[Druspills]

I found the book very good; it, along with the excellent book on Imam Abu Hanifa by Shaykh Nadwi, convinced me of the superiority of certain aspects of the Hanafi school which are not very well elucidated by other contemporary authorities. However, that is not the purpose of this thread. What I found interesting were two parts in particular-

Then on page 104 the Shaykh attributes the view of reciting al-Fatiha behind the Imam in silent prayers to one narration from Imam Abu Hanifa and one narration from Imam Muhammad, and then another group of noteworthy 'ulema, many of whom appear to have specialized in hadeeth.

On page 181, Shaykh Riyadh ul-Haq quotes a few ahadeeth and says that the Hanafi 'ulema believe it to be Sunnah to raise the finger at the time of negation and affirmation, then attributes the position of keeping it raised and steady until the end of the prayer (like in the Hanbali and Shafi'i schools) to Maulana Rashid Ahmed Gangohi and 'some other 'ulema.'

My question is, are these considered valid differences in the Hanafi school or are they considered shadh opinions?

I don't know about the attribution of this to Imam Abu Hanifah but the narration of Imam Muhammad has been criticised by Ibn al-Hummam a Hanafi Jurist. Even though quite alot of 'Ulama are of this opinion within the Hanafi framework, the Rajih is still not reciting al-Fatihah, this much i can tell you. As for it's permissibility that will be different from person to person or Scholar to Scholar (referring to the Hanafi). I have comes across a few that allow it and others that don't allow it. I opt for the opinion of not to recite it as i feel it is the safest - however i do recite it always in my mind (but not with tongue), at the same time i wouldn't have a problem with those that do recite it quietly.

As for the finger in Tashahhud again, the same as above, but in this instance i have seen many graduates of Darul 'Uloom (Bury and Kiddi) who practise this as a revised opinion, and i don't think it is a big issue again.

At the end, yes they are valid differences in the loose sense but we always have to differentiate between Mufta Bihi and give fatwa according to that and on the issues of subtleties we shouldn't be people of Ta'assub.

Wallahu A'lam.