Imam Abu Hanifa - His Life, Opinions and Fiqh

The Book
Fuqaha’ in the Hanafi school reflected on whether the Qur’an constituted text and meaning or meaning
alone. Most scholars agree that the Qur’an constitutes text and meaning and it is important, at this point, to
ascertain what Abu Hanifa’s opinion about it was. There is no definitive text by Abu Hanifa making that clear
but there are secondary sources which point to a conclusion.
One thing indicating his view is the fact that he allowed recitation of the Qur’an in the prayer in Persian
and considered the person to have in that case fulfilled the obligation of recitation, whether or not he was able
to recite in Arabic, even though he disliked him doing it if he was capable of reciting in Arabic. Abu Yusuf
and Muhammad ash-Shaybani said, “Recitation in other than Arabic is only accepted in the case of inability to
recite in Arabic.” Ash-Shafi‘i said, “It is not allowed in other than Arabic even if someone is unable. In such a
case a person must call on Allah with what he knows and glorify Him.” Al-Bazdawi reports from Nuh ibn Abi
Maryam that Abu Hanifa retracted that position. It states in the Kashf al-Asrar, “He returned to the common
position.”
We must not forget the time in which Abu Hanifa lived, fifty years of which was under the Umayyads. He
encountered Persians when they became Muslim in droves and their tongues made mistakes in Arabic and did
not pronounce it well and many did not understand it well. He saw the ayats of the Qur’an being badly
mispronounced and so he thought that as an allowance the non-Arab should be permitted to recite the
meanings of ayats which were not subject to interpretation in a translated form. Then Abu Hanifa modified his
position, only permitting the recitation of the Qur’an in translation for someone who was unable to recite it in
Arabic.
The Qur’an contains the totality of the Shari‘a and in it are defined general rules and those rulings which
will not change over the course of time. Thus it contains the eternal and universal Shari‘a for all mankind.
The Sunna of the Prophet derives its strength from it and clarifies what needs to be clarified in it and provides
necessary detail. Hence the Qur’an and the Sunna are inseparable as the basis of the Shari‘a. Scholars studied
its composition and expressions and clarified the rulings it indicated and the strengthen of its evidence
One area of Qur’anic evidence worth mentioning is the force of the ‘amm in the Hanafi school. ‘Amm
(general) can be defined as a word which indicates various things with a shared meaning, for instance, as
‘human being’ indicates man, woman, black, white, Zayd, Bakr and Khalid while khass (particular) applies to
a specific aspect of what is alluded to by a general expression, like ‘white’or ‘man’ in relation to ‘human
being’. The Hanafis hold that, like the khass, the ‘amm is definitive in its evidence and can abrogate the khass,
whether it occurs in the Qur’an or the Sunna. Al-Bazdawi mentioned that this was the view of Abu Hanifa.
Accordingly, a particular solitary hadith will not alter the general meaning of the text.
Some ayats of the Qur’an connected to judgements require further clarification. They require some more
details, or there is something implicit in them which requires explanation, or they are unrestricted and need to
be qualified. Scholars – both fuqaha’ of opinion and fuqaha’ of tradition – agree that this is what the Sunna
often does with respect to the Qur’an. Therefore the fuqaha’ who expounded the principles of the school of
Abu Hanifa and its adherents undertook to clarify the Noble Qur’an. The manner in which the Sunna clarifies
the Qur’an is divided into three categories.
• Clarification by confirmation. This is when the Sunna reinforces the meaning of an ayat.
• Clarification by explanation. This is when the Sunna clarifies something implicit in an ayat when the text
is general. This would include such things explaining details of the prayer, zakat and hajj, or defining the
minimum amount of theft which entails cutting off the hand.
• Clarification by supersession, which is abrogation. Abro-gation of the Qur’an by the Qur’an is permitted
by the Hanafis, as is abrogation of the Qur’an by the Sunna, if it is confirmed by multiple transmission or
well-known transmission.
The Sunna