By definition, fiqh entails knowing the speaker's intention in addition to understanding what they are saying. When a speaker is speaking to a thousand people in the audience, not all of them will comprehend what they are saying. While some of the statements will be extremely specific and unambiguous, others might only be understood by a select few. This is seen as one of the main causes of the inevitable occurrence of disagreements in all spheres of life, including parental guidance, governmental regulations, and even divine revelation. The Prophet, peace be upon him, fostered an appreciation for diversity in areas that the religion did not categorise. prize.
He would even say, "For him is reward," praising the expert who attempted to reach a decision even though his response might not have been the best one. Although the scholars felt a great sense of responsibility to Allah for their lack of vigilance, this idea set the groundwork for them to respond to people's enquiries.
Steps were sought to reduce errors as much as possible so that such attempts might be carried out for Allah's sake and not be allowed to be controlled by desires. Schools of thought emerged as a result of the definition of values and dedication to communal Ijtihad.
The schools offered insight into how the religion was applied in the actual world and acted as a simple means of understanding its foundations, which are the Quran and Sunnah.
They were free to voice their disagreements on any topic that was brought up and addressed. One of the best examples of the distinctions between scholars from different eras is the Hanafi school. The distinctions between Imam Muhammad, Imam Abu Yusuf, and Imam Abu Hanifa are well known to anyone who has studied the early fiqh text Qudoori. As a student, I was always intrigued about the reasons behind their disagreements with their teachers and how these disagreements influenced how later Hanafis viewed differences as a major issue throughout the history of Fiqh, even to this day.
Whether it's the rulings of taking pictures, cryptocurrency, beard length, or the beginning of Ramadan, to mention a few, the fact that these issues are examined from different perspectives of fiqh is one of the things that causes two experts to disagree on a single issue. When drawing conclusions, scholars will consider a variety of factors, including the writings of previous experts, the books' rankings, the dominance of one viewpoint over another, outside social and political constraints, and the influence of other sciences. While some experts may look at their own guild of scholars, others may adopt the stance of some of their more senior teachers.
While others may recognise the range of interpretation in particular scholars' writings, others may even feel compelled to take the recorded fatawa of scholars more literally. This will unavoidably make certain viewpoints appear less accepting of other viewpoints and others to be more accommodating. Since ijtihad has always been a defining characteristic of schools, and the Hanafi school is no exception, the disparities will never completely vanish from the school.
One of the things I find most fascinating about Imam Ibn Abideen is that, even though he takes a firm stand on many opinions, he nevertheless addresses those of others and makes every effort to interpret them in a way that best fits his own. When, however, it isn't affordable, he will identify it as not being the right viewpoint. People can therefore understand the causes for differences if they are encouraged to be tolerant of the opinions of other knowledgeable academics, even if they are not shared.