Misplaced Religiosity

MISPLACED RELIGIOSITY I n 1330 AH, Rashid Rida (1865–1935) of Egypt, a leading scholar and jurist of his generation, visited India. He went to Dar al-‘Uloom Deoband, where a reception was held in his honour. On this occasion, he asked one of the teachers about the method of teaching Hadith there. He was told that when a Hadith is taught, the muhaddith first explains its scholarly points. If, at first glance, the Hadith appears contrary to the school of Imam Abu Hanifah, the Hanafi muhaddith then establishes its conformity with the Hanafi school. When Rashid Rida asked whether this was done with all Hadiths, he was told that it was done consistently. He found this very strange. According to the narration of Maulana Muhammad Yusuf Binnori (1908–1977), he said: Halil-hadithu Hanafiyyun, wa kayfa yumkinu dhalik, wa hal hadha illa ‘asabiyyatun ma laha min sultan—“Is the Hadith also Hanafi? How can that be? Is this not merely partisanship, for which there is no authority?” At that time, Maulana Anwar Shah Kashmiri (1875–