Zāhid al-Kawtharī's defense of Abū Ḥanīfa in the context of al-Nukat al-Ṭarīfa

This thesis focuses on the tension between hadith and jurisprudential methodologies in the history of Islamic law and evaluates the criticisms directed at Abū Ḥanīfa regarding his alleged opposition to hadith, through the lens of Zāhid al-Kawtharī's work al-Nukat al-Ṭarīfa fī al-Taḥadduth ʿan Rudūd Ibn Abī Shayba ʿalā Abī Ḥanīfa. In this refutation, Kawtharī responds with scholarly rigor to the claim made by Ibn Abī Shayba in his al-Muṣannaf, which accuses Abū Ḥanīfa of opposing the Sunnah in 125 issues. The study analyzes Kawtharī's defense in terms of methodology, content, and evidentiary basis, shedding light on both the classical principles of Islamic jurisprudence and the scholarly defensive tradition specific to Kawtharī's era. The intellectual standings, historical contexts, and scholarly approaches of Kawtharī and Ibn Abī Shayba are comparatively examined. The structure and style of al-Nukat al-Ṭarīfa are explored, demonstrating that the work constitutes not merely a polemical response but a systematic scholarly defense. Kawtharī's application of isnād criticism, textual analysis, and legal theory principles reveals that Abū Ḥanīfa's methodology was rooted in both transmission (riwāya) and reasoning (dirāya). The study concludes that many of the criticisms stem from methodological divergences and a lack of comprehensive understanding. In this context, al-Nukat al-Ṭarīfa emerges not only as a rebuttal text but also as a valuable contribution to the reconsideration of the relationship between hadith and fiqh, the tradition of inter-school scholarly discourse, and the relevance of classical legal theory in contemporary academic settings. Through this work, Zāhid al-Kawtharī's intellectual struggle, the Ḥanafī school's balanced approach to narration and reasoning, and Abū Ḥanīfa's scholarly legacy are re-evaluated from a fresh perspective. Keywords: Hadith–Fiqh Dispute, Ḥanafī Legal Theor, Abū Ḥanīfa, Zāhid al-Kawtharī, al-Nukat al-Ṭarīfa