Presented by

Mufti Abdul Waheed

Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Fiqh and Usool ul-Fiqhat JKN Institute

fatawa@jkn.org.ukDate: 12/10/14

1

Agenda

2

10:15am Welcoming and introduction to the course

10:20am Session 1: Part 1

11:45am Break (15 mins)

12:00pm Session 2: Part 2 & Part 3

1:00pm Q&A session and closing remarks

Course Content

1. PART 1 - Imām Abu Haneefah, Life and Works

2. PART 2 – Legal Methodology

3. PART 3 – Misconceptions

3

Part 1

Imām Abu Haneefah (80AH - 150AH)

His Name, Occupation, Early Education, Teachers, Testimony & Death

4

1. His Name & OccupationNu’mān Ibn Thābit Ibn Zuwti al-Fārsi, (a Persian),

born in the city of Kufa during the reign of Ummayyiddynasty.

Differences of opinion the reason for his appellation;

- His daughter’s name was Haneefah

- Haneefah in the Iraqi linguistic referred to an ink-pot.

Father was a successful business man, trading silk materials. He succeeded his father in the business.

5

2. Early Educationa) Ilmul-KalāmMemorised the Qur’ān during his childhood.

Devoted the early part of his life in studying ilmul-Kalām (Islamic Theology).

Frequented the city of Basra and debated with the deviant sects such as, Khawārij, Mu’tazilahs, Murji’ahs, Jahmi’ahs and Shi’ahs.

One of the renowned works on Islamic Creed attributed to him is Fqhul-Akbar.

6

2.b) Training in Fiqh & HadeethAround the age of Twenty, Imām Sahib relinquished

Ilmul-Kalām and devoted to Fiqh.

Amongst his famous teachers was Hammād Ibn AbiSulaimān (d.120AH).

Hammad was amongst the prominent and representative Jurists in Kufa.

He spent 18 years studying Fiqh and Hadeeth combined by Hammād.

After his teachers death, he travelled to Makkah & Madeenah in search for knowledge.

7

2.c) His Reputation in HadeethImām al-A’mash praised him for his preceptiveness in

Hadeeth.

Imām al-Awza’i met with Imām Sahib and discussed the issue of raising the hands other than the initial Takbeer. Imām Sahib substantiated his position by narrating a Hadeeth with his chain of transmitters.

Abdullah Ibn Mubārak describes him as “the quintessence on knowledge.”

8

2.d) His TeachersHe is reported to have 300 teachers.

Amongst his reputable teachers were;

- Amir al-Sha’bi (d.104 AH)

- Ata Ibn Abi Rabah (d.115 AH)

- Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhri (d. 124 AH)

- Amr Ibn Deenār (d. 126 AH)

- Qatādah (d. 118 AH)

- Sulaiman Ibn Mihrān Al-A-ash (d. 148 AH)

- The Imāms of the Shi’ahs e.g. Ja’far al-Sādiq, Mumāhd al-Bāqir.

9

His Famous Chain

10

Messenger of Allah (saw)

Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood

Alqamah

Ibrāheem al-Nakhai

Hammād Ibn AbiSulaymān

Abu Haneefah

3. Imām Abu Haneefah being a Tabi’eenThe Following Companions he is reported to have met:

- Anas Ibn Mālik (ra)

- Abdullah Ibn Abi Awfa (ra)

- Abdullah Ibn Hārith (ra)

- Abdullah Ibn Umais (ra0

- Jābir Ibn Abdillah (ra)

- Wāthilah Ibn Asqa (ra)

11

4. Abu Haneefah’s accreditation by Scholars of HadeethIsā Ibn Musa said to the Caliph Mansur upon seeing

Imām Sahib, “ He is the most knowledgeable man in the world today.”

Abdullah Ibn Mubārak said, “Had Allah not benefitted me through Abu Haneefah and Sufyan At-Thowri then I would have been an ordinary person.”

He also said, “There is no one worthy of being followed than Abu Haneefah. Verily he was an Imām, pious, righteous, a scholar and Faqeeh.”

12

Yahya Ibn Sa‘eed al-Qattān stated: “We have never heard a better understanding of the Qur’ān and Sunnah than that of Abū Haneefa, and we follow him in most of his opinions.”

Yahya Ibn Maeen v states “Abū Haneefa was a trustworthy narrator. He would only transmit Hadeeth that he had memorised. He would never narrate those Ahādeeth which he had not memorised

Muhammad Ibn Sama’ā states, “The Imām has mentioned more than seventy thousand Ahādeeth in his book and has selected Athār (reports) from forty thousand Ahādeeth.”

Makki Ibn Ibrāheem states, “Abu Haneefah was the most Knowledgeable of his time.”

13

5. Imprisonment and DeathThe Caliph Mansur offered him a post of judge which

he relentlessly refused. As a result of this he was imprisoned during which he was severely tortured.

Inspite of his imprisonment, people would attend to his service and seek knowledge from him. His popularity increased during this period.

He was eventually poisoned and died in the year 150 AH) in Rajab, Sha’ban or Shawwāl.

More than 50,000 people attended his funeral, due to which his janazah was performed 6 times.

He is buried in Khuzayran cemetary, Baghdad.

14

6. Personal QualityGenerosity

Piety

God-Concious

Humility and Forbearance

Consideration for others

Natural intelligence and perceptiveness.

15

Part 2

The Fiqh of Imam Abu HaneefahHis Legal Methodology, sources of principles, Students,

Works and Development

16

1. City of Kufa in the Islamic World Iraq was conquered during the reign of Umar (ra) and

established the city of Kufa.

Umar (ra) despatched Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood (ra) in 17 A.H to Kufa to teach the local people.

No less than 1000 reputable companions migrated and took residency there.

- 70 were participants of Badr

- 300 participants during the Bai’atur-Ridhwān (oath of pleasure)

- Companions included; Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqās, Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, Hudhaifah Ibn Yamān, Ammār Ibn Yāsir, Abdulah Ibn Abi Awfa.

Ali (ra) transferred the Islamic capital to Kufa during his reign of Khilāfat.

No less than 4000 people studied and received scholarly training under him.

Prominent students included;

- Alqamah Ibn Qais (d.62 A.H), Al-Aswad (d.75 AH), Shuraih Ibn al-Hārith (d.80AH).

- Amongst the students of Alqamah & Al-Aswad were Ibrāhim an-Nakha’i, Amr al-Sha’bi and Abul-Wāil.

Kufa became one of the major centres to Islamic sciences

18

Status of Hadeeth in Kufa Anas Ibn Sereen (ra) stated upon arriving to the city of

Kufa;

“I came to kufa and found 4000 people in search of Hadeeth and 400 people in search of fiqh.”

Ali (ra) said upon arriving to Kufa;

“May Allah shower Mercy upon Ibn Umm Abd (Abdullah’s appellation), he has indeed filled this city with knowledge.”

19

2.The Ahlul-Hadeeth and Ahlul-Ra’yThe scholars of Kufa were known to be Ahlu-Ra’y

whereas scholars of Madeenah and Makkah the Ahlul-Hadeeth, The reason for this distinction;

1. The people of Kufa restricted circulation of Hadeeth due to the possibility of fabrication, unlike regions in Madeenah and Makkah.

2. The People of Kufa faced innumerable new cases which required extensive Ijtihād.

3. The Ahlu Ra’y considered the understanding of underlying reasons behind texts as necessary.

20

3. Unique Attributes of the HanafiSchoolThe formative period was that of a collective effort. Hence,

the opinions of the other Imams were fused into the Madhab.

Imām Abu Haneefah held a council of forty scholars in which they would discuss hypothetical cases. His council included;

- Abu Yusuf, Hafs Ibn Giyāth, Wakee Ibn Jarrah, Dāwood at-Tā’I, Yahya Ibn

Abi Zā’idah, Abdullah Ibn Mubārak, Zufr, Muhammad As-Shaybāni,

Imām Sahib allowed his students to discuss and express their views when he was confident in their level of Ijtihād.

21

Imām Abu Haneefah was the first to organize chapters according to fiqh.

He established broad principles of Ijtihād, but the detailed principles were developed and consolidated by his scholars of later generations.

Supremacy of the Qur’ān at all times.

Preferring Hadeeth over rationality.

22

4. Sources of Principles

1. The Qur’ān- Imperative and prohibited commands.

- Arrogations and abrogated verses

- Specific terms or general terms.

- Multiple meanings of terms and those interpreted.

- Primary usage and secondary usage.

- The Quranic injunctions are decisive commands.

23

2. Sunnah

- The Prophet’s words, actions and tacit approvals.

- Words and actions of companions also include in Sunnah.

- Three types of transmitting reports;

a) Tawātur

b) Mashoor

c) Khabr Wāhid.

3. Fatwas of the Companions.

24

4. Ijma (Consensus)

- It is a consensus of the Mujtahideen belonging to the Ummah of the Prophet (saw) who converge upon a legal matter after his demise.

- There are three types of Ijma;

a) Statement

b) Action

c) Tacit

25

Conditions for the validity of Ijma1. The consensus must take place by those who have attained the status of Ijtihad.2. Consensus must take place after the demise of the Holy Prophet (saw).3. The agreement must be unanimous amongst all Mujtahids.4. The Consensus must take place in a single determined period. In other words it must

not be left opened to all jurists of all periods.5. The agreement must be made upon a legal matter, not something other than that e.g.

Arabic Grammar, Aqaid etc.6. Consensus must be upon a matter either pertaining to Ijtihad or the purport of a

textual evidence e.g. “And marrying your mothers is forbidden” all jurists unanimously agree that this verse also includes grandmothers though this is not explicitly mentioned.

7. The matter upon which the Mujtahids agree upon must be based upon a relied Sanad.In other words, the legal matter must be traced back to the primary textual sources i.e. Qur’an and Sunnah. Otherwise it will be based upon one’s personal opinion which is not permissible.

8. That consensus subsequently must be transmitted to the later jurists via means of Tawatur.

26

5. Qiyās (Anological deduction.

- Transferring of ruling from the precedent to the subsidiary on the basis of a common underlying cause existing between them both (Asl & Far’a)

- There are Five Conditions for the validity of Qiyās;

(1) The illah of the original case should be of rational understanding.

(2) The ruling that is sought should be found in the text.

(3) The ruling should not be an exceptional one.

(4) The original ruling should not alter after employing Qiyās.

(5) The ruling should not be closely bound to the situation, otherwise it would be impossible to extend the ruling elsewhere.

27

6. Istihsān (legal preference)

7. Urf (Custom)

28

5. His Students1. Imām Abu Yusuf (d. 182 AH)

- Authored many books such as Kitābul Kharraj, Kitābul Athār (attributed to Imām Abu Haneefah).

2. Muhammad Ibn Hassan as-Shaybāni (d.189 AH)

- His works formulate the pillar of the Hanafi School. Prolific writer and master of Tafseer and Hadeeth.

3. Zufr ibn Hudhayl.

29

6. Renowned Hanafi ScholarsImām Abul Hasan al-Karkhi (d. 340 AH)

Abu Bakr al-Jassās (d.370 AH)

Abu Zaid al-Daboosi (d. 430 AH)

Muhammad al-Bazdawi (d. 482 AH)

Abu Bakr as-Sarakhsi (d. 483 AH)

Kamālud Deen ibn Humām (d.861 AH)

Ibn Nujaym (d. 970 AH)

Ibn Abideen as-Shāmi (d. 1252 AH)

30

Part 3

Misconceptions About Imām Abu Haneefah

31

1. Ibn Abi Shaybah accused Imām Sahib for abandoning Hadeeth on 125 instances

1. Imām Sahib has based thousands of rulings on Hadeeth.

2. He has pther supporting evidences from Qur’ān and other sound Ahadeeth.

3. Ibn Abi Shaybah has wrongfully attributed certain statements to him.

4. Differences in the criteria of accepting Hadeeth

32

2. Imām Nasai has classed Imām Abu Haneefah as a Weak narrator.

1. None of the scholars of Islam are free from criticisms.

2. Certain things were wrongfully attributed to Imām Sahib.

3. There have been over 70 reputable scholars accrediting Imam Sahib

33

Recommended Reading Hasan, F. Fa Usool Fiqh Ki Tareekh, (Urdu), Pakistan, Dārul-

Ishāt.

Uthmani . M.T Dars Tirmidhi vol 1.Karachi, Darul Ishat

Nadwi M.A. Abu Haneefah Life and Legacy. Markfield, KupePublishing LTD.

Abu Zahra, The Four Imāms, London, Darul Taqwa.

34

Scholarly GiantsLet us take you on a journey to the Truth

Imām Malik and his Legal School

Date:2/11/14www.jkn.org.uk.co.uk

Not to be missed!

By

Mufti Abdul Waheed

35

Life of Imām Malik and his works

His knowledge on Fiqh and Hadeeth

His legal theory and methodological framework.

Contributors to the development of his school

His students

Testimony of scholars about Imām Shafiee

Analysis of some criticisms against him and detailed responses.

36

Forthcoming Titles in the SeriesThe School of Imām Shāfi’ee

The School of Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Critical Discussion on Taqleed

37

جزاك هللا خريا

Q & A

38