Chapter 53 of 987 min read

13. Ibn Jareer At-Tabari 310H/917CE

١٣. ابن جرير الطبري (ت ٣١٠ هـ / ٩١٧ م)

He stayed in Tabaristan but reached up to Baghdad. He is considered one of the great Imams of all time and left the largest written history compilation but most of it was wiped out by the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols. He was the first one to write about Ikhtilaaf al fuqaaha. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 58

The Four Imams and Their Madhaahib THE IMAM OF FIQH Abu Haneefah an-Nu’man ibn Thabit ibn Zootta (80H-150H/702CE-767CE) It is not permitted for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got those views from. ~ Imam Abu Haneefah ( ,)ر اfrom Hashi’yat Ibn ‘Abideen " : !" " The most knowledgeable in Fiqh amongst people is Imam Abu Haneefah. I have never seen in Fiqh a man like him. ~ ‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak Fiqh in their times had a general definition which was using the Qur’aan and hadith to answer questions. #$ % &' " : () " People are totally dependent on the Fiqh of Abu Haneefah. ~ Imam Ash-Shafi’ee FROM THE LIFE OF THE IMAM His Lineage Imam Abu Haneefah’s father was a Muslim and his grandfather was a Persian who was the first to accept Islam. There is a debate whether his grandfather was a slave or not but Imam Abu Haneefah said that he was never a slave. It is said that his grandfather took his father Thabit to see ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib when he was in Kufa. ‘Ali made du’a for Thabit to be blessed and he had a blessed son (Abu Haneefah). His Early Life Some say he was born in Kufa and others say he was born in Al-Ambaar. (region that is the current center of Iraaq.) He was born in 80 H during the time of Khilafa Abdul Malik ibn Marwan and died in 150 H during Khilafa of Abu Ja’far al Mansoor. Therefore, he was able to witness the change of the government through the Ummayyids and the ‘Abbassids, and thus matured through this. Was Imam Abu Haneefah a Tabi’ee? A Tabi’ee is someone who lived during the time of the sahabah and were Muslim, they met a companion once in his life, and they died on Islam. Anas ibn Malik died in 90H in Basrah so he could not have met him as he did not travel. Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa died in 87 H in Kufa, which is possible. Shal ibn Sa’d as-Saa’de died in 88H in Madinah , which is Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 59

again not possible. Abu Tufail Amir ibn Wattila died in 110H in Makkah and that again is not possible as Abu Haneefah did not travel outside of Iraaq. So there are no authentic reports that confirm his status as a Tabi’ee. His Shuyookh He was not famous for traveling in search of hadith which was an art in that time. The reason was because Iraaq was a center of knowledge and many famous Shuyookh would come there to learn and teach. Hammad ibn Abi SulaymanHe was the most influential teacher of young Abu Haneefah and Abu Haneefah stayed with him for 7 years and according to some reports, 18years. So when he was gaining knowledge, he confined himself to one sheikh and then once he developed his knowledge, he went to other schools. Hammad (May Allah’s mercy be upon him) was a student of Ibrahim An-Nakhai’ee, who was in turn a student of ‘Alqamah ibn Qays an-Nakhai’ee, who was in turn a student of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood. Abu Haneefah said: "I have never made a Salaah without making du’aa for Hammad or any Shaykh that I have studied with." After Hammad died, it was Abu Haneefah who succeeded him as the head of his Halaaqa. Gem: We should always make du’a for our shuyookh, and for all the people whom we have gained even the tiniest piece of knowledge from. Some say he was a "tajir" or a bisnessman/trader. Usually, people looked down upon him for this because students are supposed to concentrate on his students. But, and Allah knows best, it did not affect him at all in becoming a great Imam. Gem: This can be an inspiration for us part-time Al-Maghrib students as well to not make school an excuse for not learning. Umar ibn Abi Dhar was a contemporary scholar who considered Imam Abu Haneefah his Shaykh. Abu Haneefah’s mom considered Abu Haneefah as just a son even with his great knowledge so she would tell him to ask Umar questions even though he knew the answers. When Abu Haneefah came to Umar for questions, Umar said: "your mom told you to ask me? Ok, so what’s the answer to the question?" Then Abu Haneefah would give Umar the answer and take his own answer back to his mom on the authority of Umar. His Students Abu Yousuf Al Qadi (Ya’qoob ibn Ibrahim) - He became the first supreme judge in Islam and was chosen by the ‘Abbasids. In this position, he would clearly select people from his own school of thought because those were the ones he knew. Thus Hanafi Fiqh became the state-sponsored Fiqh but it was still not as evolved a Fiqh as it is today. He was also never afraid to express his view against rulers if he had differences, even with his grand position. Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan as-Shaibani – Being younger than Abu Yusuf, Muhammad took his knowledge from Abu Yusuf. He also interacted with Imam as-Shafi’ee and Imam Malik and followed them as well in many matters of Fiqh. Though Imam Abu Haneefah did not write his opinions of Fiqh down, Muhammad took his opinions and compiled them in to book form. Also, when you open Hanafi books of Fiqh, the opinions that are given weight are Abu Haneefah, Abu Yousuf, and Mohammed ibn Al-Hasan. Some also Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 60

include Imam Zafar ibn Hudail and so the opinions of the big three are weighed and if they differ, then they take the strongest opinion. So we learn the school of thought is not always just about the imam but also about their respective students. His Character Our hero was a merchant by profession, but he spent both ends of the day in teaching in the mosque. He was exemplary in his conduct both as a merchant and a teacher. For he was not only very honest in his commercial dealings, but he was very conscientious as well, to the extent that he would refuse any profit he felt uneasy about, even if it was a legitimate one. Was Imam Abu Haneefah a Muhaddith (scholar of hadith)? What was his status in hadith? Followers of his Madhab want to say yes because they do not want his status to get diminished. But the truth of the matter is he never claimed to be a scholar of hadith and so we take his word in this case over his followers. In his works, the total number of ahadeeth that have been counted by his later students are 215. THE USOOL OF MADHAB ABU HANEEFAH * – – : " ! " # $ %&' ()* + ,)* - . /0 &'1 2345 6 7# 8 %&' 9 )* :- ; 6 <=' > ? 345 6 @A BCDE F=- :- = G "9/H FIJ K$L 6 )C 6MI 6 6$N – > * )! )9/* ) – )9/* +O )9/* P Q ". Imam Abu Haneefah (May Allah’s mercy upon him) said: I take what I find in the book of Allah, then what I find in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah if I don’t find it in the Qur’an. If I don’t find it in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, I select from the statements of whomever I wish of his companions and leave whomever I wish, but I do not take other than their statements. Then when it comes to Ibrahim, ash-Sha’bi, al-Hassan, ibn Sireen, Sa’eed ibn AlMusayyab – and he counted a number of other Mujtahids – I make my own Ijtihaad as they did. His Usool:

Chapter 53 of 987 min read

13. Ibn Jareer At-Tabari 310H/917CE

١٣. ابن جرير الطبري (ت ٣١٠ هـ / ٩١٧ م)

He stayed in Tabaristan but reached up to Baghdad. He is considered one of the great Imams of all time and left the largest written history compilation but most of it was wiped out by the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols. He was the first one to write about Ikhtilaaf al fuqaaha. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 58

The Four Imams and Their Madhaahib THE IMAM OF FIQH Abu Haneefah an-Nu’man ibn Thabit ibn Zootta (80H-150H/702CE-767CE) It is not permitted for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got those views from. ~ Imam Abu Haneefah ( ,)ر اfrom Hashi’yat Ibn ‘Abideen " : !" " The most knowledgeable in Fiqh amongst people is Imam Abu Haneefah. I have never seen in Fiqh a man like him. ~ ‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak Fiqh in their times had a general definition which was using the Qur’aan and hadith to answer questions. #$ % &' " : () " People are totally dependent on the Fiqh of Abu Haneefah. ~ Imam Ash-Shafi’ee FROM THE LIFE OF THE IMAM His Lineage Imam Abu Haneefah’s father was a Muslim and his grandfather was a Persian who was the first to accept Islam. There is a debate whether his grandfather was a slave or not but Imam Abu Haneefah said that he was never a slave. It is said that his grandfather took his father Thabit to see ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib when he was in Kufa. ‘Ali made du’a for Thabit to be blessed and he had a blessed son (Abu Haneefah). His Early Life Some say he was born in Kufa and others say he was born in Al-Ambaar. (region that is the current center of Iraaq.) He was born in 80 H during the time of Khilafa Abdul Malik ibn Marwan and died in 150 H during Khilafa of Abu Ja’far al Mansoor. Therefore, he was able to witness the change of the government through the Ummayyids and the ‘Abbassids, and thus matured through this. Was Imam Abu Haneefah a Tabi’ee? A Tabi’ee is someone who lived during the time of the sahabah and were Muslim, they met a companion once in his life, and they died on Islam. Anas ibn Malik died in 90H in Basrah so he could not have met him as he did not travel. Abdullah ibn Abi Awfa died in 87 H in Kufa, which is possible. Shal ibn Sa’d as-Saa’de died in 88H in Madinah , which is Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 59

again not possible. Abu Tufail Amir ibn Wattila died in 110H in Makkah and that again is not possible as Abu Haneefah did not travel outside of Iraaq. So there are no authentic reports that confirm his status as a Tabi’ee. His Shuyookh He was not famous for traveling in search of hadith which was an art in that time. The reason was because Iraaq was a center of knowledge and many famous Shuyookh would come there to learn and teach. Hammad ibn Abi SulaymanHe was the most influential teacher of young Abu Haneefah and Abu Haneefah stayed with him for 7 years and according to some reports, 18years. So when he was gaining knowledge, he confined himself to one sheikh and then once he developed his knowledge, he went to other schools. Hammad (May Allah’s mercy be upon him) was a student of Ibrahim An-Nakhai’ee, who was in turn a student of ‘Alqamah ibn Qays an-Nakhai’ee, who was in turn a student of ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ood. Abu Haneefah said: "I have never made a Salaah without making du’aa for Hammad or any Shaykh that I have studied with." After Hammad died, it was Abu Haneefah who succeeded him as the head of his Halaaqa. Gem: We should always make du’a for our shuyookh, and for all the people whom we have gained even the tiniest piece of knowledge from. Some say he was a "tajir" or a bisnessman/trader. Usually, people looked down upon him for this because students are supposed to concentrate on his students. But, and Allah knows best, it did not affect him at all in becoming a great Imam. Gem: This can be an inspiration for us part-time Al-Maghrib students as well to not make school an excuse for not learning. Umar ibn Abi Dhar was a contemporary scholar who considered Imam Abu Haneefah his Shaykh. Abu Haneefah’s mom considered Abu Haneefah as just a son even with his great knowledge so she would tell him to ask Umar questions even though he knew the answers. When Abu Haneefah came to Umar for questions, Umar said: "your mom told you to ask me? Ok, so what’s the answer to the question?" Then Abu Haneefah would give Umar the answer and take his own answer back to his mom on the authority of Umar. His Students Abu Yousuf Al Qadi (Ya’qoob ibn Ibrahim) - He became the first supreme judge in Islam and was chosen by the ‘Abbasids. In this position, he would clearly select people from his own school of thought because those were the ones he knew. Thus Hanafi Fiqh became the state-sponsored Fiqh but it was still not as evolved a Fiqh as it is today. He was also never afraid to express his view against rulers if he had differences, even with his grand position. Muhammad ibn Al-Hasan as-Shaibani – Being younger than Abu Yusuf, Muhammad took his knowledge from Abu Yusuf. He also interacted with Imam as-Shafi’ee and Imam Malik and followed them as well in many matters of Fiqh. Though Imam Abu Haneefah did not write his opinions of Fiqh down, Muhammad took his opinions and compiled them in to book form. Also, when you open Hanafi books of Fiqh, the opinions that are given weight are Abu Haneefah, Abu Yousuf, and Mohammed ibn Al-Hasan. Some also Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 60

include Imam Zafar ibn Hudail and so the opinions of the big three are weighed and if they differ, then they take the strongest opinion. So we learn the school of thought is not always just about the imam but also about their respective students. His Character Our hero was a merchant by profession, but he spent both ends of the day in teaching in the mosque. He was exemplary in his conduct both as a merchant and a teacher. For he was not only very honest in his commercial dealings, but he was very conscientious as well, to the extent that he would refuse any profit he felt uneasy about, even if it was a legitimate one. Was Imam Abu Haneefah a Muhaddith (scholar of hadith)? What was his status in hadith? Followers of his Madhab want to say yes because they do not want his status to get diminished. But the truth of the matter is he never claimed to be a scholar of hadith and so we take his word in this case over his followers. In his works, the total number of ahadeeth that have been counted by his later students are 215. THE USOOL OF MADHAB ABU HANEEFAH * – – : " ! " # $ %&' ()* + ,)* - . /0 &'1 2345 6 7# 8 %&' 9 )* :- ; 6 <=' > ? 345 6 @A BCDE F=- :- = G "9/H FIJ K$L 6 )C 6MI 6 6$N – > * )! )9/* ) – )9/* +O )9/* P Q ". Imam Abu Haneefah (May Allah’s mercy upon him) said: I take what I find in the book of Allah, then what I find in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah if I don’t find it in the Qur’an. If I don’t find it in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, I select from the statements of whomever I wish of his companions and leave whomever I wish, but I do not take other than their statements. Then when it comes to Ibrahim, ash-Sha’bi, al-Hassan, ibn Sireen, Sa’eed ibn AlMusayyab – and he counted a number of other Mujtahids – I make my own Ijtihaad as they did. His Usool: