Al-Nu`man ibn Thabit al-Taymi, al-Imam Abu
Hanifa (d. 150), called "The Imam" by Abu Dawud, and "The Imam, one of those
who have reached the sky" by Ibn Hajar, he is known in the Islamic world as
"The Greatest Imam" (al-imâm al-a`zam) and his school has the largest
number of followers among the four schools of Ahl al-Sunna. He is the
first of the four mujtahid imams and the only Successor (tâbi`i) among
them, having seen the Companions Anas ibn Malik, `Abd Allah ibn Abi Awfa, Sahl
ibn Sa`d al-Sa`idi, Abu al-Tufayl, and `Amir ibn Wathila.
Abu Hanifa is the first in Islam to organize the writing of fiqh
under sub-headings embracing the whole of the Law, beginning with purity (tahara)
followed by prayer (sala), an order which was retained by all subsequent
scholars such as Malik, Shafi`i, Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and
others. All these and their followers are indebted to him and give him a share
of their reward because he was the first to open that road for them, according
to the hadith of the Prophet: "He who starts something good in Islam has its
reward and the reward of those who practice it until the Day of Judgement,
without lessening in the least the reward of those who practice it. The one who
starts something bad in Islam will incur its punishment and the punishment of
all those who practice it until the Day of Judgement without lessening their
punishment in the least." Al-Shafi`i referred to this when he said: "People are
all the children of Abu Hanifa in fiqh, of Ibn Ishaq in history, of
Malik in hadith, and of Muqatil in tafsîr."
Al-Khatib narrated from Abu Hanifa’s student Abu Nu`aym that the
latter said: "Muslims should make du`a to Allah on behalf of Abu Hanifa
in their prayers, because the Sunan and the fiqh were preserved
for them through him. Al-Dhahabi wrote one volume on the life of each of the
other three great Imams and said: "The account of Abu Hanifa’s life requires
two volumes." His son Hammad said as he washed his father’s body for burial:
"May Allah have mercy on you! You have exhausted whoever tries to catch up with
you."
Abu Hanifa was scrupulously pious and refused Ibn Hubayra’s
offer of a judgeship even when the latter had him whipped. Like al-Bukhari and
al-Shafi`i, he used to make 60 complete recitations (khatma) of Qur’an
every Ramadan: one in the day, one in the night, besides his teaching and other
duties. Ibrahim ibn Rustum al-Marwazi said: "Four are the Imams that recited
the entire Qur’an in a single rak`a: `Uthman ibn `Affan, Tamim al-Dari,
Sa`id ibn Jubayr, and Abu Hanifa." Ibn al-Mubarak said: "Abu Hanifa for a long
time would pray all five prayers with a single ablution."
Al-Suyuti relates in Tabyid al-Sahifa that a certain
visitor came to observe Abu Hanifa and saw him all day long in the mosque,
teaching relentlessly, answering every question from both the scholars and the
common people, not stopping except to pray, then standing at home in prayer
when people were asleep, hardly ever eating or sleeping, and yet the most
handsome and gracious of people, always alert and never tired, day after day
for a long time, so that in the end the visitor said: "I became convinced that
this was not an ordinary matter, but wilâya (Friendship with Allah)."
Al-Shafi`i said: "Knowledge revolves around three men: Malik,
al-Layth, and Ibn `Uyayna." Al-Dhahabi commented: "Rather, it revolves also
around al-Awza`i, al-Thawri, Ma`mar, Abu Hanifa, Shu`ba, and the two Hammads
[ibn Zayd and ibn Salama]."
Sufyan al-Thawri praised Abu Hanifa when he said: "We were in
front of Abu Hanifa like small birds in front of the falcon," and Sufyan stood
up for him when Abu Hanifa visited him after his brother’s death, and he said:
"This man holds a high rank in knowledge, and if I did not stand up for his
science I would stand up for his age, and if not for his age then for his
Godwariness (wara`), and if not for his Godwariness then for his
jurisprudence (fiqh)." Ibn al-Mubarak praised Abu Hanifa and called him
a sign of Allah. Both Ibn al-Mubarak and Sufyan al-Thawri said: "Abu Hanifa was
in his time the most knowledgeable of all people on earth." Ibn Hajar also
related that Ibn al-Mubarak said: "If Allah had not rescued me with Abu Hanifa
and Sufyan [al-Thawri] I would have been like the rest of the common people."
Dhahabi relates it as: "I would have been an innovator."
An example of Abu Hanifa’s perspicuity in inferring legal
rulings from source-texts is his reading of the following hadith:
The Prophet said: "Your life in comparison to the lifetime of
past nations is like the period between the time of the mid-afternoon prayer (‘asr)
and sunset. Your example and the example of the Jews and Christians is that of
a man who employed laborers and said to them: ‘Who will work for me until
mid-day for one qirât (a unit of measure, part of a dinar) each?’ The
Jews worked until mid-day for one qirât each. Then the man said: ‘Who
will work for me from mid-day until the ‘asr prayer for one qirât
each?’ The Christians worked from mid-day until the ‘asr prayer for one qirât
each. Then the man said: ‘Who will work for me from the `asr prayer
until the maghrib prayer for two qirât each?’ And that, in truth,
is all of you. In truth, you have double the wages. The Jews and the Christians
became angry and said: ‘We did more labor but took less wages.’ But Allah said:
‘Have I wronged you in any of your rights?’ They replied no. Then He said:
‘This is My Blessing which I give to whom I wish.’"
It was deduced from the phrase "We did more labor" that the time
of mid-day to `asr must always be longer than that between `asr and
maghrib. This is confirmed by authentic reports whereby:
The Prophet hastened to pray zuhr and delayed praying `asr.
The Prophet said: "May Allah have mercy on someone who prays
four rak`as before `asr.
`Ali delayed praying `asr until shortly before the sun
changed, and he reprimanded the mu’adhdhin who was hurrying him with the
words: "He is trying to teach us the Sunna!"
Ibrahim al-Nakha`i said: "Those that came before you used to
hasten more than you to pray zuhr and delay more than you in praying `asr."
Al-Tahanawi said: "Those that came before you" are the Companions.
Ibn Mas`ud delayed praying `asr.
Sufyan al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, and his two companions Muhammad
ibn a-Hasan and Abu Yusuf therefore considered it better to lengthen the time
between zuhr and `asr by delaying the latter prayer as long as
the sun did not begin to redden, while the majority of the authorities
considered that praying `asr early is better, on the basis of other
sound evidence to that effect.
Like every Friend of Allah, Abu Hanifa had his enemies. `Abdan
said that he heard Ibn al-Mubarak say: "If you hear them mention Abu Hanifa
derogatively then they are mentioning me derogatively. In truth I fear for them
Allah’s displeasure." Authentically related from Bishr al-Hafi is the
statement: "No-one criticizes Abu Hanifa except an envier or an ignoramus."
Hamid ibn Adam al-Marwazi said: I heard Ibn al-Mubarak say: "I never saw anyone
more fearful of Allah than Abu Hanifa, even on trial under the whip and through
money and property." Abu Mu`awiya al-Darir said: "Love of Abu Hanifa is part of
the Sunna."
Main sources:
al-Khatib, Tarikh Baghdad 13:324-356;
al-Dhahabi, Manaqib Abi Hanifa 22-36 and Tabaqat al-Huffaz
1:168;
Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 10:450;
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya 10:114;
al-Suyuti, Tabyid al-Sahifa p. 94-95;
al-Haytami, al-Khayrat al-Hisan.