Understanding Usul Al-Fiqh by Abu Tariq Hilal - Abu Ismael al-Beirawi

The founders of various schools of Islamic Fiqh such as Abu Hanifah, Shafi‟i, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Malik, Jafar and others are considered Mujtahideen Mutlaq. This category of Mujtahideen set up their own Usul al-Fiqh to extract the Ahkam (rules) and are not restricted by others i.e. they are independent.

These Mujtahideen follow the Usul al-Fiqh set up by the Mujtahid Mutlaq to extract the Ahkam (rules); e.g. Imam Abu Yusuf adhered to Imam Abu Hanifah‟s methodology.

These Mujtahideen, within a Madhab, generally followed the guidelines of their respective schools to extract rulings. Nevertheless, they did not consider themselves bound to follow their Imams in the implementation of particular issues. This is borne out by the fact that they have held opinions that were opposed to those of their leading Imams. As a matter of fact, some Mujtahideen such as Imam Abu Yusuf reached to the level of Mujtahid Mutlaq, but didn‟t form his own Madhab out of respect for Imam Abu Hanifah.

This Mujtahid would be able to handle one single issue while he may be unable to handle another. In other words, the Mujtahid would be able to study the opinion of other jurists and trace their Adilla (evidences) but may be unable to establish new opinions for new issues.

Scholars like Abu'l-Hasan al-Karkhi and Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi in the Hanafi school, Abu al-Fadl al-Marwazi and Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi in the Shafi'i, Abu Bakr al-Abhari in the Maliki and 'Amr b. Husayn al-Khiraqi in the Hanbali schools have been placed it this category.