السلام عليكم


Al-‘Allaamah Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

I heard our shaykh – i.e., Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) say: One of the Hanafi fuqaha’ came to me and said: I want to ask you about something. I said: what is it? He said: I want to change my madhhab. I said to him: Why? He said: Because I see that the saheeh hadeeths often differ from it. I asked one of the leading scholars of the Shaafa‘i madhhab about that and he said to me: If you recant your madhhab, that will not affect the madhhab in any way. The madhhabs are well-established and your recanting will serve no purpose. One of the Sufi shaykhs advised me to turn to Allah and beseech Him, and ask Him to guide me to that which He loves and is pleased with. What do you advise me to do?

I said to him: Divide the madhhab into three categories:

1.One category where the truth is clearly apparent and in accordance with the Qur’an and Sunnah, so follow it and be at ease with it.

2.Another category that is not well founded, and the view that is contrary to it is based on stronger evidence, so do not issue fatwas or verdicts on that basis, and keep away from it.

3.A (third) category containing issues that are subject to ijtihaad, for which the evidence points in different directions. If you wish, you may issue fatwas on that basis or if you wish you may keep away from it.

He said: May Allah reward you with good – or words to that effect.

End quote from I‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een (4/236-237)

Moreover, with regard to the category that is not based on well-founded evidence, as mentioned here, the imam (Abu Haneefah) is not to be blamed for it and this does not undermine the madhhab, because the fact that other views are stronger does not mean that this view has no evidence at all, or that he (Imam Abu Haneefah) based that on whims and desires or innovation.
All it means is that other views are stronger and more well-founded in the view of other scholars, as Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: It should be noted that there is none of the great imams who were widely accepted in the ummah who would deliberately oppose the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) with regard to anything of his Sunnah, whether in minor or major issues, because they were all agreed, on the basis of certainty, on the obligation of following the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and were agreed that the view of anyone may be subject to acceptance or rejection, apart from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

But if one of them has a view and there is a saheeh hadith that says the opposite, there must be a reason why he did not follow it, and all reasons can only be one of three things: either he does not believe that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said it; or he does not believe that the hadith refers to that particular issue; or he believes the ruling (in the hadith) was abrogated. These three reasons may be due to various causes.

End quote from Raf‘ al-Malaam ‘an A’immat al-Islam (p. 8-9)

Source: Islamqa.info

السلام عليكم