"People of Reasoned Opinion" (Aṣḥāb ar-Raʾy) Among the Muḥaddithūn: Abū Ḥanīfah's Standing

Answer

Among the imams of ḥadīth, "people of reasoned opinion" (ahl ar-raʾy) were precisely those distinguished men who reached the rank of mujtahid: in the absence of an explicit text (naṣṣ ṣarīḥ), giving an opinion (raʾy) on a matter was by no means a trivial undertaking.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.