What is your opinion of the book al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm?

The questioner : ... What is your opinion of the rulings in al-Muhalla by Ibn Hazm?

The Shaykh : The Imam Ibn Hazm is a name that fits its bearer; he is truly an Imam. However, there are two things one should avoid: first, his harshness in his pen when refuting his opponents; second, his extreme rigidity in adhering to the apparent meaning of texts. I mentioned a third thing, which is perhaps the last: he is a staunch Jahmi who denies the attributes and says that the divine names are names that do not contain meanings. If a reader reads his books and is cautious of these matters, he will benefit greatly from them, for he is an Imam who exercises independent legal reasoning and does not follow anyone in the religion of Allah.

The questioner : Does he follow Dawud al-Zahiri?

The Shaykh : No, he is not a follower of a specific school. If the Imam al-Muzani is considered a follower of the Imam al-Shafi'i, then Ibn Hazm is a follower. If the Imams Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani and Abu Yusuf al-Qadi are considered followers of the Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man ibn al-Thabit, then he is also a follower. Yet the Imams Abu Yusuf and al-Shaybani contradicted Abu Hanifa, as Ibn 'Abidin says in his marginal notes, in two-thirds of the school's rulings. So can one like him be called a follower when he contradicts his Imam in two-thirds of what he held? I find that Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani is often mentioned in his Muwatta, which is the Muwatta of the Imam Malik, but in his own narration. The Muwatta of the Imam Malik was narrated by many scholars from him; the famous one in our lands today, which is printed and circulated, is the narration of Yahya ibn Yahya al-Laythi from Malik. As for the Muwatta of the Imam Muhammad, it is unfortunately not circulated except among the followers of Abu Hanifa, particularly in India and Pakistan, because he was a student of the Imam Abu Hanifa and they are predominantly followers of the Hanafi school. Therefore, they refer to the book of the Muwatta of the Imam Muhammad among them, because first, it is from the narration of the Imam Muhammad, and second, here lies the benefit of this Muwatta. Scholars of different schools and inclinations should acquire this book because it contains knowledge. He mentions the hadith from the path of Malik, saying "So-and-so narrated to me," and so on. Ibn al-Shaybani says, "We take this as our ruling, and this is what all our scholars say." Sometimes he says, "We take this as our ruling, contrary to Abu Hanifa." Therefore, this book is a beneficial book. And here is the point, as they say: The Imam Muhammad, although he was a student of Abu Hanifa, was not a mere follower. Likewise, Ibn Hazm was not a mere follower, but he adopted the school of Dawud al-Zahiri in its rigidity regarding the apparent meaning of texts. However, I say a word of fairness to Ibn Hazm and to clarify the truth: adhering to the apparent meaning of texts is the school of all scholars. Otherwise, we would have suffered what the scholars of kalam suffered, with the Mu'tazilah at their head in their figurative interpretation. Those who interpreted the texts of creed, those who interpreted the texts of jurisprudence and rulings...