There were numerous cases where certain narrations of Hadeeths, did not reach some of the scholars, due to the fact that the Sahaabah who narrated them had settled in various regions throughout the Islamic empire, and the major Madhhabs were founded in different parts of the empire before the comprehensive compilations of Hadeeths were made. To be more specific, the Madh-hab of Abu Haneefah (702-767

CE), Maalik (717-855 CE), Ash-Shaafi’ee and Ahmad (778- 855 CE) were founded between the middle of the eighth century CE and the early part of the ninth, whereas the most authentic and comprehensive compilations of Hadeeth (the Sound Six170) were not available until the latter5 part of the ninth century and the early decades of the tenth.

(i) Abu Haneefah ruled that Istisqaa (prayer for rain) did not include formal congregational prayer (Salaah). His position was based on the narration of Anas ibn Maalik in which the Prophet (s.w.), on an occasion, made a spontaneous Du’aa (supplication) for rain without making Salaah.171

(ii) However, his students Abu Yousuf and Muhammad and the other Imaams all agreed that Salaah for Istisqaa was correct.172 Their position was based on the narration of ‘Abbaad ibn Tameem and others in which the Prophet (s.w.)was reported to have gone out to the prayer area, made Du’aa for rain facing the Qiblah (direction of Makkah), reversed his cloak and led the people in two units of Salaah.173

There were cases where some jurists based their rulings on Hadeeths which were in fact Da’eef (weak and unreliable), because they were unaware of the unreliability of those Hadeeths or because they took the position that a weak Hadeeth was to be preferred to their Qiyaas (analogical deduction)174. For example, (i) Imaam Abu Haneefah, his companions and Imaam Ahmad ibn Hambal all held that the state of Wudoo is broken by vomiting basing their ruling on a Hadeeth attributed to ‘Aa’eshah in which she reportedly claimed that the Prophet (s.w.) had said, “Whoever is afflicted by Qay, Ru’aaf or Qals (different forms of vomiting) should leave (the Salaah), make Wudoo, then continue where he left off without speaking during it.”175

(ii) Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee and Imaam Maalik ruled for two reasons that Qay’ (vomit) did not break Wudoo:

First, the above mentioned Hadeeth was not authentic and second , Qay’is not specifically mentioned in other sources of Islamic law as an act which breaks Wudoo.

Other differences among jurists in the area of the Sunnah arose from various conditions they placed on its acceptability. For example, Imaam Abu Haneefah stipulated that a Hadeeth had to be Mash-hoor (well known) before being regarded as admisible evidence, whereas Imaam Maalik stipulated that a Hadeeth must not contradict the customs of the Madeenites in order to be admissible. On the other had, Imaam Ahmad considered Mursal176 Hadeeths acceptable as proof, while Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee accepted only the Mursal Hadeeths of Sa’eed ibn al-Mussayib which most Hadeeth scholars felt were highly authentic.177

The faounders of the Madh-habs and their students took two main approaches in resolving apparent contradictions between the literal meanings of some of the recorded narrations of Hadeeth. Some jurists chose the path of “Tarjeeh” which meant giving preference to some Hadeeths while rejecting others on the same topic. On the other hand, some of the other jurists chose the path of Jama’, which involved combining such Hadeeths using one in one in general sense. For example, there is an authentic Hadeeth in which the Prophet (s.w.) forbade Salaah at certain times saying; “No Salaah (is allowed) after fajr prayer until the sun has rised and after ‘Asr prayer until the sun has set.”178

At the same time there are other equally authentic Hadeeths in which certain Salaahs were recommended without time restriction. For example, “If any of you enters a masjid, he should pray two Raka’aat (units of prayer) before sitting down.”179

(i) Imaam Abu Haneefah gave preference to the first Hadeeth and ruled that all forms of Salaah were forbidden during the forbidden times.

(ii) Imaam Malik, Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee and Imaam Ahmad combined the two Hadeeths, ruling that the first Hadeeth was general and referred to voluntary Salaah (Nafl), whereas the second Hadeeth was specific, allowing highly recommended Salaah (Mustahabb) even during the generally frobidden times.180