Imam Abu Hanifa - His Life, Opinions and Fiqh

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A mursal hadith is one where the Tabi‘i who relates it fails to mention the Companion who transmitted the hadith to him, saying, “The Messenger of Allah saidÉ” without making it clear how the hadith reached him. Al-Bazdawi used a wider definition of mursal and said that it is any hadith in which the isnad to the Prophet is not mentioned, and so it includes hadiths which a Companion did not hear directly from the Prophet, the mursal of the Tabi‘i or of any reliable person at any time. The Hanafis say that a mursal hadith is accepted from the Companions, Tabi‘un and the third generation, but not from those after them. Examination of the sources shows that Abu Hanifa used to accept mursal hadiths from the first three generations, but not necessarily subsequent ones. We see that Abu Hanifa accepted mursal hadiths from those he knew and whose method he preferred and trusted. Ibrahim an-Nakha‘i was the shaykh of his shaykh and he preferred his path, whether his fiqh differed or agreed with his own opinion. In both cases, he was reliable and his transmissions were not doubted. Al-Hasan al-Basri enjoyed a comparable reliability. Abu Hanifa accepted his mursal hadiths and those which came from anyone who had a position of equivalent reliability. In fact, mursal hadiths enjoyed widespread acceptance in Abu Hanifa’s time. This was before there was a great deal of forgery of hadiths so that scholars came to require isnads to ensure authenticity. We see that Imam Malik in the Hijaz also accepted mursal hadiths. Fatwas of the Companions We have mentioned that Abu Hanifa said that he acted by the decisions of the Companions in the absence of a text from the Book or Sunna. If there were differing opinions among the Companions, he chose from among their views, taking the position of whomever of them he wished, and he did not abandon their position for anyone else. When it came to the generation of the Tabi‘un, like Ibrahim an-Nakha‘i, Ibn Sirin, Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab and others, he exercised ijtihad as they had done. He did not follow the opinion of a Tabi‘i or imitate him as he did in the case of the Companions. Abu Hanifa used to differ from the Companions on matters in which there was scope for opinion. On matters in which there was no scope for opinion and where there was firm transmission, he followed them. That is why he took the period of menstruation to be a minimum of three and a maximum of ten days based on the position of Anas and ‘Uthman ibn Abi’l-‘As. He considered things such as this to be a matter of oral transmission not ijtihad. In brief, Abu Hanifa put the position of the Companions before analogy and this can be seen in many of his rulings. Some later Hanafis did the reverse, preferring opinion to the statement of a Companion. Abu Hanifa did not consider that it was mandatory to follow the fatwas of the Tabi‘un. Consensus The definition on which most scholars who accept consensus as a principle of Muslim fiqh agree is that it denotes the agreement of the mujtahids of the Muslim Community on any matter at the time of ruling. This is the soundest definition and it is that which the majority of scholars prefer. It is the one which ash-Shafi‘i mentions in his Risala and he was the first to define its meaning and explain how it is used as evidence and to give it its weight in Islamic fiqh. Did Abu Hanifa also consider consensus as one of the principles of his fiqh on which he based his ijtihad? Scholars of the Hanafi school state that it is one of his principles. They state that Abu Hanifa and his companions used to accept tacit consensus and thought that opposition to such consensus was only valid if scholars had two different opinions on a matter. We find two instances in the sources where this principle is mentioned. One is in The Virtues of al-Makki when he says: “Abu Hanifa was tenacious in following what the people in his land agreed upon.” (pt. 1, p. 98) The second is what Sahl ibn Muzaham said: “Abu Hanifa took what was reliable and fled from the unseemly. He examined people’s behaviour and what they based themselves on and what was in their best interests.” (pt. 1, p.82) These two transmissions from his contemporaries clarify that among his principles was that he followed what the fuqaha’ of his land agreed on. In matters about which there was no text, he proceeded in accordance
with the behaviour of the people. This makes it clear, without a doubt, that he accepted the consensus of the mujtahids in general and was strong in following that. It appears that the consensus which counts as evidence with the fuqaha’ has three pillars: • The Companions sometimes exercised ijtihad regarding questions which were presented to them. In many cases which arose where public well-being was concerned, ‘Umar would consult them and opinions would be exchanged. When they agreed, that would be his policy. If they differed, they argued until they reached something on which they agreed. • In the era of ijtihad, every Imam used to strive not to have divergent positions contrary to those of the other fuqaha’ of his land so that he would not be considered aberrant in his thinking. Abu Hanifa was firm in following that on which there was consensus between the earlier fuqaha’ of Kufa. Malik, likewise, put the consensus of the people of Madina before single traditions. • There are also traditions which confirm the evidentiary nature of consensus like the words of the Prophet, “My Community will never agree on misguidance,” and “What the Muslims see as good is good in the sight of Allah.” Analogy We have mentioned that if Abu Hanifa did not find a text in the Book, Sunna or fatwas of the Companions, he exercised ijtihad and opinion to ascertain the different aspects to be examined in the question under review. Sometimes he was guided by analogy and sometimes by istihsan – the best interests of people and lack of harm in the deen. He used analogy unless doing do would lead to something unseemly and not in keeping with people’s behaviour, in which case he would use istihsan. People’s behaviour was his guide in both istihsan and analogy. The analogy which Abu Hanifa mostly used was defined by scholars after him in a general definition: to explain the ruling about a matter without a text by ruling it according to something whose ruling is known by the Book, Sunna or consensus since both matters share the same underlying cause. Abu Hanifa’s ijtihad and his method in understanding the hadiths, coupled with the environment in which he lived, made him use a lot of analogy and ramify secondary rulings accordingly, because in his ijtihad, Abu Hanifa did not stop at investigating the rulings of problems which had actually occurred but would extend his reasoning to rulings in respect of problems which had not occurred. He would theorise in order to be prepared for circumstances before they occurred so as to be ready to deal with them. Thus Abu Hanifa’s method in understanding texts led to using a lot of analogy since it is not enough to recognise simply what the rulings indicate. One must know the events which formed the context of the text and how it was intended to benefit people and the reasons behind it, as well as any peculiarities which might affect the rulings. It is only on this basis that analogy can be correct. He used to ascertain the circumstances in which an ayat had been revealed. He studied those questions whose legal reasons were mentioned in hadith until he was considered the best of those who explain hadiths, because he did not confine himself to the outward sense but explained the intentions underlying the outward sense and what the hadiths indicated. The fact that there were not a great number of hadiths to be found in Iraq also compelled him to make more extensive use of analogy than he might otherwise have done. Abu Hanifa divided texts into two categories: those dealing with worship in which case he did not investigate the reasons behind the rulings because analogy was of no use in them, and those dealing with matters of this world. In these texts he would attempt to infer the underlying reason which could then be applied to other cases. Istihsan (Discretion) Abu Hanifa used istihsan a lot as we have noted previously. The great amount of the use of istihsan by Abu Hanifa was the focus for the attack of those who criticised its worth in fiqh. Some fiercely attacked the use of istihsan, and Abu Hanifa and his followers for using it, because they regarded it as allowing a ruling to
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Preface Praise belongs to Allah, th
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Foreword It says in al-Khayrat al-H
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Chapter One The Life and Times of A
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Nawruz. This indicates that his fam
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These three transmissions are relat
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eported that he sent his partner, H
Page 14 and 15: Abu Hanifa fled to Makka after the
Page 16 and 17: If this is true, al-Mansur would re
Page 18 and 19: eceived a positive or negative judg
Page 20 and 21: each day and given ten lashes until
Page 22 and 23: 1. Innate qualities, or quasi-innat
Page 24 and 25: Raqashi said, “We were laying sie
Page 26 and 27: We incline to this view and accept
Page 28 and 29: knowledge of people’s differences
Page 30 and 31: Thirdly, he always had good words f
Page 32 and 33: government. His discontent could on
Page 34 and 35: in danger of making things lawful a
Page 36 and 37: people of Madina, used munqati‘,
Page 38 and 39: claimed that God was incarnate in t
Page 40 and 41: They believed that after al-Husayn,
Page 42 and 43: used the position as an open door t
Page 44 and 45: Al-Mas‘udi explained this in Muru
Page 46 and 47: Disputes of the Mu‘tazilites and
Page 48 and 49: have married her to him.’ I said
Page 50 and 51: “The Almighty says: ‘When they
Page 52 and 53: ascribed to him and he has choice a
Page 54 and 55: • It shows his character and his
Page 56 and 57: Many scholars think that the transm
Page 58 and 59: disagreement between the people of
Page 60 and 61: it after the standing, which is the
Page 62 and 63: The Book Fuqaha’ in the Hanafi sc
Page 66 and 67: e reached that was based on persona
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Imam Abu Hanifa - His Life, Opinions and Fiqh

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