Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a): The Leading Imam In Hadith





































Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a): The Leading Imam In Hadith


CONTENTS:
PART 1: SHORT VIDEO CLIPS
PART 2: VIDEOS
PART 3: BOOKS


PART 1: SHORT VIDEO CLIPS
ENGLISH VIDEO: 002 Imam Bukhari(rah) Is The Grand Student Of Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) | 32mins

ENGLISH VIDEO: 004 Imam Bukhari(rah) Visited COUNTLESS TIMES Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) Cities, Baghdad And Kufa For Taking Hadiths | 12mins 7secs

URDU VIDEO: 003 Imam Bukhari(rah) k ustad Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) he | 9 mins approx

URDU VIDEO: 007 Imam Bukhari(rah), Ahlul Rai aur Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) | 12mins 4secs

URDU VIDEO: 008 Imam Bukhari(rah) Hadiths jamah karne k liye sabse zyada Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) k shaher Kufa aur Baghdad gaye the | 6mins 8secs

URDU VIDEO: 010 Sahih Bukhari ki riwayat bi Hanfi Imamo se hui | 4mins 24secs

URDU VIDEO: Hadith regarding Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) | 13 MINS 12 SECS


SERIES 1:
URDU VIDEO: 001 (Ilm e Hadith aur Ilm e Fiqh) wa (Muhaddith aur Faqih) me Farq | 52 MINS 13 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 002 Imam Bukhari aur Imam e Azam(r.a) | 7 MINS 40 SECS          

URDU VIDEO: 003 Allama Ibn Khaldoon ka qaul ke Imam e Azam se 17 hadith riwayat hui ya 17 kitabe riwayat hui | 4 MINS 20 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 004 Imam Bukhari wa Imam Muslim ka Imam e Azam se riwayat na karne ki asli wajah | 12 MINS 8 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 005 Aiima e fiqh wa Hadith me sirf Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) hi tabain he | 16 MINS

URDU VIDEO: 006 Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) ne 4000 tabayen aur taba tabayen se Hadith li | 3 MINS 9 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 007 Hazrat Ali(r.a) ne, Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) k liye dua kari | 2 MINS 45 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 008 Imam e Azam ka ilm e Hadith lene k markaz( Kufa, Makka, Madina, Basra) | 16 MINS 26 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 009 Imam e Azam k kuch ustad wa shagird ka tazkira aur ilm e Hadith | 8 MINS 59 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 010 Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) ustadh he Imam Bukhari k aur unki 22 me se 21 Salasiyat Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) k Shagird k waste se he | 11 MINS 17 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 011  Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) ki 1, 2 aur 3 wasto se Hadiths | 8 MINS 53 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 012 Imam e Azam ki Musnads, unse Hadith riwayat karne wale Imam e Hadith aur unpar Tadeel | 37 MINS 29 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 013 Imam e Azam, Hadith ka maina bayaan karte the | 5 MINS 34 SECS


SERIES 2:
URDU VIDEO: 001 Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa(r.a) k haq me basharat e Nabvii(saw) | 23 MINS 36 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 002 Hazrat Ali(r.a) ki dua Imam e Azam(r.a) ke liye | 9 MINS 49 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 003 Imam e Azam ki wiladat ki tariikh | 3 MINS 28 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 004 Imam e Azam k Ustadh jinse ilm e Hadith seekha | 48 MINS 4 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 005 Imam e Azam Tabayiin he | 23 MINS 31 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 006 Imam e Azam se marwi 1, 2, 3 waste wali Hadiths | 17 MINS 5 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 007 Imam e Azam k Shagird jinhone unse Hadith riwayat ki he | 28 MINS 56 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 008 Imam e Azam Ustadh e Bukhari he | 11 MINS 28 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 009 Imam Bukhari ka Imam e Azam se Hadith riwayat na karne ki asal wajah | 10 MINS 3 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 010 Imam e Azam se marwi Hadiths ki tadad | 20 MINS 5 SECS


SERIES 3:
URDU VIDEO: 002 (Tirmidhi Shariff) is etraz ka radd k Aiima e fiqh, hadith ko qubool nai karte | 7 MINS 26 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 003 Imam Tirmidhi ne fuqhaa ka ikhtiyar(qubool) karna, Hadith ki maqbooliyat ka meyar bana diya | 2 MINS 39 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 004 Imam Tirmidhi ne fuqhaa k ikhtiyaar ki list me Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) ko q nai liya | 1 HOUR 18 MINS


SERIES 4:
URDU VIDEO: 001 Hadith jamah karna aur unhe samajhna alag alag kaam he | 56 MINS 39 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 002 Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal aur Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) | 18 MINS 9 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 003 Imam Shafi(rah) aur Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) | 41 MINS 1 SEC


SERIES 5:               
URDU VIDEO: 002 Imam Malik(rah) aur Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) | 1 HOUR 18 MINS 19 SECS

URDU VIDEO: 003 Imam Abu Hanifa(r.a) ki ilmi shaan k kuch waqiyat deegar Ulema ki nazar me | 29 MINS 48 SECS


CORRECTING ZAKIR NAIK ABOUT  IMAM ABU HANIFA(R.A)
0079 CORRECTING ZAKIR NAIK ABOUT BIRTH DATE OF IMAM ABU HANIFA(RA) #URDU | Duration: 6mins 37secs

0080 ZAKIR NAIK LEARN IT THAT IMAM ABU HANIFA(RA) IS IMAM E HADITH TOO #ENGLISH | Duration: 47mins 37secs

0081 ZAKIR NAIK LEARN IT THAT IMAM ABU HANIFA(RA) IS IMAM E HADITH TOO #URDU | Duration: 57mins 17secs

0082 ZAKIR NAIK SAID RADIYALLAHU TAALA ANHU FOR YAZEED AND JUST RAHIMAHULLAH FOR IMAM ABU HANIFA(R.A)! DOUBLE STANDARDS! #URDU | Duration: 27mins 42secs

0083 ZAKIR NAIK, EVEN NARRATORS OF AL-BUKHARI WERE HANFI #ENGLISH | Duration: 11mins 25secs

0084 ZAKIR NAIK, EVEN NARRATORS OF AL-BUKHARI WERE HANFI #URDU | Duration: 8mins 7secs



PART 2: VIDEOS
BY DR. TAHIR UL QADRI
URDU VIDEO: Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa Aimma fil Hadith | About 3 HOURS

URDU VIDEO: Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa Conference | About 2 HOURS 10 MINS

URDU VIDEO: 01 Imam-e-Azam Abu Hanifa awr Ilm-ul-Hadith (Izala-e-Shubhat) | 2 HOURS 21 MINS

URDU VIDEO: 02 Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa aur Ilm ul Hadith (session 2) | 2 HOURS 17 MINS

URDU VIDEO: 03 Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa aur Ilm ul Hadith (Izala e Shubhat, Session 3) | 2 HOURS 25 MINS



PART 3: BOOKS
ENGLISH BOOK: Imam Abu Hanifa and Narration of Hadiths (including scan pages proofs) By Aamir Ibrahiim |Pages: 264

URDU BOOK: Imam Abu Hanifa: The Leading Imam in Hadith (vol. I) By Dr. Tahir ul Qadri | Pages: 696

URDU BOOK: Imam Abu Hanifa: The Leading Imam in Hadith (vol. II) By Dr. Tahir ul Qadri | Pages: 656

URDU BOOK: Imam Abu Hanifa: The Leading Imam in Hadith (vol.III) By Dr. Tahir ul Qadri | Pages: 648

TOTAL NO. OF PAGES = 2000


URDU BOOK: Imam e Azam par Etrazat ki haqiqat By Allama Noor Baqsh Tawaqqul | Pages: 450

URDU BOOK: Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa(r.a) par jarah ka Mudalil Radd By Allama Ghulam Mustafa Noori | Pages: 492

URDU BOOK: Imam e Azam Aur Ilm E Hadith By Ibrahiim Hanfi | Pages: 554

URDU BOOK: Intesarul Haq By Mufti Irshad Husain Rampuri | Pages: 729


INSHA’ALLAH IN FUTURE I WILL ADD MORE INFO ON IT
MAY ALLAH(SWT) GRANT US THE DEEDAR E MUSTAFA(PEACE BE UPON HIM) BA HALT E BEDARI! AMIIN!

COMPILED BY: MUHAMMAD REHAN SIDDIQUI
ISLAMIC SITE: http://www.mrehan786.blogspot.com    










Biography of Imam Abu Hanifa R.A
In this strange world we live in, there are some people who after reading few spurious books written by people like Albani and other Anti-Hanafi authors start claiming to have become masters over fiqh and hadith sciences. In this process they are often seen giving random quotes from Khateeb al Baghdadi and others that Imam Abu Hanifa was a Jahimi, Kadhaab, Murji' and what not (Audhobillah Min Dhalik). Although in this article we shall cite comprehensive Ta'deel (authentication) on Imam al Adham Abu Hanifa (Rahimahullah) but before that let us prove the direct Ta'deel from Sayyidna Muhammad (Peace be upon him) which shall establish that even if Imam al-Bukhari (rah) or whosoever wrongly accused Imam Abu Hanifa, the accuser will not stand a chance for his qawl to be accepted because any saying of any Imam whatsoever cannot supersede the saying of Sayyidna Muhammad (Peace be upon him.

The Authentic Hadith and Sharh # 1

Book 031, Number 6177: (Sahih Muslim)
Abu Huraira reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: If the din were at the Pleiades, "EVEN THEN A PERSON FROM PERSIA" would have taken hold of it, or one amongst the Persian descent would have surely found it.
Imam Jalal ud-din as-Suyuti (rah) who is renowned to be Mujaddad of 9th century said of this hadith: 

اقول: وقد بشر بالإمام ابي حنيفة فى الحديث

Translation: I say this hadith has Basharah (glad tiding) for Imam Abu Hanifa (Rahimahullah) [Tabiyiz as-Sahifa bi Manaqib Abi Hanifa, Page # 31-33]

Then he also said: 

فهذا أصل صحيح يعتمد عليه في البشارة والفضيلة نظير المحدثين الذين في الإمامين ويستغنى به عن الخبر الموضوع

Translation: In this hadith is the “SAHIH ASAL” in regards to Basharah and Fadheelat of (Imam Abu Hanifa) and It is “RELIED UPON” just like previous (hadiths) are upon other Muhaditheen (i.e. Imam ash-Shafi and Imam Malik whom Imam Suyuti mentions too). This Sahih hadith makes distinction between the fabricated hadith in his regard (i.e. all false accusations on Imam Abu Hanifa are destroyed due to this hadith) [Tabiyiz as-Sahifa bi Manaqib Abi Hanifa, Page # 31-33]



163-10/5 ع-أبو حنيفة الإمام الأعظم فقيه العراق النعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا التيمي مولاهم الكوفي: مولده سنة ثمانين رأى أنس بن مالك غير مرة لما قدم عليهم الكوفة رواه ابن سعد عن سيف بن جابر أنه سمع أبا حنيفة يقوله. وحدث عن عطاء ونافع وعبد الرحمن بن هرمز الأعرج وعدي بن ثابت وسلمة بن كهيل وأبي جعفر محمد بن علي وقتادة وعمرو بن دينار وأبي إسحاق وخلق كثير. تفقه به زفر بن الهذيل وداود الطائي والقاضي أبو يوسف ومحمد بن الحسن وأسد بن عمرو والحسن بن زياد اللؤلؤي ونوح الجامع وأبو مطيع البلخي وعدة. وكان قد تفقه بحماد بن أبي سليمان وغيره وحدث عنه وكيع ويزيد بن هارون وسعد بن الصلت وأبو عاصم وعبد الرزاق وعبيد الله بن موسى وأبو نعيم وأبو عبد الرحمن المقري وبشر كثير وكان إماما ورعا عالما عاملا متعبدا كبير الشأن لا يقبل جوائز السلطان بل يتجر ويتكسب.
قال ضرار بن صرد: سئل يزيد بن هارون أيما أفقه: الثوري أم أبو حنيفة؟ فقال: أبو حنيفة أفقه وسفيان أحفظ للحديث. وقال ابن المبارك: أبو حنيفة أفقه الناس. وقال الشاقعي: الناس في الفقه عيال على أبي حنيفة. وقال يزيد: ما رأيت أحدًا أورع ولا أعقل من أبي حنيفة. وروى أحمد بن محمد بن القاسم بن محرز عن يحيى بن معين قال: لا بأس به لم يكن يتهم ولقد ضربه يزيد بن عمر بن هبيرة على القضاء فأبى أن يكون قاضيا. قال أبو داود رحمه الله: أن أبا حنيفة كان إماما.
وروى بشر بن الوليد عن أبي يوسف قال: كنت أمشي مع أبي حنيفة فقال رجل لآخر: هذا أبو حنيفة لا ينام الليل, فقال: والله لا يتحدث الناس عني بما لم أفعل, فكان يحيي الليل صلاة ودعاء وتضرعا. قلت: مناقب هذا الإمام قد أفردتها في جزء. كان موته في رجب سنة خمسين ومائة1 رضي الله عنه.


Translation: (al-Dhahabi said): Abu Hanifah "THE GREATEST IMAM (imam al-a‘zam)" the jurist of Iraq, Nu‘man ibn Thabit ibn Zuta al-Taymi (who were their masters) al-Kufi. He was born in 80 AH and saw Anas ibn Malik more than once when he came to them in Kufa. Ibn Sa‘d has narrated this from Sayf ibn Jabir that he heard Abu Hanifah say this. He narrated from ‘Ata’a, Nafi‘, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-A‘raj, ‘Adi ibn Thabit, Salamah ibn Kuhayl, Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, Qatadah, ‘Amr ibn Dinar, Abu Ishaq and many others. Zufar ibn Hudhayl, Dawud al-Ta’i, Qadi Abu Yusuf, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, Asad ibn ‘Amr, Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Lu’lui, Nuh al-Jami‘, Abu Muti‘ al-Balkhi and others learned fiqh from him. He learned fiqh from Hammad ibn Abu Sulayman and others. Waki‘, Yazid ibn Harun, Sa‘d ibn al-Sult, Abu ‘Asim, ‘Abd al-Razzaq, ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Musa, Abu Na‘im, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri and others narrated from him. He was an imam, pious, knowledgeable, someone who practiced, someone who indulged in great worship and a man of great ranking; he would not accept the sultan’s gifts but would trade and earn a living.


Dirar ibn Sard said, Yazid ibn Harun was asked, ‘Who is a greater faqih, al-Thawri or Abu Hanifah?’ He replied, ‘Abu Hanifah was a greater faqih and Sufyan was greater in remembering hadith.’ Ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘Abu Hanifah was the greatest faqih among the people.’ Al-Shafi‘i said, ‘People are children to Abu Hanifah in fiqh.’ Yazid said, ‘I never saw anyone more god fearing and more intelligent than Abu Hanifah.’ Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Mihraz narrated from Yahya ibn Ma‘in who said, ‘There is no issue with him; he was not accused of anything. Yazid ibn ‘Umar ibn Hubayrah imposed on him to take up the judiciary but he refused to be qadi.’ Abu Dawud (may Allah mercy him) said, ‘Imam Abu Hanifah was an imam.’


“Bishr ibn al-Walid narrates from Abu Yusuf who said, ‘I was walking with Abu Hanifah when a man said to another, “This is Abu Hanifah, he does not sleep at night.” Imam Abu Hanifah said, “I swear by Allah, people do not speak of me regarding that which I have not done.” He used to keep awake the night in prayer, du‘a and supplication.’ I (Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi) say: I have devoted a chapter to the virtues of this imam. He died in Rajab, 150AH. May Allah be pleased with him.”

Reference: Imam Dhahabi,Tazkarra Hufaaz, Chapter 163, Page: 168-169 Click Here for Scanned Page (193)



From Leading Books of Jarh Wa Tadil



Blessings of Hazarth Ali R.A

أنبأنا إسماعيل بن حماد بن أبي حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت بن المرزبان من أبناء فارس الاحرار، والله ما وقع علينا رق قط.
ولد جدي في سنة ثمانين، وذهب ثابت إلى علي وهو صغير، فدعا له بالبركة فيه. وفي ذريته، ونحن نرجو من الله أن يكون استجاب ذلك لعلي رضي الله عنه فينا


Translation: Isma‘il ibn Hammad ibn Abu Hanifah informed us, ‘Nu‘man ibn Thabit ibn al-Marzaban was from among the free people of Persia. I swear by Allah, we were never enslaved. My grandfather was born in the eightieth year. Thabit(Father of Abu Hanifa) went to ‘Ali when he was small and he prayed for barakah for him and his children(future). We hope to see Allah accept ‘Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) prayer for us…’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 395 Click Here for Scanned Page (194)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 423 Click Here for Scanned Page (200)

3)Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 401(Online) and Volume 10, Page 449 Click Here for Scanned Page (210)

4) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 376



Imam Abu Hanifa R.A Thiqa in Hadith

قال محمد بن سعد العوفي: سمعت يحيى بن معين يقول: كان أبو حنيفة ثقة لا يحدث بالحديث إلا بما يحفظه، ولا يحدث بما لا يحفظ
Translation: Muhammad Sa‘d al-‘Uwfi said, I heard Yahya ibn Ma‘in say, ‘Abu Hanifah was reliable (thiqah), he did not narrate a hadith except that which he remembered and did not narrate that which he did not.’

References:

1)Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 395 Click Here for Scanned Page (194)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 424 Click Here for Scanned Page (201)

3)Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 401(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)


وقال صالح بن محمد: سمعت يحيى بن معين يقول: كان أبو حنيفة ثقة في الحديث، وروى أحمد بن محمد بن القاسم بن محرز، عن ابن معين: كان أبو حنيفة لا بأس به. وقال مرة: هو عندنا من أهل الصدق، ولم يتهم بالكذب ولقد ضربه ابن هبيرة على القضاء، فأبى أن يكون قاضيا


Translation: Salih ibn Muhammad said, I heard Yahya ibn Ma‘in say, ‘Abu Hanifah was reliable in hadith.’ Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Mihraz narrated from Ibn Ma‘in, ‘There is nothing wrong with Abu Hanifah.’ And he said once, ‘He is according to us from among the people of truth and was never accused of lying. Ibn Hubayrah imposed on him to take up the judiciary, but he refused to be a qadi…’

References:

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 395 Click Here for Scanned Page (194)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 424 Click Here for Scanned Page (201)


قال صالح بن محمد الأسدي عن بن معين كان أبو حنيفة ثقة في الحديث وقال أبو وهب ومحمد بن مزاحم سمعت بن المبارك يقول أفقه الناس أبو حنيفة ما رأيت في الفقه مثله

Translation: Salih bin Muhammad al-Asadi narrates from (Yahya) bin Ma’een who said: Abu Hanifa is “THIQA IN HADITH” Abu Wahb and Muhammad bin Mazaham said that they heard Imam Ibn al-Mubarak say: Abu Hanifa is a greater faqih than all people and I have not seen anyone of his match in Fiqh 

3) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 401, Narrator no: 819(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)


About Narrator Salih bin Muhammad al asadi, Imam Dhahabi said

الحافظ العلامة الثبت شيخ ما وراء النهر أبو علي صالح بن محمد بن عمرو بن حبيب الأسدي

Hafiz, Allama, Thabat (Thiqah) Sheikh, river of knowledge Abu Ali Salih Bin Muhammad Bin Amr Bin habeeb Al Asadi


Reference: 
-Imam Dhahabi Tazkarat Al Huffaaz, Volume 2, Page: 15, Narrator ID: 664


At another Place he says
صالح بن محمد بن عمرو بن حبيب الأسدي..........
.........
الإمام الحافظ الكبير الحجة، محدث المشرق، أبو علي الأسدي البغدادي


Imam, Hafiz Al Kabeer, Hujjat, Muhaddith e Mashriq, Abu Ali Al Asadi...
 
Reference: Imam dhahabi Sayyir Al Alaam An Nubala Volume 24, Page 14 


Note: Some ignorant people, try to reject this Sahi quote saying, there is no sanad in it. Here it is what Imam Mizzi mentions right in the start of his book Tahzeeb ul Kamal

“That in which we did not mention its isnad between us and its speaker: that from them in the form of certainty (sighat al-jazm) [i.e. where he uses the active tense, like “he said”, “he narrated”], it is that which we know of no harm in its isnad from its speaker from whom it is related; and that thereof in the in the form of uncertainty (sighat al-tamrid) [i.e. using the passive tense, like “it was said”, “it was narrated”], then probably there is a problem in its isnad upto its speaker...”  [Tahzeeb ul Kamal, volume 1, Page no: 153]
So according to Imam Mizzi, above quote is authentic. Hence, it  is clear from al-Mizzi's relation of above narration in his Tahzeeb al-Kamal, followed by al-Dhahabi in his Siyar Alam al Nubala and Imam Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib i.e opinion of Yahya ibn Ma'in is that Abu Hanifah is trustworthy.




Dream of Imam Abu Hanifa R.A


شعيب بن أيوب الصريفيني، حدثنا أبويحيى الحماني، سمعت أبا حنيفة يقول: رأيت رؤيا أفزعتني، رأيت كأني أنبش قبر النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فأتيت البصرة، فأمرت رجلا يسأل محمد بن سيرين فسأله، فقال: هذا رجل ينبش أخبار رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
Translation: Shu‘ayb ibn Ayyub al-Sarifini said, Abu Yahya al-Himmani narrated to us, ‘I heard Abu Hanifah say, “I saw a dream that scared me. I saw I was digging up the grave of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). I came to Basrah and ordered a man to ask Muhammad ibn Sirin and he asked him. He said, ‘This man shall uncover the hadiths of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).’”’

References:

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 398 Click Here for Scanned Page (195)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 427 Click Here for Scanned Page (202)

3) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 377

4)  Imam Dhahabi, Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifa lidh Dhahabi, Page 36 Click Here for Scanned Page (217)




Priority for Imam Abu Hanifa R.A


وروى نوح الجامع، عن أبي حنيفة أنه قال: ما جاء عن الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم، فعلى الرأس والعين، وما جاء عن الصحابة اخترنا، وما كان من غير ذلك، فهم رجال ونحن رجال.
Translation: Nuh al-Jami‘ narrates from Abu Hanifah that he said, ‘What is from the Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), then that will gladly be given priority (‘ala al-ra’s wa al-‘ayn); what comes from the Companions, we shall choose, and what is apart from that, then they are men and we are men.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 401 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)

In another report it is said: Book of Allah, From Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him), Companions........

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 443 Click Here for Scanned Page (209)

3) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402 (Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 451 Click Here for Scanned Page (212)



Imam Ibn Mubarak

المحدث محمود بن محمد المروزي، حدثنا حامد بن آدم، حدثنا أبو وهب محمد بن مزاحم، سمعت عبد الله بن المبارك يقول: لولا أن الله أعانني بأبي حنيفة وسفيان، كنت كسائر الناس.


Translation: The hadith scholar Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Marwazi said that Hamid ibn Adam narrated to us that Abu Wahb Muhammad ibn Muzahim narrated to us that, ‘I heard ‘Abd Allah ibn Mubarak say, “If Allah had not aided me with Abu Hanifah and Sufyan, then I would have been like the rest of the people.”’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 398 Click Here for Scanned Page (195)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 428 Click Here for Scanned Page (203)

3) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 401(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)


وعن ابن المبارك قال: ما رأيت رجلا أو قر في مجلسه، ولا أحسن سمتا وحلما من أبي حنيفة.
Translation: Ibn al-Mubarak narrates, ‘I have never seen a man commanding so much respect in his gathering, and nor more beautiful in manners and gentleness than Abu Hanifah…’

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 400 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)


وقال الفقيه أبو عبد الله الصيمري: لم يقبل العهد بالقضاء، فضرب وحبس، ومات في السجن. وروى حيان بن موسى المروزي، قال: سئل ابن المبارك: مالك أفقه، أو أبو حنيفة ؟ قال: أبو حنيفة. وقال الخريبي: ما يقع في أبي حنيفة إلا حاسد
Translation: The jurist Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Saymari said, ‘He did not accept the position of qadi, so he was beaten, imprisoned and died in jail.’ Hayyan ibn Musa al-Marwazi said that Ibn al-Mubarak was asked, ‘Is Malik a greater jurist or Abu Hanifah?’ He replied, ‘Abu Hanifah.’ Al-Khuraybi said, ‘Only the jealous or ignorant disparages Abu Hanifah.’

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 402 Click Here for Scanned Page (198)


وقال ابن المبارك: أبو حنيفة أفقه الناس

Translation: “Ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘Abu Hanifah is the greatest faqih amongst the people.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)

2) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 401 (Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)


Imam Abdullah Ibn Mubarak couplets on Imam Abu Hanifa r.a

رأيت أبا حنيفة كل يوم يزيد نبالة ويزيد خيرا ... وينطق بالصواب ويصطفيه إذا ما قال أهل الجور جورا ... يقايس من يقايسه بلب فمن ذا تجعلون له نظيرا ... كفانا فقد حماد وكانت مصيبتنا به أمرا كبيرا ... فرد شماتة الأعداء عنا وأبدى بعده علما كثيرا ... رأيت أبا حنيفة حين يؤتى ويطلب علمه بحرا غزيرا ... إذا ما المشكلات تدافعها ... رجال العلم كان بها بصيرا 
Translation: I've seen Imam Abu Hanifa on a daily basis he increases in nobility and in goodness he speaks the truth and that alone he chooses, When the tyrants speak with oppression he engages them with academic proofs using acumen who will you put for him as a comparison, The loss of Hammaad was a sufficient great calamity for us However, he has averted the taunting of the enemies from us, After him, he manifested a great deal of knowledge I've seen Abu Hanifa when he was brought and his knowledge was sought, he had a deep ocean of knowledge, When such intricacies come up which scholars cannot give solutions toImam Abu Hanifa has much insight in it
Reference: Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 441 Click Here for Scanned Page (208)



ابْنَ الْمُبَارَكِ، يَقُولُ: «إِنْ كَانَ أَحَدٌ يَنْبَغِي لَهُ أَنْ يَقُولَ بِرَأْيِهِ، فَأَبُو حَنِيفَةَ

Translation: Ibn al-Mubarak said: If there is any person whose opinion is worthy of being followed, it is that of Imam Abu Hanifa

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifa lidh Dhahabi, Page 31 Click Here for Scanned Page (215)

عنَ عَبْدَانَ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ ابْنَ الْمُبَارَكِ، يَقُولُ: «إِذَا سَمِعْتُهُمْ يَذْكُرُونَ أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ بِسُوءٍ سَاءَنِي ذَلِكَ، وَأَخَافُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَقْتَ مِنَ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
Translation: Abdaan says that he heard Ibn Mubarak r.a saying, “When I hear people speaking ill of Imam Abu Hanifa, I become displeased and I fear the displeasure of Allah on them.”

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifa lidh Dhahabi, Page 36 Click Here for Scanned Page (217)

ابْنَ الْمُبَارَكِ، يَقُولُ: «كَانَ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ آيَةً
Ibn al-Mubarak r.a  praised Imam Abu Hanifa r.a

Translation: He(Ibn al Mubarak) called him(Abu hanifa) a "sign of Allah(Ayah)"

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifa lidh Dhahabi, Page 30 Click Here for Scanned Page (214)

وَقَالَ حِبَّانُ بْنُ مُوسَى: سُئِلَ ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ: " أَمَالِكٌ أَفْقَهُ أَمْ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ؟ ، فَقَالَ: أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ "
Translation: Hibban ibn Musa said: Ibn al-Mubarak r.a was asked, “Who is more knowledgeable in fiqh, Malik or Abu Hanifa?” He replied: “Abu Hanifa!”
Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifa lidh Dhahabi, Page 32 Click Here for Scanned Page (216)




Imam Amash R.A

وروى عن الاعمش أنه سئل عن مسألة، فقال: إنما يحسن هذا النعمان بن ثابت الخزاز، وأظنه بورك له في علمه
Translation: It has been narrated from A‘mash that he was asked regarding an issue, so he said, ‘Only Nu‘man ibn Thabit al-Khazzaz would be able to answer that expertly. I think he was blessed in his knowledge.’

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)


Imam Shafai R.A

محمد بن أيوب بن الضريس، حدثنا أحمد بن الصباح، سمعت الشافعي قال: قيل لمالك: هل رأيت أبا حنيفة ؟ قال: نعم.
رأيت رجلا لو كلمك في هذه السارية أن يجعلها ذهبا لقام بحجته
Translation: Muhammad ibn Ayyub al-Duris said Ahmad ibn al-Sabah narrated to us, ‘I heard al-Shafi‘i say that Malik was asked, “Did you see Abu Hanifah?” He replied, “Yes, I saw a man if he were to speak to you regarding this pillar that he will make it gold then it would happen through his proofs.”’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 399 Click Here for Scanned Page (196)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 429 Click Here for Scanned Page (204)

3) Imam Dhahabi, Manaqib al Imam Abi Hanifa lidh Dhahabi, Page 30-31 Click Here for Scanned Page (214) and(215)


وقال الشافعي: الناس في الفقه عيال على أبي حنيفة. قلت: الامامة في الفقه ودقائقه مسلمة إلى هذا الامام. وهذا أمر لا شك فيه
Translation: Al-Shafi‘i said, ‘People are children to Abu Hanifah in fiqh.’ I (Imam Hafiz al-Dhahabi) say: leadership (imamat) in fiqh and its subtleties is resigned to this imam. And this is an issue in which there is no doubt.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 433 Click Here for Scanned Page (205)

3) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)

4) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 378



People love to quote Tarikh al Baghdad to Malign Imam Abu Hanifa [Through Weak and Fabricated chain], here it is with Sahih Sanad

Famous Student of Imam Abu Hanifa r.a i.e Imam Muhammed

حدثني الحسن بن محمد الخلال قال أنبأنا على بن عمرو الجريري ان على بن محمد النخعي حدثهم قال نا احمد بن حماد بن سفيان قال سمعت المزني يقول سمعت الشافعي يقول امن الناس على في الفقة محمد بن الحسن

Translation: Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Khallal narrated to me: ‘Ali ibn ‘Amr al-Hariri reported to me that ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Nakha‘i narrated to them: Ahmad ibn Hammad ibn Sufyan narrated to us: I heard al-Muzani say: I heard al-Shafi‘i say: “The most fortunate of people upon me in fiqh was Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.”

Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 2, Page: 567 Click Here for Scanned Page (220)

All the narrators in the chain are thiqah
According to al-Khatib 
1)  Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali Abu Muhammad al-Khallal  is thiqa 
Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 8, Page no: 454

2) ‘Ali ibn ‘Amr ibn Sahl Abu l-Husayn al-Hariri is thiqah according to al-‘Atiqi
Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 13, Page no: 470

3) Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Abu l-Qasim al-Nakha‘i known as “Ibn Kas” (d. 324) is thiqah-According to al-Khatib
Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 13, Page no:540

4)  Ahmad ibn Hammad ibn Sufyan (d. 297) is thiqah-According to al-Khatib
Reference: Misbah al-Arib Volume 1, Page no: 86 Click Here for Scanned Page (219)


Al-Qaadhy Iyaadh(Famous Author of Book As Shifa) wrote:


قال الليث: لقيت مالكاً بالمدينة فقلت له: إني أراك تمسح العرق عن جبينك فقال مالك: عرقت مع أبي حنيفة، إنه لفقيه يا مصري

Translation: Al-Layth Ibn Sa’d narrated: I met Malik in Madinah and I said to him: “I see that you’re wiping sweat from your forehead …”, so Malik replied: “Abu Hanifah made me sweat, he is truly a faqeeh (jurist), O Egyptian!”
Reference: Tartib Al-Madarik, Volume 1, page 62 Click Here for Scanned Page (218)



Merits of Imam Abu Hanifa R.A

وقال بن أبي خيثمة ثنا سليمان بن أبي شيخ قال كان أبو حنيفة ورعا سخيا
Translation: Ibn Abi Khaythama said from Sulayman ibn Abu Shaykh: Abu Hanifa was extremely scrupulous (wari`) and generous (sakhi)

Reference: Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)


وقال أحمد بن عبدة قاضي الري عن أبيه كنا عند بن عائشة فذكر حديثا لأبي حنيفة ثم قال أما أنكم لو رأيتموه لاردتموه فما مثله ومثلكم إلا كما قيل ... اقلوا عليهم ويلكم لا أبا لكم ... من اللوم أو سدوا المكان الذي سدوا ...
Translation: Ahmad ibn `Abda the Qadi of Ray said that his father said: We were with ibn A'isha when he mentioned a saying of Abu Hanifa then he said: Verily, if you had seen him you would have wanted him. Verily, his similitude and yours is as in the saying:

Even if you curse them less, I don't care to blame you.
 
But fill, if you can, the space that they filled

Reference: Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402 (Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 451 Click Here for Scanned Page (212)



وعن بن عيسى بن الطباع سمعت روح بن عبادة يقول كنت عند بن جريج سنة خمسين ومائة فأتاه موت أبي حنيفة فاسترجع وتوجع وقال أي علم ذهب قال وفيها مات بن
جريج وقال
Translation: Ibn Isa ibn al-Tabba said: I heard Rawh ibn Ubada say: I was with Ibn Jurayj in the year 150 when the news of Abu Hanifa's death reached him. He winced and pain seized him; he said: Verily, knowledge has departed (ay `ilmun dhahab)." Ibn Jurayj died that same year

Reference: Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)



أحمد بن زهير، حدثنا سليمان بن أبي شيخ، حدثني حجر بن عبد الجبار قال: قيل للقاسم بن معن: ترضى أن تكون من غلمان أبي حنيفة ؟ قال: ما جلس الناس إلى أحد أنفع من مجالسة أبي حنيفة. وقال له القاسم: تعال معي إليه، فلما جاء إليه، لزمه وقال: ما رأيت مثل هذا

Translation: Ahmad ibn Zuhayr said that Sulayman ibn Abu Shaykh narrated to us that Hujr ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar narrated to me who said, Al-Qasim ibn Ma‘n was asked, ‘Does it please you to be the servants of Abu Hanifah?’ He replied, ‘The people have not sat with anyone more beneficial than Abu Hanifah.’ Al-Qasim then said to him, ‘Come with me to him.’ When he (the man who asked) came to him, he stayed with him and said, ‘I have not seen anyone like him.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 398-399 Click Here for Scanned Page (195)-(196)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 428 Click Here for Scanned Page (203)


وعن أسد بن عمرو، أن أبا حنيفة، رحمه الله، صلى العشاء والصبح بوضوء أربعين سنة.

Translation: Asad ibn ‘Amr narrates, ‘Abu Hanifah (may Allah mercy him) performed ‘Isha and the morning prayer with one wudu for forty years.’

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 399 Click Here for Scanned Page (196)


وروى بشر بن الوليد، عن القاضي أبي يوسف قال: بينما أنا أمشي مع أبي حنيفة، إذ سمعت رجلا يقول لآخر: هذا أبو حنيفة لا ينام الليل. فقال أبو حنيفة: والله لا يتحدث عني بما لم أفعل. فكان يحيى الليل صلاة وتضرعا ودعاء.

Translation: Bishr ibn al-Walid narrates from Qadi Abu Yusuf who said, ‘While I was walking with Abu Hanifah I heard a man saying to another, “This is Abu Hanifah, he does not sleep at night.” So Abu Hanifah said, “I swear by Allah, it is not spoken of me that which I have not done.” He used to keep awake the night in prayer, supplication and du‘a.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 399 Click Here for Scanned Page (196)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 435 Click Here for Scanned Page (207)

3) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402 (Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)

4) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 378


وقد روى من وجهين: أن أبا حنيفة قرأ القرآن كله في ركعة.
Translation: It has been narrated through two chains that Abu Hanifah recited the entire Qur’an in one rak‘ah

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 399 Click Here for Scanned Page (196)

2) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 378


وعن شريك قال: كان أبو حنيفة طويل الصمت، كثير العقل. وقال أبو عاصم النبيل: كان أبو حنيفة يسمى الوتد لكثرة صلاته.
وروى بن إسحاق السمرقندي، عن القاضي أبي يوسف قال: كان أبو حنيفة يختم القرآن كل ليلة في ركعة
Translation: Sharik narrates, ‘Abu Hanifah is someone who would remain quiet for a long time and was someone of great intelligence.’ Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil said, ‘Abu Hanifah would be called al-watd (the pole) due to performing so many salah.’ Ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi narrates from Qadi Abu Yusuf who said, ‘Abu Hanifah used to complete the Qur’an every night in one rak‘ah.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 400 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 434 Click Here for Scanned Page (206)

3) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 378


يحيى بن عبدالحميد الحماني، عن أبيه أنه صحب أبا حنيفة ستة أشهر، قال: فما رأيته صلى الغداة إلا بوضوء عشاء الآخرة، وكان يختم كل ليلة عند السحر
Translation: Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid al-Himmani narrates from his father that he remained with Abu Hanifah for six months. He said, ‘I never saw him offer the morning prayer except with the wudu of the ‘Isha of the previous night. He would complete the Qur’an every night at dawn…’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 400 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 434 Click Here for Scanned Page (206)

3) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 378


قال مسعر بن كدام: رأيت أبا حنيفة قرأ القرآن في ركعة.
Translation: Masr ibn Kadam said: I saw Abu hanifa recited Qur’an in one rak‘ah

References

1)Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 401 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)

2) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 377


وقال أبو يوسف: قال أبو حنيفة: لا ينبغي للرجل أن يحدث إلا بما يحفظه من وقت ما سمعه
Translation: Abu Yusuf said that Abu Hanifah said, ‘It is not appropriate for a man to narrate except that which he has remembered at the time when he heard it.’

Reference:Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 401 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)


وعن أبي معاوية الضرير قال: حب أبي حنيفة من السنة

Translation: Abu Mu‘awiyah al-Dharir narrates, ‘Loving Abu Hanifah is from the Sunnah.’

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 401 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)


عن نصر بن علي قال سمعت بن داود يقول الناس في أبي حنيفة حاسد وجاهل وأحسنهم

Translation: Nasr bin Ali al has said,I heard ibn dawood say:  “People were either jealous or ignorant of Imam Abu Hanifa

References

1) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 441 Click Here for Scanned Page (208)

2) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402 (Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 451 Click Here for Scanned Page (212)


وقال يحيى بن سعيد القطان: لا نكذب الله، ما سمعنا أحسن من رأي أبي حنيفة، وقد أخذنا بأكثر أقواله

Translation: Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan said, ‘We do not lie in front of Allah. We have not heard any better opinion than that of Abu Hanifah. We have taken the majority of his opinions.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 402 Click Here for Scanned Page (198)

2) Imam Mizzi, Tahzeeb ul Kamal, Volume 29, Page No: 433 Click Here for Scanned Page (205)

3) Imam Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib ut Tahdhib, Volume No.10, Page No. 402(Online) and Volume No. 10, Page No. 450 Click Here for Scanned Page (211)


وقال علي بن عاصم: لو وزن علم الامام أبي حنيفة بعلم أهل زمانه، لرجح عليهم

Translation: Ali ibn ‘Asim said, ‘If the knowledge of Imam Abu Hanifah were to be weighed against the knowledge of the people of his era, then he would surpass them.’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)

2) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 379


وقال حفص بن غياث: كلام أبي حنيفة في الفقه، أدق من الشعر، لا يعيبه إلا جاهل
Translation: Hafs ibn Ghiyath said, ‘The speech of Abu Hanifah in fiqh is finer than a hair; only an ignoramus finds fault in it.’

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)


وقال جرير: قال لي مغيرة: جالس أبا حنيفة تفقه، فإن إبراهيم النخعي لو كان حيا لجالسه

Translation: Jarir said, ‘Mughayrah said to me, “Sit with Abu Hanifah, you will gain insight in fiqh. If Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i were alive then he would have sat with him.”

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)



Passing Away of this Great Soul


قال إسحاق بن إبراهيم الزهري، عن بشر بن الوليد قال: طلب المنصور أبا حنيفة فأراده على القضاء، وحلف ليلين فأبى، وحلف: إني لا أفعل. فقال الربيع الحاجب: ترى أمير المؤمنين يحلف، وأنت تحلف ؟ قال: أمير المؤمنين على كفارة يمينه أقدر مني، فأمر به إلى السجن، فمات فيه ببغداد
Translation: Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Zuhri narrates from Bishr ibn al-Walid who said, ‘Mansur called for Abu Hanifah and wanted him to take up the judiciary and he swore that he will definitely take it. Imam Abu Hanifah refused and vowed, “I will not.” Al-Rabi‘ al-Hajib said, “You see the commander of the faithful taking an oath and you then also take an oath?” He replied, “The commander of the faithful is more capable of fulfilling the compensation for his oath than I.” He was sent to prison; he died there in Baghdad…’

References

1) Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 401 Click Here for Scanned Page (197)

2) Imam Nawawi, Tahdhib al-Asma', Narrator no: 771, page 376



وليس يصح في الاذهان شئ * إذا احتاج النهار إلى دليل وسيرته تحتمل أن تفرد في مجلدين، رضي الله عنه، ورحمه. توفي شهيدا مسقيا في سنة خمسين ومئة. وله سبعون سنة، وعليه قبة عظيمة ومشهد فاخر ببغداد، والله أعلم
Translation: And nothing will be correct in the minds, When even the day asks for proof that it is day. It is possible that his biography can be separated into two volumes. May Allah be pleased with him and mercy him. He died a martyr having been given poison to drink in 150AH; he was 70 years old. Upon his grave are a large dome and a splendid tomb in Baghdad. And Allah is the most knowledgeable.”

Reference: Imam Dhahabi, Siyar Alam al-Nubala, Volume 6, Page No: 403 Click Here for Scanned Page (199)




Testimony of the Pious Salaf on Imam Abu Hanifah


Imam Sufyan al-Thawri

أخبرنا الخلال أخبرنا الحريري ان النخعي حدثهم قال حدثنا عمر بن شهاب العبدي حدثنا جندل بن والق حدثني محمد بن بشر قال كنت أختلف إلى أبي حنيفة وإلى سفيان فآتي أبا حنيفة فيقول لي من أين جئت فأقول من عند سفيان فيقول لقد جئت من عند رجل لو أن علقمة والأسود حضرا لاحتاجا إلى مثله فآتي سفيان فيقول لي من أين فأقول من عند أبي حنيفة فيقول لقد جئت من عند أفقه أهل الأرض


Translation: Al-Khallal informed us: al-Hariri reported to us that al-Nakha‘i narrated to them: ‘Umar ibn Shihab al-‘Abdi narrated to us: Jandal ibn Waliq narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Bishr narrated to me: He said: I would frequent Abu Hanifah and Sufyan. I came to Abu Hanifah and he said to me, “From where did you come?” I said: “From the company of Sufyan.” He said: “Indeed you have come from the company of the man, that if ‘Alqamah and al-Aswad were present, they would need the like of him.” Then I came to Sufyan and he said to me, “From where did you come?” I said, “From the company of Abu Hanifah.” He said, “Indeed, you have come from the company of the best faqih from the inhabitants of earth (afqahi ahl al-ard).”- Its Isnad is "Sahih"

Reference:Tarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page no: 471 Click Here for Scanned Page (224)



Imam Abdullah Ibn mubarak


أخبرنا الخلال أخبرنا الحريري أن النخعي حدثهم قال حدثنا محمد بن علي بن عفان حدثنا أبو كريب قال سمعت عبد الله بن المبارك يقول وأخبرني محمد بن احمد بن يعقوب أخبرنا محمد بن نعيم الضبي حدثنا أبو سعيد محمد بن الفضل المذكر حدثنا أبو عبد الله محمد محمد بن سعيد المروزي حدثنا أبو حمزة يعني بن حمزة قال سمعت أبا وهب محمد بن مزاحم يقول سمعت عبد الله بن المبارك يقول رأيت أعبد الناس ورأيت أورع الناس ورأيت أعلم الناس ورأيت أفقه  الناس فاما أعبد الناس فعبد العزيز بن أبي رواد وأما أورع الناس فالفضيل بن عياض وأما أعلم الناس فسفيان الثوري وأما أفقه الناس فأبو حنيفة ثم قال ما رأيت في الفقه مثله



Translation: Al-Khallal informed us: al-Hariri reported to us that al-Nakha‘i narrated to them: Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Affan narrated to us: Abu Kurayb narrated to us: I heard ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak say [here, al-Khatib mentions a second chain for the same narration]: “I saw the most pious of people, the most scrupulous of people, the most learned of people, and the best faqih of people. As for the most pious of people, [he is] ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Abi Rawwad; as for the most scrupulous of people, [he is] al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad; as for the most learned of people, [he is] Sufyan al-Thawri; and as for the best faqih of people, [he is] Abu Hanifah.” Then he said “I have not seen the like of him in fiqh.” “Its isnad is sahih.”

Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 469 Click Here for Scanned Page (222)



أخبرنا أبو نعيم الحافظ حدثنا محمد بن إبراهيم بن علي حدثنا أبو عروبة الحراني قال سمعت سلمة بن شبيب يقول سمعت عبد الرزاق يقول سمعت بن المبارك يقول إن كان أحد ينبغي له أن يقول برايه فأبو حنيفة ينبغي له أن يقول برأيه

Translation: Abu Nu‘aym the Hafiz reported to us: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali narrated to us: Abu ‘Arubah al-Harrani narrated to us: I heard Salamah ibn Shabib say: I heard ‘Abd al-Razzaq say: I heard Ibn al-Mubarak say: “If anyone has the right to issue [a legal verdict] using his opinion, Abu Hanifah has the right to issue [a legal verdict] using his opinion.” The isnad of this report is sahih, and its narrators are trustworthy.

ReferenceTarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 471 Click Here for Scanned Page (224)



أخبرنا الحسين بن علي بن محمد المعدل حدثنا علي بن الحسن الرازي حدثنا محمد بن الحسين الزعفراني حدثنا احمد بن زهير حدثنا الوليد بن شجاع حدثنا علي بن الحسن بن شقيق قال كان عبد الله بن المبارك يقول إذا اجتمع هذان على شيء فذاك قوي يعني الثوري وأبا حنيفة


Translation: Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Mu’addal reported to us: ‘Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Razi narrated to us: Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Za’farani narrated to us: Ahmad ibn Zuhayr narrated to us: Al-Walid ibn Shuja’ narrated to us: ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Shaqiq narrated to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak would say: “When [the opinions] of these two, meaning al-Thawri and Abu Hanifah, converge on something, that is strong.” “Its isnad is sahih, and its narrators are trustworthy.”

ReferenceTarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 470 Click Here for Scanned Page (223)



منه أخبرني عبد الباقي بن عبد الكريم المؤدب أخبرنا عبد الرحمن بن عمر الخلال حدثنا محمد بن احمد بن يعقوب بن شيبة حدثنا جدي حدثني يعقوب بن احمد قال سمعت الحسن بن علي قال سمعت يزيد بن هارون وسأله انسان فقال يا أبا خالد من أفقه من رأيت قال أبو حنيفة قال الحسن ولقد قلت لأبي عاصم يعني النبيل أبو حنيفة أفقه أو سفيان قال عبد أبي حنيفة أفقه من سفيان



Translation: ‘Abd al-Baqi ibn ‘Abd al-Karim al-Mu’addib informed me: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Umar al-Khallal reported to us: Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ya‘qub ibn Shaybah narrated to us: my grandfather narrated to us: Ya‘qub ibn Ahmad narrated to me: I heard al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali say: I heard Yazid ibn Harun when a man asked him, “O Abu Khalid! Who is the best in fiqh from those you have seen?” say, “Abu Hanifah.” Al-Hasan said: I asked Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil, “Is Abu Hanifah a better faqih or Sufyan (al-Thawri)?” He said, “The slave of Abu Hanifah is a better faqih than Sufyan!” 
-Its isnad is hasan.

Note:Needless to say, Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil’s statement is not to be taken literally, but exaggerates the excellence in fiqh of Abu Hanifah over even Sufyan al-Thawri.

Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 468 Click Here for Scanned Page (221)

Note: Yazid ibn Harun (118 – 206), also a narrator found in the six books of hadiths, and one of the greatest huffaz of hadith, said to have memorised over twenty thousand hadiths. He was one of the most reliable transmitters of hadith.[Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani,Tahdhib al-Tahdhib Volume 11, Page: 366-369]

2) Abu ‘Asim al-Nabil al-Dahhak ibn Makhlad ibn al-Dahhak (122 – 214), also a narrator of the Six and the greatest and eldest of al-Bukhari’s shaykhs in hadith. Some of al-Bukhari’s thulathiyyat (three-narrator chains) which are the shortest of al-Bukhari’s chains go through him. [Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani,Tahdhib al-Tahdhib Volume 4, Page 450-453]

Imam Shafai


أخبرنا أبو نعيم الحافظ حدثنا محمد بن إبراهيم بن علي قال سمعت حمزة بن علي البصري يقول سمعت الربيع يقول سمعت الشافعي يقول الناس عيال على أبي حنيفة في الفقه


Translation: Abu Nu‘aym, the Hafiz, reported to us: Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn ‘Ali narrated to us: I heard Hamzah ibn ‘Ali al-Basri say: I heard al-Rabi‘ say: I heard al-Shafi‘i say: “All people are dependent on Abu Hanifah in fiqh.” Its isnad is sahih

ReferenceTarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 474 Click Here for Scanned Page (225)



الفقه أخبرنا علي بن القاسم حدثنا علي بن إسحاق المادراني حدثنا زكريا بن عبد الرحمن حدثني عبد الله بن احمد قال قال هارون بن سعيد سمعت الشافعي يقول ما رأيت أحدا أفقه من أبي حنيفة


Translation: ‘Ali ibn al-Qasim reported to us: ‘Ali ibn Ishaq al-Madara’ini narrated to us: Zakariyya ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us: ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad narrated to me: Harun ibn Sa‘id (al-Ayli) said: I heard al-Shafi‘i say:“I have not seen anyone better in fiqh that Abu Hanifah.” Al-Khatib comments: He meant by his statement “I have not seen,” “I do not know.” -Its isnad is sahih”

ReferenceTarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 474 Click Here for Scanned Page (225)



Ali Ibn al-Madini


محمد بن إسماعيل البخاري يقول ما استصغرت نفى عند أحد الا عند علي بن المديني

Al-Bukhari said about Ibn al-Madini: "I did not think myself small in front of anyone besides 'Ali ibn al-Madini." [Imam Ibn hajar Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdib Volume 7, Page: 352]


علي بن المديني قال سمعت سفيان بن عيينة يقول كان أبو حنيفة له مروءة وله صلاة في أول زمانه


Translation: ‘Ali ibn al-Madini narrated: I heard Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah say: “Abu Hanifah was an honourable person, and he would perform [much] Salah from early in his life.” -Its isnad is good.

Reference: Tarikh Baghdad Volume 15, Page: 483 Click Here for Scanned Page (226)

Hence according to Law  of Jarh wah ta’deel is that no consideration will be given to that criticism which is against such person whose integrity has been firmly established and as seen from above Overwhelming Proofs Imam al Azam Abu Hanifa R.A is above all the criticism leveled against him. Final conclusion as said by Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani r.a
مناقب الإمام أبي حنيفة كثيرة جدا فرضي الله تعلى عنه واسكنه الفردوس آمين
Translation: There are "MANY(Countless)" merits of Imam Abu Hanifa r.a May Allah be Please with him and Grant him Firdous(Paradise) Ameen
Reference: Imam Ibn hajar Asqalani, Tahdhib al-Tahdib Volume 10, Page: 452 Click Here for Scanned Page (213)


Imam Al-Azaam Fil Hadith
The name Abu Hanifa R.A doesn't need any introduction, as he stands tall among the Scholars of Islam. But as history suggest us, no one is spared of false allegations by khwarij and other minor sect and one such claim is that, "There is no chain(Hadith) which involves Imam abu hanifa and also going back to Prophet(Peace Be Upon Him) or Sahaba". Inshallah in this article we will refute this false claim with Proofs along with scan pages
1)
حدثنا يزيد حدثنا أبو قطن حدثنا أبو حنيفة عن عطية عن أبي سعيد عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فذكر  مثله
Translation: Yazid narrated to us: Abu Qatan narrated to us: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from ‘Atiyyah from Abu Sa’id [al-Khudri] from Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), then he mentioned the equivalent of it [i.e. the words: "Whoever lies upon me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire."]
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:1, Page No: 361, Hadith No:401
Click Here for Scanned Page (100)
All the narrators are Thiqa and it is Rigorously Authentic hadith
Same hadith is present in Sahih Bukhari
A)

حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْجَعْدِ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا شُعْبَةُ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي مَنْصُورٌ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رِبْعِيَّ بْنَ حِرَاشٍ، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ عَلِيًّا، يَقُولُ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لاَ تَكْذِبُوا عَلَىَّ، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىَّ فَلْيَلِجِ النَّارَ "
.
Translation: Narrated `Ali:The Prophet said, "Do not tell a lie against me for whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) then he will surely enter the Hell-fire."

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith No: 106
 
B)

حَدَّثَنَا مَكِّيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي عُبَيْدٍ، عَنْ سَلَمَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " مَنْ يَقُلْ عَلَىَّ مَا لَمْ أَقُلْ فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ ".

Translation: Narrated Salama: I heard the Prophet saying, "Whoever (intentionally) ascribes to me what I have not said then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire."

Reference Sahih al-Bukhari hadith no: 109
Above Hadith is an Mutawaatir hadith [Narrated from various chains]
Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani said:
Example of a Mutawaatir Hadeeth: The above-mentioned Hadeeth: “Whosoever falsely attributes anything to me…” is a Mutawaatir Hadeeth.[Ibn Hajar Asqalani Nukhbat ul fikr, page 22]
2)
حدثنا إبراهيم بن أبي داود قال حدثنا محمد بن المثنى قال حدثنا إسحاق بن يوسف الأزرق عن أبي حنيفة عن علقمة بن مرثد عن سليمان بن بريدة عن أبيه قال قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم الدال على الخير كفاعله
Translation: Ibrahim ibn Abi Dawud narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us: He said: Ishaq ibn Yusuf al-Azraq narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Sulayman ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The inviter to goodness is like its doer.” (no. 1545, vol. 4:204)
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:4, Page No: 204, Hadith No:1545
Click Here for Scanned Page (101)
All narrators are Thiqa
Similar Hadith with slightly different chain is present in Musnad Ahmed
2A) 

مسند أحمد - بَاقِي مُسْنَدِ الْأَنْصَارِ - الدال على الخير كفاعله


حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو فُلَانَةَ كَذَا قَالَ أَبِي لَمْ يُسَمِّهِ عَلَى عَمْدٍ وَحَدَّثَنَاه غَيْرُهُ فَسَمَّاهُ يَعْنِي أَبَا حُنَيْفَةَ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ بُرَيْدَةَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لِرَجُلٍ أَتَاهُ اذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ الدَّالَّ عَلَى الْخَيْرِ كَفَاعِلِهِ



Translation: Ishaqq bin Yousuf from Abu Fulaan from Abu Haneefah from 'Alqmah bin marthad from Sulieman bin Buraidah from his father: He said: the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The inviter to goodness is like its doer.”
Reference: Imam Ahmed Book Musnad Ahmed, Vol 38, Hadith no 23027, Page no 132
Click Here for Scanned Page (102)
3)

باب بيان مشكل ما روي عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في طلوع النجم الذي ترتفع بطلوعه العاهة أو تخف أي النجوم هو؟

حدثنا أحمد بن داود قال: حدثنا إسماعيل بن سالم قال: حدثنا محمد بن الحسن قال أخبرنا أبو حنيفة قال حدثنا عطاء بن أبي رباح عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا طلع النجم رفعت العاهة عن أهل كل بلد.

Translation: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Isma’il ibn Salim narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn al-Hasan narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us: He said: ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah narrated to us from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him): He said: Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When the star appears, calamity is lifted from the inhabitants of every land.” 
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:6, Page No: 53, Hadith No:2282
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4)


وحدثنا روح بن الفرج قال حدثنا يوسف بن عدي قال حدثنا عبد الرحيم بن سليمان الرازي عن النعمان بن ثابت أبي حنيفة عن حماد عن سعيد بن جبير عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال بعث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بضعفة أهله ليلا من جمع وقال لهم لا ترموا الجمرة حتى تطلع الشمس


Translation: Rawh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us: He said: Yusuf ibn ‘Adi narrated to us: He said: ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Razi narrated to us from al-Nu’man ibn Thabit Abi Hanifah from Hammad [ibn Abi Sulayman] from Sa’id ibn Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbas (Allah be pleased with them): He said: “Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) dispatched the weak of his family in the night from Muzdalifah, and he said to them: ‘Do not pelt the jamrah until sunrise.’”
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:9, Page No: 120, Hadith No:3495
Click Here for Scanned Page (104)
5) 

حدثنا صالح بن عبد الرحمن قال ثنا عبد الله بن يزيد المقرىء قال وحدثنا فهد قال ثنا أبو نعيم قال ثنا أبو حنيفة رحمه الله عن هشام بن عروة عن أبيه عن عائشة رضي الله عنها أن فاطمة بنت أبي حبيش أتت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقالت إني أحيض الشهر والشهرين فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن ذلك ليس بحيض وإنما ذلك عرق من دمك فإذا أقبل الحيض فدعي الصلاة وإذا أدبر فاغتسلي لطهرك ثم توضئي عند كل صلاة
Translation: Salih ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us: He said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri’ narrated to us: He said: Fahd narrated to us: He said: Abu Nu’aym narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from Hisham ibn ‘Urwah from his father from ‘A’ishah (Allah be pleased with her) that Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and she said: “I was menstruating for a month or two months.” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “That is not menstruation, but that is a [ruptured] vessel of your blood. Therefore, when the menstruation comes, leave Salah, and when it leaves [and post-menstrual bleeding begins], then bathe for your purification and then perform wudu for every Salah.”
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:7, Page No: 157, Hadith No: 2732
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6)

حدثنا أحمد بن داود حدثنا إسماعيل بن سالم الصائغ ثنا أبو معاوية أخبرني النعمان بن ثابت عن علقمة بن مرثد عن ابن بريدة عن أبيه قال جاء ماعز الأسلمي إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو جالس فأقر بالزنا فرده أربع مرات ثم أمر برجمه فأقاموه في مكان قليل الحجارة فلما أصابته الحجارة جزع فخرج يشتد حتى أتى الحرة فثبت لهم فيها فرموه بجلاميدها حتى سكت فقالوا يا رسول الله ماعز حين أصابته الحجارة جزع فخرج يشتد فقال هلا خليتم سبيله 


Translation: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Isma’il ibn Salim al-Sa’igh narrated to us : He said: Abu Mu’awiyah narrated to us: al-Nu’man ibn Thabit (Abu Hanifa) reported to me from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: “Ma’iz al-Aslami came to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) while he was seated and confessed [that he committed] adultery. He rejected his [confession] four times, and then he ordered his stoning. Thereupon, they stood him up in a place with few stones. When stones struck him, he began to worry, so he came out running until he reached al-Harrah wherein he was stopped by them and they pelted him with its stones until he became silent. Later, they said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! When stones struck Ma’iz he became worried and ran.’ He said: ‘Why did you not let him go?!’”


Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:1, Page No:379-380, Hadith No: 432 
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7)

حَدَّثَنَا عَبَّادُ بْنُ الْعَوَّامِ، عَنْ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ، عَنْ إبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْتَشِرِ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ: مَا جَلَسَ إلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى الله عَلَيه وسَلَّم أَحَدٌ فَقَامَ حَتَّى يَقُومَ.


Translation: ‘Abbad ibn al-‘Awwam narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashir from Anas ibn Malik: He said: “No one ever sat with Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and then stood up until he stood up.”
Reference: Musanaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Volume no: 13, Page 169-170, Hadith No: 26182
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حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ بُرَيْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ لَمَّا رُجِمَ مَاعِزٌ قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ مَا نصْنَعُ بِهِ، قَالَ: اصْنَعُوا بِهِ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ بِمَوْتَاكُمْ مِنَ الْغُسْلِ وَالْكَفَنِ وَالْحَنُوطِ وَالصَّلاَةِ عَلَيْهِ.
Translation: Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah from his father, he said: When Ma‘iz was stoned, they said: “O Messenger of Allah! What shall we do with him?” He said: “Do with him as you do with your dead, of bathing, shrouding, perfuming and praying over him.”
Reference: Musanaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Volume no: 7, Page 155, Hadith No:11124
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XIX. THE VINDICATION
OF THE IMAM
FROM THE CLAIM OF "SALAFIS"
WHEREBY ABU HANIFA WAS DA`IF
(WEAK IN HADITH)






Shaykh Hasan al-Saqqaf wrote in his book about Albani's attacks on the great scholars entitled Qamus shata'im al-Albani [Dictionary of Albani's Insults of the Scholars]:

"He [Albani] says of Imam Abu Hanifa: "The imams have declared him weak for his poor memorization" (in his commentary of Ibn Abi `Asim's Kitab al-Sunna 1:76) although no such position is reported, see for example Ibn Hajar `Asqalani's biography of Abu Hanifa in "Tahdhib al-tahdhib".


A "Salafi" follower of Albani  replied:

The statement that no such position is reported is a lie, it was the position of Muslim (al-Kunaa wal Asmaa), Nasaa'ee (ad-Du'afaa) ibn Adee (al-Kaamil 2/403), ibn Sa'd (Tabaqaat 6/256), al-Uqailee (ad-Du'afaa p.432), ibn Abee Haatim (al-Jarh wat Tadil), Daaruqutnee (as-Sunan p132), al-Haakim (Ma'rifa Ulum al-Hadeeth), Abdul Haqq al-Ishbelee (al-Ahkaam al-Kubraa q.17/2), adh-Dhahabee (ad-Du'afaa q. 215/1-2), Bukharee (at-Taareekh al-Kabeer), ibn Hibbaan (al-Majrooheen)


Our reliance is on Allah. Shaykh Albani has shown enmity towards scholars, of a kind that passes all bounds and is unbefitting of a person with knowledge in Islam. As we mentioned in the first volume, Saqqaf has documented in his book an instance where Albani compares Hanafi fiqh to the Christian Gospels in respect to distance from Qur'an and Sunna,[42] and this would be unacceptable coming from a Christian, how then could it be accepted from a Muslim? Albani and his following have pushed even the gentlest of scholars, the late `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, to take pen to paper to oppose such aberrations in his book Radd `ala abatil wa iftira'at Nasir al-Albani wa sahibihi sabiqan Zuhayr al-Shawish wa mu'azirihima (Refutation of the falsehoods and fabrications of Nasir al-Din Albani and his former friend Zuhayr al-Shawish and their supporters). This book received two editions recently.

The claim by Albani's supporter whereby "The statement that no such position is reported is a lie" is itself a lie. None of the references he adduces contains a single authentic proof for Albani's claim that "the imams have declared him weak for his poor memorization." For such a claim to be remotely true it would have to be modified to read: "He was graded weak by some scholars but this grading was rejected by the Imams." The proof for this is that the positions reported against Abu Hanifa in the references given are all weak and rejected, and often inauthentic in the first place, in the end amounting to nothing: therefore, even though there is criticism reported, it comes to nothing and does not constitute any "declaration of weakness by the Imams" as asserted by Albani!

The example given as proof by Saqqaf, namely Ibn Hajar `Asqalani's notice on Abu Hanifa in Tahdhib al-tahdhib, confirms that the Imams of hadith never declared Abu Hanifa weak, for Ibn Hajar would have had to report such a weakening if it held true. Rather, he states the reverse, as seen from the translation of Ibn Hajar's notice excerpted below. This shows that Saqqaf's statement is correct, since Ibn Hajar undoubtedly represents the opinions of the Imams of hadith criticism and methodology concerning the weakness or poor memorization of any given narrator or scholar. Moreover, Ibn Hajar in Taqrib al-tahdhib(1993 ed. 2:248 #7179) calls Abu Hanifah al-Imam, and al-faqih al-mashhur (the well-known jurisprudent), and Dhahabi includes him among the hadith masters in his Tadhkirat al-huffaz [Memorial of the Hadith Masters]. These titles are not given to anyone who is declared weak in hadith. And Dhahabi before Ibn Hajar, and al-Mizzi before Dhahabi, all concurred that no position purporting Abu Hanifa's weakness should be retained, as Dhahabi said in Tadhhib al-tahdhib (4:101): "Our shaykh Abu al-Hajjaj [al-Mizzi] did well when he did not cite anything [in Tahdhib al-kamal] whereby he [Abu Hanifa] should be deemed weak as a narrator."

            The remainder of the references of the "Salafi" claims are therefore irrelevant and over-ruled, especially in view of Ibn `Abd al-Barr's statement that "Those who narrated from Abu Hanifa, who declared him trustworthy (waththaquhu), and who praised him, outnumber those who criticized him" as related by Ibn Hajar al-Haytami in his book al-Khayrat al-hisan fi manaqib Abi Hanifa al-Nu`man (p. 74). Nevertheless we shall examine the sources that he brings up to show the extent to which these sources all suffer from various problems, as it is the wont of "Salafis" seen time and time again to adduce false or weak evidence to promote their aberrant opinions.



HAFIZ IBN HAJAR'S NOTICE ON
ABU HANIFA IN TAHDHIB AL-TAHDHIB

From Tahdhib al-tahdhib, 1st ed. (Hyderabad: Da'irat al-ma`arif al-nizamiyya, 1327) Vol. 10 p. 449-452 #817 (10:45f. of the later edition)


Al-Nu`man ibn Thabit al-Taymi, Abu Hanifa, al-Kufi, mawla Bani Taym Allah ibn Tha`laba. It is said that he was Persian. He saw Anas. He narrated hadith from `Ata' ibn Abi Rabah, `Asim ibn Abi al-Nujud, `Alqama ibn Marthad, Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, al-Hakam ibn `Utayba, Salama ibn Kuhayl, Abu Ja`far Muhammad ibn `Ali, `Ali ibn al-Aqmar, Ziyad ibn `Alaqa, Sa`id ibn Masruq al-Thawri, `Adi ibn Thabit al-Ansari, `Atiyya ibn Sa`id al-`Awfi, Abu Sufyan al-Sa`di, `Abd al-Karim Abu Umayya, Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Ansari, and Hisham Ibn `Urwa among others.

From him narrated: his son Hammad, Ibrahim ibn Tahman, Hamza ibn Habib al-Zayyat, Zafr ibn al-Hadhil, Abu Yusuf al-Qadi, Abu Yahya al-Hamani, `Isa ibn Yunus, Waki` (ibn al-Jarrah al-Kufi),* Yazid ibn Zuray`, Asad ibn `Amr, al-Bajali, Hakkam ibn Ya`la ibn Salm al-Razi, Kharija ibn Mus`ab, `Abd al-Majid ibn Abi Rawad, `Ali ibn Musshir, Muhammad ibn Bishr al-`Abdi, `Abd al-Razzaq [one of Bukhari's shaykhs], Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, Mus`ib ibn al-Miqdam, Yahya ibn Yaman, Abu `Usma Nuh ibn Abi Maryam, Abu `Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri, Abu Nu`aym, Abu `Asim, and others [such as `Abd Allah Ibn al-Mubarak and Dawud al-Ta'i: see al-Mizzi's Tahdhib al-kamal 12 and al-Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 20). al-Mizzi's list is about one hundred strong.]...

[* Dhahabi relates in his Tadhkirat al-huffaz (1:306) in the biography of Waki` that Yahya ibn Ma`in said: "I have not seen better than Waki`, he spends the night praying, fasts without interruption, and gives fatwa according to what Abu Hanifa said, and Yahya al-Qattan also used to give fatwa according to what Abu Hanifa said." al-Hafiz al-Qurashi in his al-Jawahir al-mudiyya fi manaqib al-hanafiyya(2:208-209) said: "Waki` took the Science from Abu Hanifa and received a great deal from him."]

[Remarks on Abu Hanifa's national origins and his father's profession.]

Muhammad ibn Sa`d al-`Awfi said: I heard Ibn Ma`in say: "Abu Hanifa was trustworthy (thiqa), and he did not narrate any hadith except what he had memorized, nor did he narrate what he had not memorized."

Salih ibn Muhammad al-Asadi said on the authority of Ibn Ma`in: "Abu Hanifa was trustworthy (thiqa) in hadith."

[a) Ibn `Abd al-Barr relates in al-Intiqa' (p. 127): `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Dawraqi said: Ibn Ma`in was asked about Abu Hanifa as I was listening, so he said: "He is trustworthy (thiqatun), I never heard that anyone had weakened him: No less than Shu`ba wrote to him (for narrations), and ordered him to narrate hadith." Ibn Hajar said in Kharija ibn al-Salt's notice in Tahdhib al-tahdhib (3:75-76): "Ibn Abi Khaythama said: If al-Shu`bi narrates from someone and names him, that man is trustworthy (thiqa) and his narration is used as proof (yuhtajju bi hadithihi)."

b) al-Haytami in al-Khayrat al-hisan (p. 74) and al-Qurashi in al-Jawahir al-mudiyya (1:29) relate that Imam `Ali ibn al-Madini said: "From Abu Hanifa narrated: al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mubarak, Hammad ibn Zayd, Hisham, Waki` (ibn al-Jarrah al-Kufi), `Abbad ibn al-`Awwam, and Ja`far ibn `Awn. He [Abu Hanifa] is trustworthy (thiqatun) and reliable (la ba'sa bihi = there is no harm in him). Shu`ba thought well of him." Ibn Ma`in said: "Our colleagues are exaggerating concerning Abu Hanifa and his colleagues." He was asked: "Does he lie?" Ibn Ma`in replied: "No! he is nobler than that."

c) Dhahabi in Tadhkirat al-huffaz (1:168) cites Ibn Ma`in's statement about Abu Hanifa: la ba'sa bihi (= there is no harm in him, i.e. he is reliable). Ibn Salah in his Muqaddima (p. 134) and Dhahabi inLisan al-mizan (1:13) have shown that this expression by Ibn Ma`in is the same as declaring someone as thiqa or trustworthy: "Ibn Abi Khaythama said: I said to Ibn Ma`in: You say: "There is no harm in so-and-so" and "so-and-so is weak (da`if)?" He replied: "If I say of someone that there is no harm in him: he is trustworthy (fa thiqatun), and if I say da`if: he is not trustworthy, do not write his hadith."" Abu Ghudda in his commentary to Lucknawi's Raf` (p. 222 n. 3) has indicated that the equivalency of saying "There is no harm in him" with the grade of trustworthy (thiqa) is also the case for other early authorities of the third century such as Ibn al-Madini, Imam Ahmad, Duhaym, Abu Zur`a, Abu Hatim al-Razi, Ya`qub ibn Sufyan al-Fasawi, and others. Note that like Abu Hanifa, Imam Shafi`i is declared trustworthy by the early authorities with the expression la ba'sa bihi in Dhahabi's Tadhkirat al-huffaz (1:362).]

Abu Wahb Muhammad ibn Muzahim said: I heard Ibn al-Mubarak say: "The most knowledgeable of people in fiqh (afqah al-Nas) is Abu Hanifa. I have never seen anyone like him in fiqh." Ibn al-Mubarak also 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 in Manaqib Abu Hanifa (p. 30) relates it as: "I would have been an innovator."]

Ibn Abi Khaythama said from Sulayman ibn Abu Shaykh: "Abu Hanifa was extremely scrupulous (wari`) and generous (sakhi)."

Ibn `Isa ibn al-Tabba` said: I heard Rawh ibn `Ubada say: "I was with Ibn Jurayj in the year 150 when the news of Abu Hanifa's death reached him. He winced and pain seized him; he said: "Verily, knowledge has departed (ay `ilmun dhahab)." Ibn Jurayj died that same year."

Abu Nu`aym said: "Abu Hanifa dived for the meanings of matters so that he reached the uttermost of them."

Ahmad ibn `Ali ibn Sa`id al-Qadi said: I heard Yahya ibn Ma`in say: I heard Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Qattan [Ahmad ibn Hanbal's greatest shaykh] say: "This is no lie on our part, by Allah! We have not heard better than Abu Hanifa's opinion, and we have followed most of his sayings." [This is also related by Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 32).]

[About Yahya al-Qattan, Imam Nawawi relates on the authority of Ishaq al-Shahidi:

I would see Yahya al-Qattan -- may Allah the Exalted have mercy on him -- pray the midafternoon prayer, then sit with his back against the base of the minaret of his mosque. Then `Ali ibn al-Madini, al-Shadhakuni, `Amr ibn `Ali, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Yahya ibn Ma`in, and others would stand before him and ask him questions about hadith standing on their feet until it was time for the sunset prayer. He would not say to a single one of them: "Sit" nor would they sit, out of awe and reverence.

Related in Nawawi's al-Tarkhis fi al-ikram bi al-qiyam li dhawi al-fadl wa al-maziyya min ahl al-islam `ala jihat al-birr wa al-tawqir wa al-ihtiram la `ala jihat al-riya' wa al-i`zam (The Permissibility of Honoring, By Standing Up, Those Who Possess Excellence and Distinction Among the People of Islam: In the Spirit of Piousness, Reverence, and Respect, Not in the Spirit of Display and Aggrandizement) ed. Kilani Muhammad Khalifa (Beirut: Dar al-Basha'ir al-islamiyya, 1409/1988) p. 58.]

al-Rabi` and Harmala said: We heard al-Shafi`i say: "People are children before Abu Hanifa in fiqh."

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Yusuf that he said: "As I was walking with Abu Hanifa we heard a man saying to another: This is Abu Hanifa, he does not sleep at night. Abu Hanifa said: He does not say something about me which I do not actually do. He would -- after this -- spend the greatest part of the night awake."

Isma`il ibn Hammad ibn Abi Hanifa said that his father (Hammad) said: When my father died we asked al-Hasan ibn `Amara to undertake his ritual washing. After he did he said: "May Allah have mercy on you and forgive you (O Abu Hanifa)! You did not eat except at night for thirty years, and your right side did not lay down at night for forty years. You have exhausted whoever comes after you (who tries to catch up with you). You have outshone all the readers of the Islamic sciences."

`Ali ibn Ma`bad said on the authority of `Ubayd Allah ibn `Amr al-Raqi: Ibn Hubayra told Abu Hanifa to undertake the judgeship of Kufa and he refused, so he had him lashed 110 times, but still he refused. When he saw this he let him go.

Ibn Abi Dawud said on the authority of Nasr ibn `Ali: I heard Ibn Dawud -- al-Khuraybi -- say: "Among the people concerning Abu Hanifa there are plenty of enviers and ignorant ones."...

Ahmad ibn `Abda the Qadi of Ray said that his father said: We were with ibn `A'isha when he mentioned a saying of Abu Hanifa then he said: "Verily, if you had seen him you would have wanted him. Verily, his similitude and yours is as in the saying:

Censure them little or much: I will never heed your blame.
Try only to fill, if you can, the space that they filled.

al-Saghani said on the authority of Ibn Ma`in: "I heard `Ubayd ibn Abi Qurra say: I heard Yahya ibn al-Daris say: I saw Sufyan [al-Thawri] being asked by a man: "What do you have against Abu Hanifa?" He said: "What is wrong with Abu Hanifa? I heard him say: I take from Allah's Book and if I don't find what I am looking for, I take from the Sunna of Allah's Messenger, and if I don't find, then from any of the sayings that I like from the Companions, nor do I prefer someone else's saying over theirs, until the matter ends with Ibrahim (al-Nakh`i), al-Shu`bi, Ibn Sirin, and `Ata': these are a folk who exerted their reasoning (ijtihad) and I exert mine as they did theirs." [i.e. Sufyan criticized Abu Hanifa, a junior Tabi`i,  for placing his own opinion at the same level as that of the senior Tabi`in.] ...

[Mentions of Abu Hanifa's date of death and of the fact that Tirmidhi and Nasa'i narrated hadith from him.] End of Ibn Hajar's words.


REFUTATION OF THE "SALAFI'S" CLAIMS REGARDING IMAM ABU HANIFA'S
RANKING IN HADITH


I. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization" was the position of ... Daaruqutnee (as-Sunan p132)."

Answer: Daraqutni did declare Abu Hanifa weak in his Sunan (1:132), without including him in his Kitab al-du`afa'. However, his opinion of Abu Hanifa carries no weight since he is known to have fallen into extremism in his opinion on Abu Hanifa, and because of this, this particular judgment of his is rejected as required by the rules of narrator-criticism. The hadith master al-Badr al-`Ayni, author of `Umdat al-qari, a massive commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, said in his commentary of al-Marghinani entitled al-Binaya sharh al-hidaya (1:709):

From where does he [Daraqutni] take the right to declare Abu Hanifa weak when he himself deserves to be declared weak! For he has narrated in his Musnad [i.e. his Sunan] narrations that are infirm, defective, denounced, strange, and forged.

            This is a serious charge made against Daraqutni as a narrator, and many authorities have stated the same concerning him. Another hadith master, al-Zayla`i, said in Nasb al-raya (1:356, 1:360): "al-Daraqutni's Sunan is the compendium of defective narrations and the wellspring of strange narrations... It is filled with narrations that are weak, anomalous, defective, and how many of them are not found in other books!" While Muhammad ibn Ja`far al-Kattani said in al-Risala al-mustatrafa (p. 31): "Daraqutni in his Sunan... has multiplied the narrations of reports that are weak and denounced, and indeed forged."

Ibn `Abd al-Hadi al-Hanbali wrote a large volume still unpublished on the merits of Abu Hanifa entitled Tanwir al-sahifa bi manaqib al-imam Abi Hanifa in which he said: "Among those who show fanaticism against Abu Hanifa is al-Daraqutni." It is quoted in Ibn `Abidin's Hashiyat radd al-muhtar (1:37). `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda in his commentary of Abu al-Hasanat al-Lucknawi's al-Raf` wa al-ta`dil(p. 70 n.1) also said: "al-Daraqutni's fanaticism against Abu Hanifa is well-known" and he gives several sources listing the scholars who held the same opinion.

One of the reasons for Daraqutni's attitude is his extreme bias in favor of the school of Imam Shafi`i. This is shown in Muhammad `Abd al-Rashid al-Nu`mani's commentary on the book Dhabb dhubabat al-dirasat `an al-madhahib al-arba`a al-mutanasibat (2:284-297) by the Indian scholar `Abd al-Latif al-Sindi. al-Lucknawi also referred to this question in his book al-Ajwiba al-fadila `ala li al-as'ila al-`ashra al-kamila (p. 78):

It is related that when Daraqutni went to Egypt some of its people asked him to compile something on the pronunciation of the Basmala, whereupon he compiled a volume. A Maliki came to him and summoned him to declare on oath which were the sound narrations of this book. Daraqutni said: "Everything that was narrated from the Prophet concerning the loud pronunciation of the Basmala is unsound, and as for what is related from the Companions, some of it is sound and some of it weak."


II. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... ibn Adee (al-Kaamil 2/403)."

Answer: Ibn `Adi shows enmity to Abu Hanifa as he reports nothing but criticism, and he relies on weak or inauthentic reports from his [Ibn `Adis'] shaykh, some of them being the strangest ever related about Abu Hanifa (Dar al-Fikr 1985 ed. 7:2472-2479). His narrations are all problematic and none of them is reliable or sound. Imam Kawthari said in the introduction to Nasb al-raya (p. 57) and in his Fiqh ahl al-`Iraq(p. 83): "Among the defects of Ibn `Adi's Kamil is his relentless criticism of Abu Hanifa with reports that are all from the narration of Abba' ibn Ja`far al-Najirami, one of Ibn `Adi's shaykhs, and the latter tries to stick what al-Najirami has directly to Abu Hanifa, and this is injustice and enmity, as is the rest of his criticism. The way to expose such cases is through the chain of transmission."

            The late Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda, Kawthari's student, said in his annotation of Lucknawi's Raf` wa al-takmil (p. 341) that Kawthari examined Ibn `Adi's excesses against Abu Hanifa in three works of his: Ta'nib al-khatib `ala ma saqahu fi tarjimat abi hanifa min al-akadhib (p. 169), al-Imta` bi sirat al-imamayn al-Hasan ibn Ziyad wa sahibihi Muhammad ibn Shuja` (p. 59, 66, 69), and the unpublished monograph Ibda' wujuh al-ta`addi fi kamil ibn `Adi.

Following are some examples of the strangeness of Ibn `Adi's reports:

Ibn `Adi's relation of Sufyan al-Thawri's alleged statement that "he [Abu Hanifa] is neither trustworthy nor trusted"! (al-Kamil 7:2472). However, it is established that Sufyan narrated hadith from Abu Hanifa, and so he would be contradicting himself if he said that Abu Hanifa cannot be trusted, since he himself trusted him! `Ali ibn al-Madini said: "From Abu Hanifa narrated: al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mubarak, Hammad ibn Zayd, Hisham, Waki`, `Abbad ibn al-`Awwam, and Ja`far ibn `Awn." Narrated by al-Haytami in al-Khayrat al-hisan (p. 74) and al-Qurashi in al-Jawahir al-mudiyya (1:29). Furthermore Sufyan praised Abu Hanifa in explicit terms when he said: "We were with Abu Hanifa like small birds in front of the falcon," and when Abu Hanifa visited Sufyan after the death of the latter's brother he stood up, went to greet him, embraced him, and bade him sit in his place, saying to those who questioned this act: "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 (jiqh)." Both reports are narrated by Suyuti in Tabyid al-sahifa (p. 32) and al-Tahanawi in his book Inja' al-watan(1:19-22).

Sufyan's supposed criticism is qualified by what Ibn `Adi himself narrates further below in his section on Abu Hanifa, namely, the statement of `Abd al-Samad ibn Hassan: "There was something between Sufyan al-Thawri and Abu Hanifa, and Abu Hanifa was the one who restrained his own tongue more."

If there was any disagreement between Sufyan and Abu Hanifa, the nature of their disagreement was not so fundamental as to impel Sufyan to hold such an exaggerated view as that related by Ibn `Adi, but only pertained to an issue of manners or competition. This can be gathered from Ibn Hajar's relation in Tahdhib al-tahdhib (10:451) of Sufyan's disapproval of Abu Hanifa's words about the senior Tabi`is: "These are a folk who exerted their reasoning (ijtihad) and I exert mine as they did theirs," whereby he placed himself, a junior Tabi`i, at the same level of ijtihad as the senior Tabi`is such as al-Nakh`i, al-Shu`bi, Ibn Sirin, and `Ata'.

The competition between Sufyan and Abu Hanifa was fostered by Sufyan's entourage, as shown by the wording of Ibn `Adi's reports in the following cases:

·         the dream of an unnamed man who saw the Prophet telling him to take Sufyan's opinion rather than Abu Hanifa's (al-Kamil 7:2473). Furthermore, this report contains Ahmad ibn Hafs who is munkar al-hadith-- a narrator whose narrations are rejected -- according to Ibn al-Jawzi in al-Mawdu`at (2:168, 3:94; see also Tabsir al-mutanabbih 2:733, and al-Mushtabah p. 98, 359); it also contains an unnamed narrator -- the man who had the dream -- and one whose reliability is not known (majhul), Abu Ghadir al-Filastini.

·         the contrived style of the narration of Sufyan al-Thawri's story that "he [Abu Hanifa] is neither trustworthy nor trusted": Mu'ammal said: I was with Sufyan al-Thawri in his room when a man came and asked him about something and he answered him, then the man said: But Abu Hanifa said such and such, whereupon Sufyan took his sandals and flung them exclaiming: he is neither trustworthy nor trusted!! Furthermore, the narrator of this report from Sufyan, Mu'ammal ibn Isma`il, was declared by Ibn Hibban, al-Sajir, and Ibn Qani` as making mistakes in his narrations, and al-Saji said: "He is not a liar but he makes many mistakes, and he sometimes imagines things" (saduq kathir al-khata' wa lahu awham).

            All the above evidence are some of the reasons why any criticism of Abu Hanifa attributed to Sufyan al-Thawri is rejected out of hand and Ibn `Adi's reliance on such criticism is not taken into account. al-Taj al-Subki said in Qawa`id fi `ulum al-hadith (p. 195) as well as his Qa`ida fi al-jarh wa al-ta`dil (p. 53-55): "No attention whatsoever is given to al-Thawri's criticism of Abu Hanifa or that of other than al-Thawri against him." The same statement is found in Haytami's al-Khayrat al-hisan (p. 74) and is echoed by `Abd al-Hayy al-Lucknawi's warning in his al-Raf` wa al-takmil (p. 425): "Beware, beware of paying any attention to what supposedly took place (of enmity) between Abu Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri!"

The story of Imam Malik's words related by Ibn `Adi (al-Kamil 7:2473): "The consuming ailment is destruction in Religion, and Abu Hanifa is part of the consuming ailment" and "Is Abu Hanifa in your country? Then one ought not to live in your country." These are extreme statements attributed to Imam Malik by those of his companions who were of the so-called Ahl al-hadith, as for the fuqaha' among them they reported no such statements from him. This is elaborated by the Maliki authority Ibn `Abd al-Barr in his notice on Abu Hanifa in al-Intiqa' in which he invalidates the evidence of Malikis against him.

It is remarkable that Ibn `Adi narrates the story of Malik's statement "The consuming ailment" from Ibn Abi Dawud, while it is established that Ibn Adi Dawud's own father, Abu Dawud, said: rahimallah malikan kana imaman. rahimallah al-shafi`i kana imama. rahimallah aba hanifa kana imaman and the last part means: "May Allah have mercy on Abu Hanifa, he was an Imam." It is narrated by Dhahabi in hisTarikh al-Islam (6:136) and, as noted by Muhammad Qasim `Abduh al-Harithi in his book Makanat al-Imam Abi Hanifa bayn al-muhaddithin (p. 201), the strength of Abu Dawud's remark resides in the nature of his own specialty which is hadith, in function of which he recognized Abu Hanifa's leadership among Muslims.

Ironically, Ibn Abi Dawud himself said on the authority of Nasr ibn `Ali: I heard Ibn Dawud -- al-Khuraybi -- say: "Among the people concerning Abu Hanifa there are plenty of enviers and ignorant ones." Ibn Hajar relates it in his Tahdhib as we mentioned above, while Dhahabi relates it through Bishr al-Hafi in Tarikh al-Islam (6:142) and Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 32) with the wording: ma yaqa`u fi abi hanifa illa hasid aw jahil "None whatsoever inveighs against Abu Hanifa except an envier or an ignoramus."

Ibn `Adi's report of Yahyan ibn Ma`in's alleged weakening of Abu Hanifa from Ibn Abi Maryam's saying: I asked Yahya ibn Ma`in about Abu Hanifa and he said: "One must not write his narrations." (2473) This is assuredly a false ascription to Ibn Ma`in since it is firmly established that Ibn Ma`in considered Abu Hanifa as a source of reliable and trustworthy narrations:

a) Ibn Hajar in Tahdhib al-tahdhib (10:450) relates from both Muhammad ibn Sa`d al-`Awfi and Salih ibn Muhammad al-Asadi that Ibn Ma`in said: "Abu Hanifa is trustworthy (thiqa) in hadith"; and he relates from Ibn Ma`in's own shaykh, Ibn al-Qattan, that he relied greatly on Abu Hanifa: Ahmad ibn `Ali ibn Sa`id al-Qadi said: I heard Yahya ibn Ma`in say: I heard Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Qattan say: "This is no lie on our part, by Allah! We have not heard better than Abu Hanifa's opinion, and we have followed most of his sayings." This is also related by Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 32).

b) Dhahabi relates in his Tadhkirat al-huffaz (1:306) in the biography of Waki` that Yahya ibn Ma`in said: "I have not seen better than Waki`, he spends the night praying, fasts without interruption, and gives fatwaaccording to what Abu Hanifa said, and Yahya al-Qattan also used to give fatwa according to what Abu Hanifa said."

c) Ibn `Abd al-Barr relates in al-Intiqa' (p. 127): `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Dawraqi said: Ibn Ma`in was asked about Abu Hanifa as I was listening, so he said: "He is trustworthy (thiqatun), I never heard that anyone had weakened him, and  Shu`ba ibn al-Hajjaj wrote to him and told him to narrate hadith. He ordered him to do so, and Shu`ba is Shu`ba!"

Ibn `Adi's groundless conclusion: "Most of what he [Abu Hanifa] narrates is wrong." (7:2479) This is applicable to Ibn `Adi himself. As for Abu Hanifa it is just as Shu`ba and Ibn Ma`in said, respectively: "He was, by Allah! good in his memorization" (Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Intiqa' p. 127), and "Indeed he was more than trustworthy (na`am thiqa thiqa)" (al-Khatib, Tarikh Baghdad 13:449).


III. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of Muslim (al-Kunaa wal Asmaa) [and] Nasaa'ee (ad-Du'afaa)."

Answer: It is correct that Nasa'i included Abu Hanifa in his book al-Du`afa' wa al-matrukin (p. 233 #614) where he said: Nu`man ibn Thabit Abu Hanifa, laysa bi al-qawi fi al-hadith, kufi "He is not strong in hadith." Apart from Nasa'i's passing bounds in including such as Abu Hanifa in his book, and apart from the truth or merit of the remark "he is not strong," nevertheless such a remark does not constitute tad`if as if he had said: "He is weak." It only means that Nasa'i found something objectionable in him to deny him the rank of strength, not that he considered him weak as a narrator since one does not have to be strong in hadith in order to be a reliable narrator. Therefore it cannot be claimed that "the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak was the position of Nasa'i in his Sunan" for such was not his position. If one insists that it was, then Nasa'i would be contradicting it himself since in his Sunan he did narrate hadith from Abu Hanifa, as stated in the latter's entries in al-Mizzi' Tahdhib (10:449), Dhahabi's Tadhkirat al-huffaz and his al-Kashshasf fi ma`rifati man lahu riwayatun fi al-kutub al-sitta (p. 322 #5845), Ibn Hajar's Taqrib (2:248 #7179), and al-Khazraji's Khulasat tadhhib tahdhib al-kamal (3:95 #7526)!

Equally false is the claim that Imam Muslim declared Abu Hanifa weak since all he said in his book al-Kuna wa al-asma' (1:276 #963) is: sahib al-ra'y mudtarib al-hadith laysa lahu kabir hadith sahih. "The scholar of the "school of opinion," his narrations are not firm in their wording and he has not many sound ones." He did not say that he was weak.

Furthermore, generally speaking, Muslim's judgment is tainted by the difference in methodology between him and Abu Hanifa. This is evident in the tone he uses since he calls Abu Hanifa sahib al-ra'i, a loaded term of criticism by which the Hanafis are labeled by those who disagree with them. For this reason, neither Nasa'i's inclusion of Abu Hanifa in his book of weak narrators nor his and Muslim's remarks about Abu Hanifa are acceptable as a legitimate jarh or criticism of the Imam. The reason is that one of the fundamental rules of narrator-criticism is that if the critic is known to differ with the narrator in matters of doctrine and methodology -- and it is widely known that the so-called "school of hadith" differed with the so-called "school of opinion" (ra'y) -- then the critic must state the reason for his jarh, and both Nasa'i and Muslim omitted to state any reason for theirs. Therefore their jarh is not retained until it is explained and can thus meet the criteria of the discipline.

            Finally, it is a rule of jarh wa al-ta`dil that if the unexplained jarh (narrator-criticism) contradicts the explained ta`dil (narrator-authentication) by an authority of authentication who is fully aware of thejarh, then the explained ta`dil takes precedence over it without hesitation, as is the case with Nasa'i's and Muslim's jarh of Abu Hanifa not being retained after them by Abu Dawud and others, nor by later authorities such as al-Mizzi, Dhahabi, Ibn Hajar, al-Khazraji, al-Suyuti, and others.


IV. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... Bukharee (at-Taareekh al-Kabeer)."

Answer: Bukhari's negative opinion of Abu Hanifa in his Sahih and his Tarikh is a rejected type of jarh and considered unreliable, since it is known that he had fundamental differences with Abu Hanifa on questions of principles, fiqh, and methodology, and his entire Sahih is in many parts an unspoken attempt to refute Abu Hanifa and his school. The Indian scholar Zafar al-Tahanawi showed Bukhari's fanaticism against Abu Hanifa in the book edited by his student `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda under the title Qawa`id fi `ulum al-hadith (p. 380-384), and other scholars have highlighted this aspect of disagreement between them. Among them is the Hanafi faqih and hadith master al-Zayla`i, who said in Nasb al-raya (1:355-356):

No student of the Science adorned himself with a better garment than fairness and the relinquishment of fanaticism.... Bukhari is very much pursuing an agenda in what he cites from the Sunna against Abu Hanifa, for he will mention a hadith and then insinuate something about him, as follows: "Allah's Messenger said: such and such, and some people said: such and such." By "some people" he means Abu Hanifa, so he casts him in the ugliest light possible, as someone who dissents from the hadith of the Prophet!

            Bukhari also says in the beginning of his book (Sahih): "Chapter whereby Salat is part of Belief," then he proceeds with the narrations of that chapter, and his purpose in that is to refute Abu Hanifa's saying: "Deeds are not part of Belief" although many fuqaha' do not realize this. And I swear by Allah, and again -- by Allah! -- that if Bukhari had found one hadith [to the effect that Salat is part of Belief] which met his criterion or came close to it, then his book would certainly not have been devoid of it, nor that of Muslim.

As we just said regarding Nasa'i and Muslim, among the kinds of rejected jarh are those based on differences of school, or `aqida, or methodology. For example, the mere fact that a narrator is Shi`a in`aqida and showing excessive love for `Ali, or if he is Nasibi[43] in `aqida and showing hatred of `Ali, does not automatically mean that he is majruh [defective]. An example of a Shi`i narrator retained by Bukhari is the great muhaddith `Abd al-Razzaq al-San`ani (d. 211), the author of the Musannaf, from whom Bukhari took a quantity of hadiths. Two examples of narrators retained by Bukhari and Muslim although they were accused of being Nasibi are Huswayn ibn Numayr from whom Bukhari narrates the hadiths: "The Communities were shown to me and I saw a great dark mass" and "The Communities were shown to me and there was a Prophet with only one follower, and a Prophet with only two followers"; and Ahmad ibn `Abdah al-Dabbi, from whom Muslim takes one of three chains of the hadith: "I have been ordered to fight people until they say la ilaha ilallah and believe in me."

Another example is the undue weakening of a scholar of the so-called "school of ra'y" [opinion] at the hands of a scholar of the so-called "school of hadith," in this case the weakening of a Hanafi by a Hanbali: thus Ahmad's weakening of Mu`alla ibn Mansur al-Razi (d. 211) is rejected, as shown by Dhahabi in al-Mughni (2:270) and by Abu Dawud before him, who said in his Sunan (book of Tahara): "Yahya ibn Ma`in said that Mu`alla is trustworthy while Ahmad ibn Hanbal would not narrate from him because he followed the methodology of ra'y"; thus Abu Dawud rejects Ahmad's verdict and narrates from Mu`alla, as did Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and others.

Bukhari's narrations, in his Tarikh al-saghir, of reports ostensibly detrimental to Abu Hanifa, just as his narration of Yazid ibn Harun's outlandish labeling of Abu Hanifa's student, Muhammad al-Shaybani, as a Jahmi in his Khalq af`al al-`ibad (1990 ed. p. 15), belong to this category of rejected jarh. Such reports are simply dismissed as mistakes for which Bukhari must be forgiven, as he is not ma`sum.

The same is said about Ibn Hibban's outlandish declaration in his Kitab al-majruhin (3:63-64) that Abu Hanifa is not to be relied upon because "he was a Murji' and an innovator." Such a judgment is discarded, as stated by al-Lucknawi in al-Raf` wa al-takmil: "Criticism of Abu Hanifa as a narrator on the claim of his irja' is not accepted." The reason is that the so-called Murji'a among the Hanafi Imams all belong to Ahl al-Sunna and are in no wise to be called innovators, such as Abu Hanifa, his shaykh Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, and his two students Muhammad and Abu Yusuf. al-Dhahabi said in his Tarikh al-Islam (3:358f.): "The disapproved Murji'a are those who accepted Abu Bakr and `Umar but withheld taking a position concerning `Uthman and `Ali." It is obvious that the Hanafi Imams do not enter into such a definition. Imam Abu Hanifa said in his Fiqh al-akbar (as narrated by `Ali al-Qari in his Sharh, 1984 ed. p. 96-101):

The best of mankind after the Prophets, peace be upon them all, are Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, then `Umar ibn al-Khattab, then `Uthman ibn `Affan dhu al-Nurayn, then `Ali ibn Abi Talib al-Murtada, may Allah be well pleased with all of them: men worshipping their Lord, steadfast upon truth and on the side of truth. We follow all of them (natawallahum jami`an). Nor do we mention any of the Prophet's Companions except in good terms.

A longer definition of the "Murji'a" is given by Ibn Hajar in Hadi al-Sari (2:179) where he says:

Irja' has the sense of "delaying" and carries two meanings among the scholars: some mean by it the delaying in declaring one's position in the case of the two warring factions after `Uthman's time [i.e. neither following nor rejecting either one]; and some mean by it the delaying in declaring that whoever commits grave sins and abandons obligations enters the Fire, on the basis that in their view belief consists in assertion and conviction and that quitting deeds [i.e. ceasing from obeying commands and prohibitions] does not harm it."

            The Sunni so-called "Murji'a" belong to the latter category but with one important provision: they do not hold that quitting deeds does not harm belief in the sense of threatening to destroy it: on the contrary, they hold that quitting deeds does harm the quitter. As `Ali al-Qari said in the title of one of his chapters in Sharh al-fiqh al-akbar (p. 67, 103), "Acts of disobedience harm their author, contrary to the belief of certain factions." al-Mizzi relates in his Tahdhib al-kamal from Abu al-Salt al-Harawi this clarification overlooked by Ibn Hajar, whereby the Sunni "Murji'a" is thus called not because he considers that "quitting deeds does not harm belief" but only because he professes hope (yarju) of salvation for great sinners, as opposed to the Khawarij who declare sinners disbelievers, and the Mu`tazila who disbelieve in the Prophet's intercession for great sinners. In this sense Abu Hanifa and the Maturidi school of doctrine hold what all other schools of Ahl al-Sunna hold. As for the Murji'a who rely on faith alone exclusively of deeds, they belong to the heretical sects, and the attribution of Abu Hanifa to such a belief is iftira' and fabrication.

The difference with the Imam which Bukhari and Ibn Hibban were picking upon resides in among others in Abu Hanifa's view that iman -- belief -- stands for one's Islam and vice-versa and therefore neither increases or decreases once acquired. It is a fundamental tenet of the Maturidi school with which Bukhari differed and which is illustrated by the latter's chapter-titles like "Salat is part of belief," "Belief increases and decreases" etc. in his Sahih as al-Zayla`i pointed out in the excerpt we already quoted from him. The vast majority of Hanafis and the entire Maturidi school of doctrine hold the opposite view, as illustrated by `Ali al-Qari's naming two chapter-titles of his Sharh al-fiqh al-akbar: "Belief neither increases nor decreases" (p. 126, 202), and another chapter is entitled: "The believers are equal in belief but differ in deeds" (p. 128) and another: "The grave sin [such as not performing salat] does not expel one from belief" (p. 102). All the above is also the sound doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna, as opposed to some present-day extremists who declare anyone who commits a major sin to be a disbeliever in need of repeating his shahada or be killed -- and the latter contradicts the view of Imam Ahmad, who insisted that no Muslim should be called a disbeliever for any sin, as shown by Ibn Abi Ya`la in Tabaqat al-hanabila (1:329).

            After these preliminaries we may now turn to show why Bukhari's aspersions on Abu Hanifa in his Tarikh al-saghir are not retained by the scholars, even if today's "Salafis" attempt to rely on them to justify Albani's position against the Imam!

1st relation      Bukhari said in his Tarikh al-saghir (p. 158): I heard al-Humaydi say: Abu Hanifa said: "I came to Mecca and took from the cupper three Sunan when I sat in front of him: He said to me to face the Ka`ba, he began with the right side of my head [shaving], and he reached the two bones." al-Humaydi said: "A man who does not have Sunan from the Prophet nor from his Companions concerning the rituals of Pilgrimage or other things, how can he be imitated in questions of inheritance, obligations, charity, prayer, and the questions of Islam?!"

            This relation is defective from several perspectives:

·         `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda said in his annotations to al-Lucknawi's Raf` wa al-takmil (p. 395-397) that his shaykh al-Tahanawi said in his book Inja' al-watan (1:23): "al-Humaydi wished to demean Abu Hanifa with his comments, but in fact he praised him without realizing. For Abu Hanifa was gracious and generous, and he would show gratefulness to whomever showed him kindness or taught him something, even a single letter. He was not one who kept hidden other people's goodness towards him, or their favors. When he obtained something related to matters of religion from a simple cupper, he told of the cupper's kindness and he showed him up as his teacher, fulfilling the right he held over him. And what a strange thing indeed to hear from al-Humaydi, when his own shaykh, al-Shafi`i, said: I carried from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani knowledge equivalent to a full camel-load, and he would say: Allah has helped me with hadith through Ibn `Uyayna, and He helped me with fiqh through Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. And it is well-known that the well-spring of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan's sciences are Abu Hanifa. Imam Shafi`i also said: Whoever seeks fiqh, let him frequent Abu Hanifa and his two companions; and he also said: Anyone that seeks fiqh is a dependent of Abu Hanifa. And yet, with all this, al-Humaydi does not show gratefulness for the Imam who is his Shaykh's Shaykh, nor for the favor he represents for him."

·         al-Tahanawi also mentioned that Abu Hanifa went to pilgrimage with his father as a young man, and that the incident may well have taken place at that time, since what is learnt in a young age is hardly ever forgotten.

·         al-Tahanawi also pointed out that in the time of Abu Hanifa in Mecca knowledge was distributed everywhere among the people, and it is not a far-fetched possibility that the humble cupper was one of theTabi`in who had heard or seen what he knew from the Companions themselves. He asks: "From where does Humaydi know that that cupper was not one of the knowledgeable Tabi`is, and that he either narrated these three Sunan with their chain back to the Prophet, or suspended back to one of the great Companions?!"

·         al-Tahanawi concluded: "As for Humaydi's saying: how can Abu Hanifa be imitated, then we know that a greater one than Humaydi did imitate him, such as Imam al-Shafi`i -- whom al-Humaydi imitated, -- Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Qattan, Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan al-Thawri, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (through Abu Hanifa's students the Qadi Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani), Waki` ibn al-Jarrah, `Abd Allah ibn al-Mubarak, Yahya ibn Ma`in, and their likes. Then the kings, the sultans, the khulafa', the viziers imitated him, and the scholars of knowledge, the scholars of hadith, the saints, the jurists, and the commonality imitated him, until Allah was worshipped through the school of Abu Hanifa all over the world, and that was because of the good manners upon which Abu Hanifa was grounded, because he did not look down upon taking the highest knowledge from a cupper, and so Allah made him the Imam of the Umma, the greatest of the Imams, and the guide of humanity."

[Another illustration of Imam Abu Hanifa's great humility is the narration of Ishaq ibn al-Hasan al-Kufi related by Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 38): A man came to the market and asked for the shop of Abu Hanifa, the Faqih. Abu Hanifa said to him: "He is not a Faqih. He is one who gives legal opinions according to his obligation."]

·         Shaykh Abu Ghudda added (al-Raf` p. 397-398): "In addition to the above it is noted that al-Humaydi said: Abu Hanifa said without mentioning from whom he had heard it, and I have not found any proof that al-Humaydi (d. 219) ever met Abu Hanifa at all.... It is clear to us that he was not born when Abu Hanifa died (d. 150)... The report is therefore weak due to the interruption in its chain of transmission, and that is enough."

·         Shaykh Abu Ghudda concluded with what we mentioned before, in the section on Ibn `Adi, namely that any criticism of Abu Hanifa attributed to Sufyan al-Thawri is rejected out of hand and there can be no reliance on such criticism to establish narrator-criticism. This particular rule was enunciated by al-Taj al-Subki in Qawa`id fi `ulum al-hadith (p. 195) as well as his Qa`ida fi al-jarh wa al-ta`dil (p. 53-55), also Haytami's al-Khayrat al-hisan (p. 74), al-Lucknawi's al-Raf` wa al-takmil (p. 425), and Abu Ghudda's marginalia on Subki's and al-Lucknawi's works.

2nd relation     Bukhari also said in his Tarikh al-saghir (p. 174): Nu`aym ibn Hammad narrated to us and said: al-Fazari narrated to us and said: I was visiting with Sufyan al-Thawri and we received news of Abu Hanifa's death, so Sufyan said: "al-hamdu lillah! he was taking apart Islam branch by branch. No greater misfortune than him was ever born into Islam (ma wulida fi al-islami ash'amu minhu)."

            This relation is even more defective than the first -- may Allah have mercy both on Abu Hanifa and his detractors -- for the following reasons:

·         Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda said in his marginal notes to al-Lucknawi's al-Raf` wa al-takmil (p. 393): "Our shaykh, the verifying scholar al-Kawthari, said in his book Fiqh ahl al-`Iraq wa hadithuhum(p. 87), and in the introduction of hafiz al-Zayla`i's book Nasb al-raya (p.58-59):

There is a kind of criticism by which the critic destroys his credibility from the start through the fact that his words bear all the traits of rashness. If you see him saying, for example: "No greater misfortune than him was ever born into Islam," you will notice that there is no misfortune (shu'm) in Islam; even if we should admit that there is -- in the centuries other than the three mentioned in the hadith -- still, without doubt, the gradations of misfortune vary: and to declare a certain person to be the worst of the worst without a statement to that effect from the Prophet is to claim to know the unseen from which the people of Religion are clear. Such a statement, therefore, destroys the credibility of its speaker, if it is firmly established to come from him, before the credibility of the subject of the statement. In a very precarious position indeed is the one who records such an absurdity to the detriment of the leading Imams."

·         "And in his book Ta'nib al-Khatib (p. 48, 72, 111) Kawthari also said:

If such a saying were ascertained from Sufyan al-Thawri, he would have fallen from credibility due to this word alone for its passionate tone and rashness. Suffice it to say in refutation of that narration that Nu`aym ibn Hammad is in its chain of transmission, and the least that was said about him is that he conveyed rejected narrations and he has been accused of forging disgraceful stories against Abu Hanifa.

·         "And our shaykh, the verifying savant and hadith scholar Zafar Ahmad al-Tahanawi said in his book Inja' al-watan min al-izdira' bi imam al-zaman (Saving the Nation from the scorn displayed against the Imam of the Time) 1:22:

"It is a grievous thing that issues from their mouth as a saying. What they say is nothing but falsehood!" (18:5). By Allah, there was not born into Islam, after the Prophet, greater fortune and assistance than al-Nu`man Abu Hanifa. The proof of this can be witnessed in the extinction of the schools of his attackers, while his increases in fame day and night. I do not blame al-Bukhari for it, since he only related what he heard. However, I blame for it his shaykh Nu`aym ibn Hammad, even if the latter is a hadith master whom some have declared trustworthy [e.g. Ahmad, Ibn Ma`in, and al-`Ujli], nevertheless the hadith master Abu Bishr al-Dulabi said: "Nu`aym narrates from Ibn al-Mubarak; al-Nasa'i said: he is weak (da`if), and others said: he used to forge narrations in defense of the Sunna, and disgraceful stories against Abu Hanifa, all of them lies." Similarly Abu al-Fath al-Azdi said: "They said he used to forge hadiths in defense of the Sunna, and fabricate disgraceful stories against Abu Hanifa, all of them lies." Similarly in Tahdhib al-tahdhib (10:462-463) and Mizan al-i`tidal (3:238, 4:268) [and also Tahdhib al-tahdhib (10:460)]: "al-`Abbas ibn Mus`ab said in his Tarikh: "Nu`aym ibn Hammad composed books to refute the Hanafis"... [and in Hadi al-Sari (2:168): "Nu`aym ibn Hammad was violently against the People of ra'y"] therefore neither his word nor his narration to the detriment of Abu Hanifa and Hanafis can ever be accepted....

It is, furthermore, established that 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 (jiqh)."

            Finally, we repeat Ibn al-Subki's instruction to hadith scholars already quoted in the discussion of Ibn `Adi: "Pay no attention to al-Thawri's criticism of Abu Hanifa" and `Abd al-Hayy al-Lucknawi's warning: "Beware of paying any attention to what took place between Abu Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri...." And Allah knows best.



V. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... al-Uqailee (ad-Du'afaa p.432) [and] ibn Hibbaan (al-Majrooheen)."

Answer: We already mentioned that jarh -- narrator-criticism -- is rejected if it is based on differences in methodology and school. Another category of jarh that is not taken into account by the scholars is that declared by a scholar who is known for his fanatic or blind condemnation of others. Examples of this category of jarh are the fanaticism (ta`annut) of the following scholars against Hanafis and Imam Abu Hanifa: Daraqutni and Ibn `Adi as already shown, Ibn Hibban and al-`Uqayli as we will show presently.

            Of Ibn Hibban's general method in narrator-criticism Dhahabi said in Mizan al-i`tidal (2:185, 3:121): "He vociferates, as is his habit" and he calls him "Ibn Hibban the Shredder, the most reckless of the ill-natured ones" (Ibn Hibban al-khassaf al-mutahawwir fi `arimin); while Ibn Hajar said in al-Qawl al-musaddad fi al-dhabb `an musnad Ahmad (p. 33): "Ibn Hibban all-too-readily declares the trustworthy to be weak, and acts as if he does not know what he is saying." The editor of Ibn Hibban's book al-Majruhin min al-muhaddithin wa al-du`afa' wa al-matrukin, Mahmud Ibrahim Zayid, says the following in the margin of his notice on Abu Hanifa (3:61):

[Ibn Hibban] did not leave a single device of the devices of narrator-criticism except he used it [against Abu Hanifa], and in so doing he accepted the reports of narrators whom he himself does not trust for narration according to his own methodology. He discarded the reports of those who are considered trustworthy among the Imams of the Umma and he accepted the reports of the most extreme of those who have been criticized for weakness.

            Nor did he content himself with what he cited in the contents of his books in such attacks against the Imam, but he also composed two of his largest books exclusively as an attack against Abu Hanifa, and these books are: Kitab `ilal manaqib Abi Hanifa (Book of the defects in Abu Hanifa's qualities), in ten parts, and Kitab `ilal ma istanada ilayhi Abu Hanifa (Book of the defects of what Abu Hanifa relied upon), in ten parts!

            As for the Hanbali scholar al-`Uqayli: he is possibly the most fanatic and least reliable of narrator-criticism authorities. His notice on Abu Hanifa in his book entitled Kitab al-du`afa' al-kabir (4:268-285 #1876) is, like that of Ibn Hibban on the Imam, a biased selection of weak, very weak, and fabricated reports. As a result of this and other similar displays he does not carry any weight with the hadith masters. To quote his opinion as evidence for the weakening of Abu Hanifa is only a proof of ignorance on the part of "Salafis."

            `Uqayli attacked in his book narrator after narrator of the authorities relied upon by Bukhari and Muslim, in addition to the Imams of fiqh and hadith, hacking down, in the process, the names of `Ali ibn al-Madini, Bukhari, `Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn Abi Shayba, Ubrahim ibn Sa`d, `Affan, Aban al-`Attar, Isra'il ibn Yunus, Azhar al-Saman, Bahz ibn Asad, Thabit al-Bunani, and Jarir ibn `Abd al-Hamid. Dhahabi throws the book at him in Mizan al-i`tidal (2:230, 3:140):

Have you no mind, O `Uqayli?! (afama laka `aqlun ya `uqayli) Do you know who you are talking about?! The only reason we mention what you say about them is in order to repel from them the statements made about them -- as if you did not know that each one of those you target is several times more trustworthy than you?! Nay, more trustworthy than many trustworthy narrators whom you did not even cite once in your book... If the hadith of these narrators were to be abandoned, then shut the gates, cease all speech, let hadith transmission die, put the free-thinkers in office, and let the antichrists come out!

            One of `Uqayli's worse traits in his Kitab al-du`afa' is his putting derogatory reports in the mouth of great Imams, such as the story whereby Imam Ahmad reportedly states that Abu Hanifa lies (4:284)! If this were true, then how could Imam Ahmad allow himself to narrate hadith from Abu Hanifa in his Musnad, as he did with the narration al-dallu `ala al-khayri ka fa`ilihi which he took from the Imam with a sound chain to the Prophet from Burayda? And the reason why Ahmad included it in the Musnad is that no one other than Abu Hanifa narrated this hadith from Burayda. This is a proof against `Uqayli's above relation from Ahmad since the latter would not have related this hadith if he considered that Abu Hanifa lied.

            A more explicit proof against this spurious attribution to Imam Ahmad is his words as related by his close student, Abu Bakr al-Marrudhi al-Khallal: I said to him [Ahmad ibn Hanbal]: "al-hamdu lillah!He [Abu Hanifa] has a high rank in knowledge." He replied: "Subhan Allah! He occupies a station in knowledge, extreme fear of Allah, asceticism, and the quest for the Abode of the hereafter, where none whatsoever reaches him." Dhahabi narrated it in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 43).

            Another proof against `Uqayli's spurious attribution to Imam Ahmad is given by Ibn Ma`in when he was asked: Does Abu Hanifa lie? and he replied: Woe to you! He is nobler than that. We mentioned this report above, in the first part of Ibn Hajar's notice from Tahdhib al-tahdhib.

Finally, it is established by Ibn `Imad in his Shadharat al-dhahab (1:228), al-Dhahabi in Tarikh al-islam (6:141), and al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (13:360) that whenever Abu Hanifa was mentioned to Imam Ahmad he would speak kindly of him, and that when Ahmad under the whip was reminded that Abu Hanifa had suffered the same treatment for refusing a judgeship, he wept and said: Rahimahullah. [See above, Ibn Hajar's notice on Abu Hanifa in Tahdhib al-tahdhib.] May Allah have mercy on both of them. We also refer the reader to Ibn `Abd al-Barr's relevant section in his book al-Intiqa', where he systematically refutes al-`Uqayli's narrations against Abu Hanifa.



VI. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... ibn Abee Haatim (al-Jarh wat Tadil)."

Answer: Ibn Abi Hatim's notice on Abu Hanifa in his book al-Jarh wa al-ta`dil is plagued with grave weaknesses from the viewpoint of reliability. The reason is not that Ibn Abi Hatim is unreliable as an authenticator of narrations, but rather that he is intent on reporting what is damaging to Abu Hanifa at all costs, even if he must turn a blind eye to the inauthenticity of such reports. A flagrant sign of his bias is that he reports only a few derogatory stories, but no positive report about Abu Hanifa, contrary to the rule of fairness imposed on all scholars of narrator-criticism and narrator-authentication. Some examples of those stories:

·         Ibn Abi Hatim claims in al-Jarh wa al-ta`dil (8:449): "Ibn al-Mubarak [d. 181], in his later period, quit narrating from Abu Hanifa. I heard my father [b. 195!] say that."

            The fact is that if Ibn Abi Hatim were to see such a report as this, he would reject it out of hand and never adduce it as evidence for anything. The reason is that when Ibn al-Mubarak died, Ibn Abi Hatim's father was not even born. How then could a report from the latter constitute reliable evidence about the former, when the chain of transmission of such a report is cut off and misses one, two, or more narrators?

            What puts a final seal on its inadmissibility is that it contradicts the established position of the verifying scholars on Ibn al-Mubarak's transmission from Abu Hanifa, which is that he never stopped taking hadith from him whether in his early or his later period. This is stated by al-Mizzi in his notice on Abu Hanifa in Tahdhib al-kamal and al-Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 20) and is confirmed by the following reports:

- Ibn al-Mubarak praised Abu Hanifa and called him a sign of Allah. al-Khatib reports it in Tarikh Baghdad (13:337) and al-Dhahabi in Siyar a`lam al-nubala' (6:398).

- `Ali ibn al-Madini said: "From Abu Hanifa narrated: al-Thawri, Ibn al-Mubarak, Hammad ibn Zayd, Hisham, Waki`, `Abbad ibn al-`Awwam, and Ja`far ibn `Awn." al-Haytami related it in al-Khayrat al-hisan(p. 74) and al-Qurashi in al-Jawahir al-mudiyya (1:29).

- Both Ibn al-Mubarak and Sufyan al-Thawri said: "Abu Hanifa was the most knowledgeable of all people on earth." Ibn Hajar related it in his notice on Abu Hanifa in Tahdhib al-tahdhib and also Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya wa al-nihaya (10:107).

- 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 in Manaqib Abu Hanifa(p. 30) relates it as: "I would have been an innovator."]

- `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." Dhahabi related it inManaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 36).

- Hibban ibn Musa said: Ibn al-Mubarak was asked: "Who is more knowledgeable in fiqh, Malik or Abu Hanifa?" He replied: "Abu Hanifa." Dhahabi relates it in Tarikh al-islam (6:142) and Manaqib Abi Hanifa(p. 32).

            The latter report echoes the statement of Imam Ahmad related by Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 41) whereby Nusayr ibn Yahya al-Balkhi said: I said to Ahmad ibn Hanbal: "Why do you reproach to this man [Abu Hanifa]?" He replied: al-ra'y = "[Reliance on] opinion." I said: "Consider Malik, did he not speak on the basis of opinion?" He said: "Yes, but Abu Hanifa's opinion was immortalized in books." I said: "Malik's opinion was also immortalized in books." He said: "Abu Hanifa gave opinions more than him." I said: "Why then will you not give this one his due and that one his due?!" He remained silent.

·         Ibn Abi Hatim also claims in al-Jarh wa al-ta`dil (8:450): Ibrahim ibn Ya`qub al-Jawzajani [d. 259] told me in writing, on the authority of `Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri' [d. 185] that the latter said: Abu Hanifa would talk to us, after which he would say: "All that you have heard is wind and null and void" (hadha al-ladhi sami`tum kulluhu rih wa batil).

            This is another one of those reports which are against rather than for Ibn Abi Hatim's credit to cite, due to uncertainty in the link or links that may be missing in its chain of transmission.

            As for the defect in the matn -- text -- itself, it is so evident that it would be absurd to pretend that Ibn Abi Hatim missed it. Abu Hanifa was described by the following as an Imam whose fiqh outweighed the intelligence of everyone who lived on earth in his time: Abu Bakr ibn `Ayyash, Ibn Jurayj, Yazid ibn Harun, Shaddad ibn Hakim, Sufyan ibn `Uyayna, Makki ibn Ibrahim, Mis`ar ibn Kidam, `Ali ibn `Asim, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal! All this is related by Dhahabi in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 29-32, 42-43). Would all these testify to the knowledge of an Imam who concludes his lessons by tossing them out into the wind?

            In fact, the reality of what Abu Hanifa would say in conclusion of his lessons is linked to his humility and great fear of Allah as shown by the following reports taken from the same book by Imam Dhahabi (p. 34):

- Muhammad ibn Shuja` al-Thalji said: I heard Isma`il ibn Hammad ibn Abi Hanifa say: Abu Hanifa said: "Our position here is only our opinion. We do not oblige anyone to follow it, nor do we say that it is required for anyone to accept it. Whoever has something better, let him produce it."

- al-Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Lu'lu'i said: Abu Hanifa said: "Our science in this is only an opinion. It is the best that we have been able to reach. Whoever brings us better than this, we accept it from him."

            The above clarifications of the Imam on his method are a far cry from Ibn Abi Hatim's corrupt attribution to him of the words: " All that you have heard is wind and null and void"!

·         Ibn Abi Hatim in al-Jarh wa al-ta`dil (8:450) claims on the written authority of the same Ibrahim ibn Ya`qub al-Jawzajani that Ishaq ibn Rahawayh said: I heard Jarir say: Muhammad ibn Jabir al-Yamami said: "Abu Hanifa stole Hammad's books from me"!

            May Allah forgive Ibn Abi Hatim and all Abu Hanifa's detractors for going to such extremes in attempting to discredit him. Such a mendacious report as the above is easily thrown out on the two bases of its chain and its text.

            Its chain is weak due to Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Yamani whom Ibn Abi Hatim himself in al-Jarh (1:219) declared to be weak with the words: da`if  kathir al-wahm, "He is weak and many times imagines things"! Others who declared this narrator as weak are: Ibn Ma`in in his Tarikh (3:507), al-Nasa'i in al-Du`afa' wa al-matrukin (p. 533), `Uqayli in al-Du`afa' (4:41), Ibn Hibban in al-Majruhin (2:270), Ibn `Adi inal-Kamil fi al-du`afa' (6:2158), al-Dhahabi in al-Mughni fi al-du`afa' (#5349), among others.

            Its text is absurd due to the fact that Abu Hanifa could have easily gotten Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman's books directly from him, since he was his student for more than twenty years. Furthermore Abu Hanifa was extremely rich, and in no need of stealing what he could obtain by purchase. Finally, Abu Hanifa was reputed for his extreme fear of Allah (wara`), which precludes him, in accordance with all those who testified to his character, from committing such an act. Dhahabi related in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 24): Ibn al-Mubarak said: "Abu Hanifa for a long time would pray all five prayers with a single wudu'," and 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."



VII. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... al-Haakim (Ma'rifa Ulum al-Hadeeth)."

Answer: It seems this is but another proof of the fibbing of "Salafis," since al-Hakim in Ma`rifat `ulum al-hadith mentions the Imam only among the "reputable trustworthy Imams"! as we see from the following excerpt taken from Sa`id Muhammad al-Lahham's edition (Beirut: Dar al-hilal, 1409/1989):

The forty-ninth kind [of the sciences of hadith]: Knowledge of the famous trustworthy Imams (ma`rifat al-a'imma al-thiqat al-mashhurin):

            Among the people of Kufa:... Mis`ar ibn Kidam al-Hilali, Abu Hanifa al-Nu`man ibn Thabit al-Taymi, Malik ibn Mighwal al-Bajali...


VIII. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... ibn Sa'd (Tabaqaat 6/256)."

Answer: Ibn Sa`d's weakening of a narrator is questionable when it pertains to the scholars of Iraq -- Abu Hanifa being among them -- according to Ibn Hajar's words in his notice for Muharib ibn Dithar in Hadi al-Sari (2:164): "Ibn Sa`d's tad`if is questionable (fihi nazar), because he imitates al-Waqidi and relies on him, and al-Waqidi, according to the fashion of the scholars of Madina, is extremely adverse to the scholars of Iraq. Know this and you will be directed to what is right, with Allah's will."


IX. The "Salafi's" claim that the grading of Abu Hanifa as weak for his poor memorization "was the position of... adh-Dhahabee (ad-Du'afaa q. 215/1-2)."

Answer: Dhahabi's authentic position on the reliability of Abu Hanifa is established in the notices on Abu Hanifa in Tadhkirat al-huffaz and al-Kashif fi ma`rifat man lahu riwaya fi al-kutub al-sitta, in the monograph he wrote on him entitled Manaqib Abi Hanifa, and in his mention of him in his introduction to Mizan al-i`tidal. In none of the above texts does he mention any weakening of Abu Hanifa. Therefore whatever contradicts them must be questioned and, if established as authentic, retained, if not, rejected as spurious and inauthentic.

Let us examine the text of Dhahabi's purported notice in his Diwan al-Du`afa' wa al-matrukin as found in Shaykh Khalil al-Mays's edition (Beirut: Dar al-fikr, 1408/1988 2:404 #4389):

al-Nu`man: al-Imam, rahimahullah. Ibn `Adi said: "Most of what he narrates is error (ghalat), corruption in the text (tashif), and additions (ziyadat), but he has good narrations." al-Nasa'i said: "He is not strong in hadith, he makes many errors although he has only a few narrations." Ibn Ma`in said: "His narrations are not written."

This is a spurious attribution to Dhahabi and an evident case of interpolation into the text of his book al-Du`afa. Dhahabi said in Tadhhib al-tahdhib (4:101): "Our shaykh Abu al-Hajjaj [al-Mizzi] did well when he did not cite anything whereby he [Abu Hanifa] should be deemed weak as a narrator." He also said in the introduction of Mizan al-i`tidal, on which his Du`afa' is based: "I do not mention [in my classifications of the weak narrators] any of the Companions, the Tabi`in, or the Imams who are followed." It is established that Abu Hanifa is a Tabi`i and the foremost of the Imams who are followed. Moreover, in his entire book on Abu Hanifa entitled Manaqib al-imam Abu Hanifa, Dhahabi mentions no such weakening nor even alludes to it. Nor does he cite it in the chapter devoted to Abu Hanifa in Tadhkirat al-huffaz! How then could he cite in al-Du`afa' Ibn `Adi's and al-Nasa'i's biased opinions, which flatly contradicts his other works, and his method as established from his own words, without any explanation on his part? And how could he relate in the Du`afa' that Ibn Ma`in said: "His narrations are not written" while he relates in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 45) and Tadhkirat al-huffaz (1:168): "Ibn Ma`in said: Abu Hanifa is trustworthy (thiqa)" and: Ibn Ma`in said of Abu Hanifa: la ba'sa bihi -- "there is no harm in him"? Note that in Ibn Ma`in's terminology such a grading is the same as thiqa (i.e. he is reliable), as stated by Ibn Salah in his Muqaddima (p. 134) and Dhahabi himself in Lisan al-mizan (1:13).

The reason for the discrepancy is clearly that the passage in the Du`afa' is a later addition to Dhahabi's book from those who wanted to put on Imam Abu Hanifa's weakening the stamp of Dhahabi's credibility, even at the cost of forgery.

            A remarkable proof of this forgery is confirmed by the near-identical spurious notice on Abu Hanifa in Dhahabi's Mizan al-i`tidal under the name of al-Nu`man ibn Thabit, Abu Hanifa, whereby Dhahabi purportedly said: "al-Nasa'i declared him weak from the perspective of his memorization, also Ibn `Adi, and others" (ed. `Ali Muhammad al-Bajawi, Cairo: al-Halabi, 4:265 #9092). This is an addition by other than Dhahabi, which is found in the less reliable copies (nusakh) of the Mizan and not in the authentic manuscripts. There is a hint of this in the footnote by the editor, al-Bajawi, who says: "This notice [on Abu Hanifa] is missing from two of the manuscripts."

The proofs that it is an interpolation are both internal and external, as we quote below from Shaykh `Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghudda's masterful demonstration in his edition of al-Lucknawi's al-Raf` wa al-takmil (p. 121-126):

`Abd al-Fattah says: al-Lucknawi gave ample proofs for the tampering of the notice on Abu Hanifa in some of the manuscripts of the Mizan in his book Ghayth al-ghamam `ala hawashi imam al-kalam (p. 146), where he mentions many factors for concluding that it does not authentically belong to the Mizan. I will mention only some of them and direct the reader to his book for the rest. He said: "There is no trace of this mention in some of the reliable manuscripts which I have seen, and the following confirms it:

                                                ·         al-`Iraqi said in his Sharh al-alfiyya (3:260): "Ibn `Adi mentioned in his book al-Kamil every narrator who was ever criticized even if he is considered trustworthy, and Dhahabi followed him in this in al-Mizan, except that he did not mention any of the Companions or the Imams that are followed."
                                                ·         al-Sakhawi said in his Sharh al-alfiyya (p. 477): "Although Dhahabi followed Ibn `Adi in mentioning every narrator who was ever criticized even if he is considered trustworthy, yet he bound himself not to mention any of the Companions or the Imams that are followed."
                                                ·         al-Suyuti said in Tadrib al-rawi sharh taqrib al-Nawawi (p. 519): "Except that Dhahabi did not mention any of the Companions or the Imams that are followed."

`Abd al-Fattah says: Dhahabi himself explicitly declares in the introduction of al-Mizan (1:3): "Similarly I did not mention in my book any of the Imams that are followed in the branches of the Law due to their immense standing in Islam and their greatness in the minds of people: such as Abu Hanifa, Shafi`i, and Bukhari. If I mention any of them, I do not do so except to render him his due (`ala al-insaf i.e. to be very fair). This does not attack their standing before Allah and before men."

            However, the edition of the Mizan published at Matba`at al-sa`ada in Cairo in 1325 (3:237) contains a two-line notice on Abu Hanifa ["al-Nasa'i declared him weak from the perspective of his memorization, also Ibn `Adi, and others"] which contains no defense of Abu Hanifa at all, and consists only in criticizing him and declaring him weak: and Dhahabi's words in the introduction preclude the existence of such a notice, since it is all faultfinding and renders him no justice....

            I looked up the third volume of Mizan al-i`tidal kept in the Zahiriyya library in Damascus under the number "368 New," a very valuable set indeed, which begins with the letter m and ends with the end of the book, all written in the hand of the savant and hadith master Sharaf al-Din `Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Wani (d. 749) of Damascus, Dhahabi's student, who read this back to Dhahabi three times while comparing it to his original, as declared on the back of folios 109 and 159 of the volume, and elsewhere. I saw no mention of Imam Abu Hanifa in that volume under the letter [for Nu`man] nor under the paternal names.

            Similarly I saw no notice for Abu Hanifa in the manuscript kept at the Ahmadiyya library in Aleppo under the number 337, a good copy made in 1160 from an original made in 777...

            Nor in the manuscript of Dhahabi's own copy of Mizan al-i`tidal kept in the general storing-library in Rabat, Morocco under number 129Q which is signed by the hand of eight different students of his to the effect that they read it in his presence and were certified by him to have done so....

            This is a tremendous and rare specimen in the world of manuscripts, and I did not find in it a mention of Abu Hanifa. Something such as this is a decisive proof for anyone that the notice found in some copies of the Mizan is not from the pen of al-Dhahabi, but was interpolated into the book by some of the adversaries of the Imam Abu Hanifa....

            Dhahabi's Mizan has been tampered with by foreign hands in more than one place, and it is imperative that it be edited and published on the basis of a manuscript that has been read before the author himself, such as that in the Zahiriyya library of Damascus, or that in the library of Rabat....

            Our friend the savant Shaykh Muhammad `Abd al-Rashid al-Nu`mani al-Hindi in his book Ma tamassu ilayhi al-haja li man yutali` sunan Ibn Majah (p. 47) also showed another aspect of the tampering done with Abu Hanifa's notice in the Mizan and I refer the reader to it. The same proof was mentioned before him by Lucknawi's student, the brilliant verifying scholar Zahir Ahmad al-Nimawi in his book al-Ta`liq al-hasan `ala athar al-Sunan (1:88).

I also took notice of what was said by our shaykh the great savant Mawlana Zafar Ahmad al-`Uthmani al-Tahanawi in his book Qawa`id fi `ulum al-hadith (p. 211) in commenting on Dhahabi's words -- already quoted -- from the introduction of his Mizan, whereupon Tahanawi said: "By this it is known that what is found in some copies of the Mizan concerning Abu Hanifa and his weakening due to poor memorization is an ilhaq -- something added which was not there originally.... And how could it be there when Dhahabi included Abu Hanifa in Tadhkirat al-huffaz, which he introduced with the words: "This is the memorial of the names of those who were declared the trustees among the carriers of the Science of the Prophet and to whose ijtihad one refers concerning matters of narrator-certification (tawthiq), authentication (tashih), and falsi-fication (tazyif)." End of our shaykh's words.

I also saw that the Emir al-San`ani said in Tawdih al-afkar (2:277): "There is no notice for Abu Hanifa in al-Mizan."....

Nor is there any notice for Abu Hanifa in the manuscript of the Mizan that was copied by the meticulous hadith master and muhaddith of Aleppo in his time, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad Sibt Ibn al-`Ajami who finished copying it in the year 789 from a copy that was certified in Dhahabi's handwriting.

It is therefore decisively ascertained that the notice on Abu Hanifa in the Mizan is an interpolation in some of its manuscripts in which Dhahabi had no part.


CONCLUSION

The great merits of Imam Abu Hanifa are extremely numerous. Imam Dhahabi wrote one volume on the life of each of the other three great Imams but he said in his Siyar a`lam al-nubala' (6:403): "The account of Abu Hanifa's sira requires two volumes." The greatness of Abu Hanifa was never reached by those who followed him, just as his son Hammad had predicted when upon his father's body he said: " You have exhausted whoever comes after you (who tries to catch up with you)." He is the first to have put down the topics of Fiqh in a book, beginning with tahara and salat. Whoever followed after him in Islam using that model, such as Malik, Shafi`i, Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others, 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: man sanna fi al-islami sunnatan hasanatan: "Whoever starts something good in Islam..." and al-Shafi`i referred to this when he said: al-nasu `iyalun `ala abi hanifa fi al-fiqh = "people (scholars) are all the dependents of Abu Hanifa in fiqh." al-Dhahabi relates it in Tadhkirat al-huffaz in the chapter on Abu Hanifa, and also Ibn Hajar in Tahdhib al-tahdhib (10:450). And the hafiz al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrated in Tarikh Baghdad (13:344) that the hafiz Abu Nu`aym 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.

Like Imam Bukhari, Abu Hanifa used to make 60 khatmas of Qur'an every Ramadan: one in the day, one in the night, besides his teaching and other duties. al-Subki relates it of Bukhari in Tabaqat al-shafi`iyya, while Dhahabi and al-Haytami relate it of Abu Hanifa respectively in Manaqib Abi Hanifa (p. 23) and al-Khayrat al-hisan. al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (13:356), Dhahabi in the Manaqib (p. 22), and Suyuti in Tabyid al-sahifa (p. 94-95) relate that 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." Suyuti also 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 wilaya (Friendship with Allah)."

May Allah be well pleased with His Friend and make him inhabit the Highest Paradise. May Allah have mercy on Imam al-a`zam Abu Hanifa and forgive his detractors. al-hamdu lillah, it is proven without doubt that Abu Hanifa has been given the three highest gradings by the verifying authorities in hadith since he has been called imam by Abu Dawud, hafiz by al-Dhahabi, and thiqa thiqa by Ibn Ma`in. More importantly, the claim that he was declared weak has been shown to be itself a weak claim no sooner made than proven wrong or worthless. The claims of present-day innovators against him were anticipated and rejected in advance by the hadith master Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani when he said, as related by his student the hadith master al-Sakhawi in his biography al-Jawahir wa al-durar (p. 227):

The Imam and his peers are of those who have reached the sky, and as a result nothing that anyone says against any of them can have any effect. They are in the highest level, where Allah raised them, through their being Imams that are followed and through whom one reaches guidance. Let this be clearly understood, and Allah is the Giver of success.

Shaykh Muhammad `Awwama mentioned it in his book Athar al-hadith al-sharif (p. 116). And Allah Almighty knows best.

With this we end the last volume in our presentation of Islamic Beliefs and Doctrine According to Ahl al-Sunna. May Allah place us also in the company of His Friends here and hereafter, and accept from his servant in need, Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, the effort of this work in addressing certain urgent questions despite its mistakes and shortcomings, and may He forgive us and all those who preceded us in faith, and guide all those who ask for the true knowledge of Ahl al-Sunna, and protect them against the confusions of the seventy-two stray paths and their invitations to perdition. Success is from Allah. O Allah! Send abundant blessings and peace on Your Prophet, his Family and his Companions. And the last of our speech is: Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.



                [1]As al-hafiz al-Sakhawi reports of his master al-hafiz al-`Asqalani.
                [2]See The Doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna Versus the "Salafi" Movement, translated with introduction and notes by Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani (As-Sunna Foundation of America, 1996).
                [3]Ahmad Hasan, The Doctrine of Ijma` in Islam, Islamabad: Islamic Research Institute, 1976, p. 37.
                [4]Published in 1401 H by Fouad `Abd al-Mun`im Ahmad at Dar al-da`wa in Doha, Qatar.
                [5]Ibn al-`Arabi al-maliki, `Aridat al-ahwadhi 9:11.
                [6]See Rawdat al-nazir 2:143.
                [7]See Imam Abu Zuhra's Usul al-fiqh p. 191ff.
                [8]al-Shafi`i, Musnad 2:187; Ahmad, Musnad 1:112-113, 176-181.
                [9]Ibn Abi Shayba relates it with a sound chain.
                [10]al-Hakim narrated it in the Mustadrak (1:116, 177) with a sound (sahih) chain.
                [11]Tirmidhi with a fair (hasan) chain.
                [12]Tirmidhi (gharib) #2256, Cairo ed. `Aridat al-ahwadhi (11:9).
                [13]Tirmidhi related it and said it is sound (sahih).
                [14]Ahmad relates it through Mu`adh and through Abu Dharr, the two chains being respectively fair [hasan] and sound [sahih] according to Haythami in Majma` al-zawa'id.
                [15]Ibn Majah (2:1303 #3950) from Anas with a weak chain. Ahmad narrates it mawquf through three sound chains to Abu Umama al-Bahili and Ibn Abi Awfa. However, it is marfu` to the Prophet from Abu Umama by Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf as well as Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, the latter two's narration stating that Abu Umama heard this from the Prophet up to seven times. Bayhaqi in al-Madkhal narrates something similar from Ibn `Abbas.
                [16]Tabarani narrated it with two chains from Ibn `Umar, one of which is sound (sahih).  See Haythami, Majma` al-zawa'id, chapter on the obligation to stay with the Congregation.
                [17]Ibn Abi `Asim narrated it in the Sunna and Albani declared it hasan in his Silsila sahiha (3:319).
                [18]Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman.
                [19]Tirmidhi (hasan).
                [20]al-Munawi, Sharh al-Jami` al-saghir 3:449.
                [21]Tirmidhi (gharib) from Ibn `Umar, al-Hakim both from Ibn `Umar and Ibn `Abbas, and Ibn Jarir from Ibn `Umar.
                [22] Narrated by al-Hakim and al-Tabari from Ibn `Abbas, and al-Lalika'i in al-Sunna and al-Hakim also narrated it from Ibn `Umar.
                [23]Muslim (Imara #55) through Ibn `Abbas. Muslim relates it with slight variations through three more chains. Ibn Abi Shayba also relates it in his Musannaf.
                [24]Ahmad in the Musnad (#3599) relates it from the words of Ibn Mas`ud (mawquf) with a sound chain.
                [25]Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and al-Darimi related it.
                [26]Bukhari, Muslim etc. related it. Hadith mutawatir.
                [27]al-Shawkani, Irshad al-Fuhul p. 259 as quoted in Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence p. 383.
                [28]Albani, Silsila da`ifa 1:76 #57.
                [29]al-Jarrahi cited it in Kashf al-khafa 1:64 #153.
                [30]Ibn Taymiyya, Mukhtasar al-fatawa al-misriyya (Cairo, 1980) p. 35, 54.
                [31]al-Shatibi, al-I`tisam 3:11; or (1995 Beirut ed.) p. 395.
                [32]Ibn `Abd al-Barr, Jami` bayan al-`ilm (Cairo: dar al-tiba`a al-muniriyya) 2:78-83, 181.
                [33]Abu Dawud, Manasik, Chapter on Prayer #1960.
                [34]Ibn Abi Zayd, al-Jami` fi al-sunan (1982 ed.) p. 118-119.
                [35]Ibn Qudama, Muqaddimat al-Mughni 1:22.
                [36]Ibn Taymiyya, Qa`ida fi tawahhud al-milla p. 174.
                [37]Ibn `Abd al-Barr, Jami` bayan al-`ilm 2:84.
                [38]Cf. English version vol. 1, Bk. 8, #361.
                [39]Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari (1989 ed.) 1:627.
                [40]Ibn Qayyim, I`lam al-muwaqqi`in 2:186-187.
                [41]al-Baghdadi relates it in his Taqyid al-`ilm 49, 52-53, 105-106, and Ibn Sa`d in his Tabaqat 3(1):206, 8:353.
                [42]In his commentary of Mundhiri's Mukhtasar Sahih Muslim, 3rd ed. (al-Maktab al-islami 1977) p. 548. The comparison was removed from later editions.
[43] Fayruzabadi in the Qamus, Ibn Manzhur in Lisan al-`Arab, and al-Zabidi in Taj al-`arus define the Nawasib as those who made a point of opposing `Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him. They are part of the Khawarij, who are those Muslims (whether in past or recent times) who oppose one whom the majority of Muslims have taken as their leader. Ibn `Abidin said in his Radd al-muhtar `ala al-durr al-mukhtar (3:309), "Bab al-bughat" [Chapter on Rebels]: "The name of Khawarij is applied to those who part ways with Muslims and declare them disbelievers, as took place in our time with the followers of Ibn `Abd al-Wahhab who came out of Najd (in the Eastern Arabian peninsula) and attacked the Two Noble Sanctuaries (Mecca and Madina). They (Wahhabis) claimed to follow the Hanbali school, but their belief was such that, in their view, they alone are Muslims and everyone else is a mushrik (polytheist). Under this guise, they said that killing Ahl al-Sunna and their scholars was permissible, until Allah the Exalted destroyed them in the year 1233 (1818 CE) at the hands of the Muslim army."






MONDAY, 12 MARCH 2012

Was Imam Abu Hanifa a "Murjie" ?






"He [Albani] says of Imam Abu Hanifa:
"The imams have declared him weak for his poor memorization"
(In his commentary of Ibn Abi `Asim's Kitab as-Sunna 1:76)
---

Imam Al-Azaam Fil Hadith

The name Abu Hanifa R.A doesn't need any introduction, as he stands tall among the Scholars of Islam. But as history suggest us, no one is spared of false allegations by khwarij and otherminor sect and one such claim is that,
 "There is no chain(Hadith) which involves Imam abu hanifa and also going back to Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) or Sahaba".
---
Ibn `Abd al-Barr relates in"Al-Intiqa'":
`Abd Allah ibn Ahmad al-Dawraqi said: "Ibn Ma'inn was asked about Abu Hanifah as I was listening, so he said, "He is trustworthy(thiqatun), I never heard that anyone had weakened him."  No less than Shu'ba wrote to him [for narrations], and ordered him to narrate hadith.'

 Ibn Hajar said in Kharija ibn al-Salt's notice in "Tahdhib al-Tahdhib":
Ibn Abi Khaythama said:"If al-Shu'bi narrates from someone and names him, that man is trustworthy (thiqa) and his narration is used as proof (yuhtajju bi hadithihi)".

Many well-known shuyukh narrated from Imam Abu Hanifah, to name but a few: al-Thawri, ibn al-Mubarak, Hammad ibn Zayd and `Abd al-Razzaq (one of Imam al-Bukhari's shaykhs.)  Al-Mizzi in "Tahdhib al-Kamal" names about one hundred names of those who narrated from Imam Abu Hanifah.
---

1)
حدثنا يزيد حدثنا أبو قطن حدثنا أبو حنيفة عن عطية عن أبي سعيد عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فذكر  مثله
Translation: Yazid narrated to us: Abu Qatan narrated to us: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from ‘Atiyyah from Abu Sa’id [al-Khudri] from Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), then he mentioned the equivalent of it [i.e. the words:"Whoever lies upon me deliberately, let him take his seat in the Fire."]
 Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:1, Page No: 361, Hadith No:401
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All the narrators are Thiqa and it is Rigorously Authentic hadith
Same hadith is present in Sahih Bukhari

A)
حَدَّثَنَا عَلِيُّ بْنُ الْجَعْدِ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنَا شُعْبَةُ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي مَنْصُورٌ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رِبْعِيَّ بْنَ حِرَاشٍ، يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ عَلِيًّا، يَقُولُ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لاَ تَكْذِبُوا عَلَىَّ، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىَّ فَلْيَلِجِ النَّارَ ".
Translation: Narrated `Ali: The Prophet said, "Do not tell a lie against me for whoever tells a lie against me (intentionally) then he will surely enter the Hell-fire."

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith No: 106 

B)
حَدَّثَنَا مَكِّيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي عُبَيْدٍ، عَنْ سَلَمَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " مَنْ يَقُلْ عَلَىَّ مَا لَمْ أَقُلْ فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ ".
Translation: Narrated Salama: I heard the Prophet saying,"Whoever (intentionally) ascribes to me what I have not said then (surely) let him occupy his seat in Hell-fire."

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari hadith no: 109

Above Hadith is an Mutawaatir hadith [Narrated from various chains]

Imam Ibn Hajar Asqalani said: 
Example of a Mutawaatir Hadeeth: The above-mentioned Hadeeth:“Whosoever falsely attributes anything to me…” is a Mutawaatir Hadeeth.[Ibn Hajar Asqalani Nukhbat ul fikr, page 22]

2)
حدثنا إبراهيم بن أبي داود قال حدثنا محمد بن المثنى قال حدثنا إسحاق بن يوسف الأزرق عن أبي حنيفة عن علقمة بن مرثد عن سليمان بن بريدة عن أبيه قال قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم الدال على الخير كفاعله
Translation: Ibrahim ibn Abi Dawud narrated to us: He said:Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna narrated to us: He said: Ishaq ibn Yusuf al-Azraq narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Sulayman ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The inviter to goodness is like its doer.” (no. 1545, vol. 4:204)
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:4, Page No: 204, Hadith No:1545
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All narrators are Thiqa 
Similar Hadith with slightly different chain is present in Musnad Ahmed

2A
مسند أحمد - بَاقِي مُسْنَدِ الْأَنْصَارِ - الدال على الخير كفاعله
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو فُلَانَةَ كَذَا قَالَ أَبِي لَمْ يُسَمِّهِ عَلَى عَمْدٍ وَحَدَّثَنَاه غَيْرُهُ فَسَمَّاهُ يَعْنِي أَبَا حُنَيْفَةَ عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ عَنْ سُلَيْمَانَ بْنِ بُرَيْدَةَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لِرَجُلٍ أَتَاهُ اذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ الدَّالَّ عَلَى الْخَيْرِ كَفَاعِلِهِ

Translation: Ishaqq bin Yousuf from Abu Fulaan from Abu Haneefah from 'Alqmah bin marthad from Sulieman bin Buraidah from his father: He said: the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The inviter to goodness is like its doer.”
Reference: Imam Ahmed Book Musnad Ahmed, Vol 38, Hadith no 23027, Page no 132
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3) 
باب بيان مشكل ما روي عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في طلوع النجم الذي ترتفع بطلوعه العاهة أو تخف أي النجوم هو؟
حدثنا أحمد بن داود قال: حدثنا إسماعيل بن سالم قال: حدثنا محمد بن الحسن قال أخبرنا أبو حنيفة قال حدثنا عطاء بن أبي رباح عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا طلع النجم رفعت العاهة عن أهل كل بلد.

Translation: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Isma’il ibn Salim narrated to us: He said: Muhammad ibn al-Hasannarrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us: He said: ‘Ata’ ibn Abi Rabah narrated to us from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him): He said: Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “When the star appears, calamity is lifted from the inhabitants of every land.” 
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:6, Page No: 53, Hadith No:2282
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4)
وحدثنا روح بن الفرج قال حدثنا يوسف بن عدي قال حدثنا عبد الرحيم بن سليمان الرازي عن النعمان بن ثابت أبي حنيفة عن حماد عن سعيد بن جبير عن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال بعث رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بضعفة أهله ليلا من جمع وقال لهم لا ترموا الجمرة حتى تطلع الشمس

Translation: Rawh ibn al-Faraj narrated to us: He said: Yusuf ibn ‘Adi narrated to us: He said: ‘Abd al-Rahim ibn Sulayman al-Razi narrated to us from al-Nu’man ibn Thabit Abi Hanifah from Hammad [ibn Abi Sulayman] from Sa’id ibn Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbas (Allah be pleased with them): He said: “Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) dispatched the weak of his family in the night from Muzdalifah, and he said to them: ‘Do not pelt the jamrah until sunrise.’”
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:9, Page No: 120, Hadith No:3495
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5) 
حدثنا صالح بن عبد الرحمن قال ثنا عبد الله بن يزيد المقرىء قال وحدثنا فهد قال ثنا أبو نعيم قال ثنا أبو حنيفة رحمه الله عن هشام بن عروة عن أبيه عن عائشة رضي الله عنها أن فاطمة بنت أبي حبيش أتت النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقالت إني أحيض الشهر والشهرين فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن ذلك ليس بحيض وإنما ذلك عرق من دمك فإذا أقبل الحيض فدعي الصلاة وإذا أدبر فاغتسلي لطهرك ثم توضئي عند كل صلاة
Translation: Salih ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us: He said: ‘Abd Allah ibn Yazid al-Muqri’ narrated to us: He said: Fahd narrated to us: He said: Abu Nu’aym narrated to us: He said: Abu Hanifah narrated to us from Hisham ibn ‘Urwah from his father from ‘A’ishah (Allah be pleased with her) that Fatimah bint Abi Hubaysh came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and she said: “I was menstruating for a month or two months.” The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:“That is not menstruation, but that is a [ruptured] vessel of your blood. Therefore, when the menstruation comes, leave Salah, and when it leaves [and post-menstrual bleeding begins], then bathe for your purification and then perform wudufor every Salah.”
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:7, Page No: 157, Hadith No: 2732
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6)
حدثنا أحمد بن داود حدثنا إسماعيل بن سالم الصائغ ثنا أبو معاوية أخبرني النعمان بن ثابت عن علقمة بن مرثد عن ابن بريدة عن أبيه قال جاء ماعز الأسلمي إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وهو جالس فأقر بالزنا فرده أربع مرات ثم أمر برجمه فأقاموه في مكان قليل الحجارة فلما أصابته الحجارة جزع فخرج يشتد حتى أتى الحرة فثبت لهم فيها فرموه بجلاميدها حتى سكت فقالوا يا رسول الله ماعز حين أصابته الحجارة جزع فخرج يشتد فقال هلا خليتم سبيله
Translation: Ahmad ibn Dawud narrated to us: He said: Isma’il ibn Salim al-Sa’igh narrated to us : He said: Abu Mu’awiyah narrated to us: al-Nu’man ibn Thabit (Abu Hanifa) reported to me from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah from his father: He said: “Ma’iz al-Aslami came to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) while he was seated and confessed [that he committed] adultery. He rejected his [confession] four times, and then he ordered his stoning. Thereupon, they stood him up in a place with few stones. When stones struck him, he began to worry, so he came out running until he reached al-Harrah wherein he was stopped by them and they pelted him with its stones until he became silent. Later, they said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! When stones struck Ma’iz he became worried and ran.’ He said: ‘Why did you not let him go?!’” 
Reference: Imam Tahawai, Book: Sharh Mushkil al-Athar, Volume No:1, Page No:379-380, Hadith No: 432 
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7)
 حَدَّثَنَا عَبَّادُ بْنُ الْعَوَّامِ، عَنْ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ، عَنْ إبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْتَشِرِ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، قَالَ: مَا جَلَسَ إلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى الله عَلَيه وسَلَّم أَحَدٌ فَقَامَ حَتَّى يَقُومَ.

Translation: ‘Abbad ibn al-‘Awwam narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Muntashirfrom Anas ibn Malik: He said: “No one ever sat with Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and then stood up until he stood up.”
Reference: Musanaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Volume no: 13, Page 169-170, Hadith No: 26182
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8)
 حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنْ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ، عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ بْنِ مَرْثَدٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ بُرَيْدَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، قَالَ لَمَّا رُجِمَ مَاعِزٌ قَالُوا: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ مَا نصْنَعُ بِهِ، قَالَ: اصْنَعُوا بِهِ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ بِمَوْتَاكُمْ مِنَ الْغُسْلِ وَالْكَفَنِ وَالْحَنُوطِ وَالصَّلاَةِ عَلَيْهِ.
Translation: Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us from Abu Hanifah from ‘Alqamah ibn Marthad from Ibn Buraydah fromhis father, he said: When Ma‘iz was stoned, they said: “O Messenger of Allah! What shall we do with him?” He said: “Do with him as you do with your dead, of bathing, shrouding, perfuming and praying over him.” 
Reference: Musanaf Ibn Abi Shaybah, Volume no: 7, Page 155, Hadith No:11124
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Abdullah Ibn Mubarrak said: 'He (Imam Abu Hanifa) was the Greatest of all those who was well-versed in Islamic laws'.
Imam Shaf’i said: 'All those who study Fiqh, are children of Imam Abu Hanifah' (Islamic law).
Imam Yahya Bin Mau’een said: 'there are no accusations on Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh, and he is clean from all lies'. Whoever wants to learn Fiqh, he is dependent upon Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh. The people should pray for Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh after their prayers. He was the one of the greatest scholars on the earth. When he used to recite the Qur’an at night, he used to cry so much that his neighbours used to pity him. The place were he died, Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh read the Qur’an seventy thousand times. He died on 15 Rajab, 150 A.H. At his funeral, there were so many people that the Salaah of Janazah had to be read six times. May Allah grant him peace and Blessings.
[Tazkarra Al Hufaz, Tarikh Ibn Kathir, By Hafidhh Dhabi and Hafidhh Ibn Kathir, “biography of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh]

Ibn Taymiyyah says:
There is no doubt regarding Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh’s knowledge, people later attributed many lies to Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh, which were all untrue. The aim of such writings was to taint Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh.
[Minhaaj Al Sunnah Al Nabaweea, Vol./1, page. 259, By Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyyah]

Ibn Al Qayyim says:
Imam Abu Hanifah would not do Qiyyas, even if he found a weak Ahadith. There are two types of Qiyyyas:
1) Which is against the Qur’an and the Sunnah, this is not permissible:
2) One that is in the light of Qur’an/Sunnah, this is permissible, our Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] also gave permisiion to Ma'az Bin Jabal to do Qiyyas.

[Aalmul Muaqqeen chap Qiyaas]
---

Quote

Al-Madkhali says:
وأخطأ أبو حيفة حتى في الإرجاء ومات على الإرجاء وورث أناسا الإرجاء
Abu Hanifa has even committed error in Irdscha '. 
And he is as Murği 'died and others have the Irga' inherited from him.”
Read More: Here


Wahhabi/Salafi say:

1) Imam Bukhari has stated:

Imam Abu Hanifah 
(Rahmatullah alayh) was a Murji’i. 
[Al Tareekh Al Kabir under the life history of Nauman Bin Thabit]

Imam Bukhari
 also writes:
The time when Sufian Thuri (great scholar of Islam) heard news about the death of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh hesaid Praise be to Allah that such a man had died as he was gradually destroying Islam. There could not be a worse person born in Islam’.
[Tareek Sagheer biography of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh]

Imam Bukhari
 also writes that: 
On two occasions Imam Abu Hanifah
 Rahmatullah alayh was ordered to repent from making blasphemous statements.
[Khitab Al Daufa Walmat Rukin by Imam Bukhari, Al Intiqa By Imam Abdul 'barr]


Wahhabis should *note that:
Imam Bukhari informs us that he had taken these statements from his tutor Na’eem bin Hamad.[Tareekh Al Saghir by Imam Bukhari]

Imam Bukhari was so impressed by his tutor that he never mentioned or used Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh as a reference for his book “As Sahih Al Bukhari

 Although whenever he did mention Imam Abu HanifahRahmatullah alayh he referred to him as Kufi  (Nicknamed from his homeland - Kufa).
Before we proceed any further,
 it is important to refer to one particular accusation against Imam Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah)which was that he belonged to a deviant sect called theMurji'i.

To answer this, we first need to see what character Imam Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah) possessed.

 *Importantly, who gave Imam Bukhari information regardingImam Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah) and In Sha Allah, we willdemonstrate that he was not a Murjie and pinpoint from where this false accusation came from.

I have mentioned that Naeem Bin Hammad conveyed thisinformation to Imam Bukhari, but before proceeding any further,let us take note of what Hafidhh Dhahabi, Hafidhh Asqalaniand Kateeb al Baghdadi have written in connection to Naeem bin Hammad.

We learn that Naeem Bin Hammad was a famous Scholar from a region called Marau. He had sight in one eye only. During the later part of his life he went to live in Egypt. At first, he belonged to a sect called Jahmiyya, and was an active member. He then later left this sect and wrote a book, which was the first book to use the science of Musnad. These were a compilation of narrations by the Sahaba, which were placed in an alphabetical order, according to whom he had narrated the Hadith.

During this particular period, the Umma used to question whether the Holy Qur’an was Makhluq (created). When this question was put forward to Naeem Bin Hammad he did not give an explanation. He was then sent to prison along side Yaqub Faqia. He died in 228 Hijra. It was noted that no Janza [funeral prayer] was prayed over him and he was buried without a Kaffan [shroud].

[Tazkara tul Hufaz, Khateeb Baghdadi and Tahzeeb al Tahzeeb, by Hafidhh Dhahabi, Hafidhh Asqalani and Khateeb , biography of Naeem Bin Hammad]

This is a brief overview of his life and now we shall examine as to what status he held as a scholar. We shall do this by looking at what Hafidhh Dahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani have written, since they compiled together all the works by previous scholars who had written concerning Naeem Bin Hammad.

What follows, are their accounts:

Imam Abu Dawud said that:
Naeem Bin Hammad, had attributed 20 Hadith to the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] which he in fact had never said, thus being fabricated sayings.

Here are two examples of such fabrications:

1) Abu Huraira reported that:

The Prophet of Islam [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] had said: "A time would come, when if you adhered to ten percent of Allah's commands you will succeed, and if you leave this ten percent you will die. (spiritually, not physically).


The Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] had never uttered such words, this is a Munkar narration.

2) Abu Huraira narrated that :

The Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] had said: "A time will come when my Ummah will be split into more than 70 sects. The worst will be those who indulge in Qiyyas (analogical deduction) in matters of uncertainty.”


Abu Zur’a said: “I asked Imam Yayha bin Mu’een, where did Naeen bin Hammad get this Hadith?

He answered that it has no origins and that this is not a Hadith but has been invented. Whatever Naeem Bin Hammad had said about Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh were all lies and had no substance.

Abu Zur’a said that whenever Naeem Bin Hammad would narrate a Hadith of the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace], he would add in his own words in the Hadith. Whenever he would narrate a fabricated Hadith he would attribute it to the “great Imam of Hadith.”

Daar Qutni said that whenever Naeem used to mention a fabricated Hadith, he would do so to support the Sunnah. He had a lot ofMunkar narrations, which other Imams did not have.

[Mizan Al Etedaal, and Tahzeeb Al Tahzeeb, by Hafidhh Dahabi and Hafidhh Asqalani, biography of Naeem Bim Hamaad]

Imam Bukhari took his narrations from Naeem Bin Hammad for his book, Sahih al-Bukhari and Tareekh. Since Naeem Bin Hammad received criticism from amongst the Muhaditheen likewise,Imam Bukhari also received criticism for his book of Hadith from the scholars of Hadith.

This overview concerning the character
 of Naeem Bin Hammad will allow us to understand that he was not a reliable Hadith expert in the eyes of the Scholars of Hadith.

Now we shall elaborate upon the statements made by Imam Bukhari about Imam Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah) by noting what the scholars of Hadith had to say concerning him.

From this we can demonstrate that Imam Bukhari’s Tarikh is in no way free from error, nor did it remain uncriticised from hadith scholars. As a result, it would be unfair to “blindly” accept everything that has been written in it as the absolute Truth.

By now, it should have been made obvious that the person that gaveImam Bukhari (ie Naeem Bin Hammad) information regardingImam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh was unreliable.
The Muhaditheen tell us that he used to make up fabricated Hadith of the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace], and he also made false stories about Imam Abu HanifahRahmatullah alayh. As we are told not to believe in his narrations, similarly, we should not accept those statements regarding Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh since they are all lies, according toHafidhh Dhahabi and Hafidhh Asqalni.

Anyone who has read the the history of Islamic scholarshipaccepts and understands that criticisms were not only made againstImam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh but were also made against many of the Muhaditheen.

The simple principal is, that when accusations are made against any of the great scholars of Islam, who have the respect from themajority of the Umma those accusations are rejected. We shall provide you with some examples:

Accusation made against Imam Bukhari.

Hafidhh Ibn Hajar Asqalani stated:

Imam Bukhari was accused of saying that the Qur’an was Makhluq (Created) but in reality he was saying the words that we are reciting are Makhluq (Created). In one meeting a question was posed to Imam Bukhari, as to whether the Qur’an is Makhluq or not? He replied, that whatever we do is our doing, and our doing is Makhluq. When the Ulema heard about this everyone ceased to communicate to him, except for Imam Muslim and Ahmad Salma. However, Imam Muslim stopped taking any narrations from Imam Bukhari. Imam Muhammad Ibn Yahya (who was the teacher of both Imam Muslim, and Imam Bukhari) was also against Imam Bukhari on this issue. He then wrote many letters to various scholars informing them about Imam Bukhri’s belief of the Qur’an. The result of this was that wherever Imam Bukhari traveled the people would always harass him. Imam Bukhari prayed to Allah that He would take his soul into the next life. As a result from the fear of the scholars Imam Bukhari never clarified whether the Qur’an was Makhluq or not to the Scholars of the Kharasaan.

[Tahzeeb Al Tahzeeb by Hafidhh Asqalani]

From this incident, you can see what Imam Bukhari implied something else, but what people understood it to be was something else. It went so far that Imam Bukhari made Du'a for himself, "O Allah Take me away from this world” and Allah accepted his Du'a and he passed away; Both Hafidhh Asqalani and Hafidhh Ibn Kathir have mentioned in their books. The same happened to Imam Abu Hanifah: as he used to say one thing and the Khawarij and Mutazilah interpreted it as a completely different thing.

Another accusation:

Hafidhh Asqalani writes:

Imam Bukhari also had another teacher whose name was Ibn al Madini. Imam Bukhari used to attend his classes (Kitaab Al Ilaal) from which Ibn Al Madini used to teach from a book. This book was very precious to him and he would not allow anyone to come near it. One day, Ibn Al Madini went to visit some of his property and Imam Bukhari saw this as an opportunity to obtain the book. He went to Ibn Al Madini’s son and persuaded him with some money to part with the book for a short while. Once Imam Bukhari received the book he took it to be copied hastily. By the time Ibn Al Madini had returned, Imam Bukhari had returned the book. When classes resumed and Ibn Al Madini began to read from the book, he asked a question to his students. Before he finished the question Imam Bukhari had already produced the correct answer (which was from his book). Ibn Al Madini then realized that Imam Bukhari had seen the contents of his book. The shock of this behavior from Imam Bukhari sent Ibn Al Madini into a state of illness, from which he later died.

Hafidhh Ibn Al Asqalani after writing this account said that he did not believe it and then he gave the reason. He said that this was against the status of Imam Bukhari.

[Tahzeeb Al Tahzeeb, under “Life History of Imam Bukhari,” by Hafidhh Ibn Asqalni]

Imam Muslim
 writes that:

Hadrat Abbas and Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu) had a dispute between each other, so thay went to the Khaleefah of the time, i.e. Hadrat Umar (Radiall hu anhu) to settle their dispute. Hadrat Abbas (Radiall hu anhu) said, concerning Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu) “O Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen, judge between me and this liar, sinner, disloyal person, betrayer” Hadrat Umar(Radiall hu anhu) then made his judgement in their affair.


[Sahih Muslim baab-ul-fayy]

Ibn Taymiyyah
 writes:
Hadrat Ibn Mas’ud, and Hadrat Uthmaan (Radiall hu anhu) used to verbally abuse each other. Hadrat Ammar bin Yaasir said to Hadrat Uthmaan that Uthmaan, had become a kaafir. Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu) once asked Ammar, “Do you not deny the God who Uthmaan worshipped?” Once, Husaid bin Huzair said to Sa’d bin Ubaidah, “You have become a munaafiq and you support the munaafiqeen!” In this way other Sahaba used to do this to each other but we know that when one pious person accuses another pious person it has no effect on his status.

[Minhaaj-as-Sunnah, chapter, ikhtilaaf-us-sahaba, by Hafidh Ibn Taymiyyah]

Sayyed Mawdoodi writes:
The scholars of Hadith criticized each other throughout history, but they were human and so have made mistakes. The reason for this was because sometimes a scholar may not like another scholar for apersonal reason. This is why we see in history that scholars have criticized each other in strange ways. An example is of Ibn Abdul Barr, who wrote in his book Jaami’al-bayaan, Imam Hummad had once said that the scholars of Hijaaz have no knowledge. He also said that our children know more than them. He also said that Imams Ataa ibn Rubaah, Tawoos, and Mujaahid had no knowledge. Imam Zuhri said, whilst commenting on the scholars of Makkah, he had never seen anyone break the walls(i.e the rules) of Islam more than the scholars of Makkah. Even though great Sahaba and Taabe’een were resident in Makkah.

We know that Shaabee and Ibraheem Nakhee were great scholars but they used to attack each other. Shaabee said “Look at at Ibraheem Nakh’ ee! He asks me masaa’il by night and preaches to the people in the morning as though it is his own research!” Ibraheem Nakhee said: “Look at Shaabee! He is a liar, and narrates Hadith from Masrook, but he has never met him!” Imam Dahaaq once boasted that he know more than the companions. Imam Sayyid bin Jubair once said that Shaabee was a liar. He also said about Imam Ikramah that he is the student of Abdullah bin Abbas and he attributes false Ahadith to ibn Abbaas.

Imam Malik said about Muhammad bin Is-haaq that he is was one of the dajjaal. Imam Malik also said about the scholars of Iraqthat they have become like the people of the book, so don’t say that they are speaking the truth or that they are lying.

Imam Abdullah bin Mubarak once said, “I don’t consider Imam Malik to be a scholar” Imam Abu Hanefah said aboutImam ‘Amash that he has never kept the fast of Ramadhan nor taken the bath of major impurity. Imam Yahya bin Mu’een has criticised the high-ranking scholars of Hadith. He has even said that Imam Shafi’ is weak in Hadith. This is the situation of the scholars of Hadith but the strangest thing is that human weaknesses even overcame the Sahabah. For this reason the Sahabah used to critisize each other. An example is Abdullah bin Umar, who when was told that the Witr Salaah was not compulsory by Abu Hurairah, said that Abu Hurairah was a liar.

Hadrat A’isha (Radiall hu anha) once said the Anas bin Malik and Abu Sa’eed Khudree do not know anything
About Hadith as they were children at the time of the Prophet [May Allah bless him and grant Him peace]. Once Hasan bin Ali (Radiall hu anhu) interpreted a verse of the Qur’an and someone said that ibn Umar and Abdullah bin Zubair have given another interpretation. Hasan then said that they are both liars.

Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu) once said that Mugheerah bin Shubah is a liar.
Ubaidah bin Thabit said that Mas’ood bin Aws Ansaari is aliar, even though he fought in the battle of Badr.

If one wants to investigate this matter further one can read the history of jarh-ut-ta’deel.

These books have critisised other scholars. The reason for this is that they were human and had human weaknesses and so sometimes they would call a weak scholar a good scholar, and vice versa. It is necessary to refer to these books carefully before making any presumptions about a particular scholar.
[Tafheemaat, chapter, maslak-e-it’daal, by Sayyed mawdoodi]


It is proved, from the above, that if a scholar claims something about another scholar then we cannot say that his claim is always correct. The only thing that we can conclude is that the claim is only the scholar’s personal view. If we say that the claim is always correct then we would have to accept every scholar’s word, which is impossible.


An example is that of Hadrat Abbas (Radiall hu anhu) claiming that the Ali (Radiall hu anhu) was a liarsinner, and betrayer.

We cannot accept that Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu) was actually that which Abbas (Radiall hu anhu) said. This is because we know about the greatness of Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu) who was neither a liar nor betrayer. He was one of the ten who was given glad tidings of Jannah (Paradise) in their lifetime and the fourth Khaleefah of Islam.

We know also that Imam Malik was a great scholar so no-one can accept Abdullah bin Mubaarik’s claim that Imam Maaikwas not a scholar.

We also do not accept Imam Yahya bin Mu’een’s claim thatImam Shaafe’ee was weak in Hadith.

 In the same way, no-one can accept the claims made against Imam Abu Hanefah by following what some scholars say about him.

In short, we have to see what the majority of scholars have said about a particular scholar and then accept or reject their opinions.

Now
 let us look into the second person who is often used to justifyattacks against Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

2) Khatib al Baghdadi:

His correct name was Abu bakr Ahmed Bin Ali Al Khatib Al Baghdadi and he passed away 463 Hijra.

Khatib Baghdadi was a great scholar of Hadith wrote many books on Usul-al-Hadith (principles of Hadith) but his most popular book is Tareekh Baghdad, (written in 14 volumes). The copy that I am using was issued in Al Maktaba Salfia Al Madina Al Manawara. If we look at volume 13 under the life history of Nauman Bin Sabit(name of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh) there are two chapters on Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh.

In the first chapter he writes how the other scholars have praisedImam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh and in the second chapter he talks about what the enemies of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh said about him.

 Khatib Baghdadi said that I personally recognized the greatness of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh and his knowledge. It is my right that where I have mentioned his excellence I can also bring forward the opinions of the people who were against him. The enemies of Imam Abu Hanifahh do not mention those narrations, which are in praise of Imam Abu Hanifahh. They only mention Khateeb’s narration, which are against him- and imply that al Khateeb too was against the Imam.

Before we go further, at this point it can be concluded that whatever has been said against Imam Abu HanifahRahmatullah alayh cannot be accepted as the truth:

Our Shaykh Shah Abu Al Hassan Zaid Farooqi Naqsh Bandisaid: “In 1931 I was in Egypt. In that period an article was published in the popular newspaper Al Ahraam that Khateeb’s Tareek has been published and will be available soon. In his Tareekh there is one chapter against Imam Abu Hanifah.

Al Azhar decided that it was upon themselves to respond to this chapter written by Khatib Baghdadi.

This response was then printed in the footnote of the book Tareekh Baghdad. Upon reading the above book and its footnote it is clearly understood that the said chapter is totally untrue.

Furthermore it is noted that whosoever reported Khateeb’s accusations against Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayy. We see that in the same book he also says that these narrators are not trustworthy. Moreover Muhadis Al Asar Alama Zahidul Al Kausri (Rahmatullah Alai) wrote a book called Taneeb Al Khatib in which he clarifies that truly these accusations are false and notes that all the evidences used were from the same book Tareekh Baghdad.

Now let us see what Khateeb says about Imam Abu HanifahRahmatullah alayh in Tareekh Baghdad under the biography of Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh. (a number of examples are taken)

1. Khateeb says Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh was from the Murj’iee
2. He says that Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh confirmed that Riba (interest) is halal (Permissible)
3. In Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh Halqas (meetings) there was no salutation
(Salaah/blessings) bestowed on the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace].
4. Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayhs and his students were like Christians. (As’tagfirullah) (Changing Qur’an and Sunnah like the Christians).
5. Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayhs followers said that his knowledge was greater than that of the Prophets [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace]. (‘Astagfirullah’)
6. Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh used to say that had the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] been present at his time he would have taken his opinion (that is He would have learnt many things) from me. (‘Astagfirullah’)
7. When a Hadith would be presented he would reject and say scrap this with the pig’s tale.

[Tareekh Baghdad by Khateeb Al-Baghdadi under Nu’maan Bin Thabit]

We do not need to go any further as you will have already realised that this is not acceptable by any Muslim. From the above accusations let us clarify one thing that the other accusations are very similar.

Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh said that if Usman Bathi Al Basri was present in my time he would have taken many of my opinions but the above narrator Khateeb al-baghdadi removed Usmans name and replaced it by the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace].
[Footnote, Tareekh Baghdad chapter Abu Hanifahh]

Khateeb took this information from Yusaf Bin Sabat, Abi Nassar, Azdi, and Al Wass Wassy, In the same book, Khateeb also wrote about these narrators, that:

One of them was who used to make fabricated Hadiths. One of them was weak in the Hadith, the other was a person who did not even believe in Hadiths. One of them was Qadari (Sect), one of them used to make up fabricated stories.

To prove that Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh was a Kaffir.From the writings of Khateeb, we are led to believe that Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh was an atheist, Jew, innovator, etc., etc., we seek shelter in Allah, from this!!!

Now we shall review the accusations that were made against Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh who said that he was a Murji’i.

Who were the Murji’ee? And who called Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh one?

Allama Shahar Sattaani, wrote in his famous book Al Milal, that:
In the early days the Shi’ahs began to propogate storiesagainst Abu Bakr and Umar Radi Allaho unhooma. During a period where there were differences amongst the Companions, the Shi’ahs also made strange stories concerning their differences. It was also the time when the Khawarij declared the majority of Muslims, as Kafir they believed that whoever committed a major sin was a Kafir. At this time,the sahiah sect became famous. They said that differences that the companions of the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] had should go without anything said about them, we should remain silent, and the matter will be dealt with Allah Sub Hana hu Wataala. They also believed that those Muslims who commit a great sin (Kabiraa) are not kafirs. Some of the Murji’ebelieved that Imaan (Faith) is embedded in the heart, so that, if someone utters blasphemous remarks, or worships statues, or has a belief like a Jew or Christian, or worships whatever he likes, he still is beloved to Allah and a perfect Muslim. They thus believed that if a Kafir was to perform a good act then he/she would receive no benefit from it, similarly, if a Muslim was to indulge himself in blasphemous he/she remarks, or commits any major sin, it would have no effect on his/her Imaan. In this way, they left all good actions out and they openly indulged themselves in bad actions.

*Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh also said that those who commit a major sin were not Kafirs. The enemies ofImam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh picked upon this point to argue that he was Murji’e


Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh openly conducted good acts and never said not to do good actions. He also never encouraged people that worship what you like. The Mutazillah calledeveryone who did not agree with them concerning their belief asMurji’e. The Khawarij, on the other hand, argued that the one who claimed that to perform a major sin is not to be a Kafir. In this way, the Khawarij and Mutazillah gave Imam Abu HanifahRahmatullah alayh the title of Murji’ee. These two sects not only called Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh a Murji’e, but many other great scholars of Islam, such as: Hassan Bin Muhammad, Sa’eed Ibn Jubair, Talaq Bin Habib, Umar Bin Murar, Mahaarib Bin Wassaar, Maqaatil Bin Sulimaan, Hamaad Bin Abi Sulaimaan, called a number of the scholars as Murji’e.

[Al Milal, By Allama Shahar Sitaani, Madhab Al Islammiya and Hiyaat Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh, By Allama Abu Zuhraar Misri]

If Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh was a Murji’ee, it would have become apparent in all the Hanafi books that it is permissible to worship the cross, idols or you can be a Christian, Jew etc.

Why is it then that in the Hanafi books it is clearly stated that to worship idols, the cross etc., is Kufr? (See the books of Hanafi Fiqh)

Why is it also, that there is a special book, which explains what punishments are expected for those who perform bad acts? If you take any book concerning Hanafi Fiqh, you will see two chapters dedicated to explaining what things can make you a Kafir. The other chapters will deal with the punishments' that those people will receive who indulge themselves. In acts of adultery, stealing and other evil acts. This is a clear proof that those who claim that Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh is a Murji’ee, is repeating those accusations made by the Khawarij and the Mutazalah are wrong.

There is another accusation made by people that Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh knew only seventeen Hadith.

 Let’s examine what little truth this bears but before we go further let’s see the sources from which Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh extracted his information.

Iban Al Qayyim states:
Allah Soob ha Na hu Wat'aala sent the Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] to teach Islam. During that early period those that learnt became known as companions which were over hundreds of thousands, out of which one hundred and thirty (130) gave more Fatwas than the rest. There were seven amongst the companions that gave the highest number of Fatwas. Those seven were Umar Bin Khatab, Ali Bin Abu Talib, Abdullah Bin Masaud, Umul Momineen Aisha, Zaid Bin Sabet, Abdullah Bin Abbass, Abdullah Bin Umar Radi allahounhoom. Umar sent Abdullah Bin Masaud to reside at Koofa. This was because Abdullah Bin Masaud had great knowledge. Prophet [May Allah bless Him and grant Him peace] said in a statement that he was great scholar.

Once two groups of people came from Syria and Koofa to visit Umar. Umar gave gifts to both groups and the group from Koofa asked Umar “why is it that we have received less than the Syrians.” Umar replied: 'Did I not give you Abdullah Bin Masaud which is the greatest of all gifts'. Abdullah Bin Masaud often said that I know about every Surah in the

Qur’an and further who and what it was revealed for, if I know a person that knows more than me I must go to him and learn from him. Ibn Umar used to say Ibne Masaud is filled with knowledge. Imam Ibn Jareer says that there is no other companion whose students wrote all his Fatwas and his Fiqh, except Abdullah ibn Masuood. After a short while hundreds of other companions also went to Koofa to reside there. Later when Ali became Khaleefah he also moved to Koofa that is how Koofa became the capital of the Islamic State. This then influenced further companions to move to Koofa. Koofa became one of the center points of knowledge of the Companiuns. At that time the most popular school was of Ali and Abdullah Bin Masaud.

Later on some people started to attribute fabricated narrations linked to Ali. Which is why the only acceptable narrations of Ali are those which are through his generation and through students of Abdullah Bin Masuad. Ali and Abdullah Bin Masaud had many popular students like Umar Bin Sharjeel, Masrooq, Al Qamma, and others. And then Abraham and Hammad Bin Suleiman became their students and Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh became their student.

[Aalam Al Muwaqqaiy-een Chapter Qiyyas by Hafidhh Ibn Al Qayyim]

Imam Ibn Sa'ad says:
One large group of Companions started to reside in Kufa, There were more than five hundred companions residing in Kufa. That is why Umar Radi allaho unho said that Kufa is the center of the treasure. (Faith) Kufa was the center at that time of knowledge.
[Tabaqat Ibn Sa'ad volume 6 chapter Kufa]

In the very same Kufa Imam Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah was born. In the same place, he acquired his knowledge, he saw and learnt from the Companions and learnt from the Tabe'een. To learn more knowledge he often travelled to Makkah, Madina, Syria, Yemen and Basra. How can it be said that he only knew seventeen Ahadith? It is like saying to a Hafidhh of the Qur’an that he knows Surah Fatiha only!

Ibn Taymiyyah writes that:
Amongst the Scholars there were those who are Scholars of Ahadith, and some that were Scholars of Fiqh. The Scholars who are knowledgeable of both Ahadith/Fiqh are Imam Sahfi’, Imam Ahmed, Imam Ishaq, Imam Abu-Yusuf, Imam Abu Hanifah.They also had a very high status which was suitible for all of them Rahmatullahe ajmaeen.
[Kitab Al Istegatha page 13 by Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyya]

When Ibn Taymiyya writes and accepts that Imam Abu Hanifah was a scholar in Ahadith, and fiqh, then how can his followers discredit Imam Abu Hanifah, and say that he only knew seventeen Ahadith? 


Let us Not forget what his (Ibn Taymiyya's )followers 
Today say regarding
Imam Abu Hanifah(RA)

Here

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Wahhabi/Salafi said: Abu Hanifa "JAHMIYA KI MAWT MARAAY THAY" ... AstaghfirUllah,
In English it would mean: Imam Abu Hanifa died the "DEATH OF JAHMIYYAH" 
Jahmiyyah was a kafir/misguided sect....)
Quote: Wahhabi says: “Imam Abu Hanifa (rah) as "Gumrah" "KAFIR" and "DAJJAL"
Wahhabi said in Urdu"Chawal na mar Imam abu hanifa ko ab muslman sabit kar" 
English Translation: ^ Don't say rubbish and now prove Imam Abu Hanifa as a Muslim”
Wahhabi said:  "IMAM ABU HANIFA (RAH) WAS GUMRAH" 
Audhobillah min Dhalik !!
Read more - Proof /scan: Here

Ibn Khaldun has touched upon the accusation that Imam Abu Hanifah knew only seventeen hadith.

He has written about it in his book At-Muqadmah. He writes that this accusation is completely false as, Imam Abu Hanifah’s student Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad narrated a great number of Hadith from Imam Abu Hanifah. Which they have written in their books, and they have written two books where they have accumulated all the Ahadith that they narrate from Imam Abu Hanifah; (the name of the books are Kitabul Al Athar by Imam Abu Yusuf, and Kitabul Al Athar by Imam Muhammad.)

More-over all the narrations of Hadith are accumulated in one book, which is called Jamie Al-Masaneed by Imam Abu Hanifah the famous scholar of Hadith/Fiqh.

Imam Abu Hanifah is one of the first people who have dictated books on Hadith/Fiqh. The Hadiths which Imam Abu Hanifah has narrated, he heard them directly from the Companions or the Tabeen (Student of the Companions) He was the first Imam in Hadith/Fiqh,

Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Nasai, Imam Tirmizi, Ibn Majah, etc, etc, they all came a very long time after him, So that is why his status should be the highest of all of them.

 From the famous scholars of Hadith/Fiqh he is the only one who is aTa’bee (Who have seen the Companions) This Privilege was awarded to Imam Abu Hanifah and not to Imam Malik Imam Sahfi’, Imam Ahmed, Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawood, Imam Tirmizi, etc, etc, He was unique in this privilege...
(Edited by ADHM)


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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."
--
Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Rizq reported to us: He said:Muhammad ibn ‘Umar al-Ji‘abi narrated to us: Abu Bakr Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn Sulayman al-Qattan narrated to me: He said: Ihsaq ibn al-Buhlul narrated to us: He said: I heard Ibn ‘Uyaynah say: 
My eyes have not seen the like of Abu Hanifah.”
[Tarikh Baghdad 15:460] Imam Sufyan bin Uyaynah (d.198AH)
More info Here
--
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Imam Abu Hanifa (ra)
Somebody said: “In such and such a mosque there is a circle that discusses Fiqh (Jurisprudence)”
Imam Abu Hanifa: asked, “Do they have a Master over them?”
They said: “No”
Imam Abu Hanifa said:  They will Never Understand!”
[Ibn Muflih, al-Adab al-Shariyyah wa al-Minah al-Mariyya, Cairo, Maktaba Ibn Taymiyyah, 1978, 3.374]
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TUESDAY, 13 MARCH 2012

Imam Abu Hanifa & Imam Malik - THE ENCOUNTER




THE ENCOUNTER

Imam Abu Hanifa Imam Malik


Before Malik and Abu-Hanifa’s encounter, Imam Malik used to say,

 Beware of the people of opinion.”

Abu-Hanifa’s school was called the “school of opinion.” Before their meeting, there was a lot of talk and exchange of letters but they only met during the rituals of the Hajj.

When they finally met, they chose to address three issues which were viewed differently by each party. The first jurisprudential issue was about how to address hypothetical questions; things that had not taken place yet.

In Imam Malik’s juristic school of thought, we should not imagine situations and ask about things that have not happened, as this distracts people from already existing issues and lead to controversy.

Imam Malik brought his evidence from various ayahs and ahadith. He stated the ayah where Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “They ask you concerning the new moons (Literally: crescents).” (TMQ, 2:189). Such questions are meaningless. Allah (SWT) replies in the ayah, that can be translated as, “Say, “They are fixed times for mankind, and (for) the Pilgrimage.” (TMQ, 2:189)

His other evidence was that 
Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) cursed the one who asked about situations that have not happened and used to say, “Do not engage us with things that have not happened, keep people busy with the truth instead.”

People used to come to Imam Malik and ask him hypothetical questions and he used to get 
angry and tell them not to ask about things that have not happened yet. Those people were usually fromIraq where Imam Abu-Hanifa was, who supported this kind of questions.

As for 
Imam Abu-Hanifa, his approach was based on inventing situations that have not happened. He invented 60, 000 such situations.

In their meeting Imam Malik
 disapproved Imam Abu Hanifa’s view.

Abu-Hanifa replied that the circumstances in Iraq are different from MadinahIraq is the capital of the Caliphate and everyday there are new things being introduced and they should be prepared, while in Madinah problems are fixed and limited. 

Then, he gave an example when he discussed with his students 
a situation of a woman whose husband traveled and was absent for so long that she thought he was dead and hence she married another man.

Suddenly, the man returnedWhat should be done then?

Imam Malik wondered why they would ask about things that have not happened, but Abu-Hanifa said that in Iraq, where soldiers went on conquests, this might occur and they should be ready for such situation. Imam Malik was silent.

Imam Abu-Hanifa reminded him of what the 
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلمsaid when a man came to him saying, “Imagine if a man comes to take my money, what shall I do?” The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told him not to give it to him. The man asked again, “Imagine if he fights me?” The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) urged him to fight him too. The man asked, “Imagine if he killed me? The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that he would be a martyr. The man asked once more “Imagine if I killed him?” The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that the man killed would go to the hellfire.
Abu-Hanifa said that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلمwas asked by about a hypothetical situation four times.

When Malik said that this was for a purpose, Abu-Hanifa replied,“In Iraq we do it for a purpose too.
Then, Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad said, “Glory to Allah. By Allah, you are enriching Islam.”

Imam Malik kept people away from indulging in trivial issuesand Imam Abu-Hanifa was questioning the future to protect people.

That was what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did.

He forbade asking about things that are hypothetical and replied to an important situation that could happen in the future.

Both Imams reached a conclusion of holding on to what they were doing, but to then integrate both approaches for the benefit of Islam.

The four principles previously mentioned certainly to this debate.

Their difference of opinion is a natural phenomenon because the minds and environment of Iraq are unlike those of Madinah.

Their difference of opinion resulted in an environment that enriched Islam. The calm and honest dialogue helped in presenting the various opinions and truths from all aspects. Meanwhile, the manner of conversation between both men was civilized, polite and outstanding.

The issues they discussed were not petty. Nowadays some people leave the obligatory issues related to the unity of the Muslims and dispute over trivial matters. Both Imams differed on core issues, but there was love and understanding between them.

The second issue which the Imams disagreed on was that of the consensuses.

In Islam, in order to reach a solution for any question is look it up in the Qur’an. If you did not find it, to look it up in ahadith, if not; then apply the rule of the consensus of the scholars. 

Imam Malik believed that the consensus should be that agreed by the people of Madinah
 only because the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) lived and died there and so did his nine wives who saw all his actions and witnessed all his deeds. They are about 10,000 companions. 

A man came to Imam Malik and asked him about disputed matters.

The Imam said, “Search for the opinion of the people of Madinah. When you find it, be sure that it is the truth.” He said to another one, “You can find knowledge in Madinah, as Qur’an was not revealed in Euphrates (meaning Iraq and Abu Hanifa’s school).”
Imam Abu Hanifa was 13 years older than Imam Malik, yet he respected him.

He replied, “Malik, the conquests during the reign of Omar Ibnul-Khattab distributed the Companions (RA) all over the world. You say that in Madinah there are 10,000 companions. In the last battle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) there were about 120,000 companions, so where are the rest?
You cannot deny that Omar Ibnul-Khattab sent the companions particularly to teach people in different countries.”

He started to numerate some companions such as

Mo’az Ibn-Jabal whom the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) described to be the most knowledgeable and sent him to YemenAlso, he mentioned Abdullah Ibn-Mas’od whose way of reciting Qur’an was recommended by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) for the people. He added the names of Abu-Dthar, Zobair Ibnul-A’wam, and Sa’ad Ibn-Abu-Waqqas in Egypt, Hudthayfa Ibnul-Yaman, Abdullah Ibn-Mas’od, and Ali Ibn-Abu-Talib in Iraq, Abu-Ubayda Ibnul-Jaraah, Bilal and Abul-Dardaa’ in Syria, etc.

Then, he narrated the hadith of the 
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) where he said that his companions are like the stars any of which can guide people. Imam Abu-Hanifa went on to say that the brilliance ofOmar Ibnul-Khattab is what led him to send the companions all over world and kept some in Madinah to keep a balance.

Thus, Imam Abu-Hanifa showed Imam Malik that the distribution of the companions was for the sake of the integration of the ummah.

Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad said, “By Allah, this also, is an integration of the ummah.”

When you look from another angle you can see another aspect of the truth. This is the virtue of difference; to help you see the truth from all its aspects. If all people think alike, they will see only one side of the truth, but Allah (SWT) whose name is the Truth wants you to see all the sides.

The third issue tackled in the meeting was about the school of opinion and hadith.

Imam Abu-Hanifa expands the explanation of the ahadith to the extent that he concluded 100 lessons from one hadith.

Imam Malik saw that it as an exaggeration and overloading the hadith which the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not want.

Imam Abu-Hanifa replied that in Iraq, 
Greek, Roman andPersian philosophies and sciences are invading them, so he needs to keep people fixed on the path of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم).

That is why he was searching in ahadith to counter the new ideas. On the other hand in Madinah, there are none but the companions and their followers, so there is no need for expansion in elaborating ahadith.

Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad said, “This too is integration

Both Imams complement one another in keeping Islam.

After the two Imams left the meeting,

Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad, an Egyptian Imam whose juristic school of thought was just as superior as the other four Imams but had no students to spread it, was keen on knowing the impression of both sides.

He went to Imam Malik and asked him.

Imam Malik wiped his sweat and said, “By Allah, Abu-Hanifa made me sweat. By Allah, he is a true jurist. I’ve never seen a man debating like that. By Allah, if he told you that this iron rod is made out of gold, he would convince you.”

Al-Layth went to 
Imam Abu-Hanifa who said, “I debated hundreds of men, but have never seen a man accept the truth as fast as him.”

What happened after that?

First, Imam Abu-Hanifa sent his son Hammaad to Madinah to learn the jurisprudential approach of Malik and his book ‘Al-Mu’ata’.

Then, Imam Malik asked for the books of Abu-Hanifa to benefit from them. 

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ibnul-Hassan, a student of 
Abu-Hanifa’s, held a session in Iraq to present the approach of Malik. 

Once, Imam Abu-Hanifa sent to Imam Malik consulting him on an issue before announcing his opinion to the 
public.

Abu-Hanifa did not agree about naming a sinful person adisbeliever.
Imam Malik agreed, so Abu Hanifa announced it.

This did not arise from one meeting only, but there were numerous correspondences which contributed more to their integration.

The Abbassid Caliph Al-Mansour once came to Imam Malikoffering him to cancel all other jurisprudential approaches, making Malik’s approach prevail, and also writing his book in 
gold and keeping it inside the Ka’ba.

Imam Malik
 who once
 rejected all other approaches and asserted on the opinion of the people of Madinah told him not to do so because the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) are spread all over the world. Those were Abu-Hanifa’s words from their encounter. 

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Ahmad ibn al-Khalil said that he heard Ishaq ibn Ibrahim {Ibn Rahawayh} say,

“When Imam Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan ath-Thawri and al-Awza’i agree on a matter, it is Sunnah, even if there is no text on it.” [Tadhkirah al-Huffaz, adh-Dhahabi]

" Out of Imam Malik’s nine hundred teachers, three hundred were from the Tabi'in and six hundred from the followers of the Tabi'in. {In my = an-Nawawi's opinion} the Imam’s greatest teacher was Nafi. [Tahdhebul' Asma]

`Abdur-Rahman ibn Mahdi said: " There is none more trustworthy in Hadith Nabawi on the face of this earth than Imam Malik. "

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: " I was asked whose Hadith should be memorized by heart if from anyone? I replied Malik ibn Anas.

Imam Bukhari said: " I was asked what is the most authentic chain of narrators. I replied from Malik from Nafi`from Ibn `Umar {Allah be pleased with him}.

Imam an-Nasa'i said: " After the Tabi`in the most understanding, reliable, trustworthy, man in Hadith is Imam Malik. " {May Allah be pleased with them all}.