Question Summary:
one point is making me very uncomfortable, i.e. Jamood in taqleed. I have read comments of various scholors …That if a Mufti finds his madhab contradicting a sahih hadeeth then after fulfilling certain conditions he should follow the opinion of any of the other 3 documented madhahibs that goes with the hadeeth.

Question Detail:

I have been studying about Taqleed. Alhamdulillah I went through several books on this topic and very satisfying information was found in the book written by Mufti Taqi Usmani.

However one point is making me very uncomfortable, i.e. Jamood in taqleed. I have read comments of various scholors in the book including the ones made by Maulana Thanvi [ra] and Shah Wali-ul-llah [ra] etc. That if a Mufti finds his madhab contradicting a sahih hadeeth then after fulfilling certain conditions he should follow the opinion of any of the other 3 documented madhahibs that goes with the hadeeth.
However I have also read that some mufti’s carry the opinion that probably the imam has a better reason to leave the hadeeth (I read one fatwa and probably you follow this theory as well). Even though the imam had not provided ant documented evidence that he knew the hadeeth and rejected it (e.g in case of rafa-yadain Imam Abu Hanifa preferred the hadeeth of Ibne Masud [rd] because he considered the sanad more authentic and reliable then that of Wail Bin Hajr [rd] and Ibne Umer [rd])

 
 
This point is creating a lot of confusion in my mind because there is also strong possibility that this hadeeth did not reach the imam. And don’t you think that this will be like leaving a sunnah even though great scholors (like Thanvi [ra]) have recommended that sunnah should be followed.

 
Please communicate your point of view in this regard

Answer :

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
 
How would you prove that a particular hadith did not reach an Imam? How would you know that the hadith reached him but he found it to be dha’eef, mu’allall, shadh, munkar, mansookh etc? How much knowledge in hadith do you have compared to that of the A’immah of the past? These are just a few questions which clearly manifest why we should cling to the view of our Imam inspite of finding a hadith which (apparently) differs with the view of one’s Imam.
Imam Nawawi (May Allah Ta'ala have mercy on him) explained when a person could leave the opinion of his Imam based on a hadith which he found. He said, “The condition for this (preferring a saheeh hadith) is that a person is more convinced that Imam Shafi (or any other Imam) did not know of this hadith. Or he did not know of its authenticity. This can only take place after one studies all the books of Imam, the books of his students and similar books. This is an extremely arduous task and there are very few who qualify to do it.” (Al-Majmoo’ 1/104) There are numerous other statements and examples of senior Ulama, who were stalwarts in hadith, which shows how difficult it is to ascertain whether an Imam left out a hadith because he was ignorant of it or whether he found another proof preferred over it. Many of these statements are mentioned in Athr al Hadeeth ash Shareef by Shaykh Muhammad Awwamah. We suggest that you refer to this kitab in order to remove all your doubts. 
Remember, the Imams were masters in Hadith and knew by heart hundreds of thousands of narrations with their chains of transmission.
The statement of Shah Waliullah and Moulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (May Allah Ta'ala be pleased with them) are with regards to these Scholars who fulfi the necessary conditions.
 
درر الحكام شرح مجلة الأحكام - (4 / 564 دار الكتب العلمية)
والمفتي عند الأصوليين هو عبارة عن المجتهد وكل من لم يكن مجتهدا فليس بمفت فذلك إذا سئل واستفتي أحد من العلماء عن مسألة شرعية وكان غير مجتهد فيجب على ذلك المفتي أن يجيب على الفتوى بطريق النقل من الكتب الشرعية المتداولة والمنسوبة إلى المجتهدين فلذلك فالمفاتي المعينون رسميا من طرف الحكومة العثمانية قد اتخذوا أصولا حين تحريرهم الفتوى أن يحرروا في طرف الفتوى مأخذها والكتاب المنقولة عنه تلك المسألة الشرعية نحو كتب محمد بن الحسن وغيرها من التآليف المشهورة للمجتهدين لأنه بمنزلة الخبر المتواتر عنهم أو المشهور ( فتح القدير )
And Allah knows best
Wassalamu Alaikum
Ml. Ismail Moosa,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In'aamiyyah