Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss First Fascicle

‘Against the Satan, a Faqîh is stonger than one thousand ’âbids
(devout worshippers).’
‘Everything has a pillar to base itself upon. The basic pillar of
the religion is the science of Fiqh.’
‘The best and most valuable ’ibâdat (act of worship) is to learn
and teach Fiqh.’
The superiority of al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa ‘rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ ’alaih’ is understood also from these hadîths.
The teachings of Islam in the Hanafî Madhhab were
transmitted through a chain beginning with ’Abdullah ibn Mas’ûd
‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, who was a Sahâbî. Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû
Hanîfa ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’, the founder of the Madhhab,
acquired the knowledge of fiqh from Hammâd, and Hammâd from
Ibrâhîm an-Nakhâ’î. An-Nakhâ’î had learned it from Alkama and
Alkama had learned it from ’Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, who had
learned it from Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’.
Abû Yûsuf, Imâm Muhammad ash-Shaybânî, Zufar ibn
Hudheil and Hasan ibn Ziyâd were al-Imâm al-a’zam’s disciples
‘rahimahumullah’. Of these, Imâm Muhammad wrote about one
thousand books on Islamic teachings. He was born in 135 A.H.
(752) and passed away in Rayy, Iran, in 189 (805). Because he was
married to the mother of al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î, one of his disciples,
ash-Shâfi’î inherited his books upon his death, thus his knowledge
increased. For this reason, al-Imâm esh-Shâfi’î ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ
’alaih’ said: ‘I swear that my knowledge of Fiqh has increased by
reading Imâm Muhammad’s books. Those who want to deepen
their knowledge of Fiqh should be in the company of the disciples
of Abu Hanîfa.’ And once he said: ‘All Muslims are like the
household children of al-Imâm al-a’zam.’ That is, as a man earns a
living for his wife and children, al-Imâm al-a’zam took it upon
himself to find out the religious knowledge which people needed
in their affairs. Thus, he spared the Muslims from a lot of work.
Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abu Hanîfa ‘rahmatullâhi ’alaih’ compiled
the knowledge of Fiqh, classified it into branches and sub-branches
and set usûls (methods) for it, and also collected the knowledge of
i’tiqâd, as Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and the as-
Sahâbat al-kirâm ‘ridwânullâhi ’alaihim ajma’în’ had preached,
and taught them to thousands of his disciples. Some of his disciples
became specialists in ’Ilm al-kalâm; that is, in the teachings of
îmân. Of them, Abû Bakr al-Jurjânî, one of Imâm Muhammad
esh-Shaybânî’s disciples, became famous. And Abû Nasr al-’Iyâd,
– 200 –