Excerpted from: "Tuhfa-e-Hanafiyyah" by Maulana Abu Suhaib Dawood Arshad ḥafiẓahullāh
(This book is a detailed response to Tuhfa Ahl-e-Hadith, written by Deobandi scholar Abu Bilal Jhangvi.)
The Claim:
Jhangvi asserts that Ahl al-Sunnah believe in fiqh, while the non-muqallid Ahl-e-Hadith deny it.
(Tuhfa Ahl-e-Hadith, p. 53)
The Response:
① Firstly:
It is important to understand what fiqh truly means.
Lexicographers say:
(الفقه فهم الشئ، قال ابن فارس: وكل علم لشى فهو فقه)
That is, fiqh means understanding something. Ibn Fāris states: any knowledge about a matter is termed fiqh.
(al-Miṣbāḥ al-Munīr, p. 479)
In Sharīʿah terminology, fiqh refers to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Sayyidunā Zayd ibn Thābit رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((نضر الله امرأ سمع مقالتي فبلغها ...))
May Allah brighten the face of the one who hears my words and conveys them. Often the bearer of fiqh is not a faqīh himself, and sometimes he conveys it to someone more learned than himself.
[References: Ibn Mājah (230, 231), Abū Dāwūd (3654), al-Tirmidhī, Musnad Aḥmad, Sunan al-Dāramī, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Ḥākim, al-Ṭabarānī, Abū Yaʿlā]
Note how the Prophet ﷺ referred to his own sayings as fiqh.
Thus, the Qur’an, Sunnah, and their understanding is the essence of fiqh.
Sayyidunā Muʿāwiyah رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
(من يرد الله به خيرا يفقه في الدين)
Whomever Allah intends good for, He grants him understanding of the religion.
[Bukhārī (1/16), Muslim (1/333)]
This clearly shows that fiqh is essentially understanding of religion—a gift from Allah—and is based on the Qur’an and Hadith.
The opinions of scholars are results of their intellectual efforts, and their fatāwā are not fiqh itself, but rather personal opinions and analogies.
So, dear readers, once you understand this clearly, reflect: Who among the people of Kalimah denies that Allah grants scholars understanding of the religion?
② Secondly:
It seems that by "fiqh", Jhangvi refers specifically to the traditional books of Hanafi fiqh.
The Ahl-e-Hadith do not reject these books because they are “fiqh”, but because they are based on the opinions of fallible individuals, not divine revelation.
Just as the Ḥanafīs reject fiqh Jʿafarī, Ḥanbalī, Shāfiʿī, and Mālikī in certain matters, one cannot claim that the Ḥanafīs deny the concept of fiqh altogether.
Similarly, Ahl-e-Hadith are not deniers of fiqh—they simply do not give precedence to non-infallible human opinions over Qur'an and Sunnah.
(This book is a detailed response to Tuhfa Ahl-e-Hadith, written by Deobandi scholar Abu Bilal Jhangvi.)
The Claim:
Jhangvi asserts that Ahl al-Sunnah believe in fiqh, while the non-muqallid Ahl-e-Hadith deny it.
(Tuhfa Ahl-e-Hadith, p. 53)
The Response:
① Firstly:
It is important to understand what fiqh truly means.
Lexicographers say:
(الفقه فهم الشئ، قال ابن فارس: وكل علم لشى فهو فقه)
That is, fiqh means understanding something. Ibn Fāris states: any knowledge about a matter is termed fiqh.
(al-Miṣbāḥ al-Munīr, p. 479)
In Sharīʿah terminology, fiqh refers to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Sayyidunā Zayd ibn Thābit رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
((نضر الله امرأ سمع مقالتي فبلغها ...))
May Allah brighten the face of the one who hears my words and conveys them. Often the bearer of fiqh is not a faqīh himself, and sometimes he conveys it to someone more learned than himself.
[References: Ibn Mājah (230, 231), Abū Dāwūd (3654), al-Tirmidhī, Musnad Aḥmad, Sunan al-Dāramī, Ibn Ḥibbān, al-Ḥākim, al-Ṭabarānī, Abū Yaʿlā]
Note how the Prophet ﷺ referred to his own sayings as fiqh.
Thus, the Qur’an, Sunnah, and their understanding is the essence of fiqh.
Sayyidunā Muʿāwiyah رضي الله عنه reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
(من يرد الله به خيرا يفقه في الدين)
Whomever Allah intends good for, He grants him understanding of the religion.
[Bukhārī (1/16), Muslim (1/333)]
This clearly shows that fiqh is essentially understanding of religion—a gift from Allah—and is based on the Qur’an and Hadith.
The opinions of scholars are results of their intellectual efforts, and their fatāwā are not fiqh itself, but rather personal opinions and analogies.
So, dear readers, once you understand this clearly, reflect: Who among the people of Kalimah denies that Allah grants scholars understanding of the religion?
② Secondly:
It seems that by "fiqh", Jhangvi refers specifically to the traditional books of Hanafi fiqh.
The Ahl-e-Hadith do not reject these books because they are “fiqh”, but because they are based on the opinions of fallible individuals, not divine revelation.
Just as the Ḥanafīs reject fiqh Jʿafarī, Ḥanbalī, Shāfiʿī, and Mālikī in certain matters, one cannot claim that the Ḥanafīs deny the concept of fiqh altogether.
Similarly, Ahl-e-Hadith are not deniers of fiqh—they simply do not give precedence to non-infallible human opinions over Qur'an and Sunnah.
