4. Abul-Hassan al-Karkhi – 340H/953CE

He wrote one of the most important books on Hanafi Usool. Whether he was Murji’a or not should be referred to Shaikh Yasir Qadhi. "Any Ayaat or hadith that does not fall in to the Madhab of Abu Haneefah must be abrogated or have a different interpretation." He made a statement similar to the one above and this is heavily criticized by many scholars, especially Imam Shafi’ee’s students, who said this was an extreme view. Important Notes and History: Some say Imam Abu Haneefah died in prison because he would not accept the supreme judge position from the ‘Abbasids. After ‘Abbasids became more established, they did not force positions or allegiance so scholars became more. The Hanafee Madhab spread in India, Pakistan, As-Sham, central Europe, and parts in Egypt and Afghanistan. Students would still take from each other and this is why Madahib spread to so many locations with different opinions from their original Imams. When Abu Yusuf was spreading his opinion to the best of his knowledge, there was no established Hanafee Madhab. The Hanafee Madhab did not spread to North Africa and other areas because of what many say was political support for the Maliki and Shafi’ Madahib. At one time, Hanafee and Shafi’ee Madahib spread to the East to Baghdad and Hejaz. Then the Mongols came and wiped out Baghdad and some of the other regions of the East and adopted the Hanafee Madhab and made it the state religion. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 64

Ibn Hazm commented and said it is Madhab Abu Hanifah in the East and Imam Malik in the west. And abu Haneefah’s early students shared knowledge with other schools of thought and were objective in their learning but the latter students became more close-minded. There is a claim, according to Ibn Khaldun, that Persians accepted Hanafi Madhab because of its closeness and ease to their culture and because Abu Hanifa was Persian. This, however, does not seem to be the most valid reason and Allah knows best Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 65

IMAM DAR AL-HIJRAH Maalik Ibn Anas al-Asbahi (93H-179H/717CE-801CE) He was called Imam Dar al-Hijrah because he was born in Madinah, grew up in Madinah, lived in Madinah, never left Madinah, except for Hajj, and died in Madinah. When he was asked about this, he said that it was because he loved Madinah so much. Truly I am only a mortal: I make mistakes and I am correct sometimes. Therefore, look into my opinions: all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it and all that does not agree with the Book and Sunnah, ignore it. [Imam Malik ibn Anas  رﺡ  اfrom Jami’ Bayan al-‘Ilm wa Fadluh]   ! "  , $ %! : " (  ) * +,- ." /*,  !, ,  ". I have never seen any one full of wisdom and more fearful of Allah than Malik. ~ Abdur-Rahman ibn Mahdi 1  , /2,  $ %! : " "  " 34 " ( 456 7 , ". The most authentic chain of narrators is: Malik on the authority of Nafi’ on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar. ~ Imam Abu Dawood 8  $ " , $ %! : " 89: ,  ( -; * - ,

His Lineage Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Abi Aamir al-Asbahi. He was not the son of the Sahabah, Anas ibn Malik. His family was from Yemen but they migrated to Madinah. Some scholars say that his great grandfather lived in the time of the Prophet (Peace be upon him), but did not see the Prophet. He is therefore a Taabi’ee Mukhadamm. His grandfather had the honor of being one of the four who buried Uthman secretly in the middle of the night. His father, Anas ibn Malik was not known for any scholarship but he kept pushing him and his siblings to seek Islamic knowledge. His brother and paternal uncle were known for their knowledge of Hadith. His Early Life He was born during the time of the Ummayids, during the time of Waleed ibn Abdul Malik ibn al-Marwan and he died during the Abbassid era, during the time of Khaleefah Harun Ar Rasheed. His Shuyookh
AbdurRahman ibn Hurmuz was his shaykh for 7 years. During his lifetime, Imam Malik did not visit another shaykh. He influenced Imam Malik of one particular culture, "Nisful ilm la adree," meaning half the knowledge is (saying) I don’t know. Ibn Hurmuz said, "The scholar should teach his student to say ‘I do not know’ until they take this as one of their principles and final resort so if someone is asked about something they don’t know, then they say, ‘I do not know.’" Hence, if you do not know the answer, say ‘la adree.’ Nowadays people start off with saying ‘I don’t know,’ yet they continue in giving their opinion. Hence, Imam Malik was strictly Hijazi and did not give answers unless he was sure. Once he was visited by a man from Andalus and was asked 40 questions by him. He answered 2 and replied ‘la adree’ to 38 of them. The man became upset with him for he had traveled a great distance to see him.
Imam Rabee’a ibn Abi AbdurRahman who was also known as Rabee’a ibn Faroookh. Even though he lived in Madinah and was famous for being in a hijazi area, his methodology was Iraqi. He was nicknamed Rabee’a turRa’ee because of his extensive use of Ra’ee and reasoning. There are other Shyookh whom he studied under, but the above two influenced his madhab greatly. His Students
Imam AshShafi’ee
Muhammad ibn Hassan AshShaibani who was also a student of Imam Abu Haneefah. This teaches the flexibility and free exchange of knowledge, in addition to showing the love they had for knowledge. They would teach each other and learn from each other.
AbdurRahman ibn Qasim AlMisri. He accompanied Imam Malik for over 20 years in Madinah. When he was young he was married to his first cousin. He got an opportunity to study with Imam Malik but was troubled to leave his new wife. So, he gave her the option of either being divorced by him, or wait for him until his return. She chose the latter and waited for him. At that time they didn’t know she was pregnant. Eighteen years later his son came to Madinah with a caravan from Hijaz. He hugged his father who said, "I smell the scent of a son." This shows the patience of his wife. After Imam Malik’s death, AbdurRahman ibn Qasim AlMisri went back to Egypt and spread Imam Malik’s knowledge towards the West, including Andalus, and one of his students wrote Al Mudawwanah which is a fiqh authority of Imam Malik. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 67

His Character When his mother sent him to study under Rabee’, she said "Learn from his akhlaaq (manners) before your learn from his knowledge." This shows the importance of akhlaaq, which should precede knowledge. Some people have the knowledge, but they do not have the etiquette of sending the knowledge to others. You should show the sunnah in your akhlaq. He was a strong follower of the Sunnah. He lived in Madinah where the practice of Madinites could be easily traced back to the Sunnah. Because of his authority in hadith, whenever he would criticize a man in a chain of narration, no more narrations would be taken from that man. Khaleefah of the state would feed Imam Malik. He was the unofficial ameer of the city. People would follow Imam Malik’s example/opinion over that of the state, which in turn caused him trouble. When he would be asked a fiqh question, he would dress casually, however upon being asked about hadith, he would take a shower, use perfume, wear his best clothes and then give the answer. This was because he said fiqh could involve personal opinion whereas hadith was from Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He was very handsome and white in complexion. His face was so white that sometimes it would turn red. His favorite fruit was bananas (al mowz) because it was loved by Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and in Imam Malik’s opinion was that its very close to the fruits of Jannah since Allah says the fruit of jannah is available in all seasons and al mowz was available in Madinah all year round. The Story of his book of hadith (Al Muwatta’) He considered this book as the stepping stone to seeking the knowledge of the Messenger (Peace be upon him). The Abbassids made a rule that all citizens had to give baya’ or pledge to the state and if anyone breaks his pleadge, it’s as if he has divorced his wife. Imam Malik passed a fatwa saying this pledge is not valid. The ameer of Madinah tried to tell him not to publicize this, but Imam Malik would not comply, so he had him whipped which made his followers very angry. As a result, he was beaten publicly. Afterwards, Abu Ja’far al-Mansoor, Khalefah at the time, went to apologize to Imam Malik and punished the ameer of Madinah. He came to him and said "there are no other scholars except me and you, and I get busy with politics, and you, you should write a book." He suggested that Imam Malik compile a book which could be used as a constitution of the Abbasid Empire. He then gave Imam Malik some advice on how to compile it. Abu Ja’far said, "I want you to write this book, avoiding the concessions of ibn Abbas (muta’a, riba’a) and the strictness of Umar and the odd practices of Abdullah ibn Masoud (in going to ruku’, he would clasp hands between knees) and try to level it and pave it slowly." After Abu Ja’far died, Harun ar-Rashid, the next Khaleefah, wanted to put Imam Malik’s book in the Ka’ba. At the time, it was a normal custom to put things of value in the Ka’ba. Imam Malik said, "I don’t claim to have all the Sunnah in this book so do not put it in there." Some ulema consider this book to be the first of its kind in Islam. His Trial He was tested by Allah through a terminal disease, enuresis, where he wouldn’t be able to control his urine. He stopped going to the masjid and when he was asked about his reason for not going, he said "not everyone can expose his reason." He did not want to cause any najasah to the masjid of Raulullah (peace be upon him). He died in Madinah. THE USOOL OF MADHAB MALIK Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 68