Imam Abu Hanifa - His Life, Opinions and Fiqh

Abu Hanifa fled to Makka after the flogging and remained there from 130 AH until the Abbasids were in
power. He was safe in the Haram while the seditions were rife throughout the khalifate. He devoted himself to
the hadith and fiqh which came from the knowledge of Ibn ‘Abbas. He met his students there and discussed
knowledge with them. Al-Mansur came to power in 136. Abu Hanifa was in Makka from 130 AH which
means he stayed at least six years in the vicinity of the Haram.
It also reports in The Virtues by al-Makki that Abu Hanifa was in Kufa when Abu’l-‘Abbas as-Saffah
entered it and asked for people to give him their allegiance.
When Abu’l-‘Abbas came to Kufa, he gathered the scholars and said, “This command has come to
the people of the House of your Prophet and Allah has brought you good and established the truth.
You are the scholars and it is more proper for you to assist it. You will have gifts, honour and
hospitality from the property of Allah as you wish. So pledge allegiance to your Imam as evidence for
and against you and security for your Life to Come. Do not meet Allah without an Imam and be those
who have no evidence on their behalf.”
The people looked at Abu Hanifa and he said, “Do you want me to speak on my own and your
behalf?”
“We do,” they said.
“I praise Allah,” he said, “Who has conveyed the right of Imamate to the kin of His Prophet and
ended for us the oppression of injustice and has released our tongues with the truth. We give you
homage based on the command of Allah and fidelity to you by your contract until the Hour comes.
Allah has not removed this matter from the kin of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace.”
As-Saffah answered him well. “Someone like you speaks for the scholars. They did well to choose
you and you conveyed well.”
This would suggest that Abu Hanifa was in Kufa when as-Saffah came there and received allegiance
before 136 AH. This conflicts with the report that he did not come to Kufa until al-Mansur was khalif, i.e. in
136 AH or afterwards.
I think it is possible to reconcile the two. If Abu Hanifa fled to Makka from Ibn Hubayra and stayed there
until Ibn Hubayra and his dynasty were out of Iraq, he could have gone to Kufa when as-Saffah went there
and pledged allegiance to him. However, the sedition continued in Iraq and matters were not completely
settled so he returned to Makka. He may have gone back and forth between the two cities until things were in
order in the time of al-Mansur. Then he came back to Kufa and stayed there and restored his circle in the
mosque. His circle did not resume until things were more settled in Iraq and the Abbasids firmly established.
That only happened during the khalifate of al-Mansur.
His relations with the Abbasids
That Abu Hanifa welcomed the arrival of the Abbasids is indicated by his behaviour with Abu’l-‘Abbas
as-Saffah. This is in harmony with his past experience because he had observed the oppression which ‘Ali’s
descendants had suffered at the hands of the Umayyads. When the Abbasids first came to power they did so as
a dynasty which had started as a Shi‘ite movement, stating that they would hand over power to one of the
descendants of ‘Ali. Once in power, the dynasty was Hashimite, but from descendants of the Prophet’s uncle
not ‘Ali. They then had to put down ‘Alawite rebellions on the part of those whom they in their turn had
wronged.
Abu Hanifa continued to support the Abbasids on account of his love for the entire family of the Prophet.
Al-Mansur used to bring him near to him, esteem him and offer him generous gifts but he refused them with
gentleness and use of stratagems. An estrangement took place between al-Mansur and his wife because he
inclined away from her and she asked him to be fair. He asked her whom she would be content with as an
arbiter and she chose Abu Hanifa. Al-Mansur was happy with that and Abu Hanifa was summoned.
He said to him, “Abu Hanifa, this free woman contends with me. Give me my right against her.”
Abu Hanifa said, “Let the Amir al-Mu’minin speak.”
“Abu Hanifa,” he replied, “How many wives can a man marry at the same time?”