Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Second Fascicle

A.H. Some fifty thousand people performed his namâz of
janâza. [1]
There was such a great crowd that the prayer was
accomplished with difficulty, not before the late afternoon
prayer. For twenty days many people came to his grave and
performed his namâz of janâza there.
He had seven hundred and thirty disciples. His son Hammâd
was one of his notable disciples.
There have been some disagreements among the disciples of
Imâm-i a’zam ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih’. The hadîth,
“Disagreements among the savants of my Ummat is Allah’s
compassion,” informs us that these disagreements are useful.
He used to fear Allahu ta’âlâ very much, and was very careful
in obeying the Qur’ân al-kerîm. He used to say to his disciples:
“On any matter, if you happen to obtain a document that
disagrees with my word, leave my word aside and follow the
document!” For, his disciples, like he himself, were mujtahids. All
his disciples swear: “We have stated even our disagreements with
him based on a proof, a document which we had heard from him.”
Muftîs should act in accordance with Imâm-i a’zam’s word. If
his word cannot be found they should follow Imâm-i Yûsuf’s
word. Next to him, Imâm-i Muhammad’s word should be
followed. When the word of Imâm-i Yûsuf and that of Imâm-i
Muhammad are on one side and Imâm-i a’zam’s word is on the
other side, a muftî can give a fatwâ in accordance with either side.
It is written in Ibni ’Âbidîn and in Majmû’a-i zuhdiyyâ (in
Turkish), i.e. in their introductions, and also in Waqfun-niyyât by
Shaykh-ul-Islâm Ahmad bin Suleymân bin Kemâl Pâsha: “There
are seven grades of Fiqh savants. The highest of them are the
mujtahids in the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya. These are called ‘mujtahîd-i
mutlaq.’ The imâms of the four Madhhabs are in this grade. The
second from the highest are those great scholars who are called
‘mujtahid fi-l-madhhab.’ Imam-i Abû Yûsuf, Imâm-i
Muhammad Shaybânî and the other desciples of Imâm-i a’zam
are among them. They derive ahkâm (rules) from the Adilla-i
shar’iyya following the methods and principles formulated by
Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa. Some of the ahkâm derived by them
may not be agreeable with the ahkâm derived by Imâm-i a’zam.
[1] Please see the fifteenth chapter of the fifth fascicle of Endless Bliss
for ‘salât (namâz) of janâza’.
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