* * بسم الله الحمد لله و صلاة و سلام على رسول الله و على اله و سلم تسليم * *

When Harūn al-Rashīd asked Abū Hanīfah’s student Qadhī Abū Yūsuf about the life of Imām Abū Hanīfah, he replied with the following: “As far as I know, Abū Hanīfah was extremely pious. He avoided all forbidden things. He remained silent and was absorbed in his thoughts most of the time. He answered questions only if he knew the answer; Was extremely generous and self-respecting; never asked anyone for a favor and shunned the company of anyone who was worldly-minded. He held worldly power and position in contempt. He avoided slander and spoke only well of others. He was a man of profound learning and was generous with his knowledge and with his wealth.” Upon hearing this, Harūn al-Rashīd said “You have described the most amazing man”.

Perhaps no other scholar’s legacy was more profound, in his intellect, Fiqh, ‘Aqīdah and Zuhud than that of Nu’mān ibn Thābit, better known simply as Imām Abū Hanīfah رحمه الله.

Imām Abū Hanīfah was born in Irāq in the year 80 AH. His lineage extends back into Persian origins. He grew up during a time of great expansion of the Islāmic state, when Islām was spreading to far new areas of the world and the authority of the Khalīfah had consolidated. During this time, religious knowledge was spread far and wide. In Kūfah, it was common place for literally all Muslims of a city, young and old, men and women, to attend daily circles of Islamic learning. This was the environment Imām Abū Hanīfah was raised in.

The Qur’ān and Prophetic traditions lay the framework for Islam. However, there are times when scenarios or questions arise that did not exist in the time of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم or his companions. These new situations may leave Muslims confused about what the correct beliefs or proper courses of action should be. These kinds of problems and doubts are what Imām Abū Hanīfah sought to address. He developed a methodological framework, based purely off of the Qur’ān and Prophetic traditions, that answered these types of questions. And this great framework of thought that Abū Hanīfah founded was what successive generations of scholars would pay homage to and follow.

Some Stories of his Wit!

Once, a Christian Roman soldier came to Kūfah to theologically challenge the Muslims. He stood at a high position and said he would pay a large sum of money to anyone who could answer three questions. 1) What was before God? 2) Which direction does God face? 3) What is God doing right now?

The scholars were perplexed, having no direct response to this in the Qur’ān. The young Abū Hanīfah got the attention of the soldier, saying he knew the answers. Unimpressed, the soldier invited him to speak. The young Abū Hanīfah asked the soldier to count down from 10.

The soldier counted “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

Abū Hanīfah asked, what comes before 1? The soldier said, “There is no number before 1. 1 is the first number”. (We are talking about Natural Numbers. That eliminates 0 and negative numbers.)

Abū Hanīfah responded, “If mathematically there is nothing before 1, how do you expect there to be something before God? He is al-Awwal (The first)”

The soldier was impressed, and asked him about the second question. In which direction does God face? Abū Hanīfah said, “Which direction does a flame’s light go?” The soldier responded that it went in every direction. Abū Hanīfah said, “Allah describes himself in the Qur’ān as the lamp of the heavens and the earth, light upon light. He faces in all directions at once (ie knows all things)”.

Again, the soldier was taken back, not expecting such a response. What about the third question? What is God currently doing? Certainly this young boy would not know how to answer this question! Abū Hanīfah said, “While you were addressing the audience, you took the high podium. Now that I am addressing the audience, allow me to take the high podium.” The soldier and came down into the crowd and Abū Hanīfah climbed the podium the address the audience.

He said, “At this moment, Allah is taking someone who attempts to challenge Islam from a high position and debased him to a low position. And he is raising a person who is defending the Truth.” At this, the audience applauded at the brilliance of the young boy in their midst.

Islamic Law

Though he was a scholar in many areas, Abū Hanīfah is most known for his work in Islāmic Law. During his time, there were two “schools” of Islamic legal thought: Ahl al-Ra’i and Ahl al-Hadīth (not to be confused with the modern Ahl al-Hadīth). While Ahl al-Hadīth stuck to the transmitted texts and dared not make speculative opinions, Ahl al-Ra’i sought to “fill in the gaps” and used analogical reasoning to develop a framework for solving newly arisen questions and issues.

Imām Abū Hanīfah belonged to this school of thought. People would come to him and ask of  new questions. For example, (I’m making this example up) how does a Muslim pray when he goes close to the North Pole, where a single day might last 6 months? Who is a woman married to who thinks her husband has died so she does not seek a divorce, then remarries only to find out the first husband is alive? (This was a real question)

Abū Hanīfah would gather the experts of all the Islamic disciplines in his circles. When a question was posed, the attendees would engage in a lively discussion and fierce debate, each complementing the strengths and weaknesses of each other. A conclusion was reached and posited as the answer. Other times, he would ask questions to his students to sharpen their minds by forcing them to think about new questions.

His conclusions and legal framework were documented and became known as the Hanafī madhhab. Thus was the school of legal thought of Abū Hanīfah.

‘Aqīdah – Islamic Belief

While Imām Abū Hanīfah employed analogical reasoning, he recognized its limits and the flaws one could fall into in the area of theology. Abū Hanīfah witnessed the emergence of the first sects of Islām, notably the Khawārij and the Mu’tazilites. In response to this phenomenon, Abū Hanīfah wrote a theological text to outline the beliefs of the earliest Muslims in opposition to the first splinter sects of Islam. This text is known as Fiqh al-Akbar (The Greatest Understanding) and is still studied to this day.

Piety

Imām Abū Hanīfah was not only known for his intellectual development of Islam, he was also recognized as a ascetic, preventing his heart from connecting to the Dunya’.

For example, Abū Hanīfah owned and operated a textile firm, and was scrupulous in his transactions, ensuring that every dirham (a unit of currency) was legally earned. Once, he tasked a servant to sell a large volume of clothes and to ensure he informed the purchasers of slight defects in the fabric. When the servant returned with the money, he told Abū Hanīfah that he had forgotten to mention the defects to the buyers. Abū Hanīfah did not want any of his wealth to be tainted with illegal earned money, so he gave all the new wealth away as charity.

Abū Hanīfah would reject worldly positions of power. For example, the Khulafa’ of his time would offer him a high position in the government as judge, provided that he issue fatwa in favor of the un-Islāmic actions of the Khulafa’. Abū Hanīfah refused all positions of authority, preferring instead to finance his own studies and juridical activities. This was also done to prevent the attachment of power and wealth from affecting his impartiality in making legal rulings (Something the Ahmadi community completely rejects, as the Murabbis are paid by Mirza Masroor Ahmad and are not permitted to oppose anything he says or does).

Some believe that the “persian man” that the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم spoke about was referring to either Imām Abū Hanīfah or Imam al-Ghazālī.

Why do I say this?

As I always stress, Islām is not a new religion. Its roots run centuries years deep. However, Ahmadis tend to see their faith as only 100 years old, proudly boasting that their community was “Founded in 1889“ by Mirza Ghulam, rather than being 1431 year old, founded by the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم. While one could argue that this is more due to “Ahmadī culture” rather than its actual scholastic beliefs, culture does affect one’s outlook on his religion. Ahmadīs are deeply disconnected from this rich centuries old Islamic tradition. Instead, they usually focusing on the writings of the likes of Mirza Tahir Ahmad over, say, Imam Abū Hāmid al-Ghazālī.

Thus, I encourage my Ahmadi readers to read the works of Imām Abū Hanīfah, and the other scholars of the Islamic tradition.  For starters, I suggest you read Fiqh al-Akbar, with the accompanying commentary by Shaykh Muhammad Hasan al-Ninowy.

As always, may Allah continue to guide our Ahmadi readers from the false religion of Ahmadiyya to the religion of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم.

* * و صلى الله على صيدنا محمد * *