This article is mostly a translation of the book Abū Ḥanīfah al Nuʿmān ʿinda al Aʾimmah al Fuqahāʾ (Abu Hanifah al Nuʿman According to the Imams of the Jurists) by Wahīb Sulaymān Ghāwajī.

**https://ia902902.us.archive.org/19/items/WAQ57712S/57712s.pdf**

Navigation Menu For The Summary

His Scholarly Upbringing and His Movement Between the Sciences

His Distinctive Traits and the Statements of Leading Imams About Him

Navigation Menu For The Book

Seeking Knowledge, His Shuyukh, His Students

His Scholarly Upbringing and His Movement Between the Sciences

His Method in Establishing Ijtihad Issues and Writing Them Down

His Honouring of His Students and His Encouragement of Them to Seek Knowledge

Those Among the Sahabah Whom Abu Hanifah Met, May Allah Be Pleased With Them All

His Distinctive Traits and the Statements of Leading Imams About Him

His Character in His Conduct With Allah Most High

His Character in His Conduct With People

His Sincerity for People and His Righteousness Towards Them

His Dutifulness to His Parents

Allah’s Great Favour Upon the Imam

Statements of Leading Imams About Him

They Recognised Him, So They Spoke Well About Him

The Qualities of Imam Abu Hanifah

The Crowning Trait of His Character

The Fiqh of the Imam Pt 1

The Foundations of the Imam’s Madhhab

The Fiqh of the Imam Pt 2

Examples of the Imam’s Fiqh, His Understanding of Proofs, and His Acting Upon Them

His Memorisation of Hadith and His Books in It

One Example of the Imam’s Understanding of Hadith

His Foundations in Acting Upon Texts

Repelling Doubts With Clear Truths

A Doubt About al Khatib al Baghdadi and Similar Reports

A Doubt About Being “A People of Opinion”

A Doubt About Ibn ʿAdi, al ʿUqayli, and Similar

A Doubt About Legal Stratagems

Other Imams Of The Salaf Spoke Out Against Eachother, So We Must Be Consistent and Not Bring Their Issues Up Either

The Imam’s Upbringing and Teaching

Eagerness to teach and benefit, seeking Allah’s pleasure.

Freeing time to gain knowledge first.

Sincerity in knowledge, and wanting truth to appear, and nothing else.

Honouring knowledge, and knowing its value.

Good companionship with his students, and supporting them.

Supporting his students, and helping them seek knowledge.

Gentleness with students, and giving them freedom to speak in the gathering.

Praising his students and advising them.

Giving knowledge to the one who is eager for it.

Treating self admiration over a little knowledge with a refined teaching method.

Every study circle must have a supervising teacher.

Guiding students to who is fit to take knowledge from, and who is not fit.

Encouraging the seeking of knowledge, because it is dhikr and worship, rather it is the head of worship.

Knowledge must have understanding. “Many carriers of fiqh are not jurists.” What benefit is medicine to the one who does not know it?

Summary

His Name and Lineage

Al Nuʿman ibn Thabit ibn al Marzuban was from the free nobles of Persia, from an honoured family, with origins traced to Kabul. His grandfather accepted Islam in the days of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, then moved to al Kufah. Abu Hanifah was born in al Kufah in 80 AH, in the time of ʿAbd al Malik ibn Marwan. Thabit went to ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, while he was young, and ʿAli supplicated for blessing for him and his offspring, and this supplication was held to be answered through what Allah granted Abu Hanifah in fiqh and wide acceptance. (Tarikh Baghdad, 13/326.)

He grew up in al Kufah in a practising, wealthy, generous Muslim household. He appears to have been the only child of his parents. His father was a cloth merchant, and Abu Hanifah later took over the same trade. He memorised the Noble Qur’an while young.

His Scholarly Upbringing and His Movement Between the Sciences

He did not begin by sitting in the circles of the ulama. He stayed in the market with his father until he met al Shaʿbi, who turned him to the circles of knowledge with words that settled in his heart: “Do not do that. Take up looking into knowledge and sitting with the ulama, for I see in you wakefulness and drive.” (ʿUqud al Juman fi Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman, manuscript.)

At sixteen, his father took him for Hajj in 96 AH, and he heard from the Sahabi ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith ibn Juzʾ al Zubaydi, with the hadith, “Whoever gains fiqh in the religion of Allah, Allah suffices him in his worry, and provides for him from where he does not expect.”

His first major direction was the foundations of religion and debating the people of misguidance. He entered al Basrah more than twenty seven times for debate, debated Jahm ibn Safwan, debated atheists, debated the Muʿtazilah, the Khawarij, and the extreme Shiʿah. After that period, he prohibited his close companions from this path, and he warned against debates driven by wishing the opponent to slip, saying: “Whoever wants his companion to slip has wanted his companion to disbelieve.” (Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah by Ibn al Bazzazi, 1/121.)

A decisive turn to fiqh came through a practical question about divorce. After sending the woman to Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman and hearing the juristic answer, he said, “I have no need for speculative theology,” then took up the circle of Hammad, memorising his answers until Hammad placed him at the front of the circle. (Al Khayrat al Hisan, page 25.)

His companionship with Hammad was marked by strong adab and service. He waited at Hammad’s door, served him when needed, would not stretch his legs towards Hammad’s house, and supplicated for Hammad with his parents.

He stayed with him for eighteen years until Hammad died, then replaced him by agreement of the circle. He said: “I did not pray a single prayer since Hammad died except that I sought forgiveness for him with my parents.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 2/6, 2/7.)

His shuyukh were described as reaching four thousand, helped by his long life, repeated travel, and frequent Hajj, reported as fifty five times. He also stayed in Makkah for six years after Ibn Hubayrah struck him for refusing the judiciary in al Kufah.

His Taking Up Teaching

After Hammad’s death, Abu Hanifah sat for the people, saying: “I do not like that knowledge dies.” His circle grew until it became the greatest circle in the masjid of al Kufah. He taught fiqh, checked on students, and remained steady even while some contemporaries tried to criticise him, until people needed him and rulers and ulama honoured him. He connected his success to shukr, saying: “I only reached what I reached through praise and gratitude.” (Kitab al Taʿlim by Masʿud ibn Shaybah.)

His method in ijtihad was consultation, not isolation. A question would be presented to the students, proofs would be exchanged, and he would test views by report and reasoning until a view settled, sometimes over days, then Abu Yusuf wrote it into foundations. When an issue became difficult, he would return to istighfar and salah, and clarity would follow. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 2/133.)

He was described as the first to write down fiqh and arrange it into chapters, beginning with purification, then prayer, then fasting, then the rest of ʿibadat, then transactions, concluding with inheritance. He was also described as the first to compile works on inheritance and legal conditions.

His students were a central part of his strength. Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al Hasan, and Zufar were named among the pillars of his circle, alongside major transmitters and people of zuhd and waraʿ.

It was said that forty companions wrote the books, and that seven hundred and thirty major ulama narrated from him. He also described a close set of thirty six men, with twenty eight fit for the judiciary, six fit for fatwa, and two, Abu Yusuf and Zufar, fit to train judges and the people of fatwa. (Al Manaqib, 2/131.)

His care for students was practical and constant. He supported poor students until they became established, and he viewed knowledge of what is permissible and what is forbidden as the greatest richness. Abu Yusuf described how Abu Hanifah gave him repeated pouches of one hundred dirhams so he could stay with the circle. (Manaqib al Kurdari, 2/122.)

His Distinctive Traits and the Statements of Leading Imams About Him

His appearance was described in detail. He was brown in complexion, leaning slightly to lightness, of medium height, closer to tall, handsome and imposing, with a long beard, careful dress, turban, and footwear.

He spoke clearly with a pleasant tone, used perfume often, and was recognised by its scent. His body was slim, connected to fear of Allah Most High and abundant worship. His son Hammad described him as tall, well dressed, with much perfume, recognised by its scent before he was seen.

His character was linked to guarding the sanctities of Allah, keeping away from the dunya, long silence, deep reflection, and guarding the tongue. Harun al Rashid asked Abu Yusuf about him, and Abu Yusuf described him as guarding his religion, occupied with himself from people, and not mentioning anyone except with good.

Clear incidents were used to show fear of Allah and softness of heart. He fainted when a child warned him about retaliation on the Day of Resurrection. Traces of weeping were seen in his eyes and on his cheeks.

One night after hearing “When the earth is shaken…”, he remained reflecting until Fajr, holding his beard and repeating a supplication for protection from the Fire, then asked that what was seen be concealed. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/238.)

His ʿibadah was described as intense and consistent. He completed the Qur’an repeatedly, reported as thirty completions in a month, and later as completing it in three days and their nights, with daily charity.

He fasted by day and stood by night. It was reported that for many years he prayed Fajr with the ablution of the night, and that he continued this state for long periods. In Makkah he stayed for six months without laying down to sleep, seen only in prayer or tawaf. His Hajj was reported as fifty five times.

His waraʿ and zuhd appeared in earning and in refusing the wealth of rulers. He refused the judiciary and was struck with twenty one lashes because of it.

He refused gifts when they were from the public treasury, saying he had no right in it, and accepted only what would be from the ruler’s personal wealth. Al Mansur then told him, “Stay, and judges will come to you in what they may need from you,” yet he still refused to become their head and reference, choosing safety despite what that refusal would bring. (Sharh al Athar, 1/25.)

His trade was large, yet he restrained his wealth. He said he did not keep more than four thousand dirhams for more than forty years except that he gave it out, treating what was below that as provision, and he feared needing to go to rulers. His father Thabit left him two hundred thousand dirhams besides properties, and he spent it in seeking knowledge and on students until his monthly provision became two dirhams. (Muqaddimat al Taʿlim, manuscript.) In Baghdad, while held because of the judiciary, he refused the khalifah’s food and requested simple parched flour from al Kufah. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 1/198.)

His scrupulousness in trade was shown when a defect in a garment was not disclosed by his partner, and the buyer could not be found. Abu Hanifah gave in charity all the goods, valued at thirty thousand.

His Death

Al Muwafaq (d. 568 AH) narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn Waqid (d. 207 AH) that Al Hasan ibn ʿUmarah (d. 153 AH) washed Abu Hanifah, and his body appeared extremely thin from worship and effort. When he finished, he praised him and spoke words that caused widespread weeping, and it was said that no day saw more people weeping than his funeral. (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/176.)

He said: “May Allah have mercy on you and forgive you. You did not break your fast for thirty years, and you did not rest your right side at night for forty years. You have tired those after you, and you have put the reciters to shame.”

He was buried in Al Khayzuran as he had advised, due to concerns over the land of Baghdad. A large crowd, estimated at fifty thousand, attended his funeral, and the prayer was performed six times, the last led by his son Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah (d. 176 AH). Al Mansur (d. 158 AH) later prayed at his grave, and people continued praying there for more than twenty days. (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/180.)

He died in the middle of Shawwal in 150 AH. (Manaqib al Muwafaq.)

After His Death

Al Fadil ibn ʿIyad (d. 187 AH) described him as a man of fiqh, known for knowledge, generosity, patience in seeking knowledge, strong in night worship, reserved in speech, and firm upon truth, while distancing himself from the wealth of rulers. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki.)

Mulayh ibn Wakiʿ (d. 229 AH) described him as trustworthy, dignified, and firm, giving preference to the pleasure of his Lord over all else. (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/180.)

Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH) affirmed his rank in knowledge, calling him “the jurist.” Imam Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) expressed seeking blessing through him and visiting his grave regularly. (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/199.)

Reports of dreams and reactions of the ulama reflected the loss felt at his death. Ibn Jurayj said: “What knowledge has gone,” and Shuʿbah ibn Al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH) said: “The light of knowledge has been extinguished from Kufah. They will never see his like.” (Al Khayrat Al Hisan, page 71.)

Seeking Knowledge, His Shuyukh, His Students

His Name and Lineage

He is al Nuʿman ibn Thabit ibn al Marzuban, from the free nobles of Persia. He belonged to an honoured family among his people.

His origin was from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan today. His grandfather al Marzuban accepted Islam in the days of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, then moved to al Kufah and made it his home.

Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, was born in al Kufah in the year 80, according to the strongest view, during the days of the khalifah ʿAbd al Malik ibn Marwan, Allah have mercy on him.

Al Khatib narrated with his chain to Ismaʿil ibn Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah that he said: “Ismaʿil ibn Hammad, ibn al Nuʿman ibn Thabit ibn al Marzuban, from the free nobles of Persia, told us: By Allah, slavery never touched us at all.

My grandfather was born in the year 80, and Thabit went to ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, when he was young, and he supplicated for blessings for him and his offspring. We hope from Allah Most High that He answered that supplication for ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him.” (Tarikh Baghdad, 13/326.)

Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Kaddam said: “Allah answered his supplication, since He made the khulafa of the earth, the kings of the horizons, and most of the people of Islam, followers of him in religion, and dependent upon him in fiqh.” (Muqaddimat al Taʿlim by the muhaddith and faqih Masʿud ibn Shaybah al Sindi, from the manuscripts of the library of ʿArif Hikmat in al Madinah al Munawwarah, folio 16.)

The name of Abu Hanifah’s grandfather, Allah have mercy on him, was narrated as al Nuʿman in one report, and al Marzuban in a second report, and Zawta ibn Mah in a third report.

The author of Muqaddimat al Taʿlim combined these reports in a fine way, and said: the meaning of al Marzuban is “the chief”, so it is possible that al Nuʿman and Mah were names, or one of them was a name and the other a title. It is also possible that the meaning of Zawta in Arabic is al Nuʿman, and the meaning of Mah is al Marzuban. Allah knows best.

His Scholarly Upbringing and His Movement Between the Sciences

First: he grew up, Allah have mercy on him, in al Kufah, in a righteous, practising, wealthy, and generous Muslim family.

It appears he was the only child of his parents. His father was a cloth merchant who sold garments in his shop in al Kufah, and Abu Hanifah later took over his father’s work. He memorised the Noble Qur’an when he was young, like others of sharpness and righteousness.

It appears he did not begin by attending the lessons of the ulama and sitting in their circles. Rather, he used to be with his father in the shop, until he met al Shaʿbi, and that became a great opening of good in the life of the imam, Allah have mercy on them both.

Abu Muhammad al Harithi narrated with his chain to Imam Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, that he said: “I passed by al Shaʿbi one day while he was sitting, so he called me and said: Where do you go often? I said: I go often to so and so. He said: I did not mean the market.

I meant going often to the ulama. I said to him: I do not go to them often. He said: Do not do that. Take up looking into knowledge and sitting with the ulama, for I see in you wakefulness and drive.

His words settled in my heart, so I left going often, meaning to the market, and I took up knowledge, and Allah Most High benefited me through his words.” (ʿUqud al Juman fi Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman by the muhaddith and historian Muhammad ibn Yusuf ibn ʿAli ibn Yusuf al Dimashqi, manuscript. He is the author of al Sirah al Shamiyyah in 4 large volumes. He gathered it from more than 300 books, and he brought remarkable material in it. Its chapters exceeded 700 chapters. A complete copy exists in the library of al Haram al Makki. How excellent it would be if this book were printed.)

Second: when he reached 16 years of age, his father took him out to perform the obligation of Hajj and to visit the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his masjid.

Al Kurdari mentioned in his book Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah, from the book al Intisar, with his chain to al Juʿabi, that he said: Abu Yaʿla ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar al Razi narrated to me, from a book that contained the hadith of Abu Hanifah. My father narrated to me, from Muhammad ibn Samaʿah, the trustworthy hafiz, from Abu Yusuf, that he said:

I heard Abu Hanifah say: “I performed Hajj with my father in the year 96, and I was 16 years old. I saw a shaykh around whom people had gathered. I said to my father: Who is this shaykh? He said: This man accompanied the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He is called ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith ibn Juzʾ al Zubaydi. I said: What does he have?

He said: Hadith he heard from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. I said: Bring me close to him. So he went forward in front of me, and people made space for me until I came near him. I heard him say:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever gains fiqh in the religion of Allah, Allah suffices him in his worry, and provides for him from where he does not expect.”

Al Hafiz al Juʿabi said: ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith ibn Juzʾ al Zubaydi died in the year 97, and I heard this hadith through the route of al Saymari with this same wording.”

Third: the first direction he took in the sciences was the foundations of religion and debating the people of atheism and misguidance. He entered al Basrah more than 27 times to debate there, to argue, to repel doubts from the Sharia, and to push away what the people of misguidance wanted to attach to it.

He debated Jahm ibn Safwan until he silenced him, he debated the atheists until he compelled them to accept the Sharia, he debated the Muʿtazilah and the Khawarij and bound them by proof, and he debated the extreme Shiʿah and convinced them.

Along with spending time debating and arguing in the foundations of religion as mentioned, he later prohibited his companions and those close to him from debating.

He saw his son Hammad, who later became a righteous judge, a devout worshipper, and a person of waraʿ, debating in speculative theology, so he prohibited him. Hammad said: “We saw you debate in it, and you prohibit us from it.”

He said, Allah have mercy on him: “We used to debate as if birds were on our heads, out of fear that our companion might slip.

But you debate while wanting your companion to slip. Whoever wants his companion to slip has wanted his companion to disbelieve. Whoever wants his companion to disbelieve has disbelieved before his companion disbelieves.” (Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah by Ibn al Bazzazi, 1/121.)

He continued upon this path of speculative theology, foundations of religion, and debating the deviants and the people of misguidance, until he became a sign pointed to, while he was still in his 20s. He had a private circle in the masjid of al Kufah, where students of this type of science sat with him.

Fourth: Allah wanted through him, Allah have mercy on him, and through the Muslims, great good and wide benefit. The supplication of ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, for his grandfather and offspring was answered, and the hope of al Shaʿbi for him, especially, was realised, so he turned to fiqh.

Fiqh is the essence of the Noble Qur’an and the purified Sunnah. In fiqh there is explanation of the verses of rulings from the Noble Qur’an and their indications, and knowledge of their meanings and aims.

In fiqh there is also explanation of the purified Sunnah and its indications, and knowledge of its meanings and aims, because fiqh is understanding of the religion.

What is understanding of it except knowing its foundations, aims, implications, indications, and signals. From Muʿawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever Allah intends good for, He gives him fiqh in the religion.” Reported by al Bukhari.

A verse may be with a reciter, and a noble hadith may be with a memoriser, but he does not fully know the aim and meaning of what he has, until the faqih comes and makes the meanings of the verse clear and explains the meanings of the hadith.

Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, visited his shaykh al Aʿmash one day. A man came to al Aʿmash asking about a question of knowledge, so he said to Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on them both: “Answer him.”

He answered, so he said to him: “From where did you get this?” He said: “From a hadith you narrated to me, it is such and such.”

Al Aʿmash said: “That is enough for you. What I narrated to you in a year, you answered with in an hour. You are the physicians, and we are the pharmacists.”

The reason for his turning to fiqh is what Zufar narrated from him, Allah have mercy on them both. He said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “I used to look into speculative theology until I reached a level where people pointed to me with fingers.

We used to sit near the circle of Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman. A woman came to me one day and said: A man has a wife and he wants to divorce her according to the Sunnah, how many divorces does he give her?

I told her to ask Hammad, then return and tell me. She asked Hammad, and he said: He divorces her with one divorce while she is pure from menstruation and intercourse, then he leaves her until she menstruates 2 times. After the first menstruation, that makes 3 menstruations. When she bathes, she becomes permissible for husbands.

She returned and told me, so I said: I have no need for speculative theology. I took my sandals and sat with Hammad listening to his questions.

I would memorise his answer, then he would repeat them the next day and I would memorise, while his companions made mistakes. So he said: No one sits at the front of the circle next to me except Abu Hanifah.” (Al Khayrat al Hisan by Ibn Hajar al Haytami al Shafiʿi, page 25, and Manaqib al Imam al Aʿzam Abi Hanifah, may Allah be pleased with him and honour him, by al Muwafaq al Makki.)

Al Muwafaq al Makki narrated with his chain to Yahya ibn Shayban, that he said: Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, said: “I was a man given strong argument in speculative theology.

A long time passed while I moved back and forth and debated in it. The people of dispute and debate were mostly in al Basrah, so I entered al Basrah more than 20 times.

Sometimes I stayed a year, sometimes less, sometimes more. I debated the levels of the Khawarij from the Ibadis and the Sufris, and the levels of the Hashw.”

He continued the report until he said: “I used to count speculative theology as the best of sciences, and I used to say: This speculative theology is from the foundation of the religion.

Then I reviewed myself after time had passed in it, and I reflected, and I said: the earlier ones from the companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and the tabiʿin and those after them, nothing we realise escaped them. They were more capable of it, more knowing of it, and more knowledgeable of the realities of matters.

Then they did not stand in it as disputants or arguers, and they did not enter into it.

Rather, they held back from that and they prohibited it strongly. I saw their entering into the Sharia matters and the doors of fiqh, and their speech in it. For it they sat, and for it they were distinguished, and to it and through it they devoted themselves.

They taught people and called them to knowledge and encouraged them in it. They left speculative theology, dispute in it, and debate about it, and they gave fatwa in what they were asked. Upon that the first generation passed, then the tabiʿin followed them upon that. When this became clear to us, we left dispute, argument, and entering into speculative theology.

We sufficed with knowing it, and we returned to what the Salaf were upon, and we took up what they were in, and we entered into what they entered into, and we sat with the people who knew that.

Along with that, I saw people who claimed speculative theology and argued in it, whose signs were not the signs of the earlier ones, and whose way was not the way of the righteous. I saw them hard in heart and rough in inner being.

They did not care about opposing the Book, the Sunnah, and the righteous Salaf.

They had no waraʿ and no taqwa. I knew that if there had been good in it, the righteous Salaf would have taken it up, and the low people would not have taken it up. So I abandoned it, and all praise is due to Allah.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 1/60.)

It appears that the woman’s question was the near reason for his turning, Allah have mercy on him, to fiqh, and all praise is due to Allah.

His Staying With His Shaykh Hammad, His Seeking Fiqh From Him, and His Manners With Him

Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, moved entirely to his shaykh Hammad and his fiqh knowledge, until he outdid his peers and surpassed those like him and those before him in the circle of his shaykh, through his memorisation and manners, until his shaykh brought him close and placed him at the front of his circle.

His manners with his shaykh were astonishing. He used to go to his shaykh at his house and wait at the door until he came out for prayer or a need, then he would ask him and accompany him.

If his shaykh needed something, he would stand to serve him. When he sat in his own house, he would not stretch his legs in the direction of his shaykh Hammad’s house. When he prayed, he would supplicate for his shaykh Hammad together with his parents.

He stayed upon this companionship and close keeping for 18 years, until Hammad, Allah have mercy on him, died. The companions of the circle agreed that Abu Hanifah should replace him in teaching, and he was the best successor to the best predecessor.

Ibn Hayyan brought in Tabaqat Muhaddithi Isbahan, from ʿAtikah, the sister of Hammad, with his chain to her, that she said: “Al Nuʿman used to be at our door, fluffing our cotton, buying our milk and vegetables and what is similar to that. When a man came to ask him about a question, he would say: What is your question? He would say: such and such.

He would say: the answer is such and such. Then he would say: Wait. Then he would enter to Hammad and say to him: A man came and asked about such and such, and I answered him with such and such, so what do you say?

He would say: They narrated to us such and such, our companions said such and such, and Ibrahim said such and such. He would say: So shall I narrate from you? He would say: Yes. Then he would say: Hammad said such and such.” This was his state with him: close keeping and service, inherited. (The marginal notes of al Kawthari on al Ikhtilaf fi al Lafz and al Radd ʿala al Jahmiyyah and al Mushabbihah by Imam Ibn Qutaybah.)

Al Muwafaq al Makki narrated with his chain to Muhammad ibn al Hasan ibn Abi Bashir, that he said: I heard Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, say: “I did not pray a single prayer since Hammad died except that I sought forgiveness for him with my parents.

I surely seek forgiveness for the one from whom I learned knowledge, and the one to whom I taught knowledge.”

It was also narrated from him that he said: “I never stretched my leg towards the house of Hammad, out of honour for him, and between my house and his house were 7 lanes.” Then al Muwafaq said:

Al Nuʿman was the most dutiful of all people to his parents and to the teacher Hammad.
He used to supplicate for him as long as he lived, seeking by that every praised and every glory.
He used to begin his supplication by mentioning Hammad, and he would not favour fathers and children.
The giver of benefit has more right to be first than the one who merely gave birth, with the One Guide.
He never stretched his legs one day toward his house, while between them were 7 lanes in a row. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 2/6–7.)

The Shuyukh of the Imam, Allah Have Mercy on Him

It was indicated earlier that the shuyukh of the imam, Allah have mercy on him, reached 4,000 shaykhs, among them 7 Sahabah and 93 from the tabiʿin, and the rest from those after them.

There is no strangeness in this. He lived 70 years, and performed Hajj 55 times, and the season of Hajj gathers the ulama of the Islamic universe in the 2 noble sanctuaries.

He stayed in Makkah, Allah have mercy on him, when Ibn Hubayrah struck him for refusing to take up the judiciary in al Kufah, then he fled from him for 6 years. Al Kufah was a centre of knowledge and hadith, filled with major ulama.

It is reported that Imam al Bukhari said: “I cannot count how many times I entered al Kufah seeking hadith.” If the imam was keen, and he was, on meeting and benefiting from knowledge and its people, then in 55 years it was made easy for him to meet 4,000 shuyukh and take from them, some a lot and some a little, even if only a hadith or a question.

Imam Abu Hafs al Kabir said, after mentioning the shuyukh of the imam, Allah have mercy on him: A group of ulama authored a book in that, arranging them on the letters of the alphabet, in a single volume.

The author of Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan said: no one rejects this number except someone stubborn, ignorant, or jealous. Do you not see what was narrated from al Firabri, that he said: 70,000 men heard al Sahih from al Bukhari, and none remained narrating it except me.

Muhammad al Sunbahili said: a section on the biographies of the shuyukh of the imam without intermediaries: know that most of his shuyukh in this musnad, Musnad al Haskafi, are from the greatest men of the two Sahihs, such as Mansur ibn al Muʿtamar, Mujahid ibn Jabr, al Hakam ibn ʿUtaybah, and Nafiʿ.

Then he said: most of his shuyukh and the men of his musnad have not been agreed upon as liars, fabricators, or weak.

Yes, some critics considered some of them weak, such as Ibn Lahiʿah, Muhammad ibn al Saʾib al Kalbi, and Muslim ibn Kaysan. But there is no difficulty in it, because their narrations do not fall below being follow ups and supporting reports for the authentic reports. Then he listed the names.

From them:

Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al Muntashir al Kufi, trustworthy, from the fifth level, as in al Taqrib by Ibn Hajar. The imam narrated from him, and Abu ʿAwanah, al Thawri, Misʿar, Ibn ʿUyaynah, and others.

Ibrahim ibn Yazid al Nakhaʿi al Kufi, trustworthy, except that he used to send many reports, as in al Taqrib by Ibn Hajar. He was remarkable in waraʿ and good, avoiding fame. Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy tabiʿin.

Ismaʿil ibn Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman al Kufi, truthful, from the eighth level, as in al Taqrib by Ibn Hajar. Al Nawawi said in his introduction to his commentary on Muslim: he is a well known tabiʿi. He saw Anas ibn Malik and Salamah ibn al Akwaʿ, and he heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, ʿAmr ibn Hurayth, Qays ibn ʿAbid, and Abu Juhayfah.

Ayyub al Sakhtiyani al Basri, trustworthy, proof, from the fifth level, from the major fuqaha and worshippers. Shuʿbah said about him: I did not see anyone like him. He was the master of the fuqaha. The 6 imams narrated from him.

Al Harith ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al Hamadhani al Kufi, Abu Hind, acceptable, from the seventh level, as in al Taqrib. Al Bukhari narrated from him in al Adab al Mufrad, and al Nasaʾi narrated from him in Musnad ʿAli.

Rabiʿah ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al Madani, known as Rabiʿah al Raʾy, trustworthy, a well known faqih. Ahmad said about him: trustworthy.

Salim ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with them, one of the seven fuqaha. He was firm, a worshipper, and virtuous. He resembled his father in guidance and conduct, from the third level. The 6 narrated from him.

Saʿid ibn Masruq, the father of Sufyan al Thawri, trustworthy, from the sixth level. Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy followers of the tabiʿin.

Sulayman ibn Yasar al Hilali al Madani, trustworthy and virtuous, one of the seven fuqaha. He narrated from Anas and others. The 6 narrated from him.

ʿAsim ibn Kulayb ibn Shihab al Kufi, truthful. Muslim and the 4 narrated from him.

ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Harmuz al Aʿraj al Madani, trustworthy, firm, a scholar. The 6 narrated from him.

ʿAtaʾ ibn Yasar al Hilali al Madani, the freedman of Maymunah, trustworthy and prolific.

ʿAmr ibn Dinar al Makki, trustworthy and firm. The 6 narrated from him, and Ibn Hibban mentioned him among the trustworthy.

Al Qasim ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, may Allah be pleased with him, trustworthy, a worshipper. Al Bukhari and the 4 narrated from him.

ʿAbd al Karim ibn Abi al Makharq al Basri, resident of Makkah. Al Bukhari narrated from him in a hanging form, and Ibn Majah narrated from him in tafsir.

His Taking Up Teaching

Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, kept company with his shaykh Hammad for 10 continuous years.

After 10 years, he felt a desire to become independent with his own circle, then he regretted before doing it, and he vowed that he would not leave his shaykh after that at all, and it was as he vowed.

Al Harithi narrated with his chain to the imam the story of his leaving speculative theology and staying with the circle of Hammad. In it: “I kept his company for 10 years. Then I felt a desire for leadership, and I wanted to leave him and sit in a circle for myself. I went out one evening with the aim to do that.

When I entered the masjid and saw him, my soul did not feel good to leave him, so I came and sat with him. That night, news came to him that a relative of his had died in al Basrah, leaving wealth with no heir, so he ordered me to sit in his place.

He left, and questions came to me that I had not heard from him, so I answered and wrote my answer. He was absent 2 months, then he returned, and I presented those questions to him. They were about 60 questions.

He agreed with me in 40 and differed with me in 20. So I vowed that I would not leave him until he died, and I did not leave him until he died.” (ʿUqud al Juman fi Manaqib al Imam al Aʿzam Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman, manuscript in the library of ʿArif Hikmat in al Madinah al Munawwarah.)

Al Saymari narrated with his chain to Hammad ibn Salamah that he said: the mufti of al Kufah and the one looked to after the death of al Nakhaʿi was Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman. People were enriched by him. When he died, they needed someone to sit for them.

His companions feared that his mention would die and his knowledge would fade with his death. Hammad had a son Hasan who knew much, so they agreed upon him. The companions of his father came, Abu Bakr al Nahshali, Abu Burdah al ʿUbaysi, Muhammad ibn Jabir al Hanafi, and others, and they went to him.

He was mainly focused on grammar and the speech of the Arabs, so he did not remain sitting for them. They then agreed upon Abu Bakr al Nahshali and asked him, but he refused. They asked Abu Burdah and he refused.

Then they said to Abu Hanifah. He said: “I do not like that knowledge dies.” So he helped them and sat for them. They went to him. After them, Abu Yusuf, Asad ibn ʿAmr, al Qasim ibn Maʿn, Zufar ibn al Hudhayl, al Walid, and men of al Kufah came.

Abu Hanifah used to teach them fiqh in the religion. He was very dutiful to them and checked on them. Ibn Abi Layla, Ibn Shubruma, and Sharik used to mix with him and sought to criticise him, yet he remained like that until his affair became firm, and people needed him.

The princes gathered to him, the khulafa mentioned him, and Ibn al Mubarak narrated similar, and in it: Abu Husayn and Habib ibn Thabit said: “This cloth merchant has good understanding, even if he is young.”

So they seated him, meaning Abu Hanifah, because he used to sell fine cloth. They did, and he was a well off man, generous and sharp. He sat and restrained himself for them, and he gave them good support and honoured them. The ulama and the rulers honoured him, his status rose, and the upper level came to him. His opponents in debate were Ibn Abi Layla, Ibn Shubruma, al Thawri, and others.

His affair continued to rise, his companions became many, until his circle became the greatest circle in the masjid of al Kufah.

He was broad in answering, broad with each weak one among them, and he gifted to each well off one. The faces of people turned to him, the princes, rulers, and nobles honoured him, he carried burdens, and he was strengthened in that by wide knowledge.

The decrees aided him, his jealous ones increased, and he was given much knowledge. Allah made him dominant over his peers and he surpassed the people of his time. Allah’s bounty upon him was great. Allah have mercy on him and benefit through him. (Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan fi Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman by Sharaf al Din Abu al Qasim ibn ʿAbd al ʿAlim al Yamani al Hanafi, manuscript in al Maktabah al Mahmudiyyah in al Haram al Nabawi, number 60. Tarikh Baghdad, 14/334.)

The imam, Allah have mercy on him, said: “I only reached what I reached through praise and gratitude. Each time I learned, or I came across knowledge, fiqh, and wisdom, I said: All praise is due to Allah, so I increased in knowledge by the bounty of Allah Most High.” (Kitab al Taʿlim by Masʿud ibn Shaybah.)

His Method in Establishing Ijtihad Issues and Writing Them Down

The imam, Allah have mercy on him, introduced a method model in establishing ijtihad issues, by presenting the question to his students, the ulama, in the circle, so each one would speak and mention what he saw as proof for his view.

Then he would respond to their views with what pushed them away by report or reasoning, and he would support what was correct with what he had of proofs. Days may pass until that issue was established.

This is a free, honourable, method based study. Respect for views is clear in it, the minds of the students work, and the knowledge and virtue of the teacher becomes clear. When an issue is established in fiqh upon that method, it becomes difficult to criticise it, let alone overturn it. Allah is the Guide, the One who grants success to good.

Abu Muhammad al Harithi mentioned from Abu Sulayman al Jawzajani: Abu Hanifah, Allah made this matter easy for him, meaning fiqh, and made it clear for him. His companions used to speak in an issue, their speech would become much, their voices would rise, and they would take from every field, while Abu Hanifah was silent.

When Abu Hanifah began to explain what they were in, they became silent, as if there was no one in the gathering, though among them were people of fiqh and knowledge. Abu Hanifah was speaking one day while they were silent, and when he finished, one of them said: “Subhan Allah, who made everyone silent?”

Sulayman said: Abu Hanifah was a wonder of wonders. The one who turned away from his speech was only the one who could not bear it. (Kitab al Taʿlim. It was later printed in Pakistan with verification by the muhaddith and faqih ʿAbd al Rashid al Nuʿmani, may Allah grant him success.)

Al Muwafaq al Makki said: Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, placed his madhhab as consultation among them.

He did not act alone in it without them, out of ijtihad in the religion and strong effort in sincerity to Allah, His Messenger, and the believers. He would present an issue, turning it over, listening to what they had, saying what he had, debating them for a month or more, until one view settled, then al Qadi Abu Yusuf wrote it in the foundations, until he wrote all the foundations.

When an issue became difficult for him, he would say to his companions: “This is only because of a sin I brought.” Then he would seek forgiveness, and sometimes stand and pray, then the issue would become clear to him, and he would say: “I hoped that I was repented upon.” That reached al Fudayl ibn ʿIyad, and he wept intensely, then said: “That is because of the fewness of his sin. As for other than him, he does not notice this.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 2/133.)

It was said that al Shafiʿi said from here:

“I complained to Wakiʿ about my poor memory, so he directed me to leaving sins.
For memorisation is a bounty from Allah, and Allah’s bounty is not given to a sinner.” (Manaqib al Imam al Aʿzam by ʿAli al Qari, manuscript in the library of ʿArif Hikmat in al Madinah al Munawwarah.)

Ibn Abi al ʿAwwam brought with his chain to Abu Yusuf, that he said: Abu Hanifah, when an issue came to him, would say: “What do you have from reports?” When we narrated the reports and he mentioned what he had, he would look. If the reports for one view were more, he took the more. If they were close and equal, he looked and chose. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki.)

His Famous Students

Allah honoured the imam, Allah have mercy on him, with great students who were mountains in the sciences. He used to establish issues with them and lay down the foundations. If a mistake was close to happening, they would be near it.

Al Khatib narrated in his Tarikh with his chain to Abu Karamah that he said: We were with Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah, the shaykh of Imam al Shafiʿi and one of the shuyukh of al Bukhari through an intermediary, Allah have mercy on them, when a man said: Abu Hanifah made a mistake. Wakiʿ said: “How can Abu Hanifah be able to make a mistake, while with him are Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al Hasan, and Zufar, in their analogy and ijtihad; Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah, Hafs ibn Ghiyath, Hibban, and Qandal the 2 sons of ʿAli, in their memorisation of hadith and knowledge; al Qasim ibn Maʿn ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, in his knowledge of grammar and language; Dawud al Taʾi and al Fudayl ibn ʿIyad, in their zuhd and waraʿ; and ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak, in his knowledge of tafsir, hadith, and histories? The one whose companions and sitters are these, how can he make a mistake while among them, and each one of them praises him, because if he made a mistake, they would return him to what is correct.”

Then he said: “Whoever claims that the truth is with the one who opposed Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, while he laid down the madhhahib alone, I say to him what al Farazdaq said to Jarir: ‘Those are my fathers, so bring me their like, when the gatherings gather us, O Jarir.’” (Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan, page 15, and Jamiʿ al Masanid, “Masanid al Imam” by al Khwarazmi, 2/415.)

Al Qurashi mentioned in al Jawahir al Mudiʾah, in the biography of Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah: al Tahawi said: Ibn Abi Thawr wrote to me, telling me, from Sulayman ibn ʿImran, from Asad ibn al Furat, that he said: the companions of Abu Hanifah who wrote the books were 40 men.

Among the first 10 were Abu Yusuf, Zufar, Dawud al Taʾi, Asad ibn ʿAmr, Yusuf ibn Khalid al Samti, and Yahya ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah, and he was the one who wrote for them for 3 years.

Ahmad al Makki al Khwarazmi mentioned that those who narrated from the imam among the major ulama were 730 men, all from the shuyukh of the Muslims, who narrated from him and transmitted from him in the horizons.

Al Muwafaq al Makki said: Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, had many students. Among them were those who travelled to him, listened for a period, then returned to their lands after taking his path and way.

Among them were those who stayed with him. The imam, Allah have mercy on him, said: “These are 36 men. 28 of them are fit for the judiciary, 6 are fit for giving fatwa, and 2, Abu Yusuf and Zufar, are fit to train judges and the people of fatwa.” (Al Manaqib, 2/131.)

His Honouring of His Students and His Encouragement of Them to Seek Knowledge

Al Saymari narrated with his chain to the hafiz Sharik al Qadi that he said: Abu Hanifah was long in silence, much in reflection, precise in looking into fiqh, subtle in extraction in knowledge and research. He did not take payment for his teaching.

If the student was poor, he enriched him and provided for him and his dependants until he learned. When he learned, he said to him: “You have reached the greatest richness, knowing what is permissible and what is forbidden.” He had much intellect and little disputing. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki.)

Al Kurdari mentioned in his Manaqib, with his chain to Abu Yusuf, Allah have mercy on him, that he said: I used to seek hadith while having little wealth. My father came to me while I was with the imam and said: “My son, do not stretch your leg with him, for his bread is roasted and you are in need.”

So I stopped much seeking and chose obedience to my parents. The imam asked about me and looked for me, and when he saw me, he said: “What kept you from us?” I said: “Seeking livelihood.”

When the people left and I wanted to leave, he gave me a pouch with 100 dirhams and said: “Spend this. When it finishes, tell me, and stay with the circle.” When a period passed, he gave me another 100, and each time it finished, he gave me without me telling him, as if he was informed about its finishing, until I reached my need in knowledge. May Allah reward him well and forgive him. (Manaqib al Kurdari, 2/122.)

He also mentioned that al Hasan ibn Ziyad was poor, and he used to stay with him, meaning the imam. His father used to say to him: “We have daughters and we do not have a son except you, so take care of them.” When the imam heard, he provided for him and said: “Stay with fiqh, for I have not seen a faqih who is poor.” (Manaqib al Kurdari.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Makki ibn Ibrahim, one of the shuyukh of al Bukhari, that he said: I used to trade, then I came to Abu Hanifah for a visit, and he said to me: “O Makki, I see you trade. Trade without knowledge brings much corruption. Why do you not learn knowledge, and why do you not write?”

He continued with me until I took up knowledge, writing it, and learning it. Allah provided me through it with much. I continue to supplicate for Abu Hanifah at the end of every prayer and whenever I remember him, because through his blessing Allah opened for me the door of knowledge. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 2/161.)

Those Among the Sahabah Whom Abu Hanifah Met, May Allah Be Pleased With Them All

ʿAbd al Hayy al Laknawi said in his beneficial book Iqamat al Hujjah ʿala anna al Ikthar fi al Taʿabbud laysa bi Bidʿah: a note: the ulama differed about whether the imam was a tabiʿi, after agreeing that he lived in the time of the Sahabah.

Some denied it, and a group of trustworthy imams affirmed it. Abu ʿAbd Allah al Dhahabi said in al Kashif about him: al Nuʿman ibn Thabit ibn Zawta, he saw Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, and he heard ʿAtaʾ, al Aʿraj, and ʿIkrimah, and Abu Yusuf and Muhammad narrated from him.

I singled out his biography in a separate work. In Mirʾat al Jinan by al Yafiʿi, in the events of the year 150, he mentioned the death of the faqih of al ʿIraq, Imam Abu Hanifah al Nuʿman ibn Thabit al Kufi, born in the year 80, who saw Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, and narrated from ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah and his level.

He also said shortly after that: he met 4 of the Sahabah: Anas ibn Malik in al Basrah, ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa in al Kufah, Sahl ibn Saʿd al Saʿidi in al Madinah, and Abu al Tufayl ʿAmir ibn Wathilah in Makkah al Mukarramah.

Some of the people of history said he did not meet any of them and did not take from any of them, while his companions say he met a group of the Sahabah and narrated from them. Al Khatib mentioned in Tarikh Baghdad that he saw Anas ibn Malik. (Tarikh Baghdad, 13/309 and 13/310.)

Then he said, after transmitting from Ibn Hajar, al ʿIraqi, al Jazari, Ibn al Jawzi, and others what affirms that he saw some Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them: these trustworthy ulama, al Daraqutni, Ibn Saʿd, al Khatib, al Dhahabi, Ibn Hajar, al Wali al ʿIraqi, al Suyuti, ʿAli al Qari, Akram al Sindi, Abu Maʿshar, Juzʾ al Sahmi, al Yafiʿi, al Jazari, al Turbishti, Ibn al Jawzi, and al Siraj, the author of Kashf al Kashshaf, have stated that Imam Abu Hanifah was a tabiʿi.

Those who denied among them denied his narration from the Sahabah. A group of other recognised muhaddithin and historians also clearly said it. I left their wordings out due to length.

What I transmitted, I transmitted only after I looked through the books mentioned, not by relying on someone else’s transmission. Whoever returns to those books finds the truthfulness of what I transmitted. As for the wordings of our fuqaha in this chapter, they are more than can be counted. End.

Those From Whom Abu Hanifah Narrated Among the Sahabah, May Allah Be Pleased With Them All

Abu Bakr ibn ʿAli ibn Muhammad al Haddad al ʿAyni gathered the names of the 7 Sahabah from whom the imam, Allah have mercy on him, narrated, into 2 lines of poetry, and he said:

“The imam Abu Hanifah narrated from 7 of the best companions of Muhammad ﷺ:
Anas, Wathilah, and Maʿqil, and Jabir,
and the 2 sons of Unays, Juzʾ, and the daughter of ʿAjrad.”

Sharaf al Din Abu al Qasim al Yamani wrote a chapter in Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan clarifying that he met companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and narrated from them, and he said: the agreeing and the opposing, the one who turns away and the one who stays close, all agreed on that, even if they differed about the number.

Some said 6 and a woman, some said 7 and a woman, some said more than that, and some said less.

As for the one who said the first, then his proof is what Imam Abu Yusuf Yaʿqub ibn Ibrahim al Ansari, the companion of Imam Abu Hanifah, Allah have mercy on him, narrated: Abu Hanifah, may Allah be pleased with him, told us: I heard Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, say: the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”

The author said: Ibn Majah narrated this hadith in his Sunan from Anas from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Ibn ʿAbd al Barr narrated it in Jamiʿ Bayan al ʿIlm from Anas from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Al Tabarani narrated it in al Kabir and al Awsat from Ibn Masʿud from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

It was also narrated from Abu Saʿid al Khudri, Ibn ʿAbbas, and al Hasan ibn ʿAli, all from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, that he said: “Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.”

With the chain to Abu Yusuf, he said: Abu Hanifah said: I heard Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “The one who points to good is like the one who does it, and Allah loves relieving the distressed.”

With the chain to him, he said: Abu Hanifah said: “I performed Hajj with my father in the year 96, and I was 16 years old. I saw a shaykh around whom people had gathered. I said to my father: Who is this man? He said: This man accompanied Muhammad ﷺ. He is called ʿAbd Allah ibn al Harith ibn Juzʾ al Zubaydi.

I said: What does he have? He said: Hadith he heard from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. I said: Bring me close to him so I can hear from him. He went forward in front of me, and people made space for me until I came near him.

I heard him say: I heard the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ say: “Whoever gains fiqh in the religion of Allah, Allah suffices him in his worry, and provides for him from where he does not expect.””

With the chain to him from him, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: from Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: A man from the Ansar came to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, I have never been given a child and I have no child.

He said: “Where are you in relation to much seeking forgiveness and much charity? By them you are given a child.” The man increased in charity and increased in seeking forgiveness, so 7 sons were born to him.

With the chain from him, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: I heard ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, may Allah be pleased with him, say:

I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Whoever builds a masjid for Allah, even like the nest place of a sandgrouse, Allah builds for him a house in Paradise.”

With the chain from him, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: I heard Wathilah ibn al Asqaʿ al Ashjaʿi, may Allah be pleased with him, say:

I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Do not show gloating to your brother, then Allah will grant him well being and test you.”

With the chain from him, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: I was born in the year 80. ʿAbd Allah ibn Unays came to al Kufah in the year 94, and I saw him and heard from him when I was 14 years old. He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “Love of a thing blinds and deafens.”

With the chain to him, may Allah be pleased with him, he said: I heard ʿAʾishah bint ʿAjrad say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The greatest army of Allah on earth is locusts. I do not eat it, and I do not declare it forbidden.” (Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan, 8–10.)

Al Qurashi, the author of al Tabaqat, said: more than one person gathered them, meaning the Sahabah from whom the imam narrated, in a separate part. We narrated this part from our shuyukh.

I also gathered a part clarifying the impossibility of that from some of them with a sufficient clarification. This is the path of fairness. I mentioned in this part the one who heard from the Sahabah and the one who only saw them. (Al Jawahir al Mudiʾah fi Tarajim al Hanafiyyah.)

By knowing the dates of death of those noble Sahabah and their locations, the reason becomes clear for the impossibility of that seeing, and therefore that hearing.

As for Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him: al Fallas said about him: he died in the year 78 in al Madinah al Munawwarah, at the age of 74.

As for ʿAbd Allah ibn Abi Awfa: he died in al Kufah in the year 86 or 87. He was the last of the Sahabah to die there. It is not far that the imam saw him and heard from him, especially upon the view that the imam was born in the year 70.

As for Wathilah ibn al Asqaʿ: Ibn Maʿin said: he died in the year 83. It is not far that the imam saw him as well, if his birth year is put earlier.

As for ʿAbd Allah ibn Juzʾ: Ibn Yunus said: he died in the year 86 in Egypt, and he was the last of the Sahabah to die there.

His Distinctive Traits and the Statements of Leading Imams About Him

His Physical Description

He, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, was brown in complexion, with a slight leaning towards lightness. He was of medium height, closer to being tall. He was handsome, imposing in appearance, long in beard, dignified, and careful in his clothing, turban, and footwear.

He spoke well, with a pleasant tone, and clear speech. He used perfume often, and would be recognised by it when he came and when he went.

He was slim, since his fear of Allah Most High, his long vigilance, and his abundant worship left no extra flesh on him, let alone fat.

Al Saymari narrated with his chain to Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), may Allah Most High have mercy on him, who said: Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) was of medium build, neither short nor tall. He was the best of people in speech, the sweetest of them in tone, and the clearest of them in expressing what he meant.

He narrated to Abu Nuʿaym, who said: Abu Hanifah was handsome, with a good face, a good beard, good clothing and footwear, and goodness and support for everyone who came around him. (Abu Nuʿaym is al Fadl ibn Dukayn, and the name Dukayn is ʿAmr ibn Hammad ibn Zuhayr, al Taymi, the freedman of the family of Talhah, Abu Nuʿaym, al Kufi, the one who sold fine cloth, the one eyed. He was a hafiz, a leading figure, narrating from al Aʿmash and Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah and others. From him narrated al Bukhari, Ahmad, Ishaq, and Yahya ibn Maʿin. Ahmad said: “Trustworthy, alert, knowledgeable in hadith.” He died in the year 219 AH.)

… And ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak said: He had good conduct, a good face, and good clothing. We were in the congregational masjid when a snake fell, and it fell into the lap of Abu Hanifah. People fled, except him. I did not see him do more than shake the snake off, and remain seated.

Hammad (d. 176 AH), his son, said: Abu Hanifah was tall, with a brown complexion. He dressed well, with a good face, a good appearance, and much perfume. He would be recognised by the scent of perfume when he approached and when he left his home, before he was seen. (See Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan, folio 27–29.)

He, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, dressed well, wearing expensive, good clothing. He displayed Allah’s blessing upon him through that, honoured the knowledge he was connected to, and raised himself above showing need and dependence upon anyone. Al Ahwas narrated from his father, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:

I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while I was wearing a worn garment, and he said to me: “Do you have wealth?”

I said: Yes.

He said: “From what kind of wealth?”

I said: From every kind of wealth. Allah has given me camels, cattle, sheep, horses, and servants. He said: “When Allah gives you wealth, let the trace of Allah’s blessing and honour be seen on you.” (Narrated by al Nasaʾi.)

Al Nadr ibn Muhammad said: Abu Hanifah had a handsome face, fine clothing, and perfume. I came to him for a need.

I prayed Fajr with him while I was wearing a cloak, then he ordered that his mule be saddled, and he said: Give me your cloak and take my cloak. I did that.

When he returned, he said to me: O Nadr, your cloak embarrassed me. I said: What did you find wrong with it? He said: It is coarse. Al Nadr said: I had bought it for five dinars and I was pleased with it. Then I saw it later on him, and I valued it at thirty dinars.

From Abu Mutiʿ, he said: I saw Abu Hanifah on a Friday wearing a mantle and a shirt, and I valued them at four hundred dirhams.

He, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, sometimes wore wool. Abu Hind al Warraq said: I saw Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) wearing wool clothing. (See Abu Hanifah by alʿAfifi, 75–76.)

His General Character

Character is usually from the fruits of faith. It shows what fills a person’s heart of faith, taqwa, and righteousness.

The stronger faith becomes, and the more it takes control of the heart, settles in it, and fills it with its light, the more a person’s character rises, widens, and spreads across the parts of life. Every vessel pours out what is inside it.

Abu Hanifah, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, was from the best three generations that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ testified to as goodness.

He was from the tabiʿin. He saw six or seven of the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them, took knowledge from ninety three of the tabiʿin, benefited in knowledge from four thousand shaykhs, and was approved and trusted.

So it is not surprising that his character is the character of the best of the righteous Salaf, with Allah Most High, with himself, and with people.

Al Dhahabi mentioned with his chain to Mujalid, who said: I was with al Rashid (d. 193 AH) when Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH) entered. Harun said to him: Describe to me the character of Abu Hanifah.

He said: By Allah, he strongly defended the sanctities of Allah, kept away from the people of the dunya, was long in silence, constant in reflection, not talkative, and not one who spoke a lot. If he was asked about a matter he had knowledge of, he answered.

I did not know him, O Commander of the Faithful, except as one who guarded himself and his religion, occupied with himself from people, and he did not mention anyone except with good. Al Rashid said: These are the character traits of the righteous. (This is the book of Imam al Dhahabi on the virtues of Abu Hanifah, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad. It was printed with verification by Abu al Wafaʾ al Afghani, and printed in Egypt.)

I see that I should draw out a limited set of scenes from what is mentioned about his great character. Through these scenes, his character becomes clear, and his moral portrait becomes apparent.

I will divide this representative portrait into: first, character in conduct with Allah Most High, from worship of Allah Most High, fear of Allah Most High, and waraʿ. Second, character in conduct with people, from generosity and spending, sincerity for people and righteousness towards them, and patience and forbearance with them.

His Character in His Conduct With Allah Most High

His Worship

Al Muwafaq al Makki narrated with his chain to Hafs ibn ʿAbd al Rahman, who said: Abu Hanifah used to memorise the Qur’an and complete it thirty times in a month. He also narrated with his chain to him that he said: I was a companion of Abu Hanifah for thirty years. He used to complete the Qur’an in three days and their nights, and he would give charity every day.

Al Muwafaq combined the two reports and said: completing the Qur’an in a single day was earlier, then when he became occupied with foundations and extracting issues, and companions gathered with him, he began completing it in three.

Al Muwafaq also narrated with his chain to Bukayr ibn Maʿruf, who said: I was close to Abu Hanifah in travel and at home. I used to witness his nights in his home. It was rare that anything of his affairs was hidden from me.

I did not see anyone who strove more than him. Fasting by day, standing by night, reciting Allah’s clear speech in humility, constant in obedience to Allah, seeking reward in teaching, and in clarifying meanings that are difficult for people. I cannot describe the reality of his state. May Allah have mercy on him with vast mercy.

With his chain to his son Hammad (d. 176 AH), may Allah Most High have mercy on them both, he said: They counted for Abu Hanifah many years in which he prayed Fajr with the ablution of the night.

With his chain to Muhammad ibn al Hasan, he said: Abu Hanifahprayed for thirty years, praying Fajr with the ablution of ʿIsha.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to the imam of the people of Balkh, Salim ibn Salim, in Makkah al Mukarramah, after some speech: I was told by one I trust from the people of Makkah, the one with whom Abu Hanifah used to stay when he came to Makkah, that he stayed with me on one visit for six months. He did not lay his side down, and he did not sleep. I did not see him except in prayer or in tawaf.

A devout man, Masʿar ibn Kidam (d. 155 AH), passed by Abu Hanifah and his companions and found their voices raised. He stood for a while, then said: These people are better than the martyrs, the worshippers, and those who pray at night.

These people strive to revive the Sunnah of Muhammad ﷺ, and they strive to bring the ignorant out of their ignorance.

These people are the best of people. Then he came close to the circle and said to his companions: O people, be gentle with the shaykh, for despite what he is in, he has revived ten nights in a row. I witnessed the night that has just passed from them.

Al Muwafaq also narrated with his chain to Yahya ibn Adam, who said: Abu Hanifah performed Hajj fifty five times. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, volume two, in scattered places.)

This is Imam Abu Hanifah, the worshipper devoted to Allah Most High. He recited the Noble Qur’an and made it his constant practice and his companion. At times he recited it in a single rakʿah, at times he recited it in a single night, and at times in three. He stood in the night for Allah Most High, fearful and trembling.

He concealed that so people would not see him. He fasted many days, and fasting has no equal, as he said. He performed Hajj every year since he performed Hajj with his father, the Hajj of Islam. He gave charity every day.

So it is not surprising that the tongues of the ulama spoke in his praise and approval.

Al Fadl ibn Suwayd, who came to al Kufah and was later asked about Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH), said: We kept company with him much, and we did not know him except as a fasting man and a man who stood in the night.

Abu Muqatil said: I kept company with Abu Hanifah for a long companionship, at home and in his travels. I did not see anyone with more prayer than him, nor more devoted, nor more waraʿ, and as for fiqh, I did not see anyone ahead of him.

ʿAtaʾ ibn Jablah said: I did not see anyone among the ulama disagreeing that Abu Hanifah was the most understanding of the people, the most waraʿ of the people, and the one with the most prayer and worship.

This is the imam who made his night for worship and his day for knowledge and giving benefit. When did he sleep.

Masʿar ibn Kidam (d. 155 AH) said: I saw him, meaning the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, pray Fajr, then sit for knowledge until he prayed Zuhr. Then he sat until ʿAsr, then until near Maghrib, then until ʿIsha. I said to myself: When does he become free for worship.

I decided to watch him. When people became quiet, he went out to the masjid, and his home was next to the masjid in which he led, seeking reward from Allah Most High. He came out in a state of purity and stood in prayer until Fajr, then entered and wore his clothing. He had special clothing he wore for standing in the night.

He went out for Fajr and did as he did. I watched him on this state. I did not see him break his fast, and I did not see him sleeping at night. He used to take a light rest before Zuhr. One night he recited until he reached the saying of Allah Most High:

فمن الله علينا ووقانا عذاب السموم

So Allah has graced us and protected us from the torment of ˹Hell’s˺ scorching heat. (At Tur 27)

Then he kept repeating it until the call for Fajr was made. Then he repeated the saying of Allah Most High:

بل الساعة موعدهم والساعة أدهي وأمر

Better yet, the Hour is their appointed time—and the Hour will be most catastrophic and most bitter. (Al Qamar 46)

for a full night in prayer. The mother of his child said: He never placed his head on a mattress at night since I knew him. His sleep was between Zuhr and ʿAsr in summer, and at the beginning of the night in his masjid in winter. (Muqaddimah Isharat al Maram min ʿIbarat al Imam by Kamal al Din Ahmad al Bayadi, from the work of ʿAbd al Razzaq al Mashhadi, page 15. Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan is the hafiz, the proof, one of the leading imams of criticism and praise. Ahmad said: “My eyes did not see anyone like him.” Al Khulasah, page 423.)

Then he, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, said, explaining the two verses:

For the first verse: “So Allah favoured us and protected us from the punishment of the scorching wind.” (al Tur: 27)

For the second verse: “Rather, the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour is more terrible and more bitter.” (al Qamar: 46)

His Fear of Allah Most High

Al Kurdari narrated with his chain to Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan, who said: We sat with Abu Hanifah and we heard from him. By Allah, whenever I looked at him I knew from his face that he feared Allah Most High.

He narrated with his chain to Ibn al Mubarak, who said: I entered al Kufah and I asked about the most understanding of its people, and I was told:

Abu Hanifah. I asked about the one with the most zuhd among its people, and I was told: Abu Hanifah. I asked about the one with the most waraʿ among its people, and I was told: Abu Hanifah. (Manaqib al Kurdari, 1/191.)

Masʿud ibn Shaybah narrated with his chain to al Hasan ibn Salih, who said: Abu Hanifah was extremely waraʿ, kept away from what is forbidden, and left much that is permissible out of fear of doubtful matters.

I did not see any faqih more protective than him of himself and his knowledge. His provision was prepared for his grave. (Kitab Muqaddimat al Taʿlim, manuscript.)

He narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak, who said, while mentioning Abu Hanifah: They cannot say anything about a man to whom the dunya was presented fully, and he threw it behind his back. He was struck with whips, and he was told: Take the dunya. He endured ease and hardship, and he did not enter into what others were seeking and longing for. By Allah, he was unlike those we met, who sought the dunya while the dunya fled from them, while the dunya came to him and he fled from it.

He narrated with his chain to Muhammad ibn al Hasan, who said: Abu Hanifah was the unique man of his time. If the earth were split for him, it would split to reveal a mountain from the mountains in knowledge, generosity, support for people, waraʿ, and preferring Allah Most High, along with fiqh and knowledge. (The previous source.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who said: Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) was mentioned to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and he said: May Allah have mercy on him. He was a man of waraʿ. He was struck with twenty one lashes because of the judiciary, and he refused. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 2/148.)

Incidents

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Masʿar ibn Kidam (d. 155 AH), who said: I was walking with Abu Hanifah, and he stepped on a child, the child of a man, without seeing him. The child said to Abu Hanifah: O shaykh, do you not fear retaliation on the Day of Resurrection. Abu Hanifah fainted. I stayed with him until he regained consciousness. I said: O Abu Hanifah, how strongly your heart was seized by the words of this child. He said: I fear that he was prompted.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Ibn al Mubarak, who said: I said to Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 AH): How far Abu Hanifah is from backbiting. I never heard him backbite even an enemy of his. He said: By Allah, he is more intelligent than to give his good deeds authority over him, so they take them away. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 1/190.)

He narrated with his chain to ʿAbd al Razzaq, who said: Whenever I saw Abu Hanifah , I saw the traces of weeping in his eyes and on his cheeks. (The previous source, 1/214.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Dirar ibn Surad, who said: I heard Yazid ibn al Kumayt, and he was among the best of people, say: Abu Hanifah feared Allah Most High intensely. ʿAli ibn al Hasan, the caller to prayer, recited for us one night, after ʿIsha, “When the earth is shaken…” while Abu Hanifahwas behind him. When we finished the prayer and people left, I looked and saw Abu Hanifah seated, reflecting, and breathing deeply. I said: I should stand up so his heart is not occupied by me. When I left, I left the lamp, and it had only a little oil in it.

Then I came back after Fajr had come, and he was standing, holding his beard and saying: O One who repays the weight of a speck of dust of good with good, and O One who repays the weight of a speck of dust of evil with evil, protect al Nuʿman, Your servant, from the Fire, and from evil that draws near to it, and enter him into the vastness of Your mercy.

He said: I gave the call to prayer, and the lamp was still shining while he stood. When I entered, he said to me: Do you want to take the lamp.

I said: The call for Fajr has been given. He said: Conceal what you saw. Then he prayed the two rakʿahs of Fajr and sat until I established the prayer, and he prayed Fajr with us with the ablution of the first part of the night. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/238.)

What can be said about a man whose provision is prepared for his grave. He stands through the whole night in prayer, weeping, and supplication. He did not rest his head on a mattress at night for forty years. He fasted for thirty years, as al Hasan ibn ʿUmarah said to the one who prayed over his funeral. What can be said about an imam who is reminded of Allah Most High and becomes so afraid that he faints. So it is not surprising that the ulama mention him with good, and that people remember Allah Most High when they see him, because of what they see of signs of fear of Allah Most High and dread of Him.

His Waraʿ and Zuhd

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to al Fayd ibn Muhammad al Riqqi, who said: I met Abu Hanifah in Baghdad while I was going to al Kufah. He said to me: Meet Hammad, my son, and tell him: You know that my provision in a month is two dirhams of parched flour, and I have held it back, so send it quickly. Al Muwafaq said: Perhaps this was in the days he was held in Baghdad because of the judiciary. He would not eat from the food of the khalifah, out of his true waraʿ. Rather, he would ask for parched flour from al Kufah and be content with it. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 1/198.)

Incidents

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Hafs ibn ʿAbd al Rahman, the trading partner of Abu Hanifah. Abu Hanifah would equip him with goods. He sent goods with him in a group and informed him that such and such a garment had such and such a defect, so if he sold it, he must make it clear. Hafs sold the goods and forgot to make it clear, and he did not know the buyer. When Abu Hanifah found out, he gave in charity all the goods. Their price was thirty thousand. (This incident was mentioned by Abu al Wafaʾ in the introduction to Sharh Kitab al Athar by Imam Muhammad, 1/60.)

He narrated with his chain to al Humayri, from his father, who said: When al Mansur (d. 158 AH) brought Abu Hanifah from al Kufah to Baghdad, I went with him. We entered Baghdad and arrived at the palace. Al Mansur called for him, and he came out to me with a shining colour.

I asked him about that, and he said: A lodging, a lodging. I went with him, and he said:

This man called me to the judiciary, so I told him I am not fit, and I know that evidence is upon the claimant and an oath is upon the one who denies. Yet the judiciary is only fit for a man who has a self by which he can pass judgement upon you, your children, and your commanders. I do not have that self. You call me, and my self does not return to me until I leave you.

He said: Then why do you not accept my gift. I said: The Commander of the Faithful has not given me anything of his own wealth that I rejected.

If he gave me from that, I would accept it. Rather, the Commander of the Faithful has offered to give me from the public treasury of the Muslims, and I have no right in their public treasury. I am not among those who fight behind them, so I take what the fighter takes. I am not among their children, so I take what the child takes.

I am not among their poor, so I take what the poor take. He said: Then stay, and judges will come to you in what they may need from you. (See the introduction of al Afghani to Sharh al Athar, 1/25.)

It is established that the imam did not accept being the reference for judges and their head. Rather, he preferred safety from that, despite knowing what this refusal would bring upon him, and it did.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to him, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, that he said: I have not possessed more than four thousand dirhams for more than forty years except that I gave it out. I only kept it because of the saying of ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him: four thousand dirhams and what is below it is provision. If I did not fear that I would have to go to these people, I would not leave a single dirham of it.

Mansur ibn Shaybah said: from his merits, may Allah be pleased with him, is that his father Thabit died and left him two hundred thousand dirhams, besides properties. He spent it in seeking knowledge and on students of knowledge, until his provision in a month became two dirhams. (Muqaddimat al Taʿlim, manuscript.)

He narrated with his chain to Sahl ibn Muzahim, who said: We used to enter upon Abu Hanifahand we did not see in his home anything except reed mats.

How great this man is. He kept away, out of waraʿ, from the food of the Commander of the Faithful, while he was held by him without right. He gave in charity wealth that was permissible, when forbidden wealth became mixed into it without his knowledge, even if it reached thirty thousand.

He refused, with honour, to accept the gift of the ruler when he saw that he was only giving from the wealth of the community, and its spending paths are known.

Despite what Allah willed, he would follow the way of the people of good even in earning wealth. He had a large trade, and he had rental property here and there, yet he would not increase his wealth beyond four thousand dirhams. He considered that amount provision for himself and his family.

If he did not fear that he would need to seek help, even from the Commander of the Faithful while he was in that state, taking only his right, he would not leave any wealth for himself. He would spend it, like this and like that, in the path of Allah.

This great character is what made the tongues of his leading contemporaries speak in praise and approval of him.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to ʿAsim ibn ʿAli, who said: I heard Qays ibn al Rabiʿ say: Abu Hanifah was a man of waraʿ, and he was envied. He had much righteousness and connection, and he was good to everyone who turned to him, with many favours upon his brothers.

He narrated with his chain to Yazid ibn Harun (d. 206 AH), who said: I wrote from one thousand shaykhs. I carried knowledge from them. By Allah, I did not see anyone with stronger waraʿ than Abu Hanifah, and no one who guarded his tongue more than him.

He narrated with his chain to Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, who said: In the time of Abu Hanifah, there was no one better than him, and no one with more waraʿ, and no one more understanding than him. (Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah is one of the shuyukh of al Shafiʿi. Al Shafiʿi said about him: “If not for Malik and Ibn ʿUyaynah, the knowledge of al Hijaz would have gone.” See Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/60–61.)

Hafs ibn ʿAbd al Rahman said: I sat with types of people: ulama, fuqaha, people of zuhd, people of devotion, and people of waraʿ. I did not see anyone among them who gathered these traits more than Abu Hanifah.

He also said, and it has passed that he was his partner in trade: In the long time I kept company with Abu Hanifah and mixed with him, I did not see him show outwardly something different from what he kept inwardly. I did not see anyone avoid what had no real danger like he avoided it. If a doubtful matter entered upon him from anything, he would remove it from his heart, even with all his wealth. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/62.)

Al Nadr ibn Muhammad said: I did not see anyone with stronger waraʿ than Abu Hanifah. He did not do joking, he did not speak with it, and I did not see him laughing fully. Rather, he used to smile. (The previous source, 1/63.)

His Character in His Conduct With People

His Generosity and Spending

Imam al Halabi, Ahmad al ʿAskari, and al Saymari mentioned, from Masʿar, that Abu Hanifah, when he bought something for his family, or when the earliest fruit of the season reached him, would buy for the shuyukh of the muhaddithin something better than what he bought for his family and himself.

He would spend on them more than he spent on his family. He was also easy in buying and selling and in dealings.

Al ʿAskari mentioned with his chain from Sharik ibn ʿAbd Allah that Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) was much in reflection, precise in looking, subtle in extracting in knowledge, work, research, and patience with the learner. If the learner was poor, he enriched him and provided for him and his dependants.

When he learned, he said to him: You have reached the greatest richness through knowing what is permissible and what is forbidden. He had much intellect and little disputing with people.

Al Hafiz al Salami mentioned with his chain: Abu Hanifah used to distribute goods for trade, gather the profits over the year, buy with them the needs of the muhaddithin, then give the remaining dirhams to them, and say to the poor: Praise Allah Most High, for it is from His wealth that He gave it to you.

These are the profits of your trade goods. Allah Most High causes it to come to you through my hand.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Ismaʿil ibn Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah, who said: When my father, Hammad (d. 176 AH), became skilled in reciting al Fatiha, Abu Hanifah gave the teacher five hundred dirhams.

The imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, was a true believer and a true scholar. From the traits of the believer is generosity and spending. From the traits of the scholar who has taqwa is generosity and spending as well. So it is not surprising that the noble ulama praised the generosity and spending of the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Hafs ibn Hamzah al Qurashi, who said: A man might pass by Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) and sit with him without intending close company. When the man stood to leave, Abu Hanifah would ask about him.

If he had need, Abu Hanifah would connect him. If he became ill, Abu Hanifah would visit him until he drew him into ongoing connection. He was the most generous of people in companionship. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/257.)

Al Kurdari narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn al Dusi, who said: The imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, used to instruct Hammad, his son (d. 176 AH), to buy for him each day, with ten dirhams, bread, and give it in charity to his poor neighbours and to everyone who came to the door.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Abu Israʾil, who said: Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) was generous.

He supported his companions and treated them well on the festive days. He sent to each of them according to his rank, he married off whoever needed it, he spent from his own wealth, and he took care of their needs. He was a man of waraʿ and zuhd, fasting, reciting the Book of Allah Most High, knowing what is in it, and reaching the limit in fiqh. No one like him was heard of in his field.

From Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), he said: I did not see anyone more generous than Abu Hanifah. I used to say to him: I did not see anyone more generous than you. He would say: How would it be if you had seen Hammad. Abu Yusuf said: Abu Hanifah supported me and my dependants for ten years. I did not see anyone who gathered praised traits like him.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to al Hasan ibn Sulayman, who said: He was generous, and I did not see anyone like him. He set a fixed amount each month for his companions, and along with that he supported them on most days. (Muqaddimah Sharh al Athar by al Afghani, transmitted from Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/28–29, and 1/259.)

The clearest sign of generosity and spending is spending itself, especially constant spending, upon one from whom the giver expects no repayment and no status, because he is a concealed poor person. This was the spending of the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.

Many generous people slip by taking gifts from the ruler, or taking support from the state, or reaching wealth through routes that have doubtful matters, then supporting people with that wealth.

Allah Most High made the imam firm in this field. He did not accept a gift from any ruler, he did not eat his food, and he did not take anything from state wealth. He was the most restrained of people in his trade.

He refused the dunya when it came to him in the form of being head of judges and closeness to the Commander of the Faithful, and what that would bring of gifts and support.

His Sincerity for People and His Righteousness Towards Them

Sincerity is wanting good for others.

The life of the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, was all sincerity and wanting good for the general people and the specific people. Scenes have already passed of his righteousness towards his poor students and how he supported them with spending for years.

It has passed what he used to do to honour his shuyukh and the muhaddithin among them, and how he asked them to thank Allah Most High because Allah’s provision reached them through his hands.

It has passed how all his gatherings were gatherings of worship, knowledge, and mutual study. He did not mention anyone with evil, and he did not intend harm to anyone, even in response to words said about him.

So it is not surprising that the best of the ulama praised the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, for his sincerity and wanting good for people, and described him with rare traits of goodness and righteousness. This is the bounty of Allah. He gives it to whom He wills.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Zufar ibn al Hudhayl (d. 158 AH), may Allah Most High have mercy on him, who said: I sat with Abu Hanifah for more than twenty years. I did not see anyone more sincere for people than him, and no one more compassionate towards them than him. He humbled himself for Allah Most High.

As for most of the day, he was occupied with knowledge, issues, and teaching them, and with what came of events and their answers.

When he stood from the gathering, he would visit a sick person, attend a funeral, support a poor person, maintain family ties, or fulfil a need. When night came, he was alone for worship, prayer, and recitation of the Qur’an. This was his path until he died, may Allah Most High have mercy on him. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/152.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Bukayr ibn Maʿruf, who said: I did not see anyone with a better life practice in the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ than Abu Hanifah. He said: I said to Abu Hanifah: People speak about you, and you do not speak about anyone. He said: It is the bounty of Allah. He gives it to whom He wills. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/155.)

He narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak, who said: Abu Hanifah was mentioned in the presence of Dawud al Taʾi, and he said:

That is a star by which the traveller is guided, and knowledge that the hearts of the believers accept.

Every scholar whose knowledge does not teach, in the sense that he acts upon it, is a burden upon its carrier. By Allah, he is the most knowing of what is permissible and what is forbidden, and the path to safety from the punishment of the Compeller, along with hidden waraʿ and constant service. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 2/63.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Yahya ibn Adam, who said: Abu Hanifah strove in fiqh with a striving no one before him reached. Allah guided him to his path and made his way easy. The elite and the general benefited from his knowledge. (See Sharh al Athar by al Afghani, 1/52.)

He narrated with his chain to Ibrahim ibn Rustam, who said: I heard Kharijah say: I met one thousand scholars or more, and not one of them resembled Abu Hanifah in insight, knowledge, and intellect. What a fine steward of knowledge he was for the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.

He narrated with his chain to Saʿdan ibn Saʿid, who said: Abu Hanifah was the physician of this ummah, because ignorance is the illness after which there is no greater illness, and knowledge is the medicine after which there is no greater medicine. Abu Hanifah explained this knowledge with a sufficient explanation that removed ignorance.

He narrated with his chain to Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah (d. 197 AH), who said: A man came to Abu Hanifah with a letter of recommendation so that he would narrate to him.

Abu Hanifah said: This is not how knowledge is sought. Allah has taken a covenant upon the ulama that they clarify it and do not conceal it. The scholar should not have special people and common people. Rather, he teaches people and wants Allah through his teaching.

He narrated with his chain to ʿAsim al Nabil, who said: I hope that each day the deed of a truthful man is raised for Abu Hanifah . I said: Why. He said: Because of how people benefit from him and his sayings. (Sharh al Athar by al Afghani, in scattered places.)

His Patience and Forbearance

Patience is holding the self upon what it dislikes. How often the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, held his self upon what it disliked in order to deliver knowledge and guidance to people.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Wakiʿ, the shaykh of al Shafiʿi and al Bukhari, may Allah Most High have mercy on them, who said: I was with Zufar. Sufyan and Abu Hanifah were mentioned. Zufar said:

When Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) spoke about what is permissible and what is forbidden, the self of Sufyan became eager. Who was more noble than Abu Hanifah. His waraʿ and leaving backbiting was something creation could not carry.

He was a burden bearer, patient, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.

Al Dhahabi narrated in his booklet on the imam, with his chain to ʿAbd al Razzaq, who said: I did not see anyone more forbearing than Abu Hanifah. We were seated with him in Masjid al Khayf. A man asked him about an issue and he gave him a fatwa. The man said: Al Hasan al Basri said such and such.

Abu Hanifah said: Al Hasan made a mistake. Then a man came with a red face and said: O son of a fornicator, you say al Hasan made a mistake. People moved to strike him. Abu Hanifah said: I say al Hasan made a mistake, and Ibn Masʿud was correct.

Muhammad ibn Sulaym narrated from Wakiʿ: Yazid ibn Kumayt narrated to us, who said: I heard Abu Hanifah while a man insulted him and spoke excessively against him, and said to him: O disbeliever, O heretic. Abu Hanifah said: May Allah forgive you. He knows about me the opposite of what you say.

ʿAbd al Hamid al Himmani said: I was with Abu Hanifa when a man came and said: I heard Sufyan attacking you and speaking about you. Abu Hanifah said: May Allah forgive us and forgive Sufyan.

If Sufyan had been absent in the time of Ibrahim al Nakhaʿi, the Muslims would have suffered his absence.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Muhammad ibn Kharijah al Sayrafi, from the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, that he said: Ibn Abi Layla made permissible against me what I would not have made permissible against a cat and a donkey. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 2/13.)

His Dutifulness to His Parents

In what I have seen of the biography of the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, I have not found much mention of his father, his life, his public prayers, or the year of his death. Everything I found is that he was a cloth merchant and righteous, and that when his son, the imam, reached sixteen years of age, he took him to Hajj and to visit the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

When the imam saw a man narrating in the masjid of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he asked his father about him, and his father told him that he was a noble Companion, then he brought him near until he heard him narrate the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “Whoever gains fiqh in the religion of Allah, Allah suffices him in his worry, and provides for him from where he does not expect.”

It appears he died after that by a short time, before the mention of his son became great in speculative theology, then before he attached himself to his shaykh, Imam Hammad, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.

From his dutifulness to his parents is that he used to supplicate and seek forgiveness for them along with his shaykh Hammad, and he used to give charity each month with twenty dinars on behalf of his parents.

As for his dutifulness to his mother, who lived after his father for a time, here are examples of it.

Al Kurdari narrated with his chain to Hajar ibn ʿAbd al Jabbar al Hadrami, who said: The imam said: In our masjid there was a storyteller called Zurʿah. My mother wanted to ask for a fatwa. She asked me, so I answered.

She said: I am not content except with the answer of Zurʿah. So I brought her to him and said: My mother asks you about such and such. He answered with what I said, so she was content.

Al Daylami mentioned with his chain to Muhammad ibn al Hasan, that the mother of the imam saw blood, so she instructed the imam to ask about it from ʿAmr ibn Dharr. He asked him, and he said: Tell me the answer and I will say it, and you will narrate from me. He did that, and his mother was content.

Al Kurdari mentioned with his chain to Yahya ibn ʿAbd al Hamid: The imam used to be taken out of prison every day so that he would be struck, to force him to enter the judiciary, and he refused.

When his head was struck and that left a mark on his face, he wept. It was said to him about that, and he said: When my mother sees it, she weeps and grieves, and nothing is heavier upon me than my mother’s grief.

Al Saymari narrated with his chain to al Hasan, who said: I heard the imam say: Nothing is heavier upon me than my mother’s grief when I was struck. She said to me: O Nuʿman, knowledge that brings you to this is surely something that you should flee from. I said: I only learned knowledge for Allah, not for the dunya. (See Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 2/6.)

It appears that the mother of the imam died after him. May Allah have mercy on the imam and his parents and be pleased with them.

Allah’s Great Favour Upon the Imam

The faqih and muhaddith Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Salihi al Dimashqi al Misri al Shafiʿi, the student of Imam al Suyuti, may Allah Most High have mercy on them both, made in his book ʿUqud al Juman fi Manaqib al Imam al Aʿzam Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman a separate section in which he mentioned Allah Most High’s favour upon Imam Abu Hanifah. I transmit it in an abridged form, limiting it to what is necessary.

He, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, said: The ninth section, on some of his unique traits by which he was distinguished from other imams, may Allah be pleased with them all, and they are eleven types.

The first: he was born in the time of a group of the Sahabah, and there is no disagreement about that. So he is from the generation that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ testified to as goodness, and he described them as upright.

The two shaykhs, al Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah narrated from Ibn Masʿud. Muslim narrated from Abu Hurayrah. The two shaykhs, Abu Dawud, al Tirmidhi, and al Nasaʾi narrated from ʿImran ibn Husayn. Al Tabarani and Abu Yaʿla narrated from Abu Barzah, and others, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The best generations are my generation, then those after them, then those after them.”

The second: he saw some of the Sahabah and heard from them. Al Hafiz Abu al Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Khalil narrated in his Seven Narrations from Anas.

Al Khatib narrated from ʿAli. ʿAbd ibn Humayd and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated with an authentic chain from Abu Saʿid. Abu Yaʿla, Ibn Abi ʿAsim, al Tabarani, and al Diyaʾ, in his Sahih, narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn Busr and others, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Glad tidings to the one who saw me, and to the one who saw the one who saw me, and to the one who saw the one who saw the one who saw me.”

The third: he made ijtihad and gave fatwa in the time of the tabiʿin, may Allah Most High have mercy on them. Imam Abu Muhammad al Harithi said: al Husayn ibn Maʿruf told us, who said:

Abu Bakr told us, who said: Yahya ibn Maʿin told us, who said: I heard Ibn Mushir say: al Aʿmash went out for Hajj and the people of al Kufah escorted him. W

hen he reached al Qadisiyyah, they saw him troubled, and they asked him about that.

He said: Did ʿAli ibn Mushir escort us. They said: Yes.

He said: Then call him to me.

They called me, and they knew me by my sitting with Imam Abu Hanifah. He said to me: Return to the town, meaning al Kufah, and ask Abu Hanifah to write the rites for me. So I returned and asked him, and he dictated to me, then I brought it to al Aʿmash.

Abu Muhammad and Abu al Qasim ibn Kas narrated from Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbbas, who said:

I heard Imam Abu Hanifah say: I accompanied al Shaʿbi on a ship and he said: There is no vow in disobedience, and there is no expiation for it.

I said to him: Rather, there is expiation for it, because Allah Most High has made expiation in zihar after mentioning that it is disobedience. Then: “And indeed they say a hateful statement and a lie.” Yet Allah obligated expiation in it. He could not answer, except that he said: Are you using analogy.

It was narrated that al Aʿmash said: Abu Hanifah has good understanding of the precise places of fiqh, and the hidden depths of knowledge. It was narrated from Jarir that he said:

I heard al Aʿmash when a man came to him and asked him about an issue, and he said: Go to the people of that circle. When an issue happens to them, they keep turning it over among themselves until they reach what is correct. He meant the circle of Imam Abu Hanifah.

So what we mentioned establishes that Imam Abu Hanifah, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, was advanced in giving fatwa and respected in the time of the tabiʿin, may Allah Most High have mercy on them.

The fourth: the major imams narrated from him. Abu Muhammad al Harithi said: If there was no proof of the merit of Imam Abu Hanifah except that the major imams narrated from him, such as ʿAmr ibn Dinar and others whom I mentioned in the fifth chapter, that would be enough.

The fifth: he took from four thousand shaykhs from the tabiʿin and others. Al Khatib and Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn Khusraw narrated from al Rabiʿ ibn Yunus, who said: Abu Hanifah entered upon Abu Jaʿfar al Mansur (d. 158 AH), and with him was ʿIsa ibn Musa. Al Mansur said: O Commander of the Faithful, this is the most knowledgeable of the people of the universe today.

Al Mansur said: O Nuʿman, from whom did you take knowledge.

He said: From the companions of ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, from him, and from the companions of ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, from him, and from the companions of ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, may Allah be pleased with him, from him, and there was no one on the face of the earth in the time of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas more knowledgeable than him. Al Mansur said to him: Well done, well done. You have secured for yourself what you wished.

The sixth: that he was granted companions such as no other imam was granted. Their names have been listed in the sixth chapter. (those he mentioned in the sixth chapter, briefly and with limitation, are: the chief judge Abu Yusuf Yaʿqub ibn Ibrahim, Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Shaybani, al Hasan ibn Ziyad al Luʾluʾi, Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah, ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak, Dawud ibn Nasr al Taʾi, Hafs ibn Ghiyath, Muhammad ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah, Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah, Khalid al Samti, ʿAfiyah ibn Zayd al ʿAwfi, Hibban and Mandal, the two sons of ʿAli, ʿAli ibn Mushir, and al Qasim ibn Maʿn.)

Al Khatib narrated from Ibn Karamah, who said: I was with Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah (d. 197 AH) one day, and a man said: “Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) made a mistake.” Wakiʿ said: “How could he be able to make a mistake, when he has with him the like of Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), Zufar (d. 158 AH), and Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH) in their analogy and their independent reasoning, and the like of ʿIsa ibn Zakariyya ibn Abi Zaʾidah, Hafs ibn Ghiyath, Hibban, and Mandal, the two sons of ʿAli, in their memorisation of hadith and their knowledge, and the like of al Qasim ibn Maʿn ibn ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, in his knowledge of the Arabic language, and Dawud ibn Nasr al Taʾi and al Fudayl ibn ʿIyad in their zuhd and their waraʿ. Whoever has companions and close sitters like these would not make a mistake, because if he made a mistake they would return him to the truth.” Then Wakiʿ said:

كالأنعام بل هم أضل سبيلا

“They are like cattle. Rather, they are more astray in way.” (Al Furqan 44)

Al Farazdaq (d. 110 AH) said:

“Those are my forefathers, so bring me their like, if gatherings bring us together, O Jarir, in assemblies.”

The seventh: he was the first to write down the knowledge of jurisprudence and arrange it into chapters, then Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH) followed him in arranging al Muwattaʾ. No one preceded Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH), because the Companions and the Successors only relied on the strength of their memorisation.

When Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) saw knowledge spreading, he feared for it, so he made it into structured chapters and arranged books.

He began with purification, then prayer, then fasting, then the rest of the acts of worship, then transactions, then he concluded with inheritance, because it is the last state of people. He was the first to compile a book on inheritance, and the first to compile a book on legal conditions.

Al Qadi Abu ʿAbd Allah al Saymari narrated from Abu Sulayman al Jawzajani, who said: Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah, the judge of al Basrah, said to me: We are more knowledgeable about legal conditions than the people of al Kufah. I said to him: Fairness with the ulama is better.

This was only compiled by Abu Hanifah, and you have added and removed, and refined the wording. Bring your legal conditions, and the legal conditions of the people of al Kufah before Abu Hanifah.

He was silent, then he said: Submission to the truth is better than arguing for falsehood. It is as al Muthanna said:

“An imam, in whose chest knowledge is anchored in its deepest reality, while the mountains of the earth beside it become insignificant.”

The eighth: the spread of his madhhab in regions where none other was present, such as India, al Sind, al Rum, the lands beyond the river, most of the lands of the non Arabs, and other than that.

The ninth: he used to eat and spend upon the people of knowledge from his own earnings, and he did not accept gifts.

The tenth: he died oppressed, imprisoned, in prostration.

The eleventh: what is well known and widely transmitted about the abundance of his worship and his zuhd, and the frequency of his Hajj and his ʿUmrah, may Allah be pleased with him.

Statements of Leading Imams About Him

During the discussion of the imam’s character, may Allah Most High have mercy on him, some statements of leading imams praising Abu Hanifah have already been mentioned, in worship, in fear of Allah Most High and waraʿ, in his intense concern that Allah Most High be obeyed and not disobeyed, in his generosity and spending, and his righteousness towards shaykhs, ulama, students, and the general people, in his chastity and his zuhd regarding the wealth of rulers, their gifts, and their stipends, rather even their food, and in his truthfulness and sincerity with Allah, Lord of the universes.

Even so, it is from loyalty to the imam and the leading imams, may Allah Most High have mercy on them, that we transmit on this occasion some additional statements of theirs about him, unless a need requires repeating what has already been mentioned earlier.

Al Kurdari narrated with his chain to al Fadl ibn Dukayn, who said: Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) was handsome, well dressed, and severe in waraʿ.

The scholar Abu al Qasim al Yamani narrated with his chain to Masʿar ibn Kidam (d. 155 AH), who said: Whoever makes Abu Hanifah a means between himself and Allah Most High, I hope that he will not fear, and that he will not have fallen short in caution for himself. (Masʿar was a devoted worshipper and a man of zuhd. Al Dhahabi and others regarded him as trustworthy.)

Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH) was asked about the imam, and he said: “I saw a man, if he spoke to you about this pillar, to make it gold, he would establish his proof.”

Harun ibn Saʿid said: “If al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) debated about this pillar that is made of stone, that it is made of gold, he would win, because of his ability in debate.” (The merits of Imam Abu Hanifah by Ibn Hajar al Haytami.)

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “No one sought jurisprudence except that he was dependent on Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH).”

Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH) said: They used to say: “Abu Hanifah, Allah adorned him with jurisprudence and knowledge, generosity and giving, and the character traits of the Qur’an that were in him.”

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) used to mention him often, ask mercy for him, and weep during his trial, and he would take comfort in the beating of Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) because of the judiciary. (See al Jawahir al Mudiyyah fi Tarajim al Hanafiyyah by ʿAbd al Qadir al Qurashi, 1/8.)

Ibn ʿAbd al Barr said: Abu Dawud al Sijistani (d. 275 AH) said: “Abu Hanifah was an imam. Malik was an imam. Al Shafiʿi was an imam.” (See al Intiqaʾ fi Fadaʾil al Aʾimmah al Thalathah al Fuqahaʾ. It contains many statements from imams praising the imam, may Allah Most High have mercy on him.)

Al Khatib narrated with his chain to Muhammad ibn Bishr, who said: I used to go to Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) and to Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 AH). I would come to Abu Hanifah and he would say to me: Where did you come from. I would say: From the presence of Sufyan.

He would say: You have come from the presence of a man, if ʿAlqamah and al Aswad had been present, they would have needed someone like him. Then I would come to Sufyan and he would say:

Where did you come from. I would say: From the presence of Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH). He would say: You have come from the presence of the most understanding of the people of the earth.

Al Qadi al Saymari narrated with his chain, who said: al Mughirah ibn Mighnam al Dubbi said to me: Sit with Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH). If Ibrahim al Nakhaʿi (d. 96 AH) were alive, he would have needed to sit with him. By Allah, he knows how to speak about what is permissible and what is forbidden.

Al Kurdari narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH), who said: Abu Hanifah was a sign. It was said: in good or in evil. He said: Be quiet, man. It is said: a peak in evil, and a sign in good. Then he recited this verse:

وجعلنا ابن مريم وأمه آية

“And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign.” (Mu’minun 50)

Al Haytami narrated with his chain to Ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH), who said: Abu Hanifah entered upon Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH), and Malik raised him, then after he left he said: Do you know who this is.

They said: No, and I recognised him. He said: This is Abu Hanifah al Nuʿman. If he said: This pillar is made of gold, it would turn out as he said. He has been granted jurisprudence such that he does not have much burden in it. (Al Khayrat al Hisan fi Manaqib Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman by Ibn Hajar al Haytami.)

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH) said about him, may Allah Most High have mercy on him: He has a rank in knowledge, waraʿ, zuhd, and preferring the Hereafter that no one reaches. He was beaten with whips by the governor of al Mansur, so that he would accept, and he did not accept. May Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him. (Al Khayrat al Hisan fi Manaqib Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman by Ibn Hajar al Haytami.)

Al Harithi narrated with his chain to Abu Yahya al Himmani, who said: I never compared Abu Hanifah to anyone from the people of his time, among those I met and those I did not meet, in any door of the doors of good, except that I saw Abu Hanifah’s merit over them. I did not meet anyone better than him, nor more waraʿ than him, nor more understanding. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, volume one, in various places.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Ishaq ibn Bahlul, who said: I heard Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah (d. 198 AH) say: My eyes have not seen the like of Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH).

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Hammad ibn Zayd (d. 179 AH), who said: Abu Ayyub al Sakhtiyani (d. 131 AH) said to me: If you meet the scholar of Iraq, Abu Hanifah , then convey to him my greeting. Hammad said: I love him because of Abu Ayyub’s love.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Abu al Walid, who said: Shuʿbah ibn al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH) used to mention Abu Hanifahwith good, and he made much supplication for him. I did not hear him mentioned in his presence except that he made supplication for him.

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn Muʿadh, who said: I intended al Kufah, so I said to Shuʿbah: Write me to one of your brothers. He said: I will write to a man, and what a man.

He wrote to him. I brought him Shuʿbah’s letter, and he honoured it greatly, meaning Abu Hanifah honoured Shuʿbah’s letter to him. Shuʿbah, when he mentioned him, would extend in praising him.

Each year he would send him a gift, and Abu Hanifah recognised that favour. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, volume one, in scattered places. See Sharh Muqaddimat al Athar by al Afghani, 1/45 and after it, in scattered places.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Hudbah ibn ʿAbd al Wahhab, who said: Shqiq al Balkhi (d. 194 AH) came to us in Marw, and we used to attend his gathering. He used to mention Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) often and praise him. We said to him: How long will you keep praising Abu Hanifah.

Speak to us with what we benefit from. Shqiq said: Far, far. Do you not see that mentioning Abu Hanifah (d. 150 AH) and mentioning his merits is from the best deeds. If you had seen him and sat with him, you would not have said this. (Manaqib al Muwafaq.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Budayl ibn Quraysh, who said: al Aʿmash (d. 148 AH) said to Abu Hanifah: If the matter depended on seeking and meeting, I would have been more understanding than you, but it is a gift from Allah Most High.

How beautiful is what was said about him:

“People testified for Nuʿman that he preceded,
in knowledge and taqwa, across the days.
The groups of guidance and the imams of Islam gathered,
supporting each other in praising him.
The people of al Hijaz and Iraq, all of them,
praised him before the people of al Sham praised him.
Rather, the people of the whole earth praised the one they were pleased with,
with praise renewed across the worn days.
They called out that Abu Hanifah, in taqwa and knowledge,
became an imam for every imam.”

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), who said: “Women have not stood up from a man more intelligent than Abu Hanifah.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq.)

They Recognised Him, So They Spoke Well About Him

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH), who said: I came to al Sham and I entered upon al Awzaʿi (d. 157 AH). I saw him in Beirut, and he said to me: O man from Khurasan, who is this innovator who appeared in al Kufah, whose nickname is Abu Hanifah.

I returned to my lodging and I went through the books of Abu Hanifah. I took out from them some fine issues, and I remained in that for three days. Then I came to him after the third day, while he was the caller to prayer in their masjid and their imam, and the book was in my hand.

He said: What is this book. I gave it to him, and he looked at it, and he saw an issue I had written in which it said: al Nuʿman ibn Thabit said.

He remained standing after he gave the call to prayer until he read the beginning of it, then he placed the book in his sleeve, then he stood and prayed, then he came back to it.

He said to me: O man from Khurasan, who is al Nuʿman ibn Thabit. I said: A shaykh I met in Iraq. He said: This is a noble shaykh among the shaykhs. Go and take much from him. I said: This is Abu Hanifah, the one you warned against.

Ibn Abi Hatim al Jurjani narrated from Ibn al Mubarak similarly, and he added at the end: Then Abu Hanifah met al Awzaʿi in Makkah, and there was a meeting between them. I saw al Awzaʿi match Abu Hanifah in those issues that were on the paper.

I saw Abu Hanifah disclose those issues with more than what I had written from him

. When they separated, I met al Awzaʿi after that, and he said: I envied the man for the abundance of his knowledge and the fullness of his intellect, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness. I was in clear error. Stay close to the man, for he is not as I was told about him. (See the introduction to Sharh al Athar, 1/50.)

Ibn ʿAbd al Barr narrated with his chain to Ibn Shubrumah (d. 144 AH), who said: I used to be severe in belittling Abu Hanifah, and this is a state seen, in the past and in the present, among contemporary ulama.

I attended the season, and I was in Hajj at that time. His people gathered around him, asking him. I stood where he did not know who I was. A man from Khurasan came and said: O Abu Hanifah, I have come to ask you about a matter that has concerned me and disturbed me.

He said: What is it.

He said: I have a child, and I have no other. If I marry him off, he divorces. If I give him a slave woman, he frees her.

I have been unable in this. Is there a way. He said immediately: Buy the slave woman that he is pleased with for yourself, then marry her to him. If he divorces, your slave woman returns to being owned by you.

If he frees her, he has freed what he does not own. Ibn Shubrumah said: I realised that the man is a jurist, so from that day I stopped mentioning him except with good. (Al Intiqaʾ fi Fadaʾil al Aʾimmah al Fuqahaʾ, 153–154.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Ibrahim ibn al Ashʿath, who said: I was with al Fudayl ibn ʿIyad (d. 187 AH) when a man came and said: Ibn al Mubarak has come for Hajj. Al Fudayl said: I hope, because of him, for the people of the standing place. The man said: He attends Abu Hanifah.

Al Fudayl said: If he did not know that Abu Hanifah is better than him, he would not attend him. I have chosen for myself what ʿAbd Allah chose for himself.

The man said to him: It has reached me that you speak against Abu Hanifah.

Al Fudayl said: Sufyan used to speak against him, then when he sat with him he regretted it and sought Allah’s forgiveness. The ulama have always been like this between themselves, but they did not make it public. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 2/12.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to al Nadr ibn Shumayl (d. 204 AH), who said: Do not transmit from us everything we say about Abu Hanifah, because we say, when angry, things that have no reality. (The previous source, and its page.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with the chain of al Harithi to ʿAli ibn Ishaq, who said: I heard Sharik ibn ʿAbd Allah (d. 177 AH) say: O people, there were slip ups from us regarding Abu Hanifah, as happens between people with mistakes. We ask Allah for safety. (The previous source, and its page.)

The Qualities of Imam Abu Hanifah

Muhammad Abu Zahrah (d. 1394 AH) wrote books on nine of the leading imams of the Muslims in jurisprudence and independent reasoning. He delivered these studies to postgraduate students at the Faculty of Law at Cairo University. Among these books is the book on Abu Hanifah.

In it, he wrote his biography, his jurisprudence, his teaching, his madhhab, and the foundations of his madhhab. He excelled, may Allah protect him, and benefit the Muslims through him and his work, and grant him the best ending and increase. From his book I take this heading and what comes beneath it, seeking benefit. He said:

Abu Hanifah had qualities that placed him at the highest summit among the ulama. He had the qualities of the true scholar, firm and trustworthy, far reaching in thought, looking towards realities, and quick in understanding, with thoughts coming swiftly to him.

First, may Allah be pleased with him, he controlled himself, had full command over his feelings, and fleeting words did not toy with him. Harsh expressions did not turn him away from the truth. One time he was discussing an issue in which the preacher of Iraq, al Hasan al Basri (d. 110 AH), a man of rank among his people, had given a fatwa. He said: “Al Hasan made a mistake.”

A man said to him: You say al Hasan made a mistake, O son of an adulteress. His face did not change and did not shift, then he said: Yes, by Allah, al Hasan made a mistake and ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, may Allah be pleased with him, was correct.

He used to say: “Whoever’s chest becomes tight with us, then our hearts have expanded for him.” (Tarikh al Khatib al Baghdadi, 13/352.)

This calmness and breadth of chest was not from a person with a frozen feeling and weak emotion. Rather, he had the heart of a poet and a sensitive self. It is narrated that one of his opponents said to him: O innovator, O heretic.

He said: “May Allah forgive you. Allah knows about me the opposite of that. I have not made anyone equal to Him since I came to know Him. I hope only for His pardon, and I fear only His punishment.” Then he wept when punishment was mentioned.

The man said to him: Put me in release from what I said.

He said: “Everyone from the people of ignorance who said something about me is in release. Whoever from the people of knowledge said something about me is in difficulty, because the backbiting of the ulama leaves something in their chests.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/268.)

So Abu Hanifah’s calmness was not the calmness of one who does not feel. Rather, it was the calmness of one whose self rose and became lofty through taqwa, so he only feels what is connected to Allah Most High.

The filth of people does not cling to him. It is as if it is a polished smooth surface on which nothing of the hurtful words of people is imprinted. Rather, those words slide off and nothing of them attaches.

This calmness was the calmness of the firm and self controlled, the patient and enduring, whose thought does not fly off behind the storms that may appear for the self. He had steady courage and tied resolve.

It is narrated that a snake fell from the ceiling into his lap while he was in his circle in the masjid. Everyone around him scattered, but he continued his discussion and moved it away. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/268.)

Second, he was given independence in his thinking. This made him not dissolve into other than himself. His shaykh Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman noticed that. He used to contest him in looking at every case. He did not take a thought from anyone without presenting it to his own intellect.

The independence of his mind is what made him see what he saw as a free man, not bound except by a text from the Book, or a report, or a legal verdict of a Companion. As for the Successor, he could look at his view, correct it, or say it is wrong, because his view is not something that must be followed, and it is not waraʿ to follow him.

He lived in a Shiʿi environment, which was al Kufah, and he met the leading Shiʿi imams of his time, such as Zayd ibn ʿAli, Muhammad al Baqir, Jaʿfar al Sadiq, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Hasan, yet he kept his view regarding the greatest Companions, with strong inclination to the Prophetic family and love for them, and with his enduring punishment for their sake.

In the book al Intiqaʾ by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr, its text is: Saʿid ibn Abi ʿArubah said: I came to al Kufah and I attended the gathering of Abu Hanifah.

One day he mentioned ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan, may Allah be pleased with him, and he asked mercy for him. I said to him: You, may Allah have mercy on you, I have not heard anyone in this town ask mercy for ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan except you. (Al Intiqaʾ, page 130.)

This is the independent mind. It does not bow to the general people and does not dissolve into the elite. Love and hate do not affect it.

He was deep in thought and far reaching in issues. He did not suffice with searching the apparent side of matters and texts, and he did not stop at the apparent wording. Rather, he followed their intents, whether far or near. He did not suffice with studying a matter only as it appears.

Rather, he went on searching for its causes and its aims, without stopping and without weakness. Perhaps this deeply philosophical mind is what pushed him, early in his life, towards speculative theology, to satisfy that hunger of the mind. He used to satisfy that intellectual tendency by research in those matters.

Perhaps that depth is what pushed him to study reports as a deep researcher, seeking the causes behind the rulings they contain, using indications of wording, intents of expressions, contexts of circumstances, and suitable descriptions. When the cause became firm for him, he extended analogy through it, made hypothetical cases, and formed examples, and he went far in that.

He had quick understanding. Streams of meanings came to him when he needed them. His thought did not become stuck. He was not blocked in looking. He was not silenced in debate as long as the truth was with him, and he had proofs that supported him.

He had broad skill in solutions, and he knew how to reach what silences an opponent by the easiest path. He has in that strange and astonishing matters, found in the books of merits, biographies, and histories that set themselves to explain his state. Three debates will be mentioned, showing his good approach, and the subtlety of his entry, even if they are not the strangest.

The first: it is narrated that a man died and he made Abu Hanifah his executor while Abu Hanifah was absent. The case was raised to Ibn Shubrumah, and it was mentioned to him. Abu Hanifah produced testimony that such and such a person died and appointed him. Ibn Shubrumah said:

O Abu Hanifah, swear that your witnesses testified with truth. He said: There is no oath upon me. I was absent. He said: Your analogies have gone astray.

Abu Hanifah said: What do you say about a blind man who was struck, and two witnesses testified to that. Must the blind man swear that his witnesses testified with truth while he did not see. So he ruled for him with the executorship and affirmed it.

The second: al Dahhak ibn Qays, the Khawarij, who rebelled in the time of the Umayyads, entered the masjid of al Kufah.

He said to Abu Hanifah: Repent. Abu Hanifah said: From what do I repent. He said: From your approving arbitration. Abu Hanifah said: Will you kill me, or will you debate me.

He said: Rather, I will debate you. Abu Hanifah said: If we differ in something of what we debate, who will judge between me and you.

He said: Choose whomever you wish. Abu Hanifah said to a man from the companions of al Dahhak: Sit and judge between us in what we differ about, if we differ. Then he said to al Dahhak: Are you pleased with this between me and you.

He said: Yes. Abu Hanifah said: Then you approved arbitration. So he was cut off.

The third: it is narrated that in al Kufah there was a man who used to say: ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan, may Allah be pleased with him, was Jewish.

The ulama could not convince him, and could not carry him to leave his statement. Abu Hanifah came to him and said: I have come to propose marriage. He said: For whom.

He said: For your daughter, to a noble man, rich in wealth, memoriser of the Book, generous, standing in the night in bowing, with much weeping out of fear of Allah Most High. The man said: For less than this, it would be enough, O Abu Hanifah.

He said: Except that he has one trait. He said: What is it. He said: Jewish. The man said: Glory be to Allah. Do you command me to marry my daughter to a Jewish man. Abu Hanifah said: Do you refuse.

He said: Yes. Abu Hanifah said: The Prophet ﷺ married his daughter to a Jewish man, meaning ʿUthman, whom you claim is that.

The man said: I seek Allah’s forgiveness. I repent to Allah Most High.

Reports are widely spread about his broad skill in debates and his subtle extraction of fine speech in the tightest and most constricted moments, until Abu Jaʿfar al Mansur said to him: You are a man of solutions.

What made debate easy for him was the strength of his insight, his understanding of the selves of men, and his ability to open what is locked in their hearts and what is hidden in their selves. He came to them from where they do not notice, and he made the truth acceptable for them, and he made accepting it easy.

Fifth, Abu Hanifah was sincere in seeking the truth. This is the quality of completeness that raised him, lit his heart, and made his insight shine with knowledge.

The sincere heart, empty of personal aims and empty of the role of the self and desires in examining matters and understanding issues, Allah places into it the light of knowledge, so its perceptions become refined and its thought becomes straight.

A straight approach in seeking realities makes reaching them easy for the intellect, unlike the mind that desires have overturned, because desires kill it, and it does not know whether it is in the depths of its desires or in the paths of its intellect.

Abu Hanifah purified himself from every desire, except the desire to reach what is sound. He knew that this jurisprudence is religion, or understanding in the religion. It is not sought by one overtaken by a single thought.

He made himself follow only the truth and what guides. It was equal to him whether he was dominant or defeated. Rather, he is dominant as long as he reaches the truth, even if his opponents in debate are the ones who convinced him.

Because of his sincerity, he did not claim that his view is absolute truth with no doubt. Rather, he used to say: “Our view is an opinion, and it is the best we have been able to reach. Whoever brings us better than our view is more entitled to correctness than us.” (Tarikh Baghdad, 13/352.)

It was said to him: O Abu Hanifah, is this that you give fatwa with the truth with no doubt in it. He said: By Allah, I do not know. Perhaps it is falsehood with no doubt in it. He meant the issues of independent reasoning, those in which the path of ruling is opinion and examination.

Zufar said: We used to attend Abu Hanifah, with us Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al Hasan. We used to write from him.

One day he said to Abu Yusuf: Woe to you, O Yaʿqub. Do not write everything you hear from me, for I may hold a view today and leave it tomorrow. I may hold a view tomorrow and leave it the day after tomorrow. This does not contradict what is established, that Abu Yusuf used to record the imam’s issues, because that was after they were refined, and after the views of the imam and his companions settled upon them.

Because of his sincerity in seeking the truth, he would return from his view when an opponent mentioned to him a report that had not been established for him otherwise, and there was no weakness in it. Likewise if he was told a legal verdict of a Companion in that way.

It is narrated from Zuhayr ibn Muʿawiyah that he said: I asked Abu Hanifah about the protection granted by a slave. He said: If he does not fight, then his protection is invalid.

I said: ʿAsim al Ahwal narrated to me from al Fudayl ibn Yazid al Raqashi that he said: We were besieging the enemy, and an arrow was thrown to them with a protection on it. They said: You have granted us protection.

We said: It is only a slave. They said: By Allah, we cannot recognise among you the slave from the free. So we wrote to ʿUmar about that, and ʿUmar wrote: Approve the protection of the slave. Abu Hanifah was silent.

Then I was absent from al Kufah for ten years, then I came to it and I came to Abu Hanifah and asked him about the protection granted by a slave. He answered me with the report of ʿAsim and returned from his earlier view. I knew that he followed what he heard.

It was said to him one time: Do you oppose the Prophet ﷺ. He said: May Allah curse the one who opposes the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Through him Allah honoured us and rescued us. (Al Intiqaʾ by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr, 140–141.)

This is Abu Hanifah’s sincerity in his jurisprudence and his religion. He was not among those who are stubborn for their views. Rather, sincerity to the truth, along with the breadth of his mind, pushed him to open his heart to views other than his own. Stubbornness is only in the one whose feelings overpower his thoughts, or whose nerves are weak and whose mind is narrow.

Abu Hanifah was nothing of that. Rather, he was strong in intellect, fully in control of himself and his nerves, sincere in seeking the truth, fearful of his Lord, and he always expected error for himself.

The Crowning Trait of His Character

All these qualities were crowned by another trait, which may be the outward sign of them all, or a gift Allah grants to some souls. That trait is strength of character, influence, awe, the ability to affect others through attraction and a strong spirit.

He had many students, and he did not force his view upon them. Rather, he studied with them, learned the views of the senior ones among them, and debated them as an equal, not as a superior.

Then he would settle on an opinion, and everyone would fall silent and be at ease with it. Yet some of them might continue on their own view, and in both cases Abu Hanifah retained his standing and his personality.

Misʿar ibn Kidam described Abu Hanifah’s gathering with his companions and said: “They would disperse for their needs after the dawn prayer, then gather back to him, and he would sit for them.

Some would ask questions, and some would debate, and voices would rise because of the many proofs he would give them. Truly, a man whose voice can quiet these voices has a great rank in Islam.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki, 2/36.)

This is a set of Abu Hanifah’s qualities. Some are natural, and some were gained, which he trained himself upon and made his habit. They are the key to his personality.

They are what made him benefit from every spiritual nourishment that reached him, so they were within him like the organs by which food is absorbed in living bodies.

Through them, there was a strong connection between him and his time, his shaykhs, and his experiences. He drew nourishment from all these elements and gave them back a new kind of thought and opinion, deep in insight and far reaching in its impact on souls and generations.

With these qualities, Abu Hanifah won over those who admired him and pushed them to praise him, and he also stirred the spite of the jealous, so they rushed to attack his biography. (Abu Hanifah, 56–61.)

The Fiqh of the Imam Pt 1

The Foundations of the Imam’s Madhhab

Islam is the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and the agreement of the imams of the Muslims and their mujtahids, from the Companions and those after them, upon a Sharia ruling, or an understanding given to a person of insight in the religion who knows its foundations and its tools.

Our imam was a memoriser of the Book of Allah, reciting it in the hours of the night and the ends of the day. He was also a memoriser of the hadith of Allah’s Messenger, taking it from the hadith masters of Iraq and the Hijaz.

He also preserved the statements of the Companions, what they agreed upon and what they differed over. Allah also granted him, because of the taqwa, truthfulness, and sincerity that adorned him, a sharp insight into the religion and an understanding rarely granted to people. Allah also provided him with shaykhs who were like mountains in memorisation, understanding, and turning to Allah.

Some statements of the leading imams about his knowledge, scrupulousness, and fiqh were mentioned earlier.

So what are the foundations upon which the imam built his scholarly madhhab, which spread through the East and the West, and upon which more than half of the Muslims worship Allah until today?

It is mentioned in al Intiqāʾ that Abu Hanifah said: “I take from the Book of Allah. If I do not find there, then from the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger. If I do not find in the Book of Allah nor in the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, I take from the statements of the Companions.

I take the statement of whoever I wish from them, and I leave the statement of whoever I wish from them, and I do not leave their statements for the statement of anyone else. Then when the matter reaches Ibrahim, al Shaʿbi, Ibn Sirin, al Hasan, ʿAta, and Saʿid ibn al Musayyib, and he named men, they were people who performed ijtihad, so I perform ijtihad as they performed ijtihad.” (al Intiqāʾ, Ibn ʿAbd al Barr; Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/82.)

It is also mentioned in Manaqib al Imam Abu Hanifah by al Muwafaq al Makki, from Sahl ibn Muzahim, that he said: “The speech of Abu Hanifah was taking from the reliable and fleeing from ugliness, and looking at how people deal with one another, what they remained upright upon, and what their affairs were sound upon.

He would run matters on analogy. If analogy became ugly, he would run them on juristic preference, as long as it would still carry through.

If it would not carry through, he would return to what Muslims actually deal with.

He would ground the well known hadith that there was agreement upon, then he would make analogy upon it as long as analogy was sound, then he would return to juristic preference, whichever of the two was more fitting, he would return to it.” Sahl said: “This is Abu Hanifah’s knowledge, the knowledge of the general Muslims.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/89–90.)

It is also mentioned in Manaqib al Muwafaq, through al Saymari, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Yunus, that al Hasan ibn Salih said: Abu Hanifah was very thorough in searching for the abrogating and the abrogated in hadith.

He would act upon the hadith if it was established with him from the Prophet and from his Companions.

He knew the hadith of the people of Kufah and the fiqh of the people of Kufah, and he strongly followed what the people of his land were upon. He used to say: the Book of Allah has abrogating and abrogated, and hadith has abrogating and abrogated.

He preserved the last action of Allah’s Messenger upon which he died, from what reached his land. (Manaqib al Muwafaq.)

In the same chain to al Saymari: “ʿUmar ibn Ibrahim informed us, Makram informed us, Ahmad informed us, ʿAli ibn al Madini informed us, I heard ʿAbd al Razzaq say: I was with Maʿmar, then Ibn al Mubarak came to him.

We heard Maʿmar say: I do not know anyone who speaks in fiqh, and is able to make analogy and derive rulings in fiqh, with better knowledge than Abu Hanifah. And I do not know anyone more careful for himself than Abu Hanifah, fearing to put any doubt into Allah’s religion.”

Ibn ʿAbd al Barr narrated with his chain to Muhammad ibn al Hasan that he said: “Knowledge is on four faces: what is in the speaking Book of Allah and what resembles it, what is in the transmitted Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger and what resembles it, what is in what the Companions agreed upon and what resembles it, and likewise what they differed over, without leaving all of them.

If a choice is made in it for one statement, it is knowledge by which we make analogy upon what resembles it, and what the jurists of the Muslims considered preferable and what resembles it and is similar to it. Knowledge does not leave these 4 faces.”

These reports, as a whole, show the set of legal sources with the imam: the Noble Qur’an, the Noble Sunnah, what the Companions agreed upon and differed over without leaving their statements, analogy, juristic preference, and custom, meaning following what the people of his land were upon, and he means by them the jurists and the people of knowledge.

The Noble Qur’an

It is the Book of Allah sent down to Allah’s Messenger by the angel of revelation, Jibril عليه السلام, transmitted to us by mass transmission, gathered between the two covers of the mushaf, and which humans are unable to produce even the shortest surah like it, and they will remain unable, by Allah’s permission. (Mustafa al Sibaʿi, as Sunnah wa Makanatuha fi at Tashriʿ al Islami, 38; Usul al Sarakhsi, 1/318; Jamiʿ Bayan al ʿIlm, 2/36.)

For the imam, the Noble Qur’an is the first and highest source in fiqh issues, because it is decisively established.

No letter of it is doubted, and nothing equals the speech of Allah. Nothing reaches its rank in establishment except the mass transmitted hadith. Because of this, he did not view the Qur’an being abrogated by an isolated report from the Sunnah. Rather, he acted upon the Sunnah where possible, and if not, he left the speculative proof for the decisive Book.

فَاقْرَءُوا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ
So recite whatever is easy of the Qur’an. (al Muzzammil 20)

“There is no prayer for the one who does not recite the Opening of the Book.” Agreed upon. So he ruled that the basis of reciting Qur’an in prayer is a pillar.

As for restricting the recitation to al Fatiha and whatever is easy of the Qur’an, that is an obligation. In that way, he acted upon the Qur’an and the Sunnah together.

Based on this foundation, he did not treat tranquillity as a pillar in bowing and other actions, because bowing is established by the text of a Qur’an verse:

وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ
And bow with those who bow. (al Baqarah 43)

As for tranquillity, it is established by an isolated report, the hadith of the man who prayed badly. So he treated tranquillity in bowing, which is a pillar in prayer, as an obligation, and likewise.

The Noble Sunnah

It is what is established from Allah’s Messenger in speech, action, approval, and physical or character description.

The imam did not treat the Sunnah as one single level. Rather, he gave precedence, for example, to speech over action, because it is possible that an action is a special case. He also gave precedence to what is mass transmitted over isolated reports when there is conflict and no possible way to combine them.

For example, his performing every prayer in its time is mass transmitted, except the prayers of ʿAsr and Maghrib at ʿArafah and Muzdalifah.

He combined Dhuhr and ʿAsr at ʿArafah in the time of Dhuhr, and he combined Maghrib and ʿIsha at Muzdalifah in the time of ʿIsha. As for combining some prayers while travelling, that is an isolated report, so he held that this combining is only an outward combining, acting upon both reports, meaning delaying the prayer to the end of its time and praying it then, and when he finishes it, the time of the next prayer has begun, so he prays it at the start of its time. Al Tirmidhi narrated this in his Jamiʿ from the action of ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, in travel.

He also left acting on an isolated report if it contradicted a Sharia rule taken from the Qur’an or Sunnah, like leaving the hadith of the musarrat, though it is sound, because of the hadith “Revenue is for liability.” narrated by al Tirmidhi. (this is what is said about the imam leaving an isolated report for analogy, meaning this legal rule and its like, and more detail will come, Allah willing.)

Consensus

It is what the Companions of Allah’s Messenger agreed upon and what they differed over, and he does not leave their statements for the statements of anyone else. The Companions were the noble people who accompanied him and took knowledge, understanding, and insight from his mouth, his blessed actions, and his great character.

Allah honoured them with a rank that is not reached by fiqh, worship, or spending. “Do not insult my Companions. By the One in whose hand is my soul, if one of you spent the weight of Uhud in gold, it would not reach the mudd of one of them, nor even half of it.” Al Barqani in al Mustakhraj, and it is sound, and al Daraqutni in al Afrad.

As for consensus, meaning the agreement of the mujtahid imams of a time after the Prophet’s passing upon a Sharia ruling, and what is meant here is the consensus of the jurists in a specific land, then for him it is a proof to be acted upon, because leaving it is opposing Allah and His Messenger. Threat is mentioned for that:

وَمَنْ يُشَاقِقِ الرَّسُولَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ الْهُدَى وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ نُوَلِّهِ مَا تَوَلَّى وَنُصْلِهِ جَهَنَّمَ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًا
And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him, and follows other than the way of the believers, We will leave him to what he has chosen and We will drive him into Jahannam, and it is an evil destination. (an Nisa 115)

He also cited: “My ummah will not agree upon misguidance. If you see disagreement, then follow the great majority.” (Narrated by Ibn Majah and others, and it is sound.)

Analogy

It is attaching a branch issue to a root issue that has a text, with a specific ruling, whether obligation or prohibition, because the effective cause of the ruling is found in the branch as it is found in the root. It is also called ijtihad in a figurative sense, because by striving, this aim is reached. (Usul al Fiqh, al Sarakhsi, 2/143.)

Allah’s Messenger taught by analogy. It is reported that he said to ʿUmar, when he asked about kissing while fasting: “What if you rinsed your mouth with water, then spat it out, would it harm you?”

This is teaching by analogy, because kissing opens the path to desire, but it does not itself bring desire, just as putting water into the mouth opens the path to drinking, but does not itself become drinking. (Usul al Fiqh, al Sarakhsi, 2/130.)

He also said to Muʿadh ibn Jabal, when he sent him to Yemen as a judge: “What will you judge by?” He said: “By the Book of Allah.”

He said: “And if you do not find in the Book of Allah?” He said: “By the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger.” He said: “And if you do not find in the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger?” He said: “I will strive with my opinion.”

He said: “Praise be to Allah who granted success to the messenger of Allah’s Messenger for what pleases His Messenger.” (Abu Dawud narrated it with his chain to a group of the people of Hims from the companions of Muʿadh. The note discusses its chains, supporting reports, and how leading imams used it as proof, and it mentions additional evaluation and supporting routes, along with reference details.)

The imam gave precedence to the Sunnah, even if it was a mursal report, over analogy. So he held that wudu is broken by flowing blood from the body, and he held that the wudu of the praying person, and therefore his prayer, is broken if he laughs loudly in prayer. Both reports are mursal. He also gave precedence to a weak hadith over analogy.

Al Shaʿrani said, with his chain, to Abu Hanifah, that he said: “By Allah, he lied and invented against us, whoever says that we give analogy precedence over the text. After the text, does one even need analogy?” (al Mizan al Kubra, 1/51.) He also said: “We only use analogy at severe necessity.

We look for the proof of the issue from the Book and the Sunnah, or the judgements of the Companions. If we do not find proof, we make analogy of the unspoken upon the spoken.” It is also narrated that Abu Jaʿfar al Mansur wrote to him: it has reached me that you give analogy precedence over hadith.

Abu Hanifah replied with a letter saying: the matter is not as it reached you, O Commander of the Believers.

Rather, I first act on the Book of Allah, then on the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger, then on the judgements of Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthman, and ʿAli, then on the judgements of the rest of the Companions, then I make analogy after that if they differ, and there is no kinship between Allah and His creation. (Usul al Sarakhsi, 2/149–150.)

Abu Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Sahl al Sarakhsi, who died in the year 490, mentioned that the conditions for acting on analogy in the imam’s madhhab are 5.

The first is that the ruling of the root is not made specific by another text.
The second is that it is not a ruling that was made an exception away from analogy.
The third is that the reasoning for the Sharia ruling established by a text is itself the reasoning that is carried over to a similar branch with no text.
The fourth is that the ruling remains in the text after reasoning just as it was before.
The fifth is that the reasoning does not include cancelling any word of the text. (Usul al Sarakhsi, 2/149–150.)

Ibn al Qayyim (d. 751 AH) said in Iʿlam al Muwaqqiʿin: the companions of Abu Hanifah agreed that Abu Hanifah’s madhhab is that weak hadith is, with him, prior to analogy and opinion.

Juristic Preference

In language, it is finding something to be good. A person says, “I considered such and such good”, meaning he regarded it as good, the opposite of considering it ugly. Or it means seeking what is better to follow, which one is commanded to do, as Allah said:

فَبَشِّرْ عِبَادِ ۝ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ
So give glad tidings to My servants, those who listen to speech and follow the best of it. (az Zumar 17–18)

Among jurists, it has 2 types.

The first is acting by ijtihad and the stronger view when estimating what the Sharia left to our judgement, like the gift mentioned in His saying:

مَتَاعًا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُحْسِنِينَ
A gift, with what is recognised as fair, a right upon the doers of good. (al Baqarah 236)

So it is made obligatory according to ease and hardship, and it was conditioned to be “with what is recognised as fair”, so we understood that what is meant is what is known as good by the stronger view. Likewise His saying:

وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ
And upon the father is their provision and their clothing, with what is recognised as fair. (al Baqarah 233)

No jurist is thought to oppose this type.

The second type is a proof that opposes the apparent analogy that the mind first rushes to, before careful thought. After careful thought about the case and its similarities from the foundations, it becomes clear that the opposing proof is stronger. Acting upon it is then obligatory. They called it “juristic preference” to distinguish this kind of proof from the apparent meaning that the mind first rushes to. (Usul al Sarakhsi, 2/201–202.)

Then he gave an example and said: if a man says to his wife, “When you menstruate, you are divorced,” and she says, “I have menstruated,” and the husband denies her, then in analogy she is not believed, looking at the outward form, because menstruation is a condition for divorce, like her entering the house or her speaking to Zayd.

But in juristic preference, she is divorced, because menstruation is something within her that no one else can see, so her statement must be accepted in it, like love and hate.

So it becomes clear that juristic preference for the imam is not following desire, nor ruling by personal aims. Rather, it is choosing the stronger of 2 proofs in a specific case. Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said in similar cases: “I consider that preferable.”

What difference is there between someone saying, “I consider such and such good,” and someone saying, “I consider it preferable”? Rather, “juristic preference” is the better of the 2 expressions and closer to the wording of the Sharia for what is meant here. (Usul al Sarakhsi, 2/201–202.)

Custom and Habit

It is what settles in souls by sound minds, and sound natures accept it. (al Mustasfa, al Ghazali.) The basis for treating custom as a Sharia proof is the statement of Ibn Masʿud: “What the Muslims see as good is, with Allah, good.” (Narrated by Ahmad and others.)

Custom is only a proof where there is no Sharia proof from the Book and the Sunnah.

If custom contradicts the Book and the Sunnah, like some merchants becoming used to dealing with usury, or some people becoming used to types of gambling, or women mixing with male relatives who are not mahram, or showing what Allah commanded to be covered of the face, neck, and chest, and other things that have a clear text prohibiting them, then such a custom is rejected because it opposes the Sharia.

The jurist Muhammad Amin, known as Ibn ʿAbidin (d. 1252 AH), mentioned a set of issues that rest on custom in his treatise “al ʿUrf”, where the ruling changed due to different times, under the rule “rulings do change with the change of times”, meaning the rulings that are based on custom, while the rulings based on clear texts rule over all times and places.

He gave as an example making the tailor, the ironer, and their like liable if they burned the cloth or lost it. The imam’s view was that the cloth with them is a trust and is not guaranteed. (Abu Hanifah, Muhammad Abu Zahrah, 350 and what follows.)

The Fiqh of the Imam Pt 2

Abu Hanifah inherited the knowledge of ʿUmar, ʿAli, ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, may Allah be pleased with them.

He took it from them through his shaykhs, who numbered four thousand men, and through the jurists of Kufah in particular. His shaykh, Hammad, whom he stayed with for eighteen years without interruption, day and night, was the strongest link connecting his knowledge to theirs, may Allah be pleased with them.

He was the first to arrange the issues of fiqh and write them down in records. Abu Yusuf often did that, and others did it at times, until his recorded issues reached five hundred thousand issues.

Through this method, the new fiqh spread, in its arrangement and presentation, among the common people and the learned in Kufah and the rest of Iraq.

Major hadith masters took it up, such as Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan (d. 198 AH), ʿAli ibn al Madini (d. 234 AH), Shuʿbah ibn al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH), and ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH). It was also taken up by leading jurists, ascetics, and language scholars, such as Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), Zufar (d. 158 AH), Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH), Dawud al Taʾi (d. 165 AH), and ʿAbd al Rahman ibn al Qasim (d. 191 AH).

His leading students, who reached seven hundred and thirty shaykhs, carried it back to their lands, especially Afghanistan, Bukhara, and India.

So the imam’s fiqh spread east and west, north and south, until the hadith scholar, jurist, Qurʾan commentator, scholar of legal theory, and reciter ʿAli ibn Sultan al Qari, who died in 1014 AH, counted the followers of the imam’s approach in the eleventh century as two thirds of the Muslims in the universe. (See the introduction to “Mirqat al Mafatih ʿala Mishkat al Masabih”, in five large volumes, printed and widely used.)

The ulama counted the imam as the first to write in this field, organise it, open up its issues, and lay down the foundations of its proofs. For that reason, anyone who spoke or wrote in fiqh after him was counted as dependent on him, may Allah have mercy on him.

The hadith scholar and jurist Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Salihi al Dimashqi (d. 942 AH) said: “Abu Hanifah was the first to write in theology, legal theory, and inheritance law, and he wrote books and arranged the chapters.”

Earlier, the method by which the imam set out major fiqh issues has already been mentioned, and the praise of the leading imams for his fiqh and understanding has also been mentioned. Here are further statements about him before moving to examples of his fiqh, may Allah have mercy on him.

Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable in fiqh than Abu Hanifah.”

Ibrahim ibn Tahman (d. 163 AH) said: “Abu Hanifah was the imam in every meaning.”

Muhammad ibn al Baqir (d. 114 AH) said: “How excellent are his guidance and manner, and how much fiqh he has.”

Ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH) said: “No one is more deserving to be followed than Abu Hanifah. He was an imam, God fearing, pure, cautious, knowledgeable, a jurist. Through him, knowledge was uncovered in a way no one uncovered it, with insight, understanding, sharpness, and God fearingness.” (Manaqib al Bazzazi, 1/90 and what follows.)

Examples of the Imam’s Fiqh, His Understanding of Proofs, and His Acting Upon Them

The great hadith memoriser Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah wrote “al Musannaf”, and it is the most comprehensive book written on hadith reports of legal rulings.

He arranged it by the chapters of fiqh, and in each chapter he listed what came in it: raised reports, connected reports, mursal reports, interrupted reports, statements of a Tabiʿi, and the statements of the rest of the ulama in the issue being discussed.

In this way, it becomes easy for the reader to know whether an issue is one of consensus or disagreement. (He is the memoriser Abu Bakr ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Shaybah Ibrahim al ʿAbsi al Kufi, who died in 235 AH. He is among the leading imams of hadith. Al Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Zurʿah al Razi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Baqi ibn Makhlad, Abu al Qasim al Baghawi, Jaʿfar al Furayabi, and others narrated from him.)

Ibn Abi Shaybah said: “Ibn Idris narrated to us, from Husayn, from Hilal ibn Yasaf, who said: Ziyad ibn Abi al Jaʿd took my hand and made me stand before a shaykh in al Raqqah called Wabisah ibn Maʿbad.

He said: A man prayed alone behind the row, so the Prophet ﷺ ordered him to repeat.” He said: “Mulazim ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Badr, who said: ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAli ibn Shayban narrated to me from his father ʿAli ibn al Shayban, who was among the delegation.

He said: We went until we came to the Prophet ﷺ. We pledged allegiance to him and prayed behind him. He saw a man praying behind the rows. The Prophet ﷺ stood over him until he finished, then said: “Restart your prayer. There is no prayer for the one who prayed behind the row.” He mentioned that Abu Hanifah said: His prayer is valid.

Ibn Idris is ʿAbd Allah al Awdi. About him, Sharik said, in the narration of al Haytham ibn Khalid: “People of madness, fool son of a fool.” His father was here, a teacher for the children of ʿIsa ibn Musa.

Al Shaʿbi said to his uncle Dawud ibn Yazid: “He will not die until he goes mad.” He did not die until Ibrahim ibn Bashshar cauterised his head. Husayn is Ibn ʿAbd al Rahman al Sulami, and he became mixed up. Al Bukhari, al ʿUqayli, and Ibn ʿAdi mentioned him among the weak.

Al Bazzar said in his Musnad with criticism: “Husayn was not a preserver, so his hadith is not used as proof in a legal ruling.” Hilal did not hear from Wabisah, so it is mursal. He said about Mulazim: “His hadith is not used as proof.” And about ʿAbd Allah ibn Badr: “He is not known.”

And ʿAli ibn Shayban: no one narrated from him except his son ʿAbd al Rahman, and this son is not known. The unknown person only stops being unknown when two well known trustworthy narrators report from him.

If only someone whose hadith is not used as proof reports from him, then that hadith is not a proof, and his unknown status does not disappear. End.

However, a group graded Husayn trustworthy, and al Bukhari used him before his mixing. Mulazim was graded trustworthy by some, and ʿAli ibn Shayban is a Companion with few narrations.

Even so, the hadith is unstable in its chain. At times, Hilal narrates it from ʿAmr ibn Rashid from Wabisah, and at times from Ziyad ibn Abi al Jaʿd in place of Abu ʿAli, a shaykh called Wabisah. Ziyad then said: “This shaykh narrated to me.” In Ibn Majah, the shaykh hears even if only by chance.

It was only al Tirmidhi who reported it in his Jamiʿ through someone whose lone report is not taken against a group. ʿAmr ibn Rashid is a man not known to have narrated except this hadith. He is not known for uprightness, so his hadith is not used as proof, as al Bazzar says.

Ibn ʿAbd al Barr said: It is unstable in its chain, and a group of hadith scholars do not affirm it.

Al Tirmidhi said: A group of the ulama said: It is valid if he prays alone behind the row. This is the view of Sufyan al Thawri, Ibn al Mubarak, and al Shafiʿi. End.

Their proof is the hadith of Abu Bakrah in the two Sahihs, that he entered into the prayer before reaching the row, and the Prophet ﷺ said to him: “May Allah increase you in eagerness, but do not repeat it.”

This wording indicates validity along with dislike, not invalidity. Whoever claims invalidity without a defect in the pillars relies on hadith reports that others did not grade authentic. (See “Nasb al Rayah”, 2/38, and “ʿUmdat al Qari”, the commentary on al Bukhari by al ʿAyni, 3/116.)

Even if they are authentic, they are carried on the negation of perfection, to reconcile the proofs. Also, if the prayer of the one alone behind the row were invalid, the Prophet ﷺ would not have waited for him to finish before saying: “There is no prayer for the one who prayed behind the row.” This is clear.

Al Shafiʿi said: “If the hadith is established,” meaning the hadith of Wabisah, “I would say it.” Al Hakim said: The two shaykhs did not include it only because the route to it is unsound.

Al Badr said: In the validity of the prayer of the one alone behind the row are al Thawri, Ibn al Mubarak, al Hasan al Basri, al Awzaʿi, Abu Hanifah, al Shafiʿi, Malik, Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad, but he commits a sin.

As for validity, it relates to the pillars, and they are present. As for wrongdoing, it is due to the prohibition, and that is his saying: “There is no prayer for the one alone behind the row,” as al Athram reported it.

Its meaning is: no complete prayer, like “There is no wudu for the one who does not mention Allah’s name,” and “There is no prayer for the neighbour of the masjid except in the masjid.” End.

By that, the hadith reports are reconciled. It becomes clear that invalidity of the prayer of the one alone behind the row is only the approach of Ahmad, alone among the four, and the approach of the Zahiris, who are lax in grading reports authentic.

So is Abu Hanifah counted as opposing reports in an issue where he relied on a hadith agreed upon as authentic, and returned the rest of the reports to it by carrying them on perfection to reconcile the proofs?

Most of the ulama of the ummah followed him, except those who are lax in grading weak reports authentic and who abandon sound reports.

Allah, exalted is He, is the Guide to the most correct path. (“Al Nukat al Tarifah”, pages 27–29.)

Ibn Abi Shaybah also said: “Wakiʿ narrated to us, Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad, from Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever buys an animal whose milk has been held back in its udder has a choice.

If he wishes, he returns it, and he returns with it a saʿ of dates.” Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Shuʿbah, from al Hakam, from ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from a man among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever buys an animal whose milk has been held back in its udder has the better of two choices. If he returns it, he returns with it a saʿ of food, or a saʿ of dates.” He mentioned that Abu Hanifah said the opposite.

Most routes of this hadith are from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, as a raised report.

It is also narrated from other Companions as a raised report. In al Bukhari, it is authentic from Ibn Masʿud as a stopped report. Abu Hanifah also narrated the hadith of Abu Hurayrah through al Haytham from Ibn Sirin from Abu Hurayrah as a raised report. There is no issue with the chain. It is authentic without doubt.

However, the scope of the jurist is wider, and his look at a hadith is not limited to one side. He may see in it a cause that stops him from taking it on its plain meaning, which another person does not see.

This jurist gives great care to whether the hadith matches agreed foundations, more than that other person does, and so the discussion widens.

Malik, in his well known view, al Layth, al Shafiʿi, Ahmad, Ishaq, and others took its plain meaning.

They said: If the buyer finds that the cow’s milk was held back, meaning the seller held it in the udder for days so the buyer thinks it is rich in milk, then the buyer returns it to the seller with a saʿ in return for the milk he took while it was with him.

Abu Hanifah, and Malik in another narration, Ashhab, Muhammad, Abu Yusuf in his well known view, and a group of the jurists of Iraq disagreed. They said: The buyer does not return such an animal through the option of defect. Rather, he returns for the shortfall, because there is something that stops the return.

They held that, even if the chain is sound, the hadith has severe instability and disagreement about the time period and about what is paid, in a way that reaches the core of the hadith, as is clear from surveying its wordings in the narrations in “ʿUqud al Jawahir” and elsewhere.

A sound chain alone is not enough to take a hadith on its plain meaning. The wording must also be safe from opposing what is stronger than it: the Book, the Sunnah, and an agreed foundation. Irregularity and hidden defect stop acting on it, so one stops acting on its plain meaning.

This hadith is defective because it opposes the general meaning of the Book of Allah about repaying aggression with the like. Allah, Most High, said:

فَمَنِ اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ فَاعْتَدُوا عَلَيْهِ بِمِثْلِ مَا اعْتَدَىٰ عَلَيْكُمْ

“So whoever attacks you, then attack him with the like of what he attacked you with.” (al Baqarah 194)

And He said:

وَإِنْ عَاقَبْتُمْ فَعَاقِبُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا عُوقِبْتُمْ بِهِ

“And if you punish, then punish with the like of what you were punished with.” (an Nahl 126)

These two verses make repayment by the like necessary. A saʿ of dates is neither the like nor the value of the milk consumed by the buyer while it was with him.

A milk held animal may produce, during the days it remains with the buyer, milk whose value is many times a saʿ of dates, and this is clear.

Then the hadith “al kharaj bi al daman” was graded authentic by al Tirmidhi, and most jurists acted upon it. So this milk is not guaranteed, since the animal is under the buyer’s liability. Yet the earlier hadith makes the milk guaranteed with a saʿ of dates.

They also set out ways in which the hadith of the milk held animal opposes agreed foundations. They said: it made return obligatory without defect and without a condition, and it fixed the option at three days, while three days is only fixed for the option of condition. It made return after part of the sold item is gone.

It made a substitute stand for what was taken. It fixed it as dates and food, while destroyed property is only guaranteed by the like or by value. It treated food as a fungible item. It leads to riba if the price of the animal was dates, since it adds a saʿ of dates. It also leads to joining value with the exchange, between the payment and what is being paid for.

These are eight oppositions to foundations, which require leaving the plain meaning, even if Ibn al ʿArabi tried to answer all of them. To leave the conflict, they took different ways. ʿIsa ibn Aban said: This was in the days when punishment included taking wealth, then it was abrogated by the verse on repaying aggression with the like.

Al Tahawi said: Rather, it was abrogated by the hadith “al kharaj bi al daman”. The scholar al Kashmiri said: In holding the milk back there is deception.

When deception is by speech, rescinding is required by court ruling as well. When deception is by action, it is not handled in court, but rescinding becomes required in religion, as Ibn al Humam stated. So the hadith of the milk held animal falls under rescinding in religion. In this way, the hadith is neither abandoned nor opposed to foundations.

As for Imam Ibn al Qayyim’s statement, “How can wudu with nabidh be in line with foundations while the hadith of the milk held animal opposes foundations,” it follows his way of making things sound worse and acting as if he does not know.

It is not hidden from him that the nabidh used for wudu when no other water is present is water carried by the traveller, and he throws a few dates in it to sweeten it slightly, as is the habit of the Arabs. This is not the strong nabidh that our scholars meant here at all. He knows that, but his habit is to stir trouble.

Then the opposition of the hadith of the milk held animal to foundations is not opposition to bare analogy. It opposed several verses and hadith reports, and they reconciled it with them as we explained.

As for mentioning the understanding of the narrator here, and counting Abu Hurayrah as not a jurist, Abu Hanifah and his companions are free of that claim. It is not established from ʿIsa ibn Aban either.

As for preferring one narration over another by the juristic understanding of the narrator, especially where narration by meaning occurs, as Abu Hanifah did with al Awzaʿi in the issue of raising the hands at bowing, it must be followed.

Ibn ʿUyaynah reported that Imam Abu Hanifah met Imam al Awzaʿi, may Allah have mercy on them, in Makkah, in the house of the tailors. Al Awzaʿi said: Why do you not raise your hands at bowing and at rising from it? Abu Hanifah said: Because nothing about it is sound from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Al Awzaʿi said: How can it not be sound when al Zuhri narrated to me from Salim from his father, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to raise his hands when he began the prayer, and at bowing, and at rising from it?

Abu Hanifah said: Hammad narrated to us from Ibrahim from ʿAlqamah and al Aswad, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, that the Prophet ﷺ did not raise his hands except at the beginning of the prayer, then he did not return to any of that.

Al Awzaʿi said: I narrate to you from al Zuhri from Salim from his father, and you say, “Hammad narrated to me from Ibrahim”? Abu Hanifah said: Hammad was more knowledgeable in fiqh than al Zuhri. Ibrahim was more knowledgeable in fiqh than Salim.

ʿAlqamah is not less than Ibn ʿUmar in fiqh, even if Ibn ʿUmar has companionship and virtue. Al Aswad has great virtue, and ʿAbd Allah is ʿAbd Allah.

After mentioning this story, al Kamal ibn al Humam said: He preferred by the juristic understanding of the narrators, just as al Awzaʿi preferred by the loftiness of the chain. (See “Fath al Qadir”, 1/219.)

As for Abu Hurayrah, the reality is that he was not, at the beginning of his matter, a jurist, and he did not know writing, and he only stayed with the Prophet ﷺ for three years. Then he continued narrating hadith reports and studying knowledge until he became, without dispute, among the major jurists among the Companions. This is the sound view about him, and Allah knows best.

The memoriser ʿAbd al Qadir al Qurashi has a separate treatise verifying what relates to the hadith of the milk held animal, and he pointed to it at the end of his “Tabaqat” (“Al Nukat al Tarifah”, pages 90–92.)

Ibn Abi Shaybah also said: “Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered the masjid of Banu ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf and prayed in it.

Men from the Ansar entered upon him, and Suhayb entered with them. I asked Suhayb: What did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ do when they greeted him with salam? He said: “He gestured with his hand.” He mentioned that Abu Hanifah said: He does not do that.

There are hadith reports indicating that people greeted the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with salam while he was praying, and he replied to them with his hand or his finger. A group counted that as replying to salam by gesture in prayer, so they permitted replying by gesture in prayer to salam, among them Malik, al Shafiʿi, and Ahmad.

There are also hadith reports indicating that people greeted him with salam while he was praying, and he did not reply to them, neither by gesture nor otherwise. After he finished his prayer, he said to them: “In prayer there is preoccupation.”

This shows that the one praying is excused, due to that preoccupation, from replying to salam, and it is a prohibition for others from giving salam to the one praying, as al Tahawi says.

In the hadith of ʿAbd Allah in Muslim: “We used to greet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with salam while he was praying and he would reply to us. When we returned from the Negus, we greeted him and he did not reply to us.” In these two hadith reports there is a clear text denying reply to salam in prayer in an absolute way, which includes speech and gesture, because the denial is broader than both.

The hadith of Abu Dawud: ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿid narrated to us, Yunus ibn Bukayr narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, from Yaʿqub ibn ʿUtbah ibn al Akhnas, from Abu Ghatfan, from Abu Hurayrah, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Tasbih is for men and clapping is for women,” meaning in prayer. “Whoever makes a gesture in his prayer that is understood from him must repeat it,” meaning the prayer. Abu Dawud said: “This hadith is mistaken.” End.

He did not explain the reason. ʿAbd Allah is trustworthy among the narrators used by the group. Yunus is truthful among the narrators used by Muslim. Muhammad ibn Ishaq has long been discussed, and many critics graded him trustworthy without qualification.

The settled view with most scholars is that he is a mudallis, and his hadith is not used as proof on its own when he narrates with “from”. Yet that does not require rejecting everything he narrates with “from”.

The companions of our approach act on his narration when it indicates what is more cautious, especially when there are supporting indicators. Ibn al Madini, the shaykh of al Bukhari, used his hadith as proof. So rejecting his “from” form is not agreed upon.

His hadith is considered in the chapter of caution when supported by indicators. Yaʿqub ibn ʿUtbah is trustworthy. Abu Ghatfan ibn Tarif is trustworthy and not unknown, except to the one whose ignorance is large.

So Abu Hanifah and his companions acted on these hadith reports and prevented gesture to reply to salam in prayer, even though they did not say the prayer becomes invalid by gesture alone.

They counted the hadith reports of gesture as being between two meanings: either they indicate prohibition from giving salam to the one praying, or they indicate reply to salam at the lowest level. The first meaning is supported by the hadith: “In prayer there is preoccupation.” When a meaning is possible, using it as proof falls away.

So what our scholars held matches the honour of prayer and the caution required by those hadith reports that prevent gesture in prayer to reply to salam. Also, with the ulama, a prohibiting proof is given priority over a permitting proof when they conflict.

Allah knows best. (“Al Nukat al Tarifah”, pages 247–248.)

The Imam’s Jurisprudence

Abu Hanifah would do his best to avoid wasting the action of a sane person as much as possible.

He would protect the side of the poor, slaves, and all the weak in disputed rulings. He would explain proofs that can hold more than one meaning in a way that benefits the one on whom punishments may be carried out, by taking the principle of preventing legal punishments when there are doubts.

After research and careful searching, the shaykh doctor concludes by setting out many points that show that the imam’s trends were aiming at social directions, and they are as follows:

First: Making matters easy in worship and dealings. This is among the foundations of the Sharia. Then he mentions many issues that confirm this Qurʾan principle:

وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ
“There is no hardship that He has placed upon you in the religion.” (al Hajj 78)

Among these issues:

In the chapter of purification, from the section of worship, Abu Hanifah held that if impurity touches the body or clothing, it is permissible to wash it away with any pure liquid that removes it, and it is not limited to water alone. He said that among what Abu Hanifah used as proof for this is the saying of Allah Most High:

وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ
“And your clothing, purify it.” (al Muddaththir 4)

This is an absolute text, and it is not permissible to restrict it without proof. Likewise, the Messenger ﷺ ordered the washing of a vessel when a dog licks in it, and washing is not limited to water.

Also, what is required is removing what clings to the body or clothing of impurity, and just as that occurs with water, it occurs with other than water, such as vinegar and rose water and the like. Rather, removing impurity with these and similar liquids can be stronger and more complete, as is known. (From “al Ghurrat al Munifah”, page 14.)

In the chapter of sales, from the section of dealings, Abu Hanifah and his companions permit buying something the buyer has not seen. In that case, the buyer has the choice to confirm the sale or cancel it.

They report about this that the Messenger ﷺ said: “Whoever buys something he has not seen has the choice when he sees it. If he wishes, he takes it, and if he wishes, he leaves it.”

They also use as proof what is reported about this: that ʿUthman, may Allah be pleased with him, sold land he owned in Basrah to Talhah ibn ʿUbayd Allah, may Allah be pleased with him. It was said to Talhah: “You have been cheated.”

He said: “I have the choice, because I bought what I did not see.”

It was said to ʿUthman: “You have been cheated.” He said: “I have the choice, because I sold what I did not see.”

So they appointed Jubayr ibn Mutʿim, may Allah be pleased with him, to judge between them, and he ruled that the choice belongs to Talhah.

That was in the presence of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, without any rejection. So it was a consensus. (Al Zaylaʿi, Sharh al Kanz, 4/25, and al Kasani, Badaʾiʿ al Sanaʾiʿ, 2/292.)

Protecting the side of the poor and the weak, and this is what the Noble Qurʾan advises. Then he mentioned issues that confirm this Qurʾan principle, including what he says in the chapter of zakah, from the section of worship:

The jurists differed over whether zakah is obligatory, or not obligatory, on jewellery of gold or silver. The imam and his companions held it is obligatory, and this is the view of many Companions, such as ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al ʿAs, and Abu Musa al Ashʿari, may Allah be pleased with them. It is also the view of most of the Tabiʿin.

Al Shafiʿi held, in one of his views, that it is not obligatory. Among what Abu Hanifah used as proof is what Abu Dawud and al Nasai reported, and al Nawawi said: its chain is good, that a woman came to the Prophet ﷺ and on her daughter’s hand were two bracelets of gold. The Messenger ﷺ said: “Do you pay the zakah of this?”

She said: “No.”

He said: “Would you like Allah to put two bracelets of fire on you because of them on the Day of Resurrection?” So she removed them and threw them to the Messenger ﷺ, and said: “They are for Allah and His Messenger.”

Al Daraqutni reported from ʿAlqamah from Ibn Masʿud, may Allah be pleased with him, that a woman came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: “I have jewellery, and my daughter is my brother’s orphan. Is it enough for me to put the zakah of the jewellery into them?”

He said: “Yes.”

In the chapter of theft, from the section of dealings, he says: it can happen that someone steals and his right hand is cut, then he returns and his left foot is cut, then he returns a second time. What is the ruling?

Abu Hanifah held that nothing more is cut from him. Rather, he is disciplined, and he remains in prison until he repents.

As for Abu Hanifah’s proof, it is what is reported from our master ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, in such a case, when he said: “I am ashamed before Allah that I do not leave for him a hand with which he eats and cleans himself, and a foot with which he walks.”

By that, he argued against the rest of the Companions, so the legal punishment was prevented, so that the punishment does not become destruction by losing the limbs by which he grasps and walks. (From “al Ghurrat al Munifah”, pages 172–173.)

Correcting a person’s actions as much as possible. We begin this direction by mentioning a truly striking issue: the Islam of a sensible child before he reaches adulthood.

Is his Islam valid and considered true, or is his Islam not valid? Abu Hanifah held that his Islam is valid, while al Shafiʿi held that it is not valid. That is because, if his Islam were valid, it would become obligatory upon him.

If it were obligatory upon him, the Sharia would not permit leaving it, because leaving Islam after it becomes obligatory is disbelief, and the Lawgiver does not permit confirming someone upon disbelief.

As for Abu Hanifah, he held that the sensible child, when he believes in Allah, His Messenger, and His Sharia, has performed a reality that cannot be rejected. So his Islam is valid.

Then, we permit the action of a discerning child if the action benefits him with pure benefit, such as accepting a gift.

So, even more so, we permit this action which gives him happiness in this life and the next. Also, it is established that ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, entered Islam when he was eight or ten years old, meaning he was a child who had not reached adulthood, and the Prophet ﷺ confirmed his Islam. ʿAli himself would take pride in that, until it was reported that he said:

سَبَقْتُكُمْ إِلَى الْإِسْلَامِ طُرًّا صَغِيرًا مَا بَلَغْتُ أَوَانَ حُلْمِي
“I surpassed you all in entering Islam, as a young child, before I reached the time of adulthood.” (From “al Ghurrat al Munifah”, page 126.)

Fourth: Protecting a person’s freedom and humanity. Abu Hanifah respects the choice and freedom of an adult woman in marrying the one she sees good to marry. He does not give her guardian authority over her.

She may carry out her marriage contract herself, as long as her legal capacity is complete, the one she marries is suitable for her and her family, and the dowry is the dowry of her peers.

He held that one person’s authority over another is not valid unless there is a need, because it goes against freedom, which is a human right for all people. For that reason, he established for a young man, when he reaches adulthood and is sane, the right to marry himself by himself.

So there is no meaning to separating him from a woman in that right, especially since she has full authority over her wealth as well.

The imam, then, uses analogy here, but he also finds support for his view in the Noble Qurʾan, which connects the marriage contract to the woman when Allah says:

وَإِذَا طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ فَبَلَغْنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَلَا تَعْضُلُوهُنَّ أَنْ يَنْكِحْنَ أَزْوَاجَهُنَّ إِذَا تَرَاضَوْا بَيْنَهُمْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ذَٰلِكَ يُوعَظُ بِهِ مَنْ كَانَ مِنْكُمْ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَزْكَىٰ لَكُمْ وَأَطْهَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“And when you divorce women and they reach their term, then do not prevent them from marrying their husbands if they agree between themselves in what is right. That is what is advised to whoever among you believes in Allah and the Last Day. That is purer for you and cleaner. Allah knows and you do not know.” (al Baqarah 232)

He also finds support for his view in hadith. The Messenger ﷺ said: “The guardian has no authority over the previously married woman.”

He also said: “The woman without a husband has more right to herself than her guardian.”

The word refers to a woman who has no husband, whether she is a virgin or previously married, according to what is correct among the people of language. (See Ikhtilaf Abi Hanifah wa Ibn Abi Layla, pages 175–176, and al Mabsut, 5/10.)

Fifth: Protecting the authority of the state as represented by the Muslim imam. If a man brings dead land to life, does he own it even without the imam’s permission, or must he have the imam’s permission?

Here Abu Hanifah differed from his two companions, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn al Hasan.

They held that whoever brings dead land to life owns it by that, whether the imam permits it or not. Abu Hanifah held that bringing it to life must be with the imam’s permission. If he did it without permission, he does not own what he revived.

I say: similarly, a charitable endowment does not become binding unless the judge rules it binding, according to the imam.

If the judge rules it, it becomes binding upon the one who made it. If the judge has not ruled it, it is not binding, so he may return from his endowment whenever he wishes. They both held that it becomes binding by the endowment itself and does not stop upon the judge’s ruling. (From “Muhadarat fi Tarikh al Fiqh al Islami”, part 3, “Abu Hanifah al Nuʿman”, with selection and slight editing by deleting a small amount, pages 85–114.)

The Imam’s Hadith

We presented the imam’s proofs when we mentioned the foundations of his approach. We saw that among those foundations is the Prophetic Sunnah, which Allah made revelation from Him, and He made it tied to the Noble Qurʾan, to the point that they are hardly understood except together.

A very large amount of the verses and topics of the Qurʾan do not become clear except through the Sunnah. The numbers of the prayers, their form, their conditions, their pillars, what breaks them, and what is disliked in them, is only known by the Sunnah, even though Allah mentioned prayer in the Qurʾan more than seventy times.

The amounts, types of wealth, and the amount due in zakah is only known by the Sunnah, even though Allah joined zakah with prayer and mentioned it in the Qurʾan more than seventy times.

The same is said for fasting, pilgrimage, and the other foundations of Islam. Allah mentioned them in the Qurʾan as foundations and general rules, and the Sunnah came to explain and clarify.

The Prophet ﷺ said, to explain the link of Islam to the Qurʾan and Sunnah, and that they are the source of good and happiness in this life and the next for the individual and the community: “I have left among you what, if you hold to it, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.” (Reported by al Hakim in his “al Mustadrak”.)

Allah said, to explain the virtue of the Sunnah and its role in the Qurʾan:

وَأَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الذِّكْرَ لِتُبَيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ مَا نُزِّلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
“And We sent down to you the Reminder so that you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them, so that they may reflect.” (an Nahl 44)

The imam, may Allah have mercy on him, lived in the time of the Tabiʿin and those who followed them with excellence.

The scholar in those times was the one who knew and understood the Qurʾan, the Sunnah, and the statements of the early generations. So it is not surprising that we find the imam, may Allah have mercy on him, and he is among the Tabiʿin, memorising much of the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ after he had memorised the Qurʾan in his childhood.

The imam took much hadith from its leading narrators until he gathered boxes of it. He selected the reports he acted upon from forty thousand hadith reports, after taking the hadith of Kufah, Iraq, and elsewhere.

The hadith scholar would come to Kufah, and when he sat to narrate, the imam would send some of his students to listen to the hadith from him, and to see whether he had hadith reports the imam did not have, so he could take them from him.

However, he was kept from narrating hadith widely by his work in understanding hadith, understanding its meaning, gathering its texts, setting out his legal issues, unifying its rulings, and knowing what abrogates and what is abrogated, what is general and what is specific, and what is absolute and what is restricted.

For that reason, he was not widely known for sitting for public hadith narration, or for travelling only to narrate and take hadith.

Al Hasan ibn Ziyad said: the imam would narrate four thousand hadith reports, two thousand through Hammad, and two thousand through the rest of the shaykhs.

The imam was busy extracting issues from hadith. He narrated hadith less than others. Many of the Companions were like that, such as Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them. They were busy with acting, not with narrating, so their narration was less. (“Aʿlam al Akhyar min Fuqahaʾ Madhhab al Nuʿman al Mukhtar”, by Mahmud ibn Sulayman al Kafawi. A good manuscript copy exists in the Mahmudiyyah Library of al Masjid al Nabawi, and it is about 808 pages.)

Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was the most knowledgeable in fiqh among the Companions, the closest in companionship, and the most constant in staying with the Messenger ﷺ.

Yet, only around three hundred hadith reports were narrated from him from the Messenger ﷺ, because of his constant closeness to him, so he received from his light and from the light of revelation sent down upon him ﷺ.

Then, during his short caliphate, he was busy confirming the foundations of Islam and its authority by fighting the apostates and those who refused to pay zakah.

He also did a great service in preserving the Book of Allah, through ensuring its writing, collecting it, and keeping copies of it in his home, after removing what was abrogated in recitation.

A look at the imam’s many legal issues and fatwas, and his many letters and writings, gives clear proof that the imam, may Allah have mercy on him, had memorised hadith and was greatly busy with the hadith of the Messenger ﷺ.

His Memorisation of Hadith and His Books in It

First: Imam Zakariya ibn Yahya al Ansari mentioned in his virtues, with his chain to Yahya ibn Nasr ibn Hajib, that he said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “I have boxes of hadith, and I only took out from them a small amount that people benefit from.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/96.)

Al Muwafaq reported with his chain to Ibn Jurayj, that he said: “Abu Hanifah did not give a ruling in any issue except from a firm foundation. If we wished, we could explain that.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/95–96.)

He also reported with his chain to al Hasan ibn Ziyad that he said: “The imam would narrate four thousand hadith reports in rulings, two thousand through Hammad, and two thousand through the rest of the shaykhs. He selected the reports from forty thousand hadith reports.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/95–96.)

Nuʿaym ibn ʿAmr said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “It is strange that people say I give rulings by opinion. I only give rulings by reports.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/95–96.)

Al Harithi reported with his chain to Abu Yusuf, that he said: “I used to bring Abu Hanifah hadith reports. Some he would accept and some he would reject. He would say: this is not authentic, or this is not known.”

Al Qadi al Saymari reported with his chain to Abu Yusuf, that he said: “I never disagreed with Abu Hanifah in anything, then reflected on it, except that I saw his view in it as safer for the Hereafter. Sometimes I would lean to a hadith, but he was more aware of the authentic hadith than I was.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/95–96.)

Second: among what clearly shows his work with the noble hadith, in narration and writing, are the many musnads that he left behind, which his companions narrated from him.

His hadith was gathered into seventeen musnads. Fifteen of them were gathered, after removing repeats, by Imam Abu al Muʾayyad al Khwarizmi, who died in 665 AH. It is printed in India in two volumes.

Mahmud Hasan Khan al Tunkī said in “Muʿjam al Musannifin”, after some words: (This dictionary is sixty volumes and contains twenty thousand pages. Only three parts were printed, paid for by the government of Hyderabad. May Allah ease for it a sincere and active person to print it fully, so that people benefit from it and increase in making supplication for the author, may Allah have mercy on him. See “Muʿjam al Musannifin”, 2/120–121.)

“A large group of ulama gathered the imam’s hadith, from the group of hadith scholars and precise memorizers, including: the great memoriser Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al Asbahani, who died in 381 AH, from the Hanbalis; the trustworthy memoriser Imam Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Duri al Baghdadi, who died in 331 AH; the memoriser Sadr al Din Musa ibn Zakariya al Misri, known as al Haskafi, who died in 650 AH; the memoriser Najm al Din al Kubra Ahmad ibn ʿUmar al Zahid, well known, who died in 618 AH; Qasim ibn Qutlubugha al Misri, who died in 879 AH;

the memoriser Abu Muhammad ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Harithi, known as al Ustadh al Sabadmuni, who died in 340 AH; the memoriser Abu al Qasim Talhah ibn Muhammad al Baghdadi, who died in 380 AH;

the scholar, memoriser, and proof Abu al Hasan Muhammad ibn al Muzaffar ibn Musa al Baghdadi, who died in 379 AH; the famous memoriser Imam Abu Nuʿaym Ahmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al Asbahani, who died in 430 AH;

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al Baqi al Ansari, who died in 536 AH; the memoriser Imam and proof Abu Ahmad ʿAbd Allah al Jurjani, known as Ibn ʿAdi, who died in 365 AH; al Hasan ibn Ziyad al Luʾluʾi, who died in 240 AH;

the memoriser ʿUmar ibn al Hasan al Ashnani, who died in 349 AH; the memoriser Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid al Kalaʿi; al Qadi Abu Yusuf, Imam Yaʿqub ibn Ibrahim al Ansari, who died in 182 AH; Imam Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Shaybani, who died in 187 AH;

Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman ibn Thabit al Kufi; the memoriser Abu al Qasim ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al ʿAwwam al Saʿdi; and the memoriser Abu ʿAbd Allah Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Khusraw al Balkhi, who died in 576 AH.” (It was said that Ibn ʿAdi spoke harshly against Abu Hanifah and his companions. When he connected with Imam al Tahawi and took knowledge from him, his situation improved, so he authored this musnad of the imam’s hadith.)

He then said: “These last fifteen musnads were gathered by Abu al Muʾayyad al Khwarizmi, who died in 665 AH. As for the author of “Kashf al Zunun”, he also mentioned the musnad of al Mawardi.

This is the clearest proof, with no proof above it, that the imam was among the memorizers of hadith and among those who narrated much. That is because hadith scholars only cared to gather the hadith of someone who listened and narrated in large amount from hadith masters.”

The imam, may Allah have mercy on him, was the first to compile the Prophetic hadith arranged by the chapters of jurisprudence, beginning with the chapters of purification, then prayer, and so on.

The ulama after him followed his way and followed his pattern. The precise jurist and contemporary scholar Abu al Wafaʾ al Afghani said in the introduction to his commentary on “Kitab al Athar”, by Imam Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him:

“The first book authored in the knowledge of the Prophetic hadith, its reports, its news, the statements of the Companions and those after them, and the best of them in arrangement and selection, arranged by chapters, is “Kitab al Athar” of the imam of imams, the greatest imam Abu Hanifah ibn Thabit al Taymi, the Persian, the Kufi.

Then the imams of the lands followed his pattern: Ibn Jurayj in Makkah, Malik ibn Anas in Madinah, Saʿid ibn Abi ʿArubah and ʿUthman al Batti in Basrah, and al Awzaʿi in al Sham. He selected this book from among thousands of raised and stopped reports.

Al Muwafaq said in the sixth chapter of the virtues of the imam and his companions, printed by Daʾirat al Maʿarif in Hyderabad, 1/95: Muhammad ibn Shujaʿ mentioned in his writings more than seventy thousand hadith reports from the Prophet ﷺ, and within them what is similar from the Companions. Abu Hanifah selected the reports from forty thousand hadith reports.” (Muqaddimat Sharh al Athar, 1/1. See also “Tabyid al Sahifah fi Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah”, by al Suyuti, where the like is found.)

ʿAbd al Rashid al Nuʿmani said in his notes on “Kitab al Taʿlim”: among them is the memoriser of his age and deep ocean of hadith Abu al ʿAbbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Saʿid al Kufi, known as Ibn ʿUqdah, who died in 332 AH.

Badr al Din Mahmud al ʿAyni said in his large history: the musnad of Abu Hanifah by Ibn ʿUqdah alone contains more than one thousand hadith reports, and it is other than those musnads.

Among them is the memoriser Hafiz Ibn Shahin, who died in 385 AH. Among them is the famous hadith scholar al Daraqutni, who died in 385 AH. Imam al Kawthari mentioned these three musnads in “al Taʾnib”, page 156.

Among them is the memoriser and ascetic ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Ansari, who died in 481 AH. He gathered a book in the hadith of the imam for his student Saʿid ibn Sayyar al Harawi, “Musnad Khurasan”. (Muqaddimat al Taʿlim, page 216 and what follows.)

Al Samʿani said: he was a jurist, a religious man, skilled in debate, with good conduct.

He heard from his grandfather Abu al ʿAlaʾ Saʿid ibn Sayyar and others, and al Tirmidhi heard from him through his narration from al Qadi Abu ʿAmir al Jarahi from al Mahbubi from him. “The book of the hadith reports that Abu Hanifah narrated” was gathered by ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Ansari for his grandfather al Qadi Saʿid, through his narration from him.

Among them is the travelling and prolific memoriser Abu al Fadl Muhammad ibn Tahir ibn ʿAli al Maqdisi, known as Ibn al Qaysarani, who died in 507 AH. He gathered a book on the ends of Abu Hanifah’s hadith reports, as is stated in his biography attached to his book “al Jamʿ bayn al Sahihayn”.

Among them is the great memoriser of al Sham Abu al Qasim ibn ʿAli ibn al Hasan ibn Hibat Allah, known as Ibn ʿAsakir, who died in 571 AH. Among his writings is “Musnad Abi Hanifah”, as Imam al Kawthari mentioned in what he wrote upon “Tabyin Kadhib al Muftari”, and as Kurd ʿAli mentioned in his introduction to “Tarikh Dimashq”.

Among them is ʿIsa al Jaʿfari al Maghribi, who died in 1080 AH. Wali al Dahlawi mentioned him in “Insan al ʿAyn fi Mashayikh al Haramayni”.

He said: he compiled a musnad for Imam Abu Hanifah and he brought in it a connected chain to the imam, and so on.

The hadith scholar and jurist Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Salihi al Dimashqi said: Abu Hanifah was among the great memorizers of hadith and the leading ones. If he had not had great care for hadith, it would not have been possible for him to extract the issues of jurisprudence.

Al Dhahabi mentioned him in “Tabaqat al Huffaz”, and he was correct and did well. Then he said: narration from him was less, even though his memorisation was wide, because he was busy with extracting rulings.

Likewise, only a small amount was narrated from Malik and al Shafiʿi compared to what they heard, for the same reason.

The narration of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them, from among the greatest Companions, was also less compared to the amount they knew, while those below them narrated more than them.

Then he mentioned reports that show how much hadith Abu Hanifah had, and then he listed his chains in narrating the seventeen musnads of Abu Hanifah, and the collectors of them, as proof of how much hadith he had. (“ʿUqud al Juman”, the twenty third chapter, manuscript.)

His Understanding of Hadith

Al Tirmidhi and others reported from Zayd ibn Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: “May Allah brighten a man who hears a hadith from us, then preserves it until he delivers it to another.

Many a carrier of understanding carries it to one more understanding than him, and many a carrier of understanding is not a person of understanding.” It is an authentic hadith.

The imam, may Allah have mercy on him, had a strong and great understanding of what reached him from the hadith of the Messenger ﷺ. Allah would open for him in it what was hidden from some of his shaykhs, let alone his students.

ʿAli al Qari mentioned in “Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifah” that Abu Hanifah was with al Aʿmash when a man asked him an issue. The imam answered: such and such. Al Aʿmash said: “From where did you get this?”

He said: “You narrated to us from Abu Salih from Abu Hurayrah, and from Abu Waʾil from ʿAbd Allah, and from Abu Iyas from Abu Masʿud al Ansari, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said such and such. You narrated to us from Abu Mijlaz from Hudhayfah from him such and such.

You narrated to us from Abu al Zubayr from Jabir such and such. You narrated to us from Yazid al Raqashi from Anas from him such and such.”

Al Aʿmash said: “That is enough. What you narrated to me in one hundred days, you narrated to me in one hour. I did not know you act upon these hadith reports. O jurists, you are the doctors and we are the pharmacists, and you, O man, took both ends.” (Manaqib al Imam al Qari, 484.)

Al Aʿmash said to him one day: “If knowledge were by seeking and meeting, I would be more understanding than you, but it is a gift from Allah Most High.” (Al Muwafaq, 2/156, and Tarikh al Khatib, 13/339.)

Al Khatib reported in his history with his chain to Abu Ghassan, that he said: I heard Israʾil say: “What an excellent man Nuʿman was. How well he preserved every hadith that contains understanding. How strongly he searched into it, and how well he knew the understanding within it. He had mastered what he took from Hammad.” (Tarikh al Khatib, 13.)

Abu Yusuf said: “I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable in explaining hadith and the subtle points within it than Abu Hanifah.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/28.)

Al Muwafaq reported with his chain to ʿAli ibn Hashim, that he said: “Abu Hanifah was a treasure of knowledge. Whatever issues were difficult for the most knowledgeable people were easy for Abu Hanifah.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/28.)

Zufar said: “The great hadith masters, such as Zakariya ibn Abi Zaʾidah, ʿAbd al Malik ibn Abi Sulayman, al Layth ibn Abi Sulaym, Mutarrif ibn Tarif, Husayn ibn ʿAbd al Rahman, and others, used to go to Abu Hanifah and ask him about issues that happened to them, and about hadith meanings that were unclear to them.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/152.)

Al Muwafaq reported with his chain to Muhammad ibn al Hasan, that he said: I heard Abu Yusuf say: “We would speak to Abu Hanifah about a chapter of knowledge.

If he gave a view, and his companions agreed with it, or he said: we have agreed upon it, I would go around to the shaykhs of Kufah to see if I can find, to strengthen his view, a hadith or a report.

Sometimes I would find two or three hadith reports, then I would bring them to him. Some he would accept and some he would reject.

He would say: this is not authentic, or this is not known, even though it matches his view. So I would say: how do you know this? He would say: I know the knowledge of the people of Kufah.”

Abu ʿIsmah said: “He spoke truthfully. He knows the knowledge of the people of Kufah, and he knows most of the knowledge of people other than Kufah as well. The witness to that is the knowledge in his books and the narration from him in the hands of his companions.

Look into “Kitab al Salah”. Look at the beginning of his knowledge and his answers in wudu, in each limit, and in each detail.

The same is with the rest of his knowledge. Look at his answers and the reports, and reflect on how he matches the reports and the early generations, and how he follows their reports.” Then he mentioned the rest of the narration. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/152.)

Abu Yusuf said: “We would disagree on an issue, then we would come to Abu Hanifah and ask him, and it was as if he took it out of his sleeve and handed it to us.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/122.)

One Example of the Imam’s Understanding of Hadith

Al Muwafaq reported with his chain to Muhammad ibn Shujaʿ al Marwazi, that he said: al Fadl ibn ʿAtiyyah was with Abu Hanifah, and Abu Hanifah said to him: “Your son Muhammad, who does he go to?” He said: “He goes around the hadith masters and writes from them.”

He said: “Bring him to me so I can see what he is in.” He said: so he brought him. He treated him kindly and brought him close. He said: “O Muhammad, who do you go to and write from?” So he told him.

He saw a book with him, and said: “Give it to me.” So he gave it to him. He looked into it, and in its beginning was the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: “The child of fornication is the worst of the three.”

He said: “O Muhammad, what is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: the child of fornication is the worst of the three?”

He said: “It is as it is in the hadith.”

He said: “To Allah we belong and to Him we return.

You have attributed to the Prophet ﷺ what is not permissible and not valid.

In this there is a rejection of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ, and it is a statement of injustice and wrongdoing.”

Then he said: Allah said:

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ
“Every being is held by what it has earned.” (al Muddaththir 38)

لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا بِمَا عَمِلُوا
“So that He may repay those who did wrong for what they did.” (an Najm 31)

وَأَنْ لَيْسَ لِلْإِنْسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى
“And that a person will have nothing except what he worked for.” (an Najm 39)

وَمَا تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
“And you will not be repaid except for what you used to do.” (as Saffat 39)

وَوَجَدُوا مَا عَمِلُوا حَاضِرًا وَلَا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا
“And they will find what they did present, and your Lord does not wrong anyone.” (al Kahf 49)

وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ
“And your Lord is not unjust to His servants.” (Fussilat 46)

وَمَا أَنَا بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ
“And I am not unjust to the servants.” (Qaf 29)

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ
“Indeed Allah does not wrong even the weight of an atom.” (an Nisa 40)

وَنَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا
“And We will set up the just scales for the Day of Resurrection, so no being will be wronged at all.” (al Anbiya 47)

وَمَا ظَلَمْنَاهُمْ وَلَكِنْ كَانُوا هُمُ الظَّالِمِينَ
“And We did not wrong them, but they were the wrongdoers.” (az Zukhruf 76)

لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ
“For it is what it has earned, and upon it is what it has earned.” (al Baqarah 286)

إِنْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ أَحْسَنْتُمْ لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا
“If you do good, you do good for yourselves, and if you do wrong, it is against it.” (al Isra 7)

وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى
“And no bearer bears the burden of another.” (al Anʿam 164)

He said: “So whoever says what you said has opposed the Qurʾan, and has made punishment necessary for the sin of someone else, and has spoken with injustice and wrongdoing.”

Al Fadl ibn ʿAtiyyah said to him, meaning: may Allah have mercy on you, then what is it? Abu Hanifah said: “This is about a specific child of fornication who does the actions of his parents, and he joins to that other evil actions such as killing and stealing and other than that.

So it was said: he is the worst of the three, if what his parents did of fornication was not disbelief, while his action was disbelief.

So disbelief is worse than fornication, and it was said: he is the worst of the three.” He said: al Fadl ibn ʿAtiyyah said: “This is knowledge.”

He said to his son Muhammad: “Did you hear?” Abu Hanifah said: “O Muhammad, whoever seeks hadith and does not seek its explanation and its meaning, his effort is lost, and it becomes a burden upon him.”

He said: so Muhammad ibn al Fadl after that would often go to Abu Hanifah. (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 2/160.)

He also said, may Allah have mercy on him: “The example of one who seeks hadith and does not understand it is like a pharmacist who gathers medicines and does not know which illness they are for until the doctor comes. In the same way, the student of hadith does not know the meaning of his hadith until the jurist comes.” (Muhadarat fi al Fiqh al Islami, part 3, “al Imam al Aʿzam Abu Hanifah”, 3/171.)

He had, may Allah have mercy on him, a share in the principles of hadith, in knowing narrators and their states, their narration from their shaykhs, and the narration of their students from them. He had principles that the books of hadith foundations carried from the people of this field.

The hadith scholar Shaykh Masʿud ibn Shaybah al Sindi included a specific chapter in his book “al Taʿlim” for this. He said: know that Abu Hanifah’s statements were accepted in criticism and approval of narrators.

The ulama of this field received it and acted on it, just as they received from Imam Ahmad, al Bukhari, Ibn Maʿin, and others. This shows the greatness of his rank, the width of his knowledge, and his leadership.

Among that is what al Tirmidhi reported in “Kitab al ʿIlal” from “al Jamiʿ al Kabir”: Mahmud ibn Ghaylan narrated to us from Jarir from Yahya al Himmani, that he said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “I have not seen anyone more lying than Jabir al Juʿfi, and no one better than ʿAtaʾ ibn Abi Rabah.”

We reported in “al Madkhal li Maʿrifat Dalaʾil al Nubuwwah” by al Bayhaqi, with his chain from ʿAbd al Hamid al Himmani: I heard Abu Saʿid al Saghani stand to Abu Hanifah and say: “O Abu Hanifah, what do you say about taking from al Thawri?”

He said: “Write from him, for he is trustworthy, except for his hadith reports from Ishaq ibn al Harith and the hadith of Jabir al Juʿfi.”

Abu Hanifah said: Talq ibn Habib held the belief of predestination. He said: Zayd ibn ʿAyyash is weak. Suwayd ibn Saʿid narrated from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah that he said: “The first one who made me sit for hadith was Abu Hanifah.

I came to Kufah, and Abu Hanifah said: this man is the most knowledgeable of people in the hadith of ʿAmr ibn Dinar. So they gathered around me and I narrated to them.” Abu Hanifah said: “May Allah curse ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, for he opened for people a door into theology.”

Abu Hanifah said: “May Allah fight Jahm ibn Safwan and Muqatil ibn Sulayman. This one went too far in denial, meaning denying the attributes of Allah Most High, and this one went too far in likeness, meaning making Allah like His creation, as is the way of those who claim Allah is a body.”

Abu Yusuf said: Abu Hanifah said: “A man should not narrate hadith except what he memorised from the day he heard it until the day he narrates it.” Shaykh Masʿud said: for this reason Abu Hanifah’s narration was less, not for any other reason that those who attack him claim.

Abu ʿAsim said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “Recitation is permitted upon the hadith scholar,” meaning presenting books.

He said: I heard Malik ibn Anas and Sufyan, and I asked Abu Hanifah about a man who reads hadith to a shaykh, can he say: “He informed us”, or words with this meaning. They said: “There is no harm.” (“Kitab al Taʿlim”. It was printed recently in Pakistan with verification byʿAbd al Rashid al Nuʿmani)

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in the introduction to his “Tabaqat”: “This is a reminder of the names of those who declared the carriers of Prophetic knowledge reliable, and thosewhose ijtihad is returned to in declaring narrators reliable, authenticating, and exposing defects.”

This is a testimony from Imam al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) that the Imam is a memoriser, a mujtahid in hadith, one who declares narrators reliable, and a carrier of Prophetic knowledge.

ʿAli ibn al Madini (d. 234 AH) said: “Abu Hanifah, Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 AH) narrated from him, Ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH) narrated from him, Hammad ibn Zayd (d. 179 AH) narrated from him, Hushaym (d. 183 AH) narrated from him, Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah (d. 197 AH) narrated from him, ʿAbbad ibn al ʿAwwam (d. 221 AH) narrated from him, and Jaʿfar ibn ʿAwn (d. 206 AH) narrated from him, and he is trustworthy, there is no harm in him.” (Jamiʿ Bayan al ʿIlm wa Fadlihi, by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr.)

Abu Dawud al Sijistani said: “Abu Hanifah was an imam, Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH) was an imam, and al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) was an imam.” Ibn ʿAbd al Barr (d. 463 AH) said: Yahya ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH) and ʿAbd Allah ibn Ahmad al Duruqi (d. 233 AH) were asked: “Is hadith taken from Abu Hanifah?”

Yahya ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH) said: “He is a jurist.

I have not heard anyone weaken him. Shuʿbah ibn al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH) writes to him asking him to narrate at his request, and Shuʿbah is Shuʿbah.” (Al Intiqaʾ, by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr, and in it are many statements from imams praising the Imam, may Allah have mercy on him.)

Yahya ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH) was told: “O Abu Zakariyya, did Abu Hanifah speak truthfully in hadith?” He said: “Yes, truthful.” (Al Intiqaʾ, by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr.)

Yazid ibn Harun (d. 206 AH) said: “I met one thousand men, and I wrote from most of them, and I did not see among them anyone more understanding in fiqh, more careful, and more knowledgeable than five. The first of them is Abu Hanifah.” (Al Intiqaʾ, by Ibn ʿAbd al Barr.)

Makki ibn Ibrahim (d. 214 AH), one of the shaykhs of al Bukhari, said: “Abu Hanifah would speak truthfully in his words and actions.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki.)

Yahya ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH) was asked: “Did Shuʿbah ibn al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH) narrate from Abu Hanifah?”

He said: “Yes. Abu Hanifah was truthful in hadith and fiqh, trustworthy with the religion of Allah.” He praised him. (Qalaʾid ʿUqud al ʿIqyan, folio 71.)

Al Hafiz Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH) mentioned in “Tahdhib al Tahdhib”: Muhammad ibn Saʿd al ʿAwfi (d. 230 AH) said: I heard Ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH) say: “Abu Hanifah was trustworthy.

He would not narrate except what he memorised, and he would not narrate what he did not memorise.” (Tahdhib al Tahdhib, 10/45, and see al Khayrat al Hisan, and Injāʾ al Watan.)

Al Muwafaq al Makki reported in his virtues, with his chain to Yahya ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH), that he said: Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan (d. 198 AH) said: “We sat with Abu Hanifah, by Allah, and we listened from him. By Allah, when I looked at him, I knew from his face that he feared Allah, Mighty and Majestic.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/161.)

Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan (d. 198 AH), the imam of criticism and approval of narrators, said: “By Allah, he is the most knowledgeable of this ummah in what came from Allah and His Messenger.” (Muqaddimat al Taʿlim.)

Makki ibn Ibrahim (d. 214 AH) said: “Abu Hanifah was ascetic, knowledgeable, desiring the Hereafter, truthful of tongue, and the greatest memoriser of the people of his time.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq, 1/213.)

Imam Abu Jaʿfar al Tahawi (d. 321 AH) said in “Maghani al Akhyar min Rijal al Athar”: “Abu Hanifah, the greatest imam, is trustworthy, firm, a well known jurist.”

Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 AH) said: “The one who opposes Abu Hanifah needs to be higher than him in rank and greater than him in knowledge, and it is far that this exists.”

Makki ibn Ibrahim (d. 214 AH), the shaykh of al Bukhari and the one from whom most of al Bukhari’s three chain narrations are, said: “He was the most knowledgeable of the people of his time.” (Injāʾ al Watan.)

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in “Tadhkirat al Huffaz”: “Logic, debate, and the wisdom of the earliest philosophers were not, by Allah, from the knowledge of the Companions, nor the Tabiʿin, nor al Awzaʿi (d. 157 AH), nor al Thawri (d. 161 AH), nor Malik (d. 179 AH), nor Abu Hanifah. Rather, their knowledge was the Qurʾan and hadith and what is similar.” (Tadhkirat al Huffaz, summarised, 1/192.)

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in the biography of the Imam, may Allah have mercy on him: “Abu Hanifah, the greatest imam, the jurist of Iraq, al Nuʿman ibn Thabit ibn Zuti, al Taymi, their freedman, the Kufi.

He was born in the year eighty. He saw Anas ibn Malik more than once when he came to Kufah, as was narrated by Sayf ibn Saʿd from Sayf ibn Jabir, that he heard Abu Hanifah say it.

He narrated from ʿAtaʾ, Nafiʿ, ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Hormuz al Aʿraj, ʿAdi ibn Thabit, Salamah ibn Kuhayl, Abu Jaʿfar Muhammad ibn ʿAli, Qatadah, ʿAmr ibn Dinar, Abu Ishaq, and many others.” (Al Radd al Muhkam)

His Foundations in Acting Upon Texts

The Imam was a jurist and a mujtahid, a memoriser of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ, and the legal verdicts and statements of the Companions, and the statements of the Tabiʿin who followed them with excellence. He was not merely a narrator of hadith and a vessel for it.

Because of that, important principles were reported from him. Many followed him in them, in accepting texts, arranging them when they seem to conflict, and preferring some over others when there is conflict, and other matters that the later ulama of usul wrote about under the title “arranging the proofs” and what resembles it.

He was not an innovator in that, Allah forbid, since he is from the Tabiʿin, and he was not a person of desire and personal interest.

Rather, his support was the statements and legal verdicts of the Companions, and the statements and legal verdicts of the Tabiʿin who followed them with excellence, and the statements of the people of language.

ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, preferred analogy over a singular report in the following issue. Ibn Masʿud, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about a woman whose husband died and he had not set a dowry for her.

He said: “I did not see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rule on this.”

They differed with him for a month and insisted, so he made ijtihad by his view and ruled that she has the dowry of women like her, without reduction and without excess, and she must observe the waiting period, and she inherits.

Then Maʿqil ibn Yasar, may Allah be pleased with him, came and testified that he ruled like that, and Ibn Masʿud rejoiced with a joy he had never rejoiced with.

Our master ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, disagreed with him about the dowry and said: “There is no dowry for her, and we do not accept the statement of a Bedouin from Ashjaʿ against the Book of Allah.” Allah said:

لَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنْ طَلَّقْتُمُ النِّسَاءَ مَا لَمْ تَمَسُّوهُنَّ أَوْ تَفْرِضُوا لَهُنَّ فَرِيضَةً
“There is no blame upon you if you divorce women before you have touched them or set for them an obligation.” (al Baqarah 236)

But the verse is about divorce, so he made analogy with it for death, so he preferred analogy over a singular report. (Reported by Muslim and al Tirmidhi. See al Fikr al Sami fi Tarikh al Fiqh al Islami, by Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Hajwi, 2/42.)

ʿUmar ibn al Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, rejected a hadith with the outward meaning of a verse.

Fatimah bint Qays, may Allah be pleased with her, testified to ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, that she was divorced with three divorces, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not give her maintenance and did not give her housing. ʿUmar rejected her testimony and said: “We do not leave the Book of Allah,” meaning the saying of Allah:

لَا تُخْرِجُوهُنَّ مِنْ بُيُوتِهِنَّ
“Do not expel them from their homes.” (al Talaq 1)

“For the statement of a woman, we do not know, did she preserve or did she forget. She has maintenance and housing.” (Al Fikr al Sami, 2/42.)

ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with him, consulted his companions about the legal punishment of wine. The report is narrated by the authors of usul. ʿAbd al Rahman ibn ʿAwf, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I think you should make it like the lightest punishments,” meaning eighty.

In al Muwattaʾ, ʿAli, may Allah be pleased with him, held that, saying: “Whoever becomes drunk speaks nonsense, and whoever speaks nonsense slanders.”

In this story, the punishment for wine was taken by analogy with the lightest legal punishment, which is slander, and it became eighty, and it was preferred over the Sunnah that was in his ﷺ time, which was set in the time of Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, as forty, which is established in the Sahih. (Al Fikr al Sami, 2/136.)

The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ differed between holding to the outward wording of texts and holding to the meaning intended by the Wise Lawgiver.

Ibn ʿAbbas, may Allah be pleased with them, took the first, and said: if someone dies leaving a husband and parents, then the husband gets half of the estate, the mother gets one third of it, and the father gets what remains, holding to the outward wording of the saying of Allah:

فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ وَلَدٌ وَوَرِثَهُ أَبَوَاهُ فَلِأُمِّهِ الثُّلُثُ
“If he has no child and his parents inherit him, then his mother has one third.” (an Nisa 11)

Zayd and the rest of the leading Companions held that she gets one third of what remains after the husband, by looking at the meaning, because she and the father, male and female, inherit by one cause, so:

لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ
“For the male is the portion of two females.” (an Nisa 11)

Like children. (Al Fikr al Sami, 2/61.)

Among these foundations is accepting the mursal narrations of the trustworthy, if they are not opposed by what is stronger than them.

Using the mursal was a passed down Sunnah that the ummah practised in the virtuous centuries, until Ibn Jarir (d. 310 AH) said: rejecting the mursal absolutely is an innovation that emerged at the beginning of the two hundreds. End, as al Baji (d. 474 AH) mentioned it in his Usul, and Ibn ʿAbd al Barr (d. 463 AH) in al Tamhid, and Ibn Rajab (d. 795 AH) in Sharh ʿIlal al Tirmidhi.

Rather, al Bukhari uses mursal narrations as proof in his Sahih, as he uses them in Juzʾ al Qiraʾah Khalf al Imam and other works.

In Sahih Muslim there are mursal narrations as well, as is clarified in “Fath al Mulhim Sharh Sahih Muslim”, by Mawlana al Muhaddith al Nuʿmani. Whoever weakens by mursal has thrown away a large part of the Sunnah that is practised.

Among his foundations is presenting singular reports to the combined foundations he had, after he had examined the materials of the Sharia.

If a singular report opposed those foundations, he would take the foundation, acting on the stronger of the two proofs, and he would consider the opposing report as anomalous. There are many examples of that in Maʿani al Athar of al Tahawi (d. 321 AH). There is no opposition to authentic hadith in that.

Rather, it is opposition to a report whose defect became clear to the mujtahid. The authenticity of a report depends on it being free from harmful defects with the mujtahid.

Among his foundations also is presenting singular reports to the general meanings of the Book and its outward meanings.

If a report opposed a general meaning or an outward meaning in the Book, he would take the Book and leave the report, acting on the stronger proof, because the Book is definitive in transmission, and its outward meanings and general meanings are definitive in indication with him, for strong proofs explained in detailed usul works such as the chapters of Abu Bakr al Razi al Jassas (d. 370 AH), and Shamil al Itqani.

As for when it does not oppose a general meaning or an outward meaning in the Book, rather it is clarifying something general in it, he takes it, since there is no indication without clarification, and this does not enter into “an addition to the Book by a singular report”, even if some who are used to causing disturbance assume that.

Among his foundations also, in taking singular reports, is that it must not oppose the well known Sunnah, whether it is a Sunnah of action or a Sunnah of statement, acting on the stronger proof.

Among his foundations also is that it must not oppose a report like it. If there is opposition, he prefers one report over the other with ways of preference in which the views of mujtahids differ, such as one narrator being a jurist, or more understanding, compared to the other.

Among his foundations also is that the narrator must not act contrary to his report, like the hadith of Abu Hurayrah about washing the vessel from the licking of the dog seven times, because it opposes the legal verdict of Abu Hurayrah, so Abu Hanifah left acting on it for that defect.

With him, in exposing defects by this, are many from the early generations, as examples are found in Sharh ʿIlal al Tirmidhi by Ibn Rajab (d. 795 AH), even if some whose understanding is closer to the outward meaning held another view.

Among his foundations also is returning what is additional, whether in the wording or in the chain, to what is less, out of caution in the religion of Allah, as Ibn Rajab mentioned. Some later companions ignored this foundation in their discussions with opponents, by forcing the opponent with what they themselves see.

Among his foundations also is not taking a singular report in matters where the need is widespread. The path of establishing it cannot be other than fame and tawatur. This includes legal punishments and expiations that are removed by doubt.

Among his foundations is that he does not leave the differing Companions in a ruling by using a report narrated by one of them as proof.

Among his foundations also, in singular reports, is that no criticism from the early generations has preceded it.

Among them is taking the lightest of what is narrated in legal punishments and penalties when narrations differ.

Among them is the narrator continuing to preserve what he narrates from the time of receiving it to the time of delivering it, without a break of forgetting.

Among them is that the narrator does not rely on his writing if he does not remember what he narrated.

Among them is taking what is safer when narrations differ in legal punishments that are removed by doubts, such as his taking the narration of cutting the thief for what is worth ten dirhams, not the narration of a quarter dinar, since that is three dirhams, so the narration of ten dirhams is safer and more deserving of trust, since it is not known which came first and which came later, so one of them can be graded as abrogating the other.

Among them is taking a report when the reports are more numerous on its side.

Among them is that the report does not oppose the inherited practice among the Companions and the Tabiʿin in any land they lived in, without restricting to one land rather than another. Al Layth ibn Saʿd (d. 175 AH) pointed to that in what he wrote to Malik (d. 179 AH).

He has other foundations like what came before, which lead him to avoid many narrations, acting on the stronger proof. (Al Taʾnib al Khatib, pages 222–225.)

Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Salihi al Shafiʿi (d. 942 AH), student of Al Suyuti (d. 911 AH) and author of the famous Sirah al Shamiyyah, said in his beneficial book “ʿUqud al Juman fi Manaqib Abi Hanifah al Nuʿman”, in its third chapter, what is its wording:

Ibn ʿAbd al Barr (d. 463 AH) said in “Kitab al Kuna”: the madhhab of Abu Hanifah in singular reports was that he did not accept what opposed the agreed foundations, so the people of hadith objected to him and went too far. He said in his book “al ʿIlm”, a book whose like has not been authored in its field:

“There is no one from the ulama of the ummah who confirms a hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and then rejects it, without claiming abrogation by a report like it, or by consensus, or by an inherited practice that his foundations require him to submit to, or by criticism in its chain.

If someone did that, his uprightness would fall, let alone that he would be taken as an imam, and the name of immorality would be necessary for him. Allah has protected them from that.” End.

Someone else said: Imam Abu Hanifah left acting on singular reports and preferred analogy over them. (Preferring analogy over a report is not what Abu Hanifah says. Rather, by agreement with analogy, he prefers one report over another report. This is not that. A response to this slander will come from al Salihi himself.)

They excused him with matters.

The first: that he did not know some of them, and this is far.

The second: that the singular report opposes the general meaning of the Book or its outward meaning.

He does not hold that the general meaning of the Qurʾan is restricted, nor that it is abrogated, by a singular report, because the general meanings and outward meanings of the Book, when they give certainty with him, are like explicit texts, and it is not permissible to restrict them and oppose them, because that is leaving acting on the stronger proof for what is weaker, and that is not permissible.

An example of that is: “The Haram does not protect one who flees,” it opposes the general meaning of the saying of Allah:

وَمَنْ دَخَلَهُ كَانَ آمِنًا
“And whoever enters it is safe.” (Al ʿImran 97)

And the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “There is no prayer for the one who does not read al Fatihah of the Book,” it opposes the general meaning of the saying of Allah:

فَاقْرَءُوا مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ
“So recite what is easy of the Qurʾan.” (al Muzzammil 20)

And the hadith of saying the name of Allah in wudu, on the assumption its authenticity is established, it opposes the saying of Allah:

وَإِذَا قُمْتُمْ إِلَى الصَّلَاةِ فَاغْسِلُوا وُجُوهَكُمْ
“And when you stand for prayer, then wash your faces.” (al Maʾidah 6)

So acting on the Book is not left for these hadith reports.

The third: that it opposes the well known Sunnah, because the well known report is above the singular report, to the point that it is permissible to add by it upon the Book, and it is not permissible by a singular report.

It is not permissible to leave the stronger for the weaker. It came opposing the well known hadith that the Prophet ﷺ said: “The proof is upon the claimant and the oath is upon the one who denies.” (Reported by al Bayhaqi, from Ibn ʿAbbas, raised. Al Shaykhan and others reported its meaning by many routes.) The explanation of the opposition is from two ways.

One of them: that the Sharia made the oath on the side of the denier, not the claimant, because the “lam” requires including the whole type. Whoever makes the claimant’s oath a proof has opposed the well known text and has not acted by its requirement, which is inclusion.

The second: that the Sharia made the disputants two types, a claimant and a denier, and made the proof two types, a proof and an oath.

It confined the whole type of oath to the denier, and the whole type of proof to the claimant. This requires cutting off partnership and combining proof and oath on one side. Acting by a witness and an oath requires leaving acting by the requirement of the well known report, so it is rejected.

This is what Imam ʿAbd al ʿAziz al Bukhari (d. 730 AH) set out in “al Tahqiq”. Others expressed this ruling by saying: it is a “addition” to the Qurʾan, because the Qurʾan says:

وَاسْتَشْهِدُوا شَهِيدَيْنِ مِنْ رِجَالِكُمْ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّنْ تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ الشُّهَدَاءِ
“And take as witnesses two witnesses from your men. If they are not two men, then one man and two women from those you accept as witnesses.” (al Baqarah 282)

So a witness and an oath would be an addition to the Book.

The fourth: that the narrator is not a jurist. This is the madhhab of ʿIsa ibn Aban (d. 221 AH), and many later ones followed him, and by it they rejected the hadith of Abu Hurayrah about the musarrat. (It only matters that the narrator is a jurist when preferring his narration over another narration, and when accepting narration by meaning. The narrator who is not a jurist is a likely place for error in both matters.)

Abu al Hasan al Karkhi (d. 340 AH) and those who followed him said: the understanding of the narrator is not a condition for preferring the report over analogy.

Rather, the report of every upright and precise narrator is accepted if it does not oppose the Book or the well known Sunnah, and it is preferred over analogy.

Sadr al Islam Abu al Yusr al Bazdawi (d. 493 AH) said: most ulama leaned to it. He and the author of “al Tahqiq” expanded in strengthening that, and their words can be returned to.

The author of “al Tahqiq” said: our companions acted by the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in the one who eats or drinks forgetfully, even though it opposes analogy, until Abu Hanifah said: if not for the narration, I would have said by analogy.

It is established from Abu Hanifah that he said: “What comes to us from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then it is on the head and the eye.”

It is not reported from anyone from the early generations that he made the understanding of the narrator a condition, so it is established that this is a later statement. Imam ʿAbd al ʿAziz (d. 730 AH) said in “al Tahqiq”: Abu Hurayrah was a jurist and he lacked nothing from the causes of ijtihad.

He used to give legal verdicts in the time of the Companions, and in that time only a jurist mujtahid would give legal verdicts. Muhyi al Din al Qura shi (d. 1032 AH) said at the end of his Tabaqat: Abu Hurayrah is among the jurists of the Companions.

Ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH) mentioned him among the jurists from the Companions. Al Subki (d. 756 AH) gathered a work on the legal verdicts of Abu Hurayrah. I heard it from him. End.

They answered the hadith of the musarrat with other matters as well. Al Qura shi mentioned some of them at the end of his Tabaqat.

The fifth: that the narrator acts, after narrating a hadith, in a way that opposes what he narrated, because when the narrator acts contrary to what he narrated, then with them the reliance is upon what he understood, not what he narrated.

Because the upright narrator, trusted with the religion, if he narrates a hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and then acts contrary to it, it shows that something was established with him, either abrogation, or opposition, or restriction, and other causes.

An example of that is what al Shaykhan narrated from Abu Hurayrah, raised, about washing the vessel from the licking of the dog seven times, one of them with soil. Abu Hurayrah’s madhhab is washing the vessel from the licking of the dog three times.

Ibn Daqiq al ʿId (d. 702 AH) said: that is the correct report from Abu Hurayrah as his statement. Al Shaykhan also narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas, raised: “Whoever changes his religion, then kill him,” and it is authentic from Ibn ʿAbbas: “A woman is not killed if she apostatises.”

The sixth: that it is a singular report in a matter of widespread need. (Widespread need is only realised in what the conscience is not cleared except by knowing it. It does not apply to raising the hands at bowing, the wording of the iqamah, and similar issues in which the imams differed, in matters that are not obligatory. The proofs give choice between taking this and taking that, and the difference is in deciding what is better, as al Jassas mentioned, so it is not included in widespread need.)

That is because customary practice requires that what has widespread need is widely transmitted. The Prophet ﷺ would not limit it to addressing one person. Rather, he would deliver it to a number by which fame and tawatur is achieved, to spread it strongly because people need it.

An example of that is the hadith of reciting the basmalah aloud, narrated by Abu Hurayrah, that the Prophet ﷺ used to recite the basmalah aloud. Because it is strong while the event must be well known, it was not acted upon. (On the greatest reduction, since the hadith of Nuʿaym ibn al Mujmir from Abu Hurayrah is the best of what came about reciting the basmalah aloud, yet it is defective, as in Nasb al Rayah, 1/336, and the stopped report is what is established.)

The hadith of touching the private part narrated by Busrah is anomalous, because she alone narrated it while people need to know it widely.

The hadith reports of others are also disturbed. This shows its weakness, because saying that the Prophet ﷺ taught her this ruling and did not teach the rest of the Companions while people need it is close to impossible. Shams al Aʾimmah said that in “al Tahqiq”.

The seventh: that it came in legal punishments and expiations, because they fall away by doubt. If he is alone, it is possible the narrator lied, forgot, or made a mistake. So it becomes a doubt in preventing the legal punishment.

This is the madhhab of al Karkhi, but it is not satisfactory.

The eighth: that it opposes a clear analogy. (This is the statement of Malik and Abu al Husayn al Basri (d. 436 AH), not the statement of Abu Hanifah. The details are in Tahrir by Ibn al Humam (d. 861 AH).)

The ninth: that it opposes another hadith established with him, which analogy supports.

The tenth: that some of the early generations criticised it.

The eleventh: that it was not used as proof in debate when difference appeared among them. It is rejected with some early Hanafis and most later ones, because the Companions are the foundations in transmitting the religion.

They are not suspected of leaving proof that is proof and being busy with what is not proof, while their care for proofs is stronger than the care of others. Leaving debate and action by it when difference appears among them is a clear sign that the one who narrated it after them forgot, or that it is abrogated.

An example of that is what is narrated from Zayd ibn Thabit, from the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: “Divorce belongs to men,” while the Companions differed in this issue. ʿUmar, ʿUthman, Zayd, and ʿAʾishah held that divorce is considered by the state of the man, slave or free, as is the madhhab of al Shafiʿi. ʿAli and Ibn Masʿud held that it is considered by the state of the woman, as is the madhhab of the Hanafis.

It is reported from Ibn ʿUmar that it is considered by whichever of them is enslaved, so he does not own three divorces over her unless they are both free.

They discussed this issue by opinion and they did not use this hadith as proof, even though its narrator, Zayd, is among them. This shows it is not established or it is abrogated. If it is established, it is interpreted as meaning: issuing divorce is for men.

By these rules, Imam Abu Hanifah left acting on many singular reports, and Allah only increased his protection from what his enemies said about him, and his clearing from what they attributed to him.

The truth is that he did not oppose hadith out of stubbornness. Rather, he opposed by ijtihad, for clear proofs and valid evidences. If he was wrong, then he has one reward, and if he was correct, then he has two rewards.

Those who attack are either jealous, or ignorant of where ijtihad applies. Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm (d. 456 AH) said: all Hanafis agree that the madhhab of Abu Hanifah is that weak hadith is preferred with him over opinion.

What shows his care for hadith is that he preferred acting by mursal hadith reports over acting by opinion, so he required wudu for loud laughter in prayer, even though loud laughter is not an event that breaks wudu in analogy.

He left analogy for the report. He did not require it in the funeral prayer and the prostration of recitation, because the text only came about a prayer with bowing and prostration, so he restricted to the place of the text.

From this is also that if the fasting person eats, drinks, or has marital relations forgetfully, he does not break his fast. Analogy would be breaking the fast because of what opposes fasting, and that is the view of Malik.

Abu Hanifah left this analogy because of the hadith “Complete your fast.” He preferred the statement of the Companion over opinion, because it is possible he heard it from the Prophet ﷺ.

It is not permissible to believe that he preferred opinion and analogy over authentic hadith without a clear proof. The verifiers said: hadith does not become sound except with using opinion in it, by understanding its Sharia meanings, which are the basis of rulings. Opinion does not become sound in action except with hadith joined to it.

Repelling Doubts With Clear Truths

Introduction

Before presenting what has been said about the Imam in the form of doubts and claims, I see it best to begin with the following.

First, the way of the righteous Salaf was to avoid speaking about ulama who are well known for goodness, righteousness, and taqwa, based on suspicions, delusions, and ignorance. The honour of ulama is protected, and it is feared for the one who violates it, as has been said, that he may suffer an evil end.

By Allah, Imam Abu Hanifah is from the Salaf, and so are the imams of the recognised madhhahib, whose good mention Allah has chosen to preserve, and whose madhhahib He made the madhhahib of the ummah in drawing close to Him, in worship and all acts of obedience.

Al Nawawi (d. 676 AH) said: “A chapter on the severe prohibition and stern threat for whoever harms, or belittles, jurists and students of fiqh, and an encouragement to honour them and venerate their sanctity.” Then he said: Allah the Exalted said:

وَمَنْ يُعَظِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّهَا مِنْ تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ
“Whoever honours the symbols of Allah, then that is from the taqwa of hearts.” (al Hajj 32)

And He said:

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ بِغَيْرِ مَا اكْتَسَبُوا فَقَدِ احْتَمَلُوا بُهْتَانًا وَإِثْمًا مُبِينًا
“Those who harm believing men and believing women without what they have earned have carried a slander and a clear sin.” (al Ahzab 58)

And it is established in Sahih al Bukhari, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said: “Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: ‘Whoever harms a wali, I declare war against him.’”

Al Khatib al Baghdadi reported from al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) and Abu Hanifah that they said: “If the jurists are not the awliyaʾ of Allah, then Allah has no wali.” In the words of al Shafiʿi: “The jurists who act.”

From Ibn ʿAbbas: “Whoever harms a jurist has harmed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and whoever harms the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has harmed Allah the Mighty and Majestic.” And it is in the Sahih from him: “Whoever prays Fajr is under the protection of Allah, so Allah must not find any of you violating His protection in anything.”

In a narration: “So do not betray Allah regarding His protection.”

Ibn ʿAsakir (d. 571 AH) said: “Know, my brother, may Allah grant success to me and to you in pleasing Him, and make us among those who fear Him and have taqwa of Him as He deserves, that the honour of ulama is protected, and Allah’s habit in exposing those who violate them is well known, and whoever lets his tongue loose against ulama with slander, Allah afflicts him before his death with the death of the heart.

So let those who oppose His command beware, lest a trial afflicts them, or a painful punishment afflicts them.” (Al Majmuʿ, 1/40–41.)

Second, Allah the Exalted said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ
“O you who believe, avoid much suspicion. Some suspicion is sin.” (al Hujurat 12)

The people of tafsir said: the suspicion we are forbidden from is evil suspicion about the people of goodness and righteousness.

There is no doubt that Imam Abu Hanifah and the rest of the imams of the recognised madhhahib are at the highest levels of goodness and righteousness.

I only mention these doubts and statements out of necessity. By nature I do not love dispute, nor gossip, nor idle talk.

Yet I mention them to repel evil suspicion, or ignorance, from some people regarding the greatest Imam. I do not see any harm upon myself in that.

Rather, there is good in it, by His permission. Allah the Exalted, and to Him belongs the highest example, mentioned in the Mighty Qurʾan the doubts of the disbelievers about Him, in His being, His knowledge, and His power, in very concise wording, then He refuted them. He also mentioned the doubts of the disbelievers about His Prophet ﷺ, likewise in concise wording, then He refuted them with what convinces everyone who listens while present of heart.

I ask Allah for goodness, right guidance, and firmness, for me and for the honoured readers, and that He grants us all sincerity of intention and good opinion of the people of knowledge and taqwa in this ummah.

Imam Abu Hanifah has crossed the bridge, and he is among the leading imams whose integrity and precision are recognised. The speech of speakers does not harm him, and the doubts of the doubters do not affect him.

The Salaf, from the Tabiʿin and those after them, and the leaders of the specialists in narrators, and the major critics, and the “commanders of the believers in hadith”, agreed upon praising him in fiqh, zuhd, fear of Allah, truthfulness, memorisation, and sincere concern for this ummah. The shaykhs of al Bukhari and the shaykhs of his shaykhs praised him, such as ʿAli ibn al Madini (d. 234 AH), Yahya ibn Maʿin (d. 233 AH), Yahya ibn Saʿid al Qattan (d. 198 AH), Makki ibn Ibrahim (d. 214 AH), Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah (d. 197 AH), Shuʿbah ibn al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH), al Fadl ibn Dukayn (d. 219 AH), Sufyan al Thawri (d. 161 AH), Malik ibn Anas (d. 179 AH), al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH), Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH), Jaʿfar al Sadiq, ʿAbd Allah ibn al Mubarak (d. 181 AH), and many others who are not easily counted.

One Doubt and Its Clear Truth

A doubt. Some said: Imam Abu Hanifah was not narrated from by al Bukhari, Muslim, and the rest of the six, and this is proof that they did not regard him, or that he is not from the ulama of hadith.

The clear truth. The ulama of hadith narrated from those whose hadith they feared would be lost if they did not narrate it.

They did not narrate, or did not narrate much, from those who had students who narrated their hadith and spread it.

Also, the Imam, as mentioned earlier, devoted most of his effort to understanding hadith, knowing its indication, knowing what abrogates and what is abrogated, what is general and what is specific, what is absolute and what is restricted, rather than merely narrating and teaching hadith.

Al Kawthari said: It is worth noting that al Shaykhan did not include anything from the hadith of Abu Hanifah, even though they met the younger students of his students and took from them.

They also did not include anything from the hadith of al Shafiʿi, even though they met some of his students.

Al Bukhari only included two hadith from Ahmad, one as a suspended narration and the other through an intermediary, even though he met him and stayed with him. Muslim did not include anything from al Bukhari in his Sahih, even though he stayed with him and followed his method, and he did not include from Ahmad except around thirty hadith.

Ahmad did not include in his Musnad from Malik, from Nafiʿ, by the route of al Shafiʿi, which is among the most authentic routes, except four hadith.

What he narrated from al Shafiʿi outside this route does not reach twenty hadith, even though he sat with al Shafiʿi and heard the Muwattaʾ of Malik from him.

The apparent conclusion, given their religion and trustworthiness, is that they saw the hadith of these imams as safe from loss, because of the large number of their students spreading it east and west.

The compilers of the hadith collections gave special attention to narrators whose hadith might otherwise be lost if they did not record it, because later generations would not be able to do without their compilations in the hadith of those narrators. (Sharh Shurut al Aʾimmah al Khamsah, by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Musa al Hazimi, page 60 and what follows.)

Whoever thinks this was because they avoided the hadith of these imams, or because of some statements found in books of criticism about these imams, such as the statement of al Thawri about Abu Hanifah, or the statement of Ibn Maʿin about al Shafiʿi, or the statement of al Karabisi about Ahmad, or the statement of al Dhuhli about al Bukhari, and the like, has wrongly accused them.

Al Bukhari, if it were not for Ibrahim ibn Maʿqil al Nasafi and Hammad ibn Shakir, both Hanafis, might have nearly ended up with al Firabri alone narrating the entire Sahih from him by hearing, as Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sufyan, a Hanafi, nearly became the lone narrator of Muslim by hearing, looking at the chains of transmission across ages, aside from routes of authorisation.

Those routes are widely transmitted for those who regard authorisation as valid.

What Ibn Khaldun said in the introduction to his history, that Abu Hanifah, due to strictness in conditions of authenticity, only had seventeen hadith authentic with him, is a clear mistake. No one should be deceived by it.

His narrations, despite his strictness, were not just seventeen. Rather, his hadith are in seventeen volumes, each called “the Musnad of Abu Hanifah”, produced by groups of huffaz and people of hadith knowledge with their chains to him, some narrating little, some narrating much, according to what reached them of his hadith.

It is rare to find one of those volumes smaller than the Sunan of al Shafiʿi as narrated by al Tahawi, or the Musnad of al Shafiʿi as narrated by Abu al ʿAbbas al Asamm, which are the main body of al Shafiʿi’s hadith.

The people of knowledge served these musnads by gathering, summarising, extracting, reading, hearing, and transmitting.

Muhammad ibn Yusuf al Salihi (d. 942 AH), narrates these 17 musnads with routes from his shaykhs, by reading, hearing, direct transmission, and writing, with their chains to the compilers, in his book “ʿUqud al Juman”.

Ibn Tulun (d. 953 AH), likewise narrates them by routes in “al Fihrist al Awsat” through his shaykhs, by hearing, reading, direct transmission, and writing, with their chains to the compilers. They were the leading scholars of the two regions in the tenth century. The transmitters of narration to our century, among those who care for the Sunnah, also have routes.

The place for fully expanding this is elsewhere. I only mentioned it in passing to remove what might stick in the minds of some from the words of Ibn Khaldun. These chains and books are not beyond the reach of the people of knowledge, even if we live in a time when ambitions have fallen short of expanding in the science of narration.

The book “ʿUqud al Jawahir al Munifah”, by Al Murtada al Zabidi (d. 1205 AH), contains a selection of the Imam’s hadith. Al Hafiz Muhammad ibn ʿAbid al Sindi has a work “al Mawahib al Latifah ʿala Musnad Abi Hanifah” in four large volumes, in which he greatly expanded on follow up reports and supporting reports, raised mursal reports, connected interrupted chains, clarified who recorded the hadith, and spoke about issues of disagreement. Whoever thinks that trustworthy narrators are only the narrators of the six has thought wrongly.

The hafiz, the ʿallamah Qasim ibn Qutlubugha (d. 879 AH) gathered trustworthy narrators outside the men of the six in a large work reaching four volumes. Ibn Hajar and others affirmed his memorisation and precision.

It should also be known that not everyone occupied with hadith is qualified to speak about narrators. Among them are people who carry the wording of hadith without checking its meanings, its indications, and its aims. The praise or criticism of such people is not relied upon.

Al Hafiz al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in his “Bayan Zaghl al ʿIlm”: As for hadith students, most of them do not understand, and they have no serious aim in understanding hadith, nor in practising it. Authentic and fabricated are, with them, just labels.

Their aim is hearing from ignorant shaykhs and increasing the number of booklets and narrations. What benefit is hearing from ignorant shaykhs while they sleep, children play, youths talk and joke, many doze and pretend, and the reader makes mistakes, while their goal is merely increasing. Leave it, it is a laughing matter for people of intellect.

Ibn al Jawzi (d. 597 AH) said in “Talbis Iblis”: Know that most hadith students carried what relates to the attributes of the Creator on the sense perception, and so they likened, because they did not sit with jurists, and so they did not learn how to return the ambiguous to the clear. In our time, we have seen those who gather books, and increase hearings, yet do not understand what they gained.

Some of them do not memorise the Qurʾan and do not know the pillars of prayer. They busied themselves, as they claim, with communal obligations instead of individual obligations, and they preferred what is not important over what is important. (Talbis Iblis, pages 111–113.)

Al Khatib al Baghdadi said in “al Faqih wa al Mutafaqqih”: Most writers of hadith in this time are far from memorising it, empty of understanding its fiqh. They do not differentiate between defective and sound, and they do not distinguish between a narrator declared reliable and a narrator criticised.

They do not ask about a wording whose script is unclear to them, and they do not search for a meaning hidden from them, even though they spent their lives writing it, and their journeys were long to hear it.

All of this is because the people of our time have little insight into what they gathered, and they have no understanding of what they wrote and heard, and their souls prevented them from sitting with jurists.

They condemned ulama who use analogy because they heard hadith that the people of outward meanings use in condemning opinion and warning against it, and they did not distinguish between praiseworthy and blameworthy opinion.

Rather, a general prohibition entered their minds. Yet they then still followed the people of opinion in their calamities and relied on their statements and madhhahib, so they contradicted what they built and made permissible what they had declared forbidden.

The one whose state is like this deserves that speech be released against him and that he be criticised strongly. (Al Faqih wa al Mutafaqqih, 2/81–84, and see Safaʿat al Burhan ʿala Safahat al ʿUdwan, by al Kawthari.)

A Doubt About al Khatib al Baghdadi and Similar Reports

A doubt. It is said: al Khatib al Baghdadi mentioned statements from many people criticising the Imam, with chains to their speakers.

Its reply. What matters is not merely recording a chain. Many early authors recorded reports with their chains, whether sound or unsound, considering themselves cleared by mentioning the chain, leaving the grading to the specialists.

Mentioning a chain does not mean the report is sound. There are fabricated hadith for which chains were manufactured, sometimes even with trustworthy men, as a lie and a fabrication.

Ibn Hajar al Haytami (d. 974 AH) said: It is known that al Khatib only gathered what was said about the man, as historians usually do.

He did not intend to degrade him, and he began with praise and expanded it, then followed with criticism.

Much of what he brought in criticism is not free from weakness, ignorance, or bias, and it is not permissible to harm the honour of a Muslim with such, so how about an imam from the imams of the Muslims.

Even if some of it were sound from its speaker, it is not relied upon, especially since the speech of peers about one another is not accepted, as the hafiz al Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar stated. (Al Khayrat al Hisan, page 76.)

It is also mentioned that some responded to al Khatib with works, including al Kawthari in “Taʾnib al Khatib ʿala ma Saqahu fi Tarjamat Abi Hanifah min al Akadhib”.

A Doubt About Being “A People of Opinion”

A doubt. It is said: Abu Hanifah used opinion, and he is called the Imam of the people of opinion, and there are many texts condemning opinion.

Its reply. Using opinion here does not mean rejecting texts. Rather, it means ijtihad and analogy in matters where there is no explicit text, or in understanding and applying texts.

This is the way of the four imams and the recognised madhhahib, and it is also the practice of the Companions in issues where they did not know a direct report, as is well known.

The blame in the texts is for opinion that follows desire, and for speaking without knowledge, not for juristic ijtihad grounded in the Book, Sunnah, and the ways of the Companions and the Salaf.

Ibn al Qayyim said in “Iʿlam al Muwaqqiʿin”: the companions of Abu Hanifah agreed that weak hadith is preferred with him over analogy and opinion. He presented reports over pure analogy in various issues. He also stated that “weak” with the Salaf is not always the same as “weak” with later scholars.

Mustafa al Sibaʿi said: what is graded weak by some hadith critics does not mean it was weak with Abu Hanifah, because evaluation can differ according to foundations and evidences. (Iʿlam al Muwaqqiʿin, 1/77, and al Sunnah wa Makanatuha, pages 380–381.)

Ibn Hazm said: all the companions of Abu Hanifah agree that weak hadith is preferred with him over analogy and opinion. (Ibtal al Qiyas, page 68.)

So calling him “a person of opinion” can only be sound in the sense of strong ability in extraction and deep understanding, not as a slur, and not as a claim that he put opinion above the Sunnah.

A Doubt About Ibn ʿAdi, al ʿUqayli, and Similar

A doubt. It is said: Ibn ʿAdi mentioned three hundred hadith from him and said they are weak, and so did al ʿUqayli, and al Dhahabi included him in “Mizan al Iʿtidal”.

Its reply. The discussion here is long, but the point is that many such criticisms come through routes whose problem lies in later narrators, not in the Imam himself, and that some critics were known for extreme harshness, or for including great imams among the weak because of secondary criticisms, which major huffaz rejected strongly.

The way is to examine the chains, to identify where weakness lies, and to weigh that against the clear and repeated approvals from the major imams of this field who praised Abu Hanifah’s truthfulness and reliability.

(Talbis Iblis, pages 111–113.) (Al Faqih wa al Mutafaqqih, 2/81–84.)

Clearing Imam al Dhahabi

As for Imam al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH), the one who examined narrators by wide and careful review, he did not mention the Imam in “Mizan al Iʿtidal” among the weak narrators, and it is a summary of “al Kamil” by Ibn ʿAdi (d. 365 AH) with many corrections to it.

He said in the introduction to “Mizan al Iʿtidal”: “I also do not mention in my book any of the imams who are followed in the branches of the religion, because of their high standing in Islam and their greatness in people’s hearts, such as Abu Hanifah, al Shafiʿi, and al Bukhari. If I mention any of them, I mention him with fairness. That does not harm him with Allah, nor with people.” (Mizan al Iʿtidal, 1/3.)

There is no harm in passing on to the honoured reader a long quotation that clears Imam al Dhahabi of speaking against the Imam, as an affirmation of the truth and a showing of the work of the verifying ulama, so that speech is not thrown out without checking. Allah is the One who grants success and guides.

ʿAbd al Fattah Abu Ghuddah (d. 1417 AH) said:ʿAbd al Hayy al Laknawi (d. 1304 AH) greatly expanded in proving that the biography of Abu Hanifah was inserted into some copies of “al Mizan” in his book “Ghayth al Ghamam ʿala Hawashi Imam al Kalam”, page 146, and he mentioned many ways to strengthen the denial of it being from “al Mizan”. I will limit myself to the first way and refer the reader to the rest due to its length.

He said: “This wording has no trace in some reliable copies, as I saw with my own eyes, and it is supported by the statement of al ʿIraqi (d. 806 AH) in his commentary on his ‘Alfiyyah’, 3/260: ‘Ibn ʿAdi mentioned in his book al Kamil everyone who was spoken about, even if he was trustworthy, and al Dhahabi followed him in that in al Mizan, except that he did not mention any of the Companions or the imams who are followed.’

And the statement of al Sakhawi (d. 902 AH) in ‘Sharh al Alfiyyah’, page 477: ‘Even though al Dhahabi followed Ibn ʿAdi by including everyone spoken about, even if trustworthy, he committed himself to not mention any of the Companions nor the imams who are followed.’ And the statement of al Suyuti (d. 911 AH) in ‘Tadrib al Rawi’, page 519: ‘Except that al Dhahabi did not mention any of the Companions nor the imams who are followed.’

” These words from these trustworthy imams, whose eyes passed many times over sound copies of “al Mizan”, call out clearly that there is no biography of Abu Hanifah al Nuʿman under the letter nun in “al Mizan”, and it is likely additions of some scribes and transmitters in some copies of “al Mizan”.

Then Shaykh ʿAbd al Fattah said: Imam al Dhahabi stated clearly in the introduction to “al Mizan”, 1/3: “I also do not mention in my book any of the imams who are followed in the branches of the religion, because of their high standing in Islam and their greatness in people’s hearts, such as Abu Hanifah, al Shafiʿi, and al Bukhari. If I mention any of them, I mention him with fairness. That does not harm him with Allah, nor with people.”

In the printed edition of “al Mizan”, there is a biography of Abu Hanifah, 3/237, in two lines, with no defence at all, rather it lowers him by criticism and weakening. The wording of al Dhahabi in the introduction denies that such a biography can exist in that form, because it carries disparagement, not fairness.

I returned to volume three of “Mizan al Iʿtidal” kept in the Zahiriyyah Library in Damascus, under number 368 hadith, and it is a very valuable part, entirely in the handwriting of the ʿallamah, the hafiz Sharaf al Din ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad al Wani (d. 749 AH), the student of its author al Dhahabi, and he read it to him three times with comparison to al Dhahabi’s own original, as he stated on the back of folio 109, the back of folio 159, and in many other places with many statements of reading and comparison.

I did not find a biography of Imam Abu Hanifah al Nuʿman under the letter nun, nor among the kunyahs. I also did not find a biography of him in the copy preserved in the Ahmadiyyah Library in Aleppo under number 337, a good copy written in the year 1160 by the hand of ʿAli ibn Muhammad known as Ibn Mishmishan, in a single large volume.

In the beginning of Ramadan in the year 1382, I visited the far Maghrib and visited the city of Rabat. I saw in the public treasury there a copy of “Mizan al Iʿtidal” in a single volume, number 139 qaf, incomplete.

The part present begins from the early biography of ʿUthman ibn Muqsim al Buri, which matches the end of page 190 of the second printed volume from Egypt in the year 1325, and it ends at the end of the book. In the margins of this copy, many additions were written on every page, so much so that on some pages the additions filled three margins, and at times four margins, in one hand, not counting side notes and inserted sheets.

Many readings and dates were written on the last folio, and among that is that the copy was read to its author more than six times.

The text written on the margins of the last folio includes, in order of dates: the completion of writing and comparison in the year 729, then again in 733, then a second copying in 739, then a full reading of “al Mizan” in gatherings to its compiler al Dhahabi on Saturday, the twelfth of Ramadan, 743, at al Madrasah al Sadriyyah in Damascus, written by Saʿid ibn ʿAbd Allah al Dhuhli.

Then another full reading to al Dhahabi on Friday, the twelfth of Rajab, 745, at his home in al Sadriyyah, written by ʿAli ibn ʿAbd al Muʾmin al Baʿlabakki.

Then another completion of copying in the last ten nights of Rabiʿ al Akhir, 746. Then another completion by Abu al Qasim ibn al Fariqi.

Then: a full reading of “Mizan al Iʿtidal” and what is on the margins of extraction, notes, and additions, according to ability and carefulness, to its author al Dhahabi, ending on Wednesday, the twentieth of Ramadan, 747, in al Sadriyyah in Damascus, and he granted authorisation for all he narrates, written by Muhammad ibn ʿAli al Hanafi.

Al Dhahabi died on the night of the third of Dhu al Qaʿdah 748, as in “al Durar al Kaminah” by Ibn Hajar (d. 852 AH), 3/338. I returned to this great and rare copy and did not find in it any biography of Abu Hanifah. This strongly shows that the biography found in some copies of “al Mizan” is not from the pen of al Dhahabi.

Rather, it is inserted into the book by someone who held anger against Abu Hanifah, because it is only two lines, not fitting the standing of the greatest Imam, and it does not resemble the biographies of other imams whom al Dhahabi mentioned to repel criticism from them, and they are below Abu Hanifah in imamate and rank.

He expanded at length in their biographies and showed their rank and imamate in the best way.

This book, “al Mizan”, is a wide place for inserting biographies to harm their subjects. The pen of someone other than al Dhahabi reached it in places.

So it must be printed from an original read to the author, such as the part kept in the Zahiriyyah Library in Damascus which begins with the letter mim and ends at the end of the book, and such as the part present in the treasury of Rabat.

I only extended this note to honour the standing of Abu Hanifah, to clear Imam al Dhahabi, and to identify reliable manuscripts of “Mizan al Iʿtidal” so that it can be printed from them by whoever Allah grants success. (Al Rafʿ wa al Takmil, 100–104.)

A Doubt About Legal Stratagems

A doubt. It is said: the Imam used stratagems that remove rights, make the permissible forbidden, and make the forbidden permissible.

Its reply. Muhammad Abu Zahrah (d. 1394 AH) discussed this topic at length in his valuable book “Abu Hanifah”.

He refuted the claim that the Imam, the worshipper, the one known for waraʿ, taqwa, and preparation for the Hereafter, would oppose the Sharia and use stratagems against its rulings, making the forbidden permissible or the permissible forbidden. That is impossible. Rather, these are issues by which one avoids falling into a prohibited matter through careful thought. I will limit myself to parts of his discussion as needed.

He said, may Allah have mercy on him: Imam Ibn al Qayyim (d. 751 AH) divides what jurists call “stratagems” into three types:

The first type: hidden ways used to reach what is forbidden in itself, such as stratagems to take people’s wealth wrongfully, and stratagems to give what is not lawful a lawful appearance, such as a marriage of a legaliser and a sale of ʿinah.

Then he said: these stratagems and what is like them are from the major sins and the ugliest forbidden matters.

They are playing with the religion of Allah and taking it as mockery. They are forbidden in themselves because they are lying and falsehood, and forbidden due to their aim, which is cancelling a right and establishing falsehood. (Iʿlam al Muwaqqiʿin, 3/394.)

The second type: a lawful stratagem whose outcome is lawful, and the means in it were set for that purpose openly. It includes the lawful causes that the Lawgiver set and made a path to their lawful outcomes.

In this area, the “stratagem” is using lawful means to gain lawful provision in the best way, and it is from good planning that is praised, and whoever gives fatwa in it gives fatwa in pure lawful matters. Abu Zahrah said: he does not even count this as “stratagems” in the strict juristic sense.

The third type: using permissible ways to reach a right or to repel oppression, by means that were set for something else, but are taken as a path to this correct aim. He gave examples.

Then Abu Zahrah said: careful study of “al Hiyal wa al Makhārij” by al Khassaf (d. 261 AH), and “al Hiyal” attributed to Imam Muhammad ibn al Hasan (d. 189 AH), leads to the conclusion that the stratagems of the Hanafi imams are from the second type, not the first, and that no stratagem is found in chapters of worship, except one in zakah. That shows they did not intend to oppose the aims of the Sharia or cling to the outward form while cancelling the meaning.

The zakah example is that if someone is owed money by a poor person, and the creditor finds no one more deserving of zakah than this debtor, and he wishes that cancelling the debt would count as zakah, but the juristic condition is intention at the time of giving, and here there is no giving, only cancellation.

So al Khassaf mentioned a way: he gives the debtor the amount with intention of zakah, then the debtor pays it back as settlement of the debt, and that counts. (Al Hiyal wa al Makhārij, 103.)

No book on stratagems is established from Abu Hanifah. What is reported from Ibn al Mubarak that he said: “Whoever looks into the book of stratagems of Abu Hanifah has made permissible what Allah forbade and forbade what Allah made permissible”, is false and unreasonable.

The standing of Abu Hanifah with Ibn al Mubarak is well known, and Ibn al Mubarak’s praise of him is widely known.

As for the “Book of Stratagems” attributed to Imam Muhammad, Abu Sulayman al Jawzajani, the student of Imam Muhammad, said: “Whoever says that Muhammad wrote a book called ‘al Hiyal’, do not believe him.

What is in people’s hands was gathered by the scribes of Baghdad, and the ignorant attribute that to our ulama as a way of attacking them. How can it be thought that Muhammad would name one of his books by this name, making it a tool for the ignorant against what they say.” (Al Mabsut, 30/209.)

Abu Zahrah said: careful study of the stratagems recorded in that book, and it has become clear that the attribution is not sound, shows that these stratagems fall into four sets:

The first set is in oaths, and most of it is oaths of divorce.

The second set is guidance by a mufti for someone asking about contracts, aiming to protect himself from future loss of rights, or harm. The third set is reconciling the lawful aims of contracting parties with conditions of validity in contracts. The fourth set is showing a path to reach established rights when some juristic rules prevent enforcing them, even though those rules were set to protect Sharia principles and to prevent playing with rulings.

Then he gave examples.

Example from the first set: a man swears he will not buy a garment from a certain person, then he wants to buy it without breaking his oath. He appoints an agent to buy it. In that case he does not break the oath because the contract is attributed to the agent.

Example from the second set: a person orders another to buy a house for himself and promises to buy it from him after purchase with a profit.

The buyer fears that the one who ordered him may refuse later, leaving him stuck with the property. So he buys the house with an option for a known period. If the other buys it during the option period, the sale completes and he gains profit. If not, he cancels the sale within the option period. (Al Makhārij wa al Hiyal, 192.)

Example from the third set: a man wants to give his wealth as a mudarabah, but he fears the worker may waste the wealth, relying on being an “amin” and not being liable, and a condition of liability is invalid.

They mentioned a way: he lends him all the wealth except one dirham, then partners with him using that one dirham in the remainder, so that the borrower becomes liable for the loaned wealth by receipt, and the partnership becomes valid in that one dirham, and the profit follows the condition. (Al Mabsut, 30/238.)

Example from the fourth set: a dying person’s admission of a debt to an heir is not enforced unless the heirs approve, so a true right may be lost and the dying person may meet Allah with a debt. They mention a way that preserves the inheritance rules and also delivers the right. (Al Makhārij wa al Hiyal, and Abu Zahrah’s discussion, 424–430.)

A Doubt About Being Asked to Repent From Disbelief Twice

A doubt. It is said: some narrated that the Imam was asked to repent from disbelief twice. If he had no disbelief, he would not have been asked to repent twice.

Its reply. ʿAli ibn Muhammad al Qari (d. 1014 AH) said in the virtues of the Imam: Abu al Fadl al Karmani said: when the Khawarij entered Kufah with al Dahhak, and their view was to declare disbelief upon everyone who committed a sin, and to declare disbelief upon whoever did not declare disbelief upon the sinner, it was said to them: “This is the shaykh of these people.”

So they took Abu Hanifah and said to him: “Repent from disbelief.” He said: “I repent from every disbelief.”

It was said: “He repented from your disbelief.” They took him again and said: “Repent from disbelief.” He said: “I repent from every disbelief.” This is what opponents meant when they said: “He was asked to repent from disbelief twice,” and they confused people.

There is no doubt that the extreme Khawarij are misguided.

They declared disbelief upon the noble Companions, among them the Commander of the Believers ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, and they made their blood permissible.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said about them words with this meaning: “One of you will look down on his prayer compared to their prayer, and his fasting compared to their fasting. They recite the Qurʾan but it does not pass their throats.

They leave the religion like an arrow leaves the hunted animal.

If I reach them, I will kill them with the killing of ʿAd and Thamud.” Many hadith about the Khawarij were narrated, some of them by al Bukhari and Muslim.

So their demand that a Muslim “repent” from their invented disbelief is not considered, and their declaring disbelief is not considered.

Other Imams Of The Salaf Spoke Out Against Eachother, So We Must Be Consistent and Not Bring Their Issues Up Either

Imam Ibn ʿAbd al Barr (d. 463 AH) said in “Jamiʿ Bayan al ʿIlm”: “Great imams were spoken against, and the ulama did not accept their words, and they counted it as the words of peers about their likes.

This is Yahya ibn Maʿin, he spoke about ʿAbd al Malik ibn Marwan and said: he had a foul breath and he was an evil man, and he accused him regarding a servant boy of his, and he struck him and he died from his striking.

He spoke about al Zuhri, that he held the tax office for some of Banu Umayyah, and that he lost money.

He spoke about al Shafiʿi and said: ‘He is not trustworthy.’ Ibn Abi Dhiʾb spoke about Malik ibn Anas. Saʿid ibn al Musayyab spoke about ʿIkrimah, and al Shaʿbi, and al Nakhaʿi.” (Ibn Abi Hatim spoke about al Bukhari, and al Karabisi spoke about Ahmad ibn Hanbal.)

“So whoever wants to accept the words of trustworthy, imams, firm authorities, against each other, then let him accept the words that we mentioned from the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, against each other. If he did that, he would go far astray and lose a clear loss.

Likewise if he accepted against Saʿid ibn al Musayyab the words of ʿIkrimah, and against al Shaʿbi and al Nakhaʿi and the people of al Hijaz, and the people of Makkah, and the people of al Sham in general, and against Malik and al Shafiʿi and the rest we mentioned, what we mentioned from some against others.

If he does not do that, and he will not do it except if Allah guides him and inspires him with correctness, then he must stop at what we set: that it is not accepted against the one whose uprightness is established, and whose care for knowledge is known, and who is safe from major sins, and who holds to honourable conduct and mutual support, and whose good is more than his evil, and whose evil is less.

This, the speech of a speaker with no proof against him is not accepted. This is the truth, and no other is sound, Allah willing.

Those who praised Saʿid ibn al Musayyab and the rest of the Tabiʿin and the imams of Muslims are too many to count.

People gathered their virtues and cared for their biographies and reports. Whoever reads the virtues of Malik, the virtues of al Shafiʿi, the virtues of Abu Hanifah, after the virtues of the Companions and the Tabiʿin, and cares for them, and stands over their noble conduct and guidance, that is a pure deed for him. May Allah benefit us by loving all of them.

Al Thawri said: ‘When the righteous are mentioned, mercy descends.’ Whoever preserves from their reports only what occurred from some of them about others, due to envy, slips, anger, and desires, and does not care for their virtues, he is deprived of success, enters into backbiting, and leaves the path.

May Allah make us and you from those who listen to speech and follow its best.” He ended that by mentioning the hadith: “The disease of the nations before you has crept into you: envy and hatred.” It was narrated by al Tirmidhi and Ahmad and al Diyaʾ al Maqdisi.(Jamiʿ Bayan al ʿIlm wa Fadlih, 2/162–163.)

Al Subki (d. 771 AH) said in “Tabaqat al Shafiʿiyyah”: “It is necessary for you, O seeker of guidance, to follow the path of good manners with the past imams, and not to look at the words of some of them against others, unless he brings clear proof.

Then if you are able to interpret it and have good suspicion, then do so. Otherwise, turn away from what happened between them. You were not created for this. So occupy yourself with what concerns you and leave what does not concern you.

The student of knowledge remains noble until he enters into what occurred between the early Salaf, and rules for some against others.

So beware, beware of listening to what happened between Abu Hanifah and Sufyan al Thawri, or between Malik and Ibn Abi Dhiʾb, or between Ahmad ibn Salih and al Nasaʾi, or between Ahmad ibn Hanbal and al Harith al Muhasibi, and so on, until Imam al ʿIzz ibn ʿAbd al Salam and ibn al Salah.

If you become occupied with that, I fear destruction for you. They are imams and their statements have meanings, and perhaps we did not understand some of them. So there is nothing for us except to be pleased with them and remain silent about what occurred between them, just as we do regarding what occurred between the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them.”

The Imam’s Upbringing and Teaching

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, in a hadith: “I was only sent as a teacher.” (Ibn Majah) He said: “Convey from me even if it is one verse.” (al Bukhari)

The Imam Abu Hanifah grew up upon religion, wanting fiqh in it, eager to convey it to the people. His life shows that clearly.

Here are selected parts of his teaching and training work, as an expert who lived learning from early childhood, then lived it as teaching, guiding, directing, and benefiting others until Allah took him at the age of 70 while he was teaching the people, with the belief that dying upon truth is better than living upon the edge of ruin.

Eagerness to teach and benefit, seeking Allah’s pleasure.

Yazid ibn al Kumayt said: the Imam debated a man, and the man said: “Fear Allah.” The Imam became restrained, trembled, lowered his head, then said: “My brother, may Allah reward you with good. People need most the one who reminds them of Allah when they become impressed by what appears upon their tongues of knowledge, so they direct their deeds to Allah. Know that I did not speak with knowledge except while knowing that Allah will ask me about the answer. I have been keen to seek safety.” (Manaqib al Imam al Kurdari, page 351)

Makki ibn Ibrahim said, one of al Bukhari’s teachers: I used to trade, and the Imam said to me: “Trade without knowledge brings corruption to dealings.” He kept at me until I learned, and every time I remember him and his words, I pray and ask good for him, because by his blessing he opened for me the doors of knowledge. (al Kurdari, page 377)

Abu Shihab al Ḥannat, who was declared trustworthy by Ibn Maʿin, said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “Whoever learns knowledge for the dunya is deprived of its blessing. It does not settle in his heart, and few people benefit from him. Whoever learns it for the religion is blessed in it, it settles in his heart, and those who take from him benefit.” (Manaqib al Imam by al Muwafaq, page 349)

Freeing time to gain knowledge first.

He said to his first student Abu Yusuf: “Seek knowledge, then gather halal wealth, then marry. If you busy yourself with seeking wealth during the time of knowledge, you will be unable to seek knowledge, and wealth will pull you to buying slave girls and slave boys, and you will become busy with the dunya.”

Then he said: “When you gather wealth, then marry, and live with your wife as I explained. Hold to taqwa, fulfilling the trust, and sincere advice to all people. Do not look down on people.

Honour them. Do not mix with them much until they mix with you, and meet their mixing by raising fiqh issues, so that whoever is fit for it becomes busy with knowledge, and whoever is not fit for it keeps away, without bitterness, and does not circle around you.” (al Muwafaq, page 373.)

Guarding time

Which is a blessing few value properly, as in the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ: “Two blessings many people lose: health and free time.” (al Bukhari, al Tirmidhi, and others.) Al Amir Ibn Hubayrah said: “Time is the most precious thing I strive to guard, yet it is the easiest thing to be lost.”

Bakr ibn Jaʿfar said: a man might enter upon Abu Hanifah and say this and that. If he went on too much, the Imam would say: “Leave what you are in. What do you say about such and such?” and he would cut his talk.

He used to say: “Beware of what people do not like from people’s talk. May Allah pardon the one who said something disliked about us.

May Allah have mercy on the one who said something good about us. Learn fiqh in Allah’s religion, and leave the people and what they do for themselves, so that they need you.” (al Muwafaq, page 354)

Sincerity in knowledge, and wanting truth to appear, and nothing else.

Yahya ibn Shiban said: Abu Hanifah saw his son Hammad and some of his students debating in theology, so he forbade them. They said: “We saw you debate, and you forbid us.” He said: “We used to debate as if birds were upon our heads, fearing that our companion might slip. You debate and you want your companion to slip. Whoever wants his companion to slip has wanted his companion’s disbelief.” (al Kurdari, page 138.)

Honouring knowledge, and knowing its value.

Ismaʿil ibn Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah said: when Abu Hanifah saw that his son mastered Surah al Fatihah, he gave the teacher 500 dirhams. Ibn Jabarah added in his book known as “al Kamil”: the teacher said: “What did I do that he sent me this?” Abu Hanifah came to the teacher, apologised, and said: “Do not belittle what you taught my son. By Allah, if we had more than this, we would have given it, out of honour for the Qur’an.” (Al Muwafaq, 2/236)

Good companionship with his students, and supporting them.

Al Walid ibn al Qasim said: al Nuʿman ibn Thabit al Khazzaz used to check secretly on his students’ affairs and ask about their conditions.

Whoever he found in need, he supported. Whoever among them, or among their close ones, fell ill, he visited. Whoever among them, or among their close ones, died, he attended their funerals. Whoever faced a hardship, he worked to fulfil it. He had a generous nature and good companionship. (al Muwafaq, same book and page.)

Hafs ibn Ḥamzah al Qurashi said: a man might pass by him and sit with him without intending a close companionship. When the man left, the Imam would ask about him. If he was poor, he would support him.

If he was ill, he would visit him, until he pulled him into ongoing contact. He was the best of people to sit with. (al Muwafaq) Al Hasan ibn Sulayman said: he was generous, I did not see anyone like him. He set a regular amount each month for his students, and he would still support them on most days. (al Kurdari, page 266)

Supporting his students, and helping them seek knowledge.

Abu Yusuf said: I used to seek hadith and fiqh while I was poor. My father came one day while I was with Abu Hanifah, and I left with him. He said: “My son, do not stretch your legs with Abu Hanifah. Abu Hanifah’s bread is roasted, and you need livelihood.” So I held back from much seeking and chose obedience to my father.

Abu Hanifah noticed my absence and asked about me. I kept attending his gathering. The first day I came after being away, he said: “What kept you from us?” I said: “Being busy seeking livelihood, and obeying my father.”

I sat, then when I wanted to leave he gestured to me, and I sat. When the people left, he handed me a pouch and said: “Use this.”

I looked and it held 100 dirhams. He said: “Stay with the circle. When this finishes, tell me.” I stayed with the circle. After a short time he gave me another 100, then he continued to take care of me. I never told him of any need or that anything finished, as if he knew when it finished. Until I became able and had wealth.

I stayed with his gathering until I reached what I needed. Allah opened for me, by his blessing and sincerity, knowledge and wealth. May Allah reward him well and forgive him. (Abu Yusuf, by al Muwafaq, connected with “Manaqib al Imam,” page 499)

Gentleness with students, and giving them freedom to speak in the gathering.

Abu Sulayman al Jawzajani said: Allah made fiqh easy for Abu Hanifah and it became clear for him. His students would speak in an issue, speak much, raise their voices, enter every field, while Abu Hanifah stayed silent.

When Abu Hanifah began to explain what they were in, they would become silent as if no one was in the gathering, even though in them were leaders and chiefs of fiqh and knowledge. One day he spoke while they were silent, and when he finished, one of them said: “Glory be to the One who made everyone silent for you.”

Abu Sulayman said: Abu Hanifah was wonder upon wonder. Only the one who could not bear his speech turned away from it. (al Muwafaq, page 418)

Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah passed by Abu Hanifah one day while he was with his students in the masjid and their voices were raised.

He said: “Abu Hanifah, this is a masjid, and this voice should not be raised in it.” He said: “Leave them, they do not understand except by this.” (al Muwafaq, page 345)

Muhammad Abu Zahrah said: Abu Hanifah’s method in teaching is closer to a study circle than a one way lecture.

An issue is presented, he places it before his students, they debate with him, each gives his view, and they may even overcome him in analogies, as has been narrated from Imam Muhammad, and they argue with him in his ijtihad, and they may shout until their noise rises, as we previously quoted from Misʿar ibn Kidam.

After examining it from every side, he gives the view produced by that study, and it is its pure result. They all accept it and are pleased.

This kind of study strengthens both teacher and student, and its benefit to the teacher is not less than its benefit to the student. Abu Hanifah stayed upon that method, so he remained a seeker of knowledge until he died. His knowledge grew continuously and his thought advanced constantly.

When a hadith came, he identified the causes of the rulings within it, discussed them, then branched issues that matched the cause, and this is fiqh.

He used to say: “The example of the one who seeks hadith but does not learn fiqh is like the pharmacist who gathers medicines and does not know what illness they are for until the doctor comes.

Likewise the seeker of hadith does not know the direction of his hadith until the jurist comes.” From this it is seen that he made his students debaters, not passive receivers who wait until he speaks.

Abu Yusuf used to record every issue that became settled in those gatherings, and sometimes others did as well.

Praising his students and advising them.

Abu Yusuf said: we gathered with Abu Hanifah on a rainy day, a group of his students, among them Dawud al Ta’i, ʿAfiyah al Awdi, al Qasim ibn Maʿn al Masʿudi, Hafs ibn Ghiyath al Nakhaʿi, Wakiʿ ibn al Jarrah, Malik ibn Mighwal, Zafar ibn al Hudhayl, and others. He turned to us and said: “You are the joy of my heart and the relief of my sorrow.

I have saddled fiqh for you and placed its bridle, so ride when you wish.

I have left the people to follow behind you and seek your words. I have made the necks easy for you. There is not one among you except he is fit for judgeship, and among you are 10 fit to be teachers of judges. I ask you by Allah, and by the greatness of knowledge Allah has given you, guard it from the humiliation of seeking office.

If one of you is forced to enter judgeship, and he knows in himself a hidden ruin that Allah has covered from the servants, then his judgement is not permissible and his provision is not pure.

If his inner is like his outer, his judgement is permissible and his provision is pure. If necessity forces him to enter it, then let him not place a barrier between himself and the people. Let him pray the 5 prayers in the congregational masjid.

Let him call at every prayer: whoever has a need. When he prays ʿIsha, let him call 3 times: whoever has a need. Then let him enter his home. If he becomes ill with an illness that prevents him from sitting, his provision falls by the amount of his illness.” (al Muwafaq, page 359)

His advice to the students who left his gathering returning to their lands is recorded in his advice to al Baṭṭi, Zafar, and al Sammati. (al Muwafaq, page 360)

Look with amazement how al Khatib al Baghdadi quoted that he said: “If the Prophet reached me, he would have taken many of my views,” writing “al Baṭṭi” with the letter nun, while it is “al Baṭṭi” with the letter ba then ta. See “Ta’nib al Khatib ʿala ma Saqahu fi Tarjamat Abi Hanifah min al Akadhib.” (Page 111.)

Giving knowledge to the one who is eager for it.

He used to give his students reminders from time to time so they would not become bored. Musawir ibn al Warraq said: Abu Hanifah said: “Do not speak your fiqh to the one who does not desire it, or you will harm him and harm your companion.

Whoever cuts off your speech, do not repeat it for him, for he has little love and little manners.”

He used to say: “The Qur’an is Allah’s speech, do not go beyond it.” This can carry 2 meanings: hold to the Qur’an in proving religious matters and do not oppose it, or keep to its recitation and do not go beyond it to other dhikr and supplications, because in other than it there is honour of the one mentioned, and in the Qur’an there is honour of the one mentioned and of the dhikr itself, since it is Allah’s speech, while other than it is your speech.

How good is Imam al Shafiʿi’s word here: “Whoever gives knowledge to the ignorant has wasted it, and whoever withholds from those worthy has wronged.”

Treating self admiration over a little knowledge with a refined teaching method.

Fadl ibn Ghanim said: Abu Yusuf became ill, and the Imam visited him many times. One day he saw him heavy, and said: “I used to hope you would be for the Muslims after me. If you die, much knowledge will die.”

When Abu Yusuf recovered, he became impressed with himself and set up a gathering of dictation in his masjid.

When this reached the Imam, he sent a man to him and said to him: “What do you say about a cloth fuller who denies that the garment belongs to anyone else, then he brings it back to the owner already fulled, and asks for payment? If he says payment is required, say you were wrong. If he says no payment, say you were wrong.”

The man did that. Abu Yusuf rose immediately and went to the Imam.

The Imam said: “Nothing brought you except the cloth fuller issue. Glory be to Allah. A man speaks in religion and sets up a gathering, and he does not know an issue from the issues of hiring.”

Abu Yusuf said: “Teach me.”

He said: “If he fulled it before denial, payment is required because he fulled it for the owner. If he fulled it after denial, no payment is required because he fulled it for himself.” Then he said: “Whoever thinks he can do without learning should cry over himself.” (al Kurdari, page 179)

Every study circle must have a supervising teacher.

Students do not teach one another, and nothing raises the manners of knowledge in them except teachers.

It was said to Abu Hanifah: in this masjid there is a circle looking into fiqh. He said: “Do they have a head?” They said: no. He said: “They will never understand fiqh.” (al Muwafaq, page 351)

They may make mistakes and not realise they have made mistakes. They wrong the truth while thinking they do good.

Guiding students to who is fit to take knowledge from, and who is not fit.

Abu Saʿid al Sanʿani asked the Imam: what do you say about taking from Sufyan al Thawri? He said: “Write from him, for he is trustworthy, except his hadith to Ishaq ibn al Harith, and the hadith of Jabir al Juʿfi.”

I say: Abu Hanifah used to say: Jabir al Juʿfi is a liar, and Zayd ibn ʿAyyash is also a liar. Because of that Imam al Shafiʿi said in “al Manaqib”: I heard Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah say: I heard rare talk from Jabir al Juʿfi, and I feared the roof would fall on us.

Al Shafiʿi said about him: he believed in the return, meaning the return of ʿAli to the dunya to take revenge from his enemies, and this is pure falsehood. (al Muwafaq, page 341)

Hammad ibn Zayd said: Abu Hanifah used to forbid his students from going to Jaʿfar al Juʿfi. (Same, page 347)

Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah said: the first who seated me to narrate hadith was Abu Hanifah.

I came to Kufah and Abu Hanifah said: “This is the most knowledgeable of people in the hadith of ʿAmr ibn Dinar.” So they gathered around me and I narrated to them. (al Jawahir al Mudiyyah, 1/30)

Yahya al Ḥamani said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “I have not seen anyone more lying than al Juʿfi, and no one better than ʿAta’.” (ʿIlal al Tirmidhi, with its explanation, 167/309)

Encouraging the seeking of knowledge, because it is dhikr and worship, rather it is the head of worship.

Shafiq ibn Ibrahim said: Abu Hanifah said to Ibrahim ibn Adham: “Ibrahim, you have been given some good worship, so let knowledge be in your concern, for it is the head of worship and the support of the matter.” (al Muwafaq, page 352)

Abu Yusuf said: Abu Hanifah was asked questions after Fajr and he answered. Someone said: they used to dislike speech at this time except about good. Abu Hanifah said: “What good is greater than this, that it is said: this is halal and this is haram, and people are kept away from disobedience? If the bag becomes empty of food, its owner becomes hungry.” ( al Kurdari, page 350)

Knowledge must have understanding. “Many carriers of fiqh are not jurists.” What benefit is medicine to the one who does not know it?

Abu Raja’ al Harawi said: I heard Abu Hanifah say: “The example of the one who seeks hadith but does not learn fiqh is like the pharmacist who gathers medicines and does not know what they are for until the doctor comes,” as already passed.

Muhammad ibn Shujaʿ al Marwazi said: al Fadl was with Abu Hanifah.

Abu Hanifah said to him: “Your son Muhammad, who does he go to?” He said: he goes around the hadith scholars and writes from them. He said: “Bring him to me so I can see what he is in.”

He brought him. The Imam treated him kindly and brought him close, then said: “Muhammad, who do you go to and who do you write from?”

He told him. The Imam saw a notebook with him and said: “Give it to me.”

He gave it. He looked and in its beginning was the hadith: “The child of zina is the worst of the three.”

He said: “Muhammad, what is the meaning of the Prophet’s ﷺ statement: ‘The child of zina is the worst of the three’?”

He said: it is as it is in the hadith.

He said: “We belong to Allah. You have attributed to the Prophet ﷺ what is not permissible and not permissible, and in this is overturning the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and speaking injustice.” Allah said:

Qur’an Verses on Accountability, Justice, and Deeds

كل نفس بما كسبت رهينة
“Every being is held by what it has earned.” (al Muddaththir: 38)

ليجزي الذين أساؤوا بما عملوا
“So He may repay those who did evil with what they did.” (al Najm: 31)

وأن ليس للإنسان إلا ما سعى
“And that a human has nothing except what he strives for.” (al Najm: 39)

ووجدوا ما عملوا حاضراً ولا يظلم ربك أحداً
“They will find what they did present, and your Lord does not wrong anyone.” (al Kahf: 49)

ونضع الموازين القسط ليوم القيامة فلا تظلم نفس شيئاً
“We set the just scales for the Day of Resurrection, so no being will be wronged in anything.” (al Anbiya’: 47)

وما ظلمناهم ولكن كانوا هم الظالمين
“We did not wrong them, but they were the wrongdoers.” (al Zukhruf: 76)

لها ما كسبت وعليها ما اكتسبت
“It has what it earned, and upon it is what it acquired.” (al Baqarah: 286)

إن أحسنتم أحسنتم لأنفسكم وإن أسأتم فلها
“If you do good, you do good for yourselves, and if you do evil, it is for it.” (al Isra’: 7)

ولا تزر وازرة وزر أخرى
“No burden bearer bears the burden of another.” (al Isra’: 15)

He said: “In verses like these, whoever says what you said has opposed the Qur’an and made punishment for someone because of another’s sin, and spoke ظلم and جور.” Al Fadl ibn ʿAtiyyah said to him, meaning: may Allah have mercy on you, what is it?

Abu Hanifah said: “With us, this is about a specific child of zina who acted with the acts of his parents, and he added to that evil acts such as killing and theft and other than that.

So it was said: he is the worst of the three, because if what his parents did of zina was not disbelief, and his act was disbelief, then disbelief is worse than zina, so it was said: he is the worst of the three.”

Muhammad ibn Shujaʿ said: al Fadl ibn ʿAtiyyah said: “This is knowledge.” He said to his son Muhammad: “Did you hear?”

Abu Hanifah said: “Muhammad, whoever seeks hadith and does not seek its explanation and meaning, his effort is lost and it becomes a burden upon him.” So Muhammad ibn al Fadl after that increased his going to Abu Hanifah. (al Muwafaq, page 417)

ʿAbd al Rahman al Muʿallimi al Yamani said in his beneficial book “al Anwar al Kashifah” against Mahmud Abu Rayyah and those like him who reject authentic hadith with doubts weaker than a spider’s web: did the hadith scholars consider the mind in accepting and grading hadith?

He said: yes, they considered that in 4 places: at hearing, at narrating, at grading narrators, and at grading hadith, then he listed examples and many cases. (See “Lamahat min Tarikh al Sunnah wa ʿUlum al Hadith” by the hadith scholar and jurist ʿAbd al Fattah Abu Ghuddah (d. 1417 AH), for he quoted al Muʿallimi’s words fully and added to them, page 90 and after)

His Death

Al Muwafaq (d. 568 AH) narrated with his chain of narration from ʿAbd Allah ibn Waqid (d. 207 AH), who said: Al Hasan ibn ʿUmarah (d. 153 AH) washed Abu Hanifah, and I was pouring water over him.

I saw his body as a thin body that worship and effort had worn away. When Al Hasan finished washing him, he praised Abu Hanifah and mentioned some of his qualities, and he spoke words that made everyone weep. When his funeral was carried, I did not see more people weeping than on that day. (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/176.)

And the words that Al Hasan spoke, as Al Muwafaq narrated in his Manaqib, were: “May Allah have mercy on you and forgive you. You did not break your fast for thirty years, and you did not rest your right side at night for forty years. You have tired those after you, and you have put the reciters to shame.”

The imam, may Allah have mercy on him, had advised that he be buried in the land of Al Khayzuran, because the land of Baghdad was seized.

He was carried there, and a great crowd attended his funeral, estimated at fifty thousand men. The funeral prayer was performed for him six times, the last of them being the prayer of his son Hammad ibn Abi Hanifah (d. 176 AH).

Al Mansur (d. 158 AH) came and prayed at his grave, and people continued to pray at his grave for more than twenty days. When Al Mansur learned that Abu Hanifah had advised that he be buried there, where he was buried, he said: “Who can excuse me from you, alive and dead?” (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/180.)

Al Muwafaq narrated with his chain to Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH), who said: “Abu Hanifah died in the middle of Shawwal, in 150 AH, may Allah have mercy on him.”

After His Death

What was said about him, may Allah have mercy on him, after his death.

His contemporary, the worshipper and ascetic Al Fadil ibn ʿIyad (d. 187 AH), said: Abu Hanifah was a man of fiqh, known for fiqh, of ample wealth, known for favours to everyone who came to him, patient in seeking knowledge by night and day, good in the night, very silent, and of few words, until a matter of lawful or unlawful was put to him, and he was able to point to the truth, fleeing from the ruler’s money. (Manaqib al Muwafaq al Makki.)

His contemporary Mulayh ibn Wakiʿ (d. 229 AH) said: “By Allah, Abu Hanifah was great in trustworthiness. By Allah, he was dignified, great, and tremendous. He used to give preference to the pleasure of his Lord over everything, and if swords were taken to him for Allah, he would bear it. May Allah be pleased with him with the pleasure of the righteous, for he was among them.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/180.)

The hadith scholar Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH), the imam of the people of Makkah at the beginning of his life, said about him: “He will have an astonishing standing in knowledge.” Then, when he grew older and he was mentioned to him, he said: “He is the jurist. He is the jurist.”

Imam Al Shafiʿi (d. 204 AH) said: “I seek blessing by Abu Hanifah, and I go to his grave every day, meaning as a visitor. When a need comes to me, I pray two rakʿahs, then I go to his grave and I ask Allah for the need there, and it does not stay away from me until it is fulfilled.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/199.)

Al Humani (d. 228 AH) said that his father said: I saw in a dream as though three stars fell, so Abu Hanifah died, then Misʿar (d. 155 AH), then Sufyan (d. 161 AH), may Allah have mercy on them. He mentioned that to Muhammad ibn Muqatil (d. 226 AH), and he wept and said: “The ulama are the stars of the earth.” (Manaqib al Muwafaq 2/201.)

Hafs ibn Ghiyath (d. 194 AH) said: I saw Abu Hanifah in a dream, and I said to him: “O Abu Hanifah, what did Allah do with you?”

He said: “He forgave me.” I said: “So which opinion did you praise?” He said: “Yes. The best opinion is the opinion of ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud, and I saw Ibn Al Yaman (d. 189 AH) as miserly in his religion.” (Tabyid al Sahifah by Al Suyuti.)

Ruh ibn ʿUbadah (d. 205 AH) said: I was with Ibn Jurayj (d. 150 AH) in 150 AH, and the death of Abu Hanifah reached him. He said: “Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we return,” and he was in pain, and he said: “What knowledge has gone.” (The same source.)

When Shuʿbah ibn Al Hajjaj (d. 160 AH) was told of his death, he said: “Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we return,” and he said: “The light of knowledge has been extinguished from Kufah. They will never see his like.” (Al Khayrat Al Hisan, page 71.)

Author

ISHAQ. K