The
founder: Imaam Abu Haneefah (703-767CE)
This
Madh-hab is named after its founding scholar, Abu
Haneefah,
whose actual name was Nu’maan ibn Thaabit. He was
born in
the year 702 CE. Kufah, (Iraq). His father was a silk merchan
of
Persian origin, who accepted Islaam during the reign of the
Khulafaa
Raashidoon (Righteous Caliphs).
Abu Haneefah began his
Abu Haneefah began his
earlier
studies in the field of philosophy and dialectics known as ‘Ilm
al-Kalaam,
but after mastering its various disciplines, he left it and
went into
an indepth study of Fiqh and Hadeeth. He chose as his
main
teacherk, Hammaad ibn Zayd, who was among the greatest
scholars
of Hadeeth of his time. Abu Haneefah studied under him
for eighteen years.
for eighteen years.
During this time he became qualified to teach, but
instead
remained Hammad’s student until the latter died in the year
742 CE.
After Hammaad’s death Abu Haneefah took up the position
of
teacher at the age of forty and became the most outstanding
scholar
in Kufah. As such, he appeared to bea valuable prize to the
Umayyad
caliphs of that time.
They offered him the position of Qaadee (judge) of Kufah,
but he refused the post in spite of being
They offered him the position of Qaadee (judge) of Kufah,
but he refused the post in spite of being
physically
beaten for his refusal by the Ameer of Kufah, Yazeed ibn
‘Umar.
Similarly, during the rule of the ‘Abbaasids, he also refused
royal
appointment, and was consequently imprisoned in Baghdad by
the
Caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansoor (754-775 CE). He remained
imprisoned
until his death in 767 CE. Abu Haneefah was considered
among the
minor Taabi’oon (students of the Sahaabah), because he
had met a
few of the Sahaabah and had related some Hadeeths from
them.
al-Madkhal, pp. 171-172.
Formation
of the Hanafee Madh-hab
Imaam Abu
Haneefah base his teaching method on the
principle
of Shoorah (group discussion). He would present a legal
problem
to his students for debate and discussion and tell them to
record
its solution whenever they arrived at a unified position.
Because
of this interactive approach to making legal rulings, we
could say
that the Hanafee Madh-hab was as much a product of Abu
Haneeafh’s
students’ efforts as it was a product of his own efforts.
They
would also debate on hypothetical problems and work out
solutions,
based on the principle of preparing for a problem before its
occurrence.
Because of their leaning towards hypothetical Fiqh
which
often introduced an issue with the question, “what if so and so
happened?”,
they became known as the what-iffers or Ahl ar-Ra’i
(the
opinion people).
Sources
of Law used by the Hanafee Madh-hab
The early
jurists of this Madh-hab deduced Islamic laws
from the
following sources, which are listed in the order of their
importance:
1. The
Qur’aan
They
considered the Qur’aan to be the primary unquestionable
source of
Islamic law. In fact it was used to determine the
accuracy
of the other sources. Accordingly any other source that
contradicted
the Qur’aan was considered inaccurate.
2. The
Sunnah
The
Sunnah was consulted as the second most important source
of
Islamic law, but with some qualification as to its use. They
stipulated
that it was not suffcient that a Hadeeth be accurate
(Saheeh),
but it had to be also widely known (Mash-hoor), if it
was to be
used as a legal proof. This condition was laid down as
a
safeguard against false Hadeeths which were cropping up
frequently
in that region where only a few notable Sahaabah had
settled
(‘Alee and Ibn Mas’ood).
3. Ijmaa’
of the Sahaabah
Third in
importance as a source of Islamic law was the
unanimous
opinion of the Sahaabah on any point of law not
specified
in the Qur’aan or the Sunnah. That is, Ijmaa’ of the
Sahaabah
on any point of law not specified in the Qur’aan or the
Sunnah.
That is, Ijmaa’ of the Sahaabah was given precedence
over the
personal opinions of Abu Haneefah and his students in
their
deduction of Islamic law. The Hanafee Madh-hab also
recognized
the Ijmaa’ of Muslim scholars in any age as valid and
binding
on Muslims.
4.
Individual opinion of the Sahaabah
If there
were different opinions among the Sahaabah on a
particular
point of law and no Ijmaa’ was subsequently formed,
Abu
Haneefah would choose the opinion which appeared most
appropriate
to the case in question. In establishing this as a vital
principle
of his Madh-hab, Abu Haneefah again gave more
weight to
the opinions of the Sahaabah than to his own. al-Fiqh al-IslaameeHowever, he
did apply his own reasoning in a limited sense by
choosing
one of their various opinions.
5. Qiyaas
(Analogical deduction)
Abu
Haneefah felt no obligation to accept the deductions of the
students
of the Sahaabah (Taabi’oon) in areas where no clear
proof was
available from any of the above mentioned sources.
He
considered himself the equal of the Taabi’oon and would
make his
own Ijtihaad based on the principles of Qiyaas which
he and
his students established.
6.
Istihsaan (Preference)
Istihsaan,
in short, is the preference of one proof over another
proof
because it appears more suitable, even though the preferred
proof may
be technically weaker than the one it is preferred to.
This may
involve the preference of a Hadeeth which is specific
over a
general one, or it may even involve the preference of a
more
suitable law over the one deduced by Qiyaas.
7. ‘Urf
(Locar Custom)
Local
customs were given legal weight in areas where there were
no
binding Islamic customs available. It was through the
application
of this principle that various customs found in the
multiplicity
of cultures within the Islamic world entered the legal
system
and became mistakenly classified as Islamic.al-Madkhal, pp. 175-186.
Main
students of the Hanafee Madh-hab
The most
famous of Abu Haneefah’s students were Zufar ibn
al-Hudhayl,
Abu Yoosuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.
Zufar ibn
al-Hudhayl (732-774 CE)
Zufar was
one of those who followed Abu Haneefah’s
example
and refused to accept appointment as Qaadee even though
many
attractive offers were made to him. He preferred to teach,
which he
did until he died at the early age of 42 in Basrah.
Abu
Yoosuf Ya’qoob ibn Ibraaheem (735-795 CE)
Abu
Yoosuf was born into a poor family in Kufah. He
studied
Hadeeth extensively until he became a noteworthy Hadeeth
scholar
then studied Fiqh in Kufah for nine years under Imaam Ibn
Abee
Lailaa (died 765 CE) whose father was a famous Sahaabee
from
Madeenah. Abu Yoosuf later studied under Abu Haneefah for
nine
years, and when Abu Haneefah died, he went to Madeenah and
studied
for a short period under Imaam Maalik.
Abu
Yoosuf was appointed chief judge of the state by the
‘Abbaasid
caliphs, al-Mahdee (775-785 CE), al-Haadee (785-786
CE) and
Haroon ar-Rasheed (786-809 CE). In his capacity as chief
judge, he
used to appoint judges for the various cities and all his
appointees
were followers of the Hanafee Madh-hab. Thus, he was
instrumental
in the spread of this school of thought throughout the
Muslim
empire.Waleeallaah ad-Dahlawee,
Muhammad
ibn al-Hasan, ash-Shaybaanee (749-805 CE)
Imaam
Muhammad was born in WSasit, but grew up in
Kufah.
Like Abu Yoosuf, his early studies were also in Hadeeth. He
studied
briefly under Abu Yoosuf and later travelled to Madeenah
where he
studied under Imaam Maalik for three years. During this
period he
became one of the main narrators of Maalik’s Hadeeth
book
al-Muwatta’ Imaam Shaafi’ee was among the many scholars
who later
studied uner Muhammad ibn al-Hasan in Baghdad.
Muhammad
ibn al-Hasan also accepted appointment as
Qadee
during the reign of Caliph Haroon ar-Rasheed, but soon gave
it up
because of the many compromises which it demanded, and
returned
to his teaching post in Baghdad.
Followers
of the Hanafee Madh-hab
Those who
now follow the Hanafee Madh-hab are found
mostly in
India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Guyana,
Trinidad,
and Surinam and to some extent Egypt. When the ottoman
rulers
codified Islamic law according to the Hanafee Madh-hab in
the
nineteenth century CE and made it state law, any scholar who
aspired
to be a judge was obliged to learn it. As a result, the Madhhab
spread
throughout the Ottoman Islamic State during the last Part
of the
nineteenth century.
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