The Hanbali School of Jurisprudence

The Hanbali school (al-Madhhab al-Hanbali) is the fourth and smallest of the Sunni schools of jurisprudence, founded by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164-241 AH / 780-855 CE). Despite having the fewest followers numerically, the Hanbali school has had an outsized intellectual influence on Sunni Islam through scholars like Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. It is the official school of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and its methodology of strict adherence to textual evidence has influenced Islamic reform movements worldwide.

The Founder: Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born in Baghdad and became one of the greatest hadith scholars in Islamic history. His Musnad contains over 27,000 hadiths and is one of the largest hadith collections. He studied under Imam al-Shafi'i and was profoundly influenced by his emphasis on hadith. Ahmad is most famous for his steadfastness during the Mihna (inquisition), when the Abbasid Caliph al-Ma'mun and his successors attempted to force scholars to accept the Mu'tazili doctrine that the Quran was "created." Ahmad refused, enduring imprisonment and public flogging for over two years. His perseverance earned him the title "Imam Ahl al-Sunnah" (Imam of the People of the Sunnah).

Methodology

The Hanbali school is the most text-oriented of the four schools. Its hierarchy of sources is: the Quran, then the Sunnah (including weak hadith, which is preferred over analogy), then the opinions of the companions (if no contradiction exists among them), then the opinion of one companion if supported by the evidence, then mursal and weak hadith, and finally qiyas as a last resort. Ahmad was reluctant to employ qiyas and preferred a weak hadith to the opinion of any scholar. He said: "I never saw anyone adhere to hadith more than al-Shafi'i," yet he went further in his preference for textual evidence over reasoning.

Key Positions

Distinctive Hanbali positions include: eating camel meat breaks wudu; laughing loudly in prayer invalidates both the prayer and the wudu (although this position is more strongly associated with the Hanafi school); the blood of an animal slaughtered in Allah's name is considered pure; it is permissible to combine prayers for a valid need (not just travel or rain); standing for a long time in prayer is better than more prostrations; and the school tends toward strictness in matters of creed but flexibility in matters of worship and daily transactions (mu'amalat), embodying Ibn Taymiyyah's principle that "the basis in worship is prohibition (except what is prescribed) and the basis in transactions is permissibility (except what is prohibited)."

Major Scholars and Influence

The Hanbali school produced towering scholars. Ibn Qudamah (d. 620 AH) authored al-Mughni, one of the most comprehensive comparative fiqh works ever written. Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) revitalized the school with his rigorous textual methodology and critiques of philosophical theology, Sufi excesses, and blind taqlid. Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH), Ibn Taymiyyah's greatest student, authored dozens of influential works including Zad al-Ma'ad and I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in. In the 18th century, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab's da'wah in the Arabian Peninsula, rooted in Hanbali fiqh and the theology of Ibn Taymiyyah, led to the establishment of the Saudi state and the school's current prominence.