Reading fatāwā —an exercise in theory—requires an understanding of the foundational legal values of the Ḥanafī madhhab. A muftī does not merely rgeraedatalacteenOtuttroiems-aonldḤiamnpafeīrial edict and dispense the same verdict. One of the muftīs , the Damascene Ibn ʿĀbidīn ◌ؒ ◌ , was a great tj uh ri ni skt es ,r h, teh we oarsedt iyc ni aanmai nc da nj uddagcec oo mf t mh eo 1d 9a tt ihn cge, na ltluwr yh. iLl ei kuenodtehresrt aOntdt oi nmg atnh e moral underpinnings of the law. Muftīs in training will read his Radd Al- Muḥtar —as they should—but may fail to think outside Ibn ʿĀbidīn’s ◌ؒ ◌ Ottoman context. The issue here is that Ibn ʿĀbidīn’s ◌ؒ ◌ fatāwā became convention ( muftāʾ bihi ). This approach ignores the non- muftāʾ bihi which are also within the madhhab , and should also be considered. Recall that the fatwā emerges from a question based on the context of the questioner, so the muftī must look at his question from the questioner's context and outside the context of the muftā bihī . If his context matches the context of the muftāʾ bihi , then the conventional view of the madhhab will ampopsltya. Optthfoerrwhiissec,otnhteepxtettihtrioonuegrhsahnoounld- be directed towards that which is muftāʾ bihi approach, which still operates within the wide boundaries of the madhhab . This choice is the muftī 's pq ur eersot igoantei vret hbreocua ug hs ehhi se jiusrliiscpernusdeedntcoej ubda sgeedt hoen stiht ue a t i o n a n d f a c i l i t a t e t h e madhhab' s principles, which is inclusive of the non- muftāʾ bihi. 7 7 A seasoned muftī would follow this approach in situations that are dire but not as a “habit”
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