Following Imam Abu Hanifah rahimahullah

Q: Some Salafis ask: ‘Did The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam say you must follow Abu Hanifah? So why do you Hanafis follow him?’ What answer do we give such people?

A: There are several responses to these childish and hollow claims.
1) Indeed the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did not say "follow Abu Hanifa", but likewise he never said "follow Imam Bukhari, or Imam Muslim or Imam Abu Dawood or Imam Ibni Taymiyyah", etc. Yet the people who make these claims follow all these Imams and even more. In fact, we follow only one Imam, but they follow several. So it shows their claims are based on some personal, nafasani preference. If they say they don't follow these Imams, then we would like to know why they accept without proof the statements of these Imams regarding validity and authenticity of hadith. By way of example, when Imam Bukhari writes in his book that Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) raised his hands in takbeer after ruku', they all accept it. That acceptance means they follow Imam Bukhari in establishing a sunnah. So if we follow Imam Abu Hanifa when he says that Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not raise his hands in takbeer after ruku', what sin did we commit? If the Rasool sallallahu alaihi wa sallam never said: "Follow Abu Hanifa" then he also never said "Follow Bukhari". If you can follow Bukhari, why can't we follow Abu Hanifa or Shaafi'ee? If they argue that Abu Hanifa had no proof, we can provide them with proof that will leave them bewildered. They must approach the Hanafi Ulema if they need proof.
2) All the great Imams extracted the Sunnah from the Life of Rasool sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and his Sahaaba. They practiced that Sunnah and taught it to people. This was what the Sahaaba also did, as well as the Imams after them. Hence, if one follows the Imams, he or she is following the Sunnah which these Imams derived from Hadith. This has been happening for centuries and is one hundred percent correct.
3) How will we know the Sunnah? We never saw the Messenger of Allah (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) do any of these sunnah practices? We are forced to rely on people who narrated and taught this Sunnah from one generation to another. Every man has an Ustaad whom he follows. He has to do this in order to learn his Deen. Otherwise, there is no way people can learn Deen if they don=t follow some Alim or Shaikh. The Quran says: "Follow the person who has turned unto Me." (Surah Luqman) "Ask the People of the Reminder if you don't know." (Surah Ambiyaa) "O Believers! Obey Allah, obey His Messenger, and obey those in charge of your affairs (The Ulema)." These verses prove that you are allowed, in fact commanded to follow an Imam, Alim, Shaikh, etc.
4) These people want to lay claim to following the Sunnah of Nabi-e-Kareem (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam), but when we say that Imam Abu Hanifa or Imam Shaafi'ee follows the Sunnah, they reject it! They want us to believe that they are the only ones following the Sunnah, but they reject the notion that Imam Abu Hanifa or Imam Malik etc. is also following the Sunnah. This is irrational and a sign of obstinacy. Are they the only people in the world that follow the true Sunnah of Our Beloved Nabi sallallahu alaihi wa sallam? They are no comparison to these great Imams, but they have the audacity to claim that their "Sunnah" is the only sunnah and that the great Imams do not follow the Sunnah! This smacks of pride and arrogance. Allah save us from such ignorance that borders on disbelief.