الرحلةThe Journey

أبو حنيفة النعمان

Imam Abu Hanifa (RH)

Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man ibn Thabit

Also known as: Abu Hanifah, al-Imam al-A'zam

80–150 AH · 699–767 CE

Fiqh Hanafi

al-Imam al-A'zam, founder of the Hanafi school, the most widely followed madhhab.

al-Nu'man ibn Thabit was a silk merchant of Kufa who devoted himself to fiqh under Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman for nearly two decades. Many count him among the Tabi'in, as he is reported to have seen the Companion Anas ibn Malik.

He taught by debating cases with his students, reasoning carefully by analogy (qiyas) and juristic preference (istihsan), and anticipating questions before they arose. He refused judicial office under both the Umayyads and the Abbasids, and he died in prison in Baghdad. His students Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani recorded and spread his school, which became the official madhhab of the Abbasids and later the Ottomans and Mughals.

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Life journey

  1. 699 CE Kufa الكوفة
  2. 762 CE Baghdad بغداد
    Died 767 CE · 150 AH
    Summoned to the new Abbasid capital. He refused the post of chief judge and died in prison. Arrival year is approximate.

Teachers

  • Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (RH) c. 675–738 CE
    Abu Hanifa kept to Hammad's circle in Kufa for about eighteen years, until Hammad's death.
  • Ja'far al-Sadiq (RH) c. 702–765 CE
    Abu Hanifa narrated from Ja'far al-Sadiq, whom he held in high regard.

Students

  • Abu Yusuf (RH) 731–798 CE
    His foremost student, who stayed with him for years in Kufa and later spread the school as chief judge in Baghdad.
  • Ibn al-Mubarak (RH) 736–797 CE
    Ibn al-Mubarak studied fiqh with Abu Hanifa and spoke of him with respect.
  • al-Shaybani (RH) 750–805 CE
    Al-Shaybani attended Abu Hanifa's circle as a young man for a short time before Abu Hanifa's death, then completed his training with Abu Yusuf.

Key works

  • al-Fiqh al-Akbar الفقه الأكبر
    The Greater Understanding
    A short creed attributed to Abu Hanifa, transmitted by his students.

Places in their life

The Great Mosque of Kufa
The Great Mosque of Kufa
Photo: ن.عامری, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
al-Mustansiriyyah, an Abbasid college of 1233, Baghdad
al-Mustansiriyyah, an Abbasid college of 1233, Baghdad
Photo: Taisir Mahdi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

  • al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala'
  • al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Tarikh Baghdad
  • Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-A'yan
Draft, awaiting scholarly review.