A widespread assumption among Muslims holds that the Hanafi school uses personal opinion (ra’yu) most frequently, followed by the Shafi’i and Maliki schools, while the Hanbali school uses it least. This study re-examines this hierarchy by analyzing the use of ra’yu through jurisprudential reasoning methods (bayani, qiyasi/ta'lili, and istishlahi), not merely the quantity of hadith. The research aims to measure the actual proportion of ra’yu usage across the four schools, specifically regarding divorce (talak). Using library research and comparative and historical analysis, this study scrutinizes key issues: explicit divorce terms, contextual indications (qarinah), divorce by an intoxicated or coerced person, and the status of a woman during a minor irrevocable divorce waiting period. The findings reveal a different order: the Hanbali school demonstrates the highest engagement with ra’yu, followed by the Maliki, then the Hanafi, with the Shafi’i school using it most sparingly in divorce rulings. The study concludes that the mainstream perception is empirically unsupported and recommends re-evaluating the classification of schools as "ahl al-ra’y" versus "ahl al-hadith" based on hermeneutic approaches rather than textual quantity. Anggapan umum di kalangan muslim menyatakan bahwa madzhab Hanafi paling banyak menggunakan ra’yu (pendapat pribadi), disusul Syafi’i, Maliki, dan terakhir Hanbali. Penelitian ini menguji ulang hierarki tersebut dengan mengukur penggunaan ra’yu berdasarkan pola penalaran (bayani, ta’lili, dan istishlahi), bukan kuantitas hadis. Tujuannya adalah untuk mengetahui porsi sebenarnya penggunaan ra’yu pada empat madzhab dalam bab talak. Menggunakan penelitian kepustakaan dengan analisis komparatif dan historis, kajian ini menelaah masalah lafadz sharīh, qarinah, talaknya orang mabuk dan dipaksa, serta status wanita dalam iddah talak bā’in sughra. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan urutan yang berbeda: madzhab Hanbali paling banyak menggunakan ra’yu, disusul Maliki, kemudian Hanafi, dan terakhir Syafi’i. Kesimpulannya, anggapan umum tidak didukung data valid. Penelitian ini merekomendasikan agar klasifikasi ahli ra’yu dan ahli hadits didasarkan pada cara memahami nash, bukan pada kuantitas hadits yang dimiliki.
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