Imam Abu Hanifa - His Life, Opinions and Fiqh

eported that he sent his partner, Hafs ibn ‘Abdu’r-Rahman, with some goods and told him that there was a
fault in one garment and that he must make the fault clear when he sold it. Hafs sold the goods and forgot to
point out the flaw and he did not know who had bought it. When Abu Hanifa learned of that, he gave the
entire value of the garment away as charity. (History of Baghdad, pt. 13, p. 58)
In spite of this scrupulousness and not being satisfied with anything that was not absolutely lawful, his
trade was profitable and so he often spent on shaykhs and hadith scholars. It states in The History of Baghdad:
“He used to accrue profit from one year to the next and he would use it to provide for the requirements of the
shaykhs and scholars: their food and garments and all their needs. Then he would give the remaining dinars of
profit to them and say, “Buy what you need and only praise Allah. I have not given you any money. It is
simply part of Allah’s bounty to you.” (pt. 13, p. 360)
The profit of his trade was used to preserve the dignity of scholars and provide for their needs and to
enable people of knowledge to dispense with official stipends. He was also keen about his appearance which
was reported to be good. He was very concerned about his clothes and chose the best so that his cloak was
worth thirty dinars. He had a good appearance and wore a lot of scent. Abu Yusuf said, “He used to take care
of even his sandal straps so that he was never seen with a broken strap.”
In the same way that he was concerned with his own attire and appearance, he was also concerned with
that of others. For instance, it is reported that he saw one of his companions wearing a poor garment and
ordered him to wait until the assembly had departed so that he alone remained. He told him, “Lift the prayer
mat and take what is under it.” The man lifted it and there was 1000 dirhams under it. He told him, “Take
these dirhams and change your state with them.” The man said, “I am wealthy and well-off. I do not need it.”
He told him, “Have you not heard the hadith, ‘Allah loves the trace of his blessing to appear on His servant’?
For this reason you must change your state, so that your friend is not grieved by you.”
His position in respect of the revolutionary movements of his time
We know turn to something which had a strong effect on the course of Abu Hanifa’s life: his position in
respect to the revolutionary movements of his time, the extent of their effect on him, what assitance he gave to
the instigators, and what was his relationship with those in authority. It is vital to ascertain these matters since
the trial which ended his life was connected to them to the extent that one could say, it was a case of direct
cause and effect. What took place was connected to something which had happened in his youth.
Abu Hanifa lived for fifty-two years under Umayyad rule and eighteen years under Abbasid rule. He
experienced both Muslim dynasties. He knew the Umayyads when they were strong and when they were in
their decline. He experienced the Abbasid state when it was in a missionary stage in the Persian lands, when it
was emerging newly-fledged from its hidden lair, and then when it became a movement which defeated the
Umayyads and wrested sovereignty from them, imposing on the people an authority which they considered to
be religious because its khalifs were among the relatives of the Messenger of Allah. So the people were
impelled to it by both desire and terror.
Abu Hanifa was aware of this and it had an effect on him, even if it is not known that he participated with
those who rebelled. Most of the reports about his position make it clear that his heart was with the ‘Alawites
when they rebelled first against the Umayyads, and then later when they rebelled against the Abbasids.