayy al-KattaniThe Sheikh passed away in the year 1421 aged approximately 98 years old having spent a life busy in learning, teaching and benefiting the muslims. His written works include:

-An anthology of his poetry
-A poem on the different types of hadith
-Collection of treatise on various issues

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