19)
Criticism levelled against Imam Abu Hanifah
Imam Abu Hanifa was a very great Imam. He met many of the Sahaba
(may Allah be pleased with them) and out of the four Imams he has
the most followers. Thus his status is very high. Imam Zuhra Misri
and Shaykh Makki said in their books that Imam Abu Hanifa debated
with many misled sects (especially the Khawarij and Mu'tazlites)
and defeated them. Those sects then became his enemies and started
placing false accusations against him. Some later scholars unfortunately
recorded these false accusations in their books. However, many have
presented these false claims to me, blindly believing their validity
and it is my fervent desire in this chapter to clarify all such
allegations.
What Historians Have Recoreded Regarding Imam Abu Hanifa
Hafiz adh-Dhahabi and Ibn Kathir write:
"Imam Abu Hanifa was born in 80A.H, living in the time when
there were still some Sahaba living.He saw the famous Companion,
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) and six other Companions
too.He learnt ahadith from a group of Tabi'un, and spent much of
his time in worship.
" 'Abdullah ibn Mubarak said:'He was the greatest of all those
who was well versed in Islamic laws.' Imam ash-Shafi'i said:'All
those who study Fiqh[Islamic law] are children of Imam Abu Hanifa.'
Imam Yahya ibn Mu'in said:'There are no accusations on Imam Abu
Hanifa, and he is clean from all lies.'
Whoever wants to learn Fiqh, he is dependent upon Imam Abu Hanifa.
The people should pray for Imam Abu Hanifa 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. Imam Abu Hanifa read the Qur'an 70, 000 times
at the place where he died.He died on the 15 Rajab, 150 A.H.At his
funeral there were so many people that the salat of Janazahad to
be read six times.May Allah grant him peace and blessings
[adh-Dhahabi, Tadhkira al-Huffaz; Ibn Kathir,
Ta'rikh Ibn Kathir, al-'Asqalani, Tahzib at-Tahzib, Biography of
Imam Abu Hanifa]
Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya writes:
"There is no doubt regarding Imam Abu Hanifa's knowledge.
People later attributed many lies to Imam Abu Hanifa, which were
all untrue. The aim of such writings was to taint Imam Abu Hanifa"
[Ibn Taymiyya, Minhaj as-Sunna An-Nabawiyya,
vol.1, page 259]
Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim says:
"Imam Abu Hanifa would not do qiyas, even if he found a weak
hadith.There are two types of qiyas:
1) Which is against the Qur'an and the Sunna - this is not permissible
2) One that is in the light of Qur'an or Sunna - this is permissible
as our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) also gave
permisiion to Mu'adh ibn Jabal to do qiyas"
[Alam al-Muwaqqieen, chapter on 'Qiyas']
Why is it then today, after such great scholars like Hafiz adh-Dhahabi
and Hafiz Ibn Kathir who have corrected such erroneous lies against
Imam Abu Hanifa, that people still propagate such vile accusations?
A review of Islamic history reveals that when Allah Most High bestows
any extraordinary scholar with His blessings, you can be sure that
they would not have respite from distortions, slander and lies that
are leveled against them. Imam Abu Hanifa was one of those great
scholars of Islam against which such attempts were made.It is apparent
from the history books that Imam Abu Hanifa (like the three other
orthodox Sunni mujtahid Imams: Imam Malik, Imam ash-Shafi'i, and
Imam Ahmed) had many enemies.
Why did they have enemies, one may ask?Many of those who argued
against and attacked them were from misled sects, such as the Khawarij.There
were also those from amongst the court of the khalif who, for one
reason or another, had opened their hearts to jealousy, but as such,
had the support of the court and their stances were often enough
not questioned.
With such ferocity, and by the number of accusations leveled against
Imam Abu Hanifa, it is unfortunate to say that some of these accusations
did have an effect on a few simple minded Muslims.It should be said
that they cannot be entirely at fault, since even with the case
of 'A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her) we recall that even some
of the Companions were convinced of these false accusations. However,
this incident was no small matter.It resulted in Allah Most High
sending revelation as a warning to those Companions who believed
the accusation. Allah Most High questioned them that upon hearing
the accusations, why did they not reject such slander?
To some extent, we can also say that similarly to the erroneous
accusations that were leveled against 'A'isha, Imam Abu Hanifa also
faced such accusations that have been mentioned by various pious
people of later generations in their books.
We should thus learn from the incident involving 'A'isha (may Allah
be pleased with her) that we should not accept accusations from
the enemies of Imam Abu Hanifa, such as the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilites.
Whenever people utter words of malice and indulge themselves in
accusations against Imam Abu Hanifa they never mention that the
majority of them are found to stem from two particular misled sects
- namely, the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilites. Rather, people end
up mentioning two particular people: they are Imam al-Bukhari
and Khatib al-Baghdadi.
1) Imam al-Bukhari has stated:
"Imam Abu Hanifa was a Murji'i"
[Al-Ta'rikh al-Kabir, under the 'Biography
of Numan ibn Thabit']
Imam al-Bukhari also writes:
"When Sufyan ath-Thawri [a great scholar of Islam] heard news
about the death of Imam Abu Hanifa, he said: 'Praise beto Allah
that such a man had died as he was gradually destroying Islam. There
could not be a worse person born in Islam' "
[Ta'rikh Saghir, Biography of Imam Abu
Hanifa]
Imam al-Bukhari also writes:
"On two occasions Imam Abu Hanifa was ordered to repent from
making blasphemous statements"
[al-Bukhari, Kitab ad-Daufa Walmat Rukin;
Ibn 'Abdi'l-Barr, Al-Intiqa]
Imam al-Bukhari informs us that he had taken these statements from
his tutor Na'im ibn Hamad [Ta'rikh as-Saghir]
Imam al-Bukhari was so convinced by his tutor, that he never mentioned
or used Imam Abu Hanifa as a reference for his book Sahih al-Bukhari,
although whenever he did mention Imam Abu Hanifa 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 Hanifa - the accusation that
he belonged to a deviant sect called the Murji'ites.To answer this,
we first need to see what character Imam Abu Hanifa possessed. It
is important in responding to this accusation to find out who gave
Imam al-Bukhari information regarding Imam Abu Hanifa. Insha'llah,
we will demonstrate that he was not a Murji'i and pinpoint from
where this false accusation came from.
I have mentioned that Na'im ibn Hammad conveyed this information
to Imam al-Bukhari but before proceeding any further, let us take
note of what Hafiz adh-Dhahabi, Hafiz al-'Asqalani and Katib al-Baghdadi
have written in connection to Na'im ibn Hammad:
" Na'im ibn 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
the Jahmites, 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 they 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 Na'im ibn Hammad
he did not give an explanation. He was then sent to prison along
side Yaqub Faqia. He died in 228 AH. It was noted that
no janaza [funeral prayer] was prayed over him and he was buried
without a kaffan [shroud]"
[al-Baghdadi, Tadhkirat al-Huffaz; adh-Dhahabi,
Tahzib al-Tahzib; al-'Asqalani and al-Baghdadi, Biography
of Na'im ibn 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 Hafiz adh-Dhahabi and Hafiz al-'Asqalani have written, since
they compiled together all the works by previous scholars who had
written concerning Na'im ibn Hammad. What follows are their accounts:
Imam Abu Dawud said:
"Na'im ibn Hammad had attributed twenty ahadith 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 Hurayra reported that:
"The Prophet of Islam (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)
had said:'A time will come, when if you adhere 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 (narrated
by a weak reporter that goes against another authentic hadith).
2) Abu Hurayra narrates:
"The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had
said: 'A time will come when my Umma will be split into more than
70 sects.The worst will be those who indulge in qiyas [analogical
deduction] in matters of uncertainty'."
Abu Zur'a said: "I asked Imam Yayha ibn Mu'in, 'Where did
Na'im ibn Hammad get this hadith?'He answered that it has no origins
and that this is not a hadith but has been invented."Whatever
Na'im ibn Hammad had said about Imam Abu Hanifa were all lies and
had no substance.Abu Zur'a said that whenever Nu'aym ibn 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."
Daraqutni said that whenever Nu'aym used to mention a fabricated
hadith, he would do so to support the Sunna. He had a lot of munkar
narrations, which other Imams did not have [adh-Dhahabi, Mizan
al-I'tidal and Tahzib al-Tahzib; al-'Asqalani, Biography
of Nu'aym ibn Hammad]
Imam al-Bukhari took his narrations from Nu'aym ibn Hammad for
his book, Sahih al-Bukhari andTa'rikh.Since Nu'aym ibn
Hammad received criticism from amongst the Muhaddithin likewise,
Imam al-Bukhari also received criticism for his book of Hadith from
the scholars of Hadith.
This overview concerning the character of Nu'aym ibn 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 al-Bukhari about Imam Abu Hanifa by
noting what the scholars of Hadith had to say concerning him.
From this we can demonstrate that Imam al-Bukhari's Ta'rikh
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 gave
Imam Bukhari information regarding Imam Abu Hanifa (i.e. Nu'aym
ibn Hammad) was unreliable.The Muhaddithin 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 Hanifa. As we are told not to believe in his narrations,
similarly, we should not accept those statements regarding Imam
Abu Hanifa, since they are all lies, according to Hafiz adh-Dhahabi
and Hafiz al-'Asqalni.
Anyone who has read the the history of Islamic scholarship accepts
and understands that criticisms were not only made against Imam
Abu Hanifa but were also made against many of the Muhaddithin.The
simple principle is that when accusations are made against any of
the great scholars of Islam, who have the respect from the majority
of the Umma, those accusations are rejected.We shall provide you
with some examples:
Accusation Made Against Imam al-Bukhari
Hafiz Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani stated:
"Imam al-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 al-Bukhari, as to whether the Qur'an is makhluq or
not?He replied, '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 al-Bukhari. Imam Muhammad ibn Yahya
(who was the teacher of both Imam Muslim and Imam al-Bukhari) was
also against Imam al-Bukhari on this issue.He then wrote many letters
to various scholars informing them about Imam Bukhari's belief of
the Qur'an.The result of this was that wherever Imam al-Bukhari
travelled the people would always harass him.Imam al-Bukhari prayed
to Allah that He would take his soul into the next life.As a result
from the fear of the scholars, Imam al-Bukhari never clarified his
stance to the scholars of Khurasan as to whether the Qur'an was
makhluq or not"
[al-'Asqalani, Tahzib al-Tahzib]
From this incident, you can see that Imam al-Bukhari implied onething,
but what people understood it to be was something else. It went
so far that Imam al-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 Hafiz al-'Asqalani and Hafiz Ibn Kathir
have mentioned this in their books. The same happened to Imam Abu
Hanifa: he used to say one thing and the Khawarij and Mutazilites
interpreted it as a completely different thing.
Another accusation is reported by Hafiz al-'Asqalani, who writes:
"Imam al-Bukhari also had another teacher whose name was Ibn
al-Madini.Imam al-Bukhari used to attend his classes [Kitab al-Ilal]
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 al-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 al-Bukhari received
the book he took it to be copied hastily. By the time Ibn al-Madini
had returned, Imam al-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
al-Bukhari had already produced the correct answer [which was from
his book]. Ibn al- Madini then realized that Imam al-Bukhari had
seen the contents of his book.The shock of this behavior from Imam
al-Bukhari sent Ibn al-Madini into a state of illness, from which
he later died."
After writing this account Hafiz Ibn Al al-'Asqalani said that
he did not believe it and then he gave the reason.He said that this
was against the status of Imam al-Bukhari
[al-'Asqalani, Tahzib al-Tahzib, under "Life
History of Imam al-Bukhari"]
Imam Muslim writes:
"Hazrat 'Abbas and Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with
them) had a dispute between each other, so thay went to the Khalifa
of the time, Hazrat 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) to settle
their dispute. Hazrat 'Abbas said, concerning Hazrat 'Ali, "O
Amir sl-Mu'minin, judge between me and this liar, sinner, disloyal
person and betrayer." Hazrat 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with
him) then made his judgement in their affair"
[Sahih Muslim, Bab al-Fay]
Hafiz Ibn Taymiyya writes:
"Hazrat Ibn Mas'ud, and Hazrat 'Uthman (may Allah be pleased
with them) used to verbally abuse each other. Hazrat
Ammar ibn Yasir once told 'Uthman, 'You have become a kafir.'
Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) once asked Ammar (may
Allah be pleased with him), 'Do you not deny the God who 'Uthman
worshipped?'
Once, Husayd ibn Huzayr said to Sa'd ibn Ubayda, 'You have become
a munafiq and you support the munafiqin!'
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 the latter's status"
[Ibn Taymiyya, Minhaj as-Sunna, chapter
on 'Ikhtilaf as-Sahaba']
Sayyid Mawdudi 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
a personal reason. This is why we see in history that scholars have
criticized each other in strange ways. An example is of Ibn 'Abdi'l-Barr
who wrote, in his book Jami' al-Bayan, "Imam Hummad had once
said that the scholars of Hijaz have no knowledge." He also
said that our children know more than them. He also said that Imams
Ata ibn Rab'a, Tawus, and Mujahid had no knowledge.
"Imam Zuhri said, whilst commenting on the scholars of Makka,
that he had never seen anyone break the walls (i.e the rules) of
Islam more than the scholars of Makka. He said this despite the
fact that great Sahaba and Tabi'un were resident in Makka.
"We know that Shabi and Ibrahim an-Nakha'i were great scholars
but they used to attack each other. Shabi said, 'Look at Ibrahim
an-Nakha'i! He asks me masa'il by night and preaches to the people
in the morning as though it is his own research!' Ibrahim an-Nakha'i
said: 'Look at Shabi! He is a liar, and narrates hadith from Masruk,
but he has never met him!'
"Imam Dahaq once boasted that he knew more than the Companions.
"Imam Sayyid ibn Zubair once said that Shabi was a liar. He
also said about Imam 'Ikrimah that he is the student of 'Abdullah
ibn 'Abbas and he attributes false ahadith to Ibn 'Abbas.
"Imam Malik said about Muhammad ibn Ishaq that he is was one
of the Dajjal. Imam Malik also said about the scholars of Iraq:
'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 ibn Mubarak once said, 'I don't consider Imam
Malik to be a scholar.'
"Imam Abu Hanifa said about Imam 'Amash that he has never
kept the fast of Ramadan nor taken the bath for major ritual impurity.
"Imam Yahya ibn Mu'in has criticised the high-ranking scholars
of Hadith. He has even said that Imam Shafi'i is weak in Hadith.
"This is the situation of the scholars of Hadith but the strangest
thing is that human weaknesses even overcame the Sahaba. For this
reason the Sahabah used to critisize each other. An example is 'Abdullah
ibn 'Umar who, when told that Abu Hurayra believed the witr salat
not to be compulsory, said that Abu Hurayra was a liar. Similarly,
Hazrat 'A'isha (may Allah be pleased with her) once said that Anas
ibn Malik and Abu Sa'id Khudri (may Allah be pleased with them)
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
ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) interpreted a verse of
the Qur'an and someone said that Ibn 'Umar and 'Abdullah ibn Zubayr
have given another interpretation. Hasan then said that they are
both liars. Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) once said
that al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba is a liar. Ubayda ibn Thabit said that
Mas'ud ibn Aws Ansari is a liar, even though he fought in the Battle
of Badr.
"If one wants to investigate this matter further one can read
the history of jarh wa ta'dil. 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"
[Mawdudi, S., Tafhimat, chapter on 'Maslak-e-I'tidal']
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 Hazrat 'Abbas (may Allah be
pleased with him) claiming that 'Ali ((may Allah be pleased with
him)) was a liar, sinner and betrayer. We cannot
accept that Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was actually
that which 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said. This is
because we know about the greatness of Hazrat 'Ali (may Allah be
pleased with him) who was neither a liar nor betrayer. He was one
of the ten who was given glad tidings of Paradise in their
lifetime and the fourth Khalifa of Islam. We know also that Imam
Malik was a great scholar so no-one can accept 'Abdullah ibn Mubarak's
claim that Imam Malik was not a scholar. We also do not accept Imam
Yahya ibn Mu'in's claim that Imam Shafi'i was weak in Hadith.
In the same way, no-one can accept the claims made against Imam
Abu Hanifa 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 justify
attacks against Imam Abu Hanifa:
2) Khatib Baghdadi:
His correct name was Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn Thabit, Abu Bakr al-Khatib
al-Baghdadi, and he passed away in 463 AH.Khatib Baghdadi was a
great scholar of Hadith and wrote many books on Usul al-Hadith (Principles
of Hadith) but his most popular book is Ta'rikh Baghdad (written
in fourteen volumes). The copy that I am using was issued in Al-Maktaba
Salfia Al-Madina Al-Munawwara. If we look at volume thirteen, under
the life history of al-Nu'man ibn Thabit (name of Imam Abu Hanifa)
there are two chapters on Imam Abu Hanifa.
In the first chapter he writes how the other scholars have praised
Imam Abu Hanifa and in the second chapter he talks about what the
enemies of Imam Abu Hanifa said about him. Khatib Baghdadi himself
said, "I personally recognized the greatness and knowledge
of Imam Abu Hanifa. 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 Hanifa do not mention
those narrations which are in praise of Imam Abu Hanifa. They only
mention Khatib's narrations, which are against him and imply that
Khatib was also against the Imam.
Before we go further, at this point it can be concluded that whatever
has been said against Imam Abu Hanifa cannot be accepted as the
truth:
Our Shaykh, Shah Abu al-Hasan Zayd Faruqi Naqshbandi said: "In
1931 I was in Egypt. In that period an article was published in
the popular newspaper Al-Ahraam that Khatib's Ta'rikh has
been published and will be available soon.In his Ta'rikh there is
one chapter against Imam Abu Hanifa. Al- Azhar decided that it was
upon them selves to respond to this chapter written by Khatib Baghdadi.
This response was then printed in the footnote of the book Ta'rikh
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 Khatib's accusations
against Imam Abu Hanifa, we see that in the same book he also says
that these narrators are not trustworthy. Moreover Muhaddith
Al-Athar Allama Zahid al-Kauthari wrote a book called Tanib
al-Khatib in which he clarifies that truly these accusations
are false and notes that all the evidences used were from the same
book Ta'rikh Baghdad.
Now let us see what Khatib says about Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah
be pleased with him) in Ta'rikh Baghdad under the biography of Imam
Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him). A number of examples
are taken;
1. Khatib says Imam Abu Hanifa was from the Murji'i.
2. He says that Imam Abu Hanifa confirmed that riba (interest)
is halal (permissible)
3. In Imam Abu Hanifa's halaqas (meetings) there was no salutation
(salat/blessings) bestowed on the Prophet (may Allah bless him
and grant him peace)
3. Imam Abu Hanifa and his students were like Christians (astaghfiru'llah)
[as it was claimed that they changed the Qur'an and Sunna like the
Christians]
4. Imam Abu Hanifa's followers said that his knowledge was greater
than that of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).
(astaghfiru'llah)
5. Imam Abu Hanifa 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 (i.e. he would have learnt many things from
me - astaghfiru'llah)
6. When a hadith would be presented he would reject and say, 'Scrap
this with the pig's tale'
[al-Baghdadi, K.,Ta'rikh Baghdad, al-Nu'man
ibn 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 that the other accusations are very similar.
Imam Abu Hanifa actually said that 'If 'Uthman Bathi al-Basri was
present in my time he would have taken many of my opinions' but
the above narrator, Khatib al-Baghdadi, removed 'Uthman's name and
replaced it with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him
peace) [Ta'rikh Baghdad, chapter on 'Abu Hanifa', footnote]
Khatib took this information from Yusuf ibn Sabat, Abi Nasr, Azdi
and al-Wass Wassy. In the same book, Khatib also wrote about these
narrators:
"One of them was who used to make fabricated hadiths. One
of them was weak in Hadith, the other was a person who did not even
believe in ahadith. One of them was Qadri (sect), one of them used
to make up fabricated stories." He wrote this in order to prove
that Imam Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him) was a kafir.
From the writings of Khatib, we are led to believe that Imam Abu
Hanifa was an atheist, Jew and innovator; we seek shelter in Allah
from this!
Was Imam Abu Hanifa a Murji'i
Now we shall review the accusations that were made against Imam
Abu Hanifa..Who said that he was a Murji'i? Who were the Murji'ites?
Allama Shahar Sitaani, in his famous book al-Milal writes:
"In the early days the Shi'as began to propagate stories against
Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them).during a period
where there were differences amongst the Companions, the Shi'as
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 Murji'i sect became famous. They said that differences
that the Companions of the Prophet (may Allah belss him and grant
him peace) should go without anything said about them - we should
remain silent and the matter will be dealt with Allah. They also
believed that those Muslims who commit a great sin [kabira] are
not kafirs. Some of the Murji'i believed that iman [faith] is embedded
in the heart, so that if someone utters blasphemous remarks or worships
statues or has a belief like a Jew or a Christian,or worships whatever
he likes, he still is beloved to Allah and is a perfect Muslim.
They thus believed that if a kafir was to perform a good act he/she
would receive no benefit from it, and similarly, if a Muslim was
to indulge himself in blasphemous remarks os commits any major sin,
it would have no effect on his/her iman. In this way they left all
good actions out and they openly indulged themselves in bad actions.
"Imam Abu Hanifa also said that those who commit a major sin
were not kafirs. The enemies of Imam Abu Hanifa picked upon this
point to argue that he was a Murji'i. Imam Abu Hanifa openly conducted
good acts and never said not to do good actions. He also never encouraged
people that worship what you like. The Mu'tazilite called every
one who did not agree with them concerning their belief as Murji'i.
The Khawarij, on the other hand, argued that the one who performs
a major sin is a kafir. In this way, the Khawarij and Mutazilite
gave Imam Abu Hanifa the title of Murji'i. These two sects not only
called Imam Abu Hanifa a Murji'i, but also many other great scholars
of Islam, such as: Hasan ibn Muhammad, Sa'id Ibn Zubayr, Talaq ibn
Habib, 'Umar ibn Murar, Maharib ibn Wasar, Maqatil ibn Sulayman
and Hamad ibn Abi Sulayman"
[Sitani, A.S.,al-Milal, Madhab al-Islamiyya;
Misri, A.Z., Hayaat, Imam Abu Hanifa]
If Imam Abu Hanifa was a Murji'i, 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 Hanifa
is a Murji'i, are merely repeating those accusations made by the
Khawarij and the Mu'tazilite, and are wrong.
There is another accusation made by people that Imam Abu Hanifa
knew only seventeen ahadith.Let us examine what little truth this
bears but before we go further we must examine the sources from
which Imam Abu Hanifa extracted his information.
Sources of Imam Abu Hanifa's Knowledge
Hafiz Ibn al-Qayyim states:
"Allah 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, who were over 100s of 1000s, out of
which 130 gave more fatawa than the rest. There were seven amongst
the Companions that gave the highest number of fatawa. Those seven
were 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, 'Ali ibn Abu Talib, 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud,
Umm al-Mu'minin 'A'isha, Zayd ibn Thabit, 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas,
'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them). 'Umar sent
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud to reside at Kufa. This was because 'Abdullah
ibn Mas'ud had great knowledge. The 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 Kufa to visit
'Umar. 'Umar gave gifts to both groups and the group from Kufa asked
'Umar, 'Why is it that we have received less than the Syrians?'
'Umar replied: 'Did I not give you 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud which is
the greatest of all gifts?''Abdullah ibn Mas'ud often said: 'I know
about every Sura in the Qur'an and further,r 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, 'Ibn Mas'ud
is filled with knowledge.'Imam Ibn Jarir says that there is no other
Companion whose students wrote all his fatawa and his Fiqh, except
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. After a short while hundreds of other Companions
also went to Kufa to reside there. Later when 'Ali became khalifa
he also moved to Kufa and that is how Kufa became the capital of
the Islamic State. This then influenced further Companions to move
to Kufa. Kufa became one of the center points of knowledge of the
Companions.At that time the most popular school was of 'Ali and
'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud.
"Later on some people started to attribute fabricated narrations
linked to 'Ali. This is why the only acceptable narrations of 'Ali
are those which are through his generation and through students
of 'Abdullah ibn Masud. 'Ali and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud had many popular
students like 'Umar ibn Sharjil, Masruq, al-Qamma and others. And
then Ibrahim and Hammad ibn Sulayman became their students and Imam
Abu Hanifa became their student"
[Ibn al-Qayyim, Alam al-Muwaqqaiy-in,
chapter on 'Qiyas']
Imam ibn Sa'd says:
"One large group of Companions started to reside in Kufa.
There were more than 500 Companions residing in Kufa.That is why
'Umar said that 'Kufa is the center of the treasure [faith].'Kufa
was the center of knowledge at that time"
[Tabaqat ibn Sa'd, vol. 6, chapter on
'Kufa']
In the very same Kufa, Imam Abu Hanifa was born.In the same place,
he acquired his knowledge, he saw and learnt from the Companions
and learnt from the Tabi'un. To learn more knowledge he often travelled
to Makka, Madina, Syria, Yemen and Basra.How can it be said that
he only knew seventeen ahadith?It is like saying to a Hafiz of the
Qur'an that he knows Sura Fatiha only!
Hafiz ibn Taymiyya writes:
"Amongst the scholars there were those who are scholars of
Hadith, and some that were scholars of Fiqh. The scholars who are
knowledgeable of both Hadith/Fiqh are Imam Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad,
Imam Ishaq, Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Abu Hanifa. They also had a very
high status which was suitable for all of them"
[Ibn Taymiyya, Kitab al-Istegatha, p13]
When Hafiz ibn Taymiyya writes and accepts that Imam Abu Hanifa
was a scholar in Hadith, and Fiqh, then how can his followers discredit
Imam Abu Hanifa, and say that he only knew seventeen ahadith?
Ibn Khaldun has touched upon the accusation that Imam Abu Hanifa
knew only seventeen ahadith. He has written about it in his book
al-Muqaddima. He writes that this accusation is completely
false as Imam Abu Hanifa's students Imam Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad
narrated a great number of ahadith from Imam Abu Hanifa which they
have written in their books. Also, they have written two books where
they have accumulated all the ahadith that they narrate from Imam
Abu Hanifa (the name of the books are Kitab al-Athar by
Imam Abu Yusuf and Kitab al-Athar by Imam Muhammad). More-over
all the narrations of ahadith are accumulated in one book, which
is called Jami' al-Masaneed by Imam Abu Hanifa the famous
scholar of Hadith/Fiqh.Imam Abu Hanifa is one of the first people
who has dictated books on Hadith/Fiqh.The ahadith which Imam Abu
Hanifa has narrated, he heard them directly from the Companions
or the Tabi'un (student of the Companions). He was the first Imam
in Hadith/Fiqh; Imam al-Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam an-Nasa'i, Imam
at-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, etc. all came a very long time after him.
This 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 a Tabi'i
(who have seen the Companions). This privilege was awarded to Imam
Abu Hanifa and not to Imam Malik, Imam Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad, Imam
al-Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam Abu Dawud, Imam at-Tirmidhi, etc..
He was unique in this privilege.
Lastly I make du'a' that Allah Most High grant all the scholars
the best possible place in Paradise.They worked hard for Islam and
spent their lives gathering information and passing it on to us,
especially Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah Most High fill his grave with
nur (light).
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