How subjectivity became wrong: early Hanafism and the scandal of Istihsan in the formative period of Islamic law (750-1000 CE)

<p>Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767) notoriously used istiḥsān (juristic preference) to make apparently subjective rulings. In response, al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) declared istiḥsān invalid. Later Hanafis retorted that al-Shāfiʿī had misunderstood the term, causing modern scholars to similarly disagree on...