Abu Imran ibn Yazid (; –714), commonly known as Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (), was an early Kufan

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

of the ''

tabi'in The tābiʿūn (, also accusative or genitive tābiʿīn , singular ''tābiʿ'' ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the companions (''ṣaḥāba'') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and thus received their ...

''. A pioneer of the use of ''

ra'y The ''Ahl al-Ra'y'', sometimes referred to in English as ''rationalists'', refers to an Islamic creedal group advocating for the use of reason for theological decisions and scriptural interpretation. They were one of two main groups debating the ...

'' and ''

qiyas Qiyas (, , ) is the process of deductive analogy in which the teachings of the hadith are compared and contrasted with those of the Quran in Islamic jurisprudence, in order to apply a known injunction ('' nass'') to a new circumstance and cre ...

'', al-Nakha'i influenced later Kufan jurists through his student

Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (; died 737–8) was an early Kufan Muslim jurist who is best known for being the principal teacher of Abu Hanifa, the eponym of the Hanafi school of law. Biography The extant biographical information about Hammad is ...

, including

Abu Hanifa Abu Hanifa (; September 699 CE – 767 CE) 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 epony ...

Biography

Ibrahim al-Nakha'i was born in

Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...

in , although there is some dispute on the exact year. He was of the Nakha, a branch of the

Madhhaj Madhḥij () is a large Qahtanite Arab tribal confederation. It is located in south and central Arabia. This confederation participated in the early Muslim conquests and was a major factor in the conquest of the Persian empire and the Byzantine ...

tribe which had migrated to Kufa from

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

following the

Arab conquest of Mesopotamia The Arab conquest of Mesopotamia was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 638 AD. The Arab Muslim forces of Caliph Umar first attacked Sasanian territory in 633, when Khalid ibn al-Walid invaded Mesopotamia (then known as the Sasa ...

, hence the '' nisba'' al-Nakha'i. His family was known for scholarly activity; his father was a

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

transmitter, his maternal uncle was

Alqama ibn Qays Alqama ibn Qays al-Nakha'i () (d. was a well-known scholar from among the '' taba'een'' and pupil of Abd-Allah ibn Mas'ud, who called him the most erudite of his disciples. He also related traditions from Ali ibn Abi Talib, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas ( ...

and Aswad ibn Yazid was his maternal cousin. Al-Nakha'i was affiliated with the students of

Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (; ) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad whom Sunni Islamic tradition regards the greatest interpreter of the Quran of his time and the second ever. He was also known by the ''kuniya'' Abu Abd al-Rahman.Muhammad ...

, a companion of

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, which included his uncle Alqama who became his principal mentor of ''

fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

''.Hanif 2018, pp. 186-187 He began travelling to the

Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...

from a young age, and in his youth performed the

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

with Alqama and Aswad ibn Yazid, during which he attended a gathering of

Aisha Aisha bint Abi Bakr () was a seventh century Arab commander, politician, Muhaddith, muhadditha and the third and youngest wife of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. Aisha had an important role in early Islamic h ...

. While he met the companions of Muhammad, some of whom still lived in Kufa at the time of his death, he is not believed to have directly narrated hadith from them, and the ''

isnad In the Islamic study of hadith, an isnād (chain of transmitters, or literally "supporting"; ) refers to a list of people who passed on a tradition, from the original authority to whom the tradition is attributed to, to the present person reciting ...

'' of those where he appears to do so are considered to be ''mursal''. Despite the tumult of the

Second Fitna The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve y ...

, al-Nakha'i continued teaching in Kufa.

Mukhtar al-Thaqafi Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi (; – 3 April 687) was a pro- Alid revolutionary based in Kufa, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq for eighteen months during the Second Fitna. Born in Ta ...

offered him an official post, which he declined. He had a strained relationship with the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

authorities, openly criticising

al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi (; ), known simply as al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (), was the most notable governor who served the Umayyad Caliphate. He began his service under Caliph Abd al-Malik (), who successiv ...

and supporting the revolt of

Ibn al-Ash'ath Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath (; died 704), commonly known as Ibn al-Ash'ath after his grandfather, was a prominent Arab nobleman and military commander during the Umayyad Caliphate, most notable for leading a failed rebellion aga ...

, which at times forced him into hiding. Al-Hajjaj is said to have ordered the arrest of al-Nakha'i, who evaded apprehension. Upon hearing of al-Hajjaj's death, al-Nakha'i prostrated in thankfulness. Teaching in the

Great Mosque of Kufa The Great Mosque of Kufa (), or Masjid al-Kufa, is located in Kufa, Iraq and is one of the earliest surviving mosques in the world. The mosque, built in the 7th century, was home to Ali ibn Abi Talib, the 4th Rashidun caliph; and contains the s ...

, al-Nakha'i accepted

into his ''

halaqa Halaqa () in Islamic terminology refers to a religious gathering or meeting for the study of Islam and the Quran. Generally, there are one or more primary speakers that present the designated topic(s) of the halaqa while others sit around them (i ...

'' (study circle), who became his foremost student. Upon al-Nakha'i's death in 738, Hammad would become the leader of his ''halaqa''.

Jurisprudence

The ''fiqh'' of al-Nakha'i is characterised by the use of ''ra'y'' (independent reasoning), and as a result he is considered as one of the progenitors of the ''

ahl al-ra'y The ''Ahl al-Ra'y'', sometimes referred to in English as ''rationalists'', refers to an Islamic creedal group advocating for the use of reason for theological decisions and scriptural interpretation. They were one of two main groups debating the ...

''. He developed and popularised the use of ''

'' (analogical reasoning), which represented a systematic application of ''ra'y''.Ansari 1966, p. 106 Both prophetic hadith and ''athar'' from Muhammad's companions were considered by al-Nakha'i to be authoritative; the views of Ibn Mas'ud in particular formed the basis of his legal thought. Al-Nakha'i was among the first Kufan jurists who was interested in the summative body of Islamic law rather than specific parts. Through ''qiyas'', al-Nakha'i attempted to "deduce general propositions from the authoritative sources and then apply them to all relevant cases".

Zafar Ishaq Ansari Zafar Ishaq Ansari (; 27 December 1932 – 24 April 2016) was a scholar of Islamic studies. He was the Director General of the Islamic Research Institute of the International Islamic University. Previously, he was the president of the Internatio ...

has argued that al-Nakha'i was motivated by a "conscious search for greater coherence and consistency" in the law, underpinned by a "notion that that the teachings of the Prophet were embodiments of general principles, rather than arbitrary fiats." However, due to the absence of an established legal tradition, al-Nakha'i ''fiqh'' was less technically developed and systematically consistent than that of the later Kufan jurists. The origins of the Kufan jurists' tradition of formulating and answering hypothetical legal questions can be seen in the thought of al-Nakha'i. Some of the hypothesised scenarios were impossible, although he entertained these less frequently than later Kufans.

Legacy

Al-Nakha'i greatly influenced later Kufan and

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

jurists, primarily through Hammad. Hammad's primary student,

, often adduced al-Nakha'i as an authority but did not always agree with his views. Quotations of al-Nakha'i and narrations in whose ''isnad'' he is present feature prominently in the two separate works named ''al-Athar'' authored respectively by Abu Hanifa's disciples

Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim al-Ansari (), better known as Abu Yusuf () (729–798) was an Islamic jurist, as well as a student of Abu Hanifa (d.767) and Malik ibn Anas (d.795), who helped spread the influence of the Hanafi school of Islamic law, and w ...

and

Muhammad al-Shaybani Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Farqad ash-Shaybānī (; 749/50 – 805), known as Imam Muhammad, the father of Muslim international law, was an Arab Muslim Ulama, jurist and a disciple of Abu Hanifa (later being the eponym o ...

Al-Shafi'i Al-Shafi'i (; ;767–820 CE) was a Muslim scholar, jurist, muhaddith, traditionist, theologian, ascetic, and eponym of the Shafi'i school of Sunni Islamic jurisprudence. He is known to be the first to write a book upon the principles ...

describes al-Nakha'i and al-Sha'bi as the principal authorities of the Kufans.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Ahmad ibn Hanbal (; (164-241 AH; 780 – 855 CE) was an Arab Muslim scholar, jurist, theologian, traditionist, ascetic and eponym of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence—one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam. T ...

negatively contrasts al-Nakha'i with

Hasan al-Basri Abi Sa'id al-Hasan ibn Yasar al-Basri, often referred to as al-Hasan al-Basri, was an ancient Muslim preacher, ascetic, theologian, exegete, scholar, and judge. Born in Medina in 642,Mourad, Suleiman A., “al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī”, in: ''Encyc ...

and

Ata ibn Abi Rabah Ata ibn Abi Rabah (; ) was a prominent early Muslim jurist and hadith transmitter of Nubian origin who served as the ''mufti'' of Mecca in the late seventh and early eighth centuries. He is considered a leading figure of the early Meccan school ...

,Melchert 2020, pp. 72-73 but references al-Nakha'i 336 times in his ''musnad''.Melchert 2020, p. 70

References

Citations

Sources

* Hanif, S. (2018)
A Tale of Two Kufans: Abū Yūsuf’s ''Ikhtilāf Abī Ḥanīfa wa-Ibn Abī Laylā'' and Schacht’s Ancient Schools
''Islamic Law and Society'', ''25''(3), 173–211. * Ansari, Z. I. (1966).
The early development of Islamic fiqh in Kûfah with special reference to the works of Abû Yûsuf and Shaybānī
' issertation * Melchert, C. (2020)
Ibrāhīm al-Naḫaʿī (Kufan, d. 96/714)
''Arabica'', ''67''(1), 60–81. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibrahim al-Nakhai 670 births 710s deaths Year of death uncertain People from Medina Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam 8th-century Muslim theologians 7th-century Muslim scholars of Islam 7th-century Muslim theologians Tabi‘un hadith narrators