And to this very day, I know of no view held by the Companions without disagreement among them that is not supported by analogical reasoning. Yet distinguishing sound from unsound analogy is among the highest branches of knowledge. Only those thoroughly acquainted with the underlying wisdom and objectives of the Sacred Law can do so—those who understand the countless merits of Islamic law, the benefits it secures for people in this life and the Hereafter, and its profound wisdom, all-embracing mercy, and perfect justice. Allah knows best what is correct, and to Him is the return and final destination.
He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked: (*)
“Is it permissible to follow such imams as Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, Ibn al-Mubārak, Sufyān al-Thawrī, and al-Awzāʿī? A man has said of them—I mean these aforementioned imams—‘These men should be disregarded.’ What is the ruling concerning someone who says this?”
He replied:
The imams mentioned are among the foremost imams of Islam. Al-Thawrī is the imam of the people of Iraq, and most of them regard him as greater than his contemporaries, such as Ibn Abī Laylā, al-Hasan ibn Sālih ibn Hayy, Abū Hanīfa, and others. His school of law survives to this day in Khurāsān. Al-Awzāʿī is the imam of the people of Syria, who continued to follow his school until the fourth century AH. Indeed, the people of the Maghreb followed his school before Mālik’s school reached them. Hammād ibn Abī Sulaymān was Abū Hanīfa’s teacher.