What is the opinion of the Hanafis regarding the hadith (There is no marriage except with a guardian) and the recitation of al-Fatihah in prayer?

Al-Huwaini: Also, regarding this, he mentionedThe Shaykh : al-Ghazali. Of course, we take this as a prompt response, His EminenceThe Shaykh : Nasser, to this book. He also mentions: He prefers, of course, the opinion of the Hanafis in this issue. So, do the Hanafis really have a valid argument in this field?

The Shaykh: They have no argument except for their weakening of the hadith: This hadith, without a doubt, it is obligatory forThe Shaykh : al-Ghazali and those like him who constantly harp on the benefit of consulting specialists in every science; he should adhere to that very harping he engages in with some of the youth. He should recognize the specialization, virtue, and specific knowledge of the hadith scholars in distinguishing the authentic from the weak, and not mix up the hadith scholars with the jurists. For this goes against what every rational, cultured person knows—and peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you—for specialists have advantages over others. When the Hanafi scholars weaken a hadith, they do so in defense of their school of jurisprudence, not by following the methods of authenticating or weakening hadiths. And by experience, we know a very great difference between the hadith scholars and the jurists regarding hadith. I give a simple example, if Allah wills. It is the opinion of the Hanafi scholars, as is well known, that reciting al-Fatihah in prayer is not a condition for its validity, but rather that it is obligatory. They are aware of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): They say this is an authentic hadith, but it is an ahad hadith, and it is not permissible for them, based on the principles of jurisprudence—and this is actually one of their anomalies—to say that a mass-transmitted text cannot be specified by an ahad text. Here, by mass-transmitted text, they mean the saying of the Exalted: They say that this verse generalizes whatever is easy of the Qur'an, so it is not permissible to restrict this absolute Qur'anic text with the restricted Prophetic hadith, because it is an ahad hadith, and it is not permissible for them to restrict the mass-transmitted with the ahad. I do not wish to discuss this issue from all its angles or aspects, but I wish to harp on their claim that the hadith: is an ahad hadith. What is the value of the statement of these jurists, whatever their standing in knowledge of jurisprudence and understanding of the texts of the Book and the Sunnah, when they speak on what is not their specialization and claim that the hadith: is an ahad hadith, while the Commander of the Believers in hadith, namely Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari, says at the beginning of his famous treatise known as the Part on Recitation in Prayer: "The report is mass-transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: So, should we take the statement of the Hanafis, whose books are filled with weak hadiths, and indeed contain a large portion of fabricated hadiths, to the point that some Hanafi scholars themselves who are engaged in the science of hadith have rejected them?
So what do we say about these jurists when they say that that hadith: is an ahad hadith, while the Commander of the Believers in hadith says that it is mass-transmitted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)? Therefore, we mention this man, whom we are in the process of responding to, that it is necessary to return to the specialists in every science. His inclination to adopt the opinion of the Hanafis, which is based on rejecting the authentic hadith, is a deviation from the correct scientific methodology, which requires returning to the specialists in every science. But I know that the people of desires in every age and every land do not adhere to a scientific methodology, not only in hadith but also in jurisprudence. You see this man sometimes following the Hanafi school, sometimes the Zahiri tendency, sometimes like this. Why? Because he does not adhere to a scientific methodology that requires him to walk together on a straight path. Rather, he follows the methodology that many scholars, including specifically the Hanafi scholars, have explicitly denied, which is eclecticism (tafqih). This is when a person takes from every school of jurisprudence what suits him or agrees with his desire. So, when he sees that the Hanafi school has leniency and a way to legalize many of the marriages that occur in this present age, especially in the lands of disbelief, in Europe and America, where many young people marry without the permission of the women's guardians, he wants to legalize these incidents by the easiest means and finds an exit in the school of Abu Hanifa in this issue. But in another issue, he finds the Muslim youth, and indeed we have known from some of his writings that he himself does not hesitate to say that he likes to listen to some of Umm Kulthum's songs! So how does he justify or rationalize his deviation, let alone that of many Muslim youth who are afflicted by listening to songs? He finds a space there that he does not find in the four schools of jurisprudence, which he defends with heat in the wrong place and against the Sunnah! He finds an exit for himself and for those who follow their desires like him, in the Zahiri school of Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi. So he is not seeking the legal evidence, which came to refine the souls, as the Exalted said: Therefore, it is no wonder that the scholars, without exception, did not permit the Muslim to follow his desire in every issue. He follows the Zahiri school sometimes and the Hanafi school sometimes, and the verse of poetry applies to him, which has slipped my mind, but one of you must remind me of it. It is the saying of the poet:
"And I am not of Ghaziyyah if she strays... I stray, and if Ghaziyyah is guided, I am guided"
is an authentic hadith according to the hadith scholars, and it does not harm that it was weakened by one who has no specialization in the knowledge of hadith. And I think that in the Noble Qur'an there is a verse that confirms the meaning of the hadith.
Al-Huwaini: ... .

The Shaykh: This or another, yes. Therefore, this is an expression of following desire.
Al-Huwaini: .

The Shaykh : .