Shudhudh (an irregular view or report, and acting on it)

In language shudhudh is separation from others; a shadh is one who stands alone or leaves the group, and anything standing apart is shadh. ¹ In the usage of the Hanafis and Malikis, a shadh view is one opposed to the prominent, the preferred or the sound: an unpreferred, weak or strange opinion. The sound is sometimes set against a shadh narration. ^{1 2} The Shafi'i school has no definition of it, and the Hanbalis do not use the word, but their discussion of the weak view and their prohibition of acting on it without preference cover it. ² Among the hadith scholars the term is disputed. Al-Shafi'i held it is a reliable narrator reporting a hadith against what people report. The prevailing view of the hadith masters is that a shadh report has only one chain, in which a reliable or unreliable narrator stands alone; a report in which a reliable narrator stands alone is held in suspense and not relied on, and one in which an unreliable narrator stands alone is rejected. ² The usuli appendix treats the matter in full. ²

Acting, giving a fatwa or judging on a shadh view differs for the mujtahid, the follower and the layman. The mujtahid may not in general follow another; he must weigh the evidence himself, whether for himself or for fatwa and judgement. ² A mujtahid within a school acts on what he finds stronger, for its evidence is stronger, even if the view is shadh and later abandoned, like the old and the new views of al-Shafi'i, and the companions of Abu Hanifa who followed what they found strong in evidence. ^{4 3} For the follower, the agreed rule is that acting, fatwa or judgement follows the prominent, preferred or sound view of the school, not the shadh. ³ Ibn Abi Zayd holds that a follower may not choose; the preferred view is binding on him, and preferring a lesser when a greater is available is forbidden. Al-Shatibi holds that a follower or mufti may give a fatwa only on the prominent view. ^{3 5} Abu al-Fadl al-Uqbani holds that a judge's ruling by a shadh view is annulled if he took it for the prominent one, and stands if he knew it was shadh and found it stronger, provided he is among those who can judge between preferred and lesser views. ⁵ Al-Subki holds that a judge qualified to prefer may rule by a transmitted view he has preferred on good evidence, even if most of the school consider it lesser, so long as he does not leave his school; he may not rule by a strange shadh view as if it were from the school. ⁵ The Hanbalis hold that one who belongs to a named imam's school may not choose between two of the imam's views or two of his followers' views to give a fatwa or judge. ⁵ See the entries on independent reasoning, following, judgement and fatwa. ³