Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man

Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE)''ABŪ ḤANĪFA'', Encyclopædia Iranica
/ref> was a Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, ascetic,Pakatchi, Ahmad and Umar, Suheyl, "Abū Ḥanīfa", in: ''Encyclopaedia Islamica'', Editors-in-Chief: Wilferd Madelung and, Farhad Daftary. and eponym of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence, which remains the most widely practiced to this day. His school predominates in Central and South Asia, Turkey, the Balkans, Russia, and some parts of the Arab world.

Sources disagree on exactly where he was born, whether in Kufa (held by the majority), Kabul, Anbar, Nasa or Termez. Abu Hanifa traveled to the Hejaz region of Arabia in his youth, where he studied in the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina. He was named by al-Dhahabi as "one of the geniuses of the sons of Adam" who "combined jurisprudence, worship, scrupulousness, and generosity".

As his career as a jurist and theologian progressed, he became known for favoring the use of reason in his jurisprudential rulings, and even in his theology. His school grew after his death, and the majority of its followers would also eventually come to follow the Maturidi school of theology. He left behind two major students, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani, who would later become celebrated jurists in their own right.

Name

Muslim scholarship states that there is no disagreement with his name being Nu'man. This name is said to mean blood on which the body survives, which some suggest is the soul. An alternate meaning is that this is the name of a pleasantly smelling red or purple flower. A third alternative is that it is the ''fa'lan'' (template) from the word ''ni'mah'' (blessing), as Muslims believe Abu Hanifah is God's blessing upon His creation.

How Abu Hanifa earned his patronymic is disputed. According to some linguists, including Muhyi al-Din, ''ḥanīfa'' refers to "inkpot" in Abu Hanifa's dialect. He was often seen with one, thus earning his name this way. According to this interpretation, his name literally means the "Father of the Inkpot". Alternatively, Hanifah is the feminine form of ''hanif'', which means a recluse (''nasik'') or submitter (Muslim).

However, some historians contest he earned it as he had a daughter named Hanifa. His name would then mean the "Father of Hanifa". The opposing side believes he never had a daughter with such name.

Biography

Birth

Historians disagree with regards to where he was born, though they agree he was born during the period of the Umayyad Caliphate. However, they differ regarding the year: 699 CE / 80 AH (held by the majority of classical Muslim scholarship), 696 CE / 77 AH, 689 CE / 70 AH, or 680 CE / 61 AH. Many historians choose the latest date, 699 CE / 80 AH; however, Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari believed the date of 689 CE / 70 AH is supported by two considerations:
* First, Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-Attar considered the narration of Abu Hanifa's son, Hammad, from Malik ibn Anas to be an example of an older man's narration rather than a younger man.
* Second, Abu Hanifa was concerned with who should succeed Ibrahim al-Nakha'i after his death in 96 AH. This concern would have only arisen if he was older than 19, since it is considered he only took his religious studies seriously after then. If Abu Hanifa was born in 80 AH, Abu Hanifa would have been 16 at the time of al-Nakhai's death.

Family Background

Abu Hanifa is thought to be of Persian ancestry.S. H. Nasr (1975), "The religious sciences", in R.N. Frye, ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', Volume 4, Cambridge University Press. p.474: "Abū Ḥanīfah, who is often called the "grand imam"(al-Imam al-'Azam) was PersianCyril Glasse, "The New Encyclopedia of Islam", Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. p.23: "Abu Hanifah, a Persian, was one of the great jurists of Islam and one of the historic Sunni Mujtahids" However, he has also been stated to have descended from the Zutt, Jats who migrated into Iraq during the Islamic Golden Age. His grandfather, Zuta, may have been captured by Muslim troops in Kabul and sold as a slave in Kufa, where he was purchased and freed by an Arab tribesman of the Taym Allah, a branch of the Banu Bakr. Zuta and his progeny thereafter would have become clients of the Taym Allah, hence the sporadic references to Abu Hanifa as "al-Taymi". According to his grandson Isma'il, however, his lineage went back to free Persians who had never been held as slaves. He called Abu Hanifa's great-grandfather "Marzuban", which is an Arabicized form of the Sasanian military office of marzban, held by governors of the frontier provinces of the Sasanian realm.

Early life and scholarship

There is scant biographical information about Abu Hanifa. It is generally known that he worked a producer and seller of ''khazz'', a type of silk clothing material. He attended lectures on jurisprudence conducted by the Kufan scholar Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 737). He also possibly learnt jurisprudence (fiqh) from the Meccan scholar Ata ibn Abi Rabah (d. ) while on pilgrimage.

When Hammad died, Abu Hanifa succeeded him as the principal authority on Islamic law in Kufa and the chief representative of the Kufan school of jurisprudence. Abu Hanifa gradually gained influence as an authority on legal questions, founding a moderate rationalist school of Islamic jurisprudence that was named after him.

Adulthood and death

In 763, al-Mansur, the Abbasid caliph offered Abu Hanifa the post of ''qadi al-qudat'' ( chief judge of the state), but he declined the offer, choosing to remain independent. His student Abu Yusuf was later appointed to the post by Caliph Harun al-Rashid.

In his reply to al-Mansur, Abu Hanifa said that he was not fit for the post. Al-Mansur, who had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post accused Abu Hanifa of lying.

"If I am lying," Abu Hanifa responded, "then my statement is doubly correct. How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a ''qadi''?"

Incensed by this reply, al-Mansur had Abu Hanifa arrested, locked in prison and tortured. It was said that once in prison he was never fed nor cared for. Even in prison, the jurist continued to teach those who were permitted to visit him.

On 15 Rajab 150, (15 August 767) Abu Hanifa died in prison. The cause of his death is not clear, as it was said by some that Abu Hanifa issued a legal opinion for bearing arms against al-Mansur, so al-Mansur had him poisoned. His fellow prisoner and founder of Karaite Judaism, Anan ben David, was said to have received life-saving counsel from Abu Hanifa. It was said that so many people attended his funeral that the funeral service was repeated six times for the more than 50,000 people who had massed before he was actually buried. The historian al-Khatib said that for a full 20 days people performed funeral prayers for him. Many years later, the Abu Hanifa Mosque was built in the Adhamiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad. Abu Hanifa also supported the cause of Zayd ibn Ali and Ibrahim al Qamar, both Alid Zaydi Imams.

The structures of the tombs of Abu Hanifa and Abdul Qadir Gilani were destroyed by Shah Ismail of the Safavid Empire in 1508. In 1533, the Ottomans conquered Baghdad and rebuilt the tombs of Abu Hanifa and Abdul Qadir, as well as other Sunni sites.

Sources and methodology

The sources from which Abu Hanifa derived Islamic law, in order of importance and preference, were: the Qur'an, the authentic narrations of the Muslim prophet Muhammad (known as ''hadith''), consensus of the Muslim community ( ''ijma'''), analogical reasoning (''qiyas''), juristic discretion (''istihsan'') and the customs of the local population enacting Muslim laws (urf''). The development of analogical reason and the scope and boundaries by which it may be used was recognized by the majority of Muslim jurists, but its establishment as a legal tool was the result of the Hanafi school. While it was likely used by some of his teachers, Abu Hanifa is regarded by modern scholarship as the first to formally adopt and institute analogical reason as a part of Islamic law.

As the fourth Caliph, Ali had transferred the Islamic capital to Kufa, and many of the first generation of Muslims had settled there. The Hanafi school of law based many of its rulings on the prophetic tradition as transmitted by those first generation Muslims residing in Iraq. Thus, the Hanafi school came to be known as the Kufan or Iraqi school. Ali and Abdullah, son of Masud helped form much of the base of the school, as well as other personalities from the direct relatives (or ahl al-bayt) of Muḥammad from whom Abu Hanifa had studied such as Muhammad al-Baqir. Many jurists and historians had reportedly lived in Kufa, including one of Abu Hanifa's main teachers, Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman.

Reception

Positive

He was highly regarded across the various fields of sacred knowledge and significantly influenced the development of Muslim theology. During his lifetime, he was acknowledged as a jurist of the highest calibre. The Shafi'i and prominent hadith scholar, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, stated that criticism of Abu Hanifa holds no significance, as figures like Abu Hanifa are "on a degree to which Allah - the Exalted - has raised them, in that they are followed and imitated."

Additionally, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali praised Abu Hanifah in his '' Ihya''. In ''Ayn al-Ilm'', an abridgement of the Ihya, the author is quoted as saying, "So the greatest scholar for us is Abu Hanifah" and that "even the Imam's counterparts have acknowledge his precedence in ''fiqh'' (jurisprudence)". Quoting this statement, Ibn Hajar al-Haythami has quoted Al-Shafi'i as saying, "In fiqh people are dependent on Abu Hanifa".

Ibn Taymiyya credited Abu Hanifa for his knowledge and addressed the accusations against him, stating, "There is no doubt regarding Imam Abu Hanifa's knowledge. People later attributed many lies to Imam Abu Hanifa, which were all untrue. The aim of such writings was to taint Imam Abu Hanifa". His students, Ibn Kathir and al-Dhahabi, held similar opinions about Abu Hanifa, extensively rebuking accusations against him and praising his contributions.

He received the honorific title ''al-Imam al-A'zam'' ("the highly venerated Imām") and his tomb, surmounted by a dome erected by admirers in 1066 is still a shrine for pilgrims. It was restored in 1535 by Suleiman the Magnificent after the Ottoman conquest of Baghdad.

Negative

Abu Hanifa is considered to have been criticized by several figures, such as Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, and al-Awzāʿī. According to some later sources, he was perceived by Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ibn Sa'd and to be a heretic and in opposition to the instructions of Muhammad, and al-Bukhari's teacher, al-Humaydi, was one of the first to pen a refutation of his Abu Hanifa's thought. The Zahiri scholar Ibn Hazm quoted Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah: "The affairs of men were in harmony until they were changed by Abù Hanìfa in Kùfa, al-Batti in Basra and Màlik in Medina". Early Muslim jurist Hammad ibn Salamah once related a story about a highway robber who posed as an old man to hide his identity; he then remarked that were the robber still alive he would be a follower of Abu Hanifa.

Additionally, Mahmud al-Ghazali (not to be confused with Abu Hamid) wrote the work ''al-Mankhul'', which, according to Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, contains vile fanaticism, despising words and digraceful belittlement of Abu Hanifa. In response to it, al-Kardari authored, ''Al-Radd wa al-Intisar'' which Ibn Hajar states, "dispelled evil with evil".

Today

Today, the Hanafi school is followed by 45% of Muslims and Abu Hanifa is popularly known amongst Sunni Muslims as a man of the highest personal qualities: a performer of good works, remarkable for his self-denial, humble spirit, devotion and pious awe of God.

Generational status

Abu Hanifa is regarded by some authorities as one of the ''tabi‘un'', the generation after the ''sahaba'', who were the companions of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. This is based on reports that he met at least four ''sahaba'' including Anas ibn Malik, with some even reporting that he transmitted ''hadith'' from him and other companions of Muhammad.Imām-ul-A’zam Abū Ḥanīfah, The Theologian
/ref> Others take the view that Abu Hanifa only saw around half a dozen companions, possibly at a young age, and did not directly narrate hadith from them.

Abu Hanifa was born at least 60 years after the death of Muhammad, but during the time of the first generation of Muslims, some of whom lived on until Abu Hanifa's youth. Anas ibn Malik, Muhammad's personal attendant, died in 93 AH and another companion, Abul Tufail Amir bin Wathilah, died in 100 AH, when Abu Hanifa was at least 20 years old. The author of al-Khairat al-Hisan collected information from books of biographies and cited the names of Muslims of the first generation from whom it was reported that the Abu Hanifa had transmitted hadith. He counted 16 of them, including Anas ibn Malik, Jabir ibn Abd-Allah and Sahl ibn Sa'd.

Students

Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi listed 97 hadith scholars who were his students. Most of them went on to be hadith scholars, and their narrated hadiths were compiled in the ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', ''Sahih Muslim'' and other books of hadith. Imām Badr al-Din al-Ayni included another 260 students who studied ''hadith'' and ''fiqh'' with Abu Hanifa.

His most famous students were Imām Abu Yusuf, who served as the first chief justice in the Muslim world, and Imām Muhammad al-Shaybani, who was the teacher of the Shafi‘i school of jurisprudence founder, Imām Al-Shafi‘i. His other students included Abdullah ibn Mubarak and Fudhayl bin Iyaadh

Character and appearance

Al-Nadr ibn Muhammad recalled Abu Hanifa had "a beautiful face, beautiful clothing, and fragrant scent."

His student Abu Yusuf described him as "well-formed, from the best of people in appearance, most eloquent in speech, sweetest in tone, and clearest in expressing his thoughts."

His son Hammad described him as "very handsome, dark-skinned, having good posture, wearing much cologne, tall, not speaking except in reply to someone else, and not involving himself in what did not concern him."

Ibn al-Mubarak remarked he "never saw a man more revered in gatherings, nor better in character and forbearance, than Abu Hanifa."

Connection with the family of Muhammad

As with Malik ibn Anas (who was a teacher of Imam al-Shafi'i, who in turn was a teacher of Sunni Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal), Imam Abu Hanifa was a student of Ja'far al-Sadiq, who was a descendant of the Islamic ''nabi'' (prophet) Muhammad. Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni ''fiqh'' are connected to Ja'far from the ''bayt'' (household) of Muhammad, whether directly or indirectly.

In one ''hadith'', Abu Hanifa once said about Imam Ja'far: "I have not seen anyone with more knowledge than Ja'far ibn Muhammad." However, in another hadith, Abu Hanifa said: "I met with Zayd (Ja'far's uncle) and I never saw in his generation a person more knowledgeable, as quick a thinker, or more eloquent than he was."

Opposition to anthropomorphism

Imam Abu Hanifa was quoted as saying that Jahm ibn Safwan (d. 128/745) went so far in his denial of anthropomorphism (Tashbih) as to declare that 'God is not something (Allah laysa bi shay')' whereas Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 150/767) likened God to His creatures.

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrated in his ''Tarikh Baghdad'' (History of Baghdad) that Imam Abu Hanifa said:

Footnotes

Citations

Sources

*

Further reading

*
*
* Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf, ''Imam Abu Hanifa's Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar Explained''

Online

Abū Ḥanīfah: Muslim jurist and theologian
in ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', by Zafar Ishaq Ansari, The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Thinley Kalsang Bhutia, Surabhi Sinha and Adam Zeidan

External links

*
*
*

The Life of Imam Abu Hanifa
Biography at Lost Islamic History.


by Jamil Ahmad.

Al-Wasiyyah of Imam Abu Hanifah
Translated into English by Shaykh Imam Tahir Mahmood al-Kiani.

Book on Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa
(Urdu)

Abu Hanifa on Muslim heritage


By Shiekh G. F. Haddad

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abu Hanifa
699 births
767 deaths
8th-century Arabic-language writers
Deaths by poisoning

Mujaddid
People from Kabul
People from Kufa
People from Najaf Province
Quranic exegesis scholars
Sunni fiqh scholars
Sunni imams
Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
Persian Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
8th-century Iranian people
Taba‘ at-Tabi‘in
Tabi‘un
Muslim critics of atheism
8th-century Muslim theologians
Muslim scholars