'Ahl al-Ra'i
This name has been used in the books of Hadith and Fiqh for the Hanafi school of thought.
Al-Bayhaqi, for example, says in his Sunan:
And this is the opinion of Ahmad bin Hanbal, Abu 'ubaid, Ibn Khuzaimah and others from the ahl al-hadiith and toward it inclined Abu Yusuf and Muhammad from among the 'ahl al-ra'y.
The reason for this is because they made use of principles such as qiyaas, istihsaan, et.c, more than others.
It should be remembered that every Imaam has acted according to qiyaas. Acting according to qiyaas is not a shortcoming or defect.
The ra'y which is reprehensible is the one which is based on whims. [1]
Difference between the 'Ahl Al-Hadiith and 'Ahl Al-Ra'i
The Hanafi school made more use of ra'y and qiyaas more than others because of the following [2]:
They have stringent conditions for accepting Hadiith. They have stipulations such as looking into the Fiqh understanding capabilities of the narrator when there is a conflict as a result of which the number of Hadiith they accept to act on is fewer, and they resort to qiyaas derived from Qur'aanic Verses and established Hadith which are in accordance with their conditions and requisites [2].
They do not act according to a Hadith which is al-'aahaad when it relates to a subject the knowledge of which is public necessity because, according to their understanding, such Hadiith should have been narrated by a large number of narrators given their being of public necessity and not by few narrators. [2,3]
They do not act on Hadiith which are al-'aahaad when the Hadith opposes qiyaas and Usool of Islamic legislation when the narrator of the Hadiith is not a faqiih [2].
The narrator narrates a Hadith and does not act in accordance to it. He does the opposite of what he narrates. They do not act on such Hadiith.
'Ahl Al-Hadiith and 'Ahl Al-Ra'y when it comes to iftiraad
The 'ahl al-hadiith and their keeping away from 'iftiraad [presupposition]
This school of thought developed in al-hijaaz and its heads were Imaam al-Maalik and those who followed him such as Imaam al-Shaafi and Imaam Ahmad. This school of thought is distinguished by the following:
Stopping at the Nusuus and narrations and taking their Zaahir without delving into the 'illaa [cause] of the ruling.
They do not incline toward ra'y if there is a Nass or narration present even if only one narrator narrated it as long as this narrator is reliable and just.
Reliance upon ra'y only in necessitating circumstances.
Keeping away from delving into matters which have not yet occurred [4].
The 'ahl al-ra'i and their delving into 'iftiraad [presupposition]
This school of thought developed in 'iraaq at the same time as the 'ahl al-hadiith school of thought. Its head was Imaam Abu Hanifah. They are characterized by the following:
The 'ahl al-ra'i adopt the opinion that the rulings of Islamic legislation can be understood by the intellect [i.e. their causes and wisdom can be understood]. They would search for the causes and wisdom and then based on these causes and wisdom they would give legislative rulings.
They were very severe in accepting the narrations which were al-'aahaad and that is because Kufah was not a center of Hadith like Madinah was. Many innovations had come to be in Kufah and Hadith had been fabricated to support those innovations.
The scholars of this school, unlike the 'ahl al-hadiith, made ample use of qiyaas and delved into matters which had not yet occurred and presented their ra'y as regards to the rulings of such non existent matters. [4]
Reference(s):
[1]
Meaning of 'ashaab al-ra'y – IslamWeb Fatwaa
[2]
The reason for naming the 'ahl al-ra'y with this name – IslamWeb Fatwaa
[3] 'usuul al-Sarkhasi Volume 1 Page 368
[4]
Presupposition in Fiqh compared between the 'ahl al-ra'y and 'ahl al-hadiith – Arabic Multaqa