4. Abul-Hasan Al-Ash’ari 334H/947CE

He is the famous imam who started the asha’ri ideology but he went back to the aqeedah of ahlul Sunnah wal jamah. Spread of the Shafi’ee Madhab Originally it started spreading from Egypt. The shia who prevailed over Egypt almost wiped out the Shafi’ee school of thought. This was the home of the madhab, until time of Ayoubi state, starting with Salaahudeen who was a strict Shaafi and Ash’ari. He pushed education and extended reign to Syria, so Shaafi school was spread there. Then when the Ottomans took over, the dominant madhab became the Hanafi madhab, until the Hanbali’s came into Arabia. Islam came with the Shafi’ee merchants who spread it all the way down to South Africa, hence the spread of his madhab. Due to the debates in Iraq, the Shafi Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 75

school spread north to Dagestan, Azerbaijan. Yemenis took it to East and North Africa. Malaysia is considered the number one Muslim country following Imam Shafi’ee with almost 99% of the Muslims adhering to the Shafi’ee madhab. Leaders of AdDawlah Al Ghaznawi spread Imam Shafi’ee’s madhab to Hijaaz, Iran and Central Asia. Faqeeh Says… Did you know that Imam ash-Shafi’ee was the first to write a book on the science of the principles of Fiqh, Usool al-Fiqh, which was his book ar-Risalah? And did you know that he was the only Imam who left a written record of the Usool he followed in establishing his Fiqh? Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 76

IMAM AHL AS-SUNNAH Ahmad ibn Hanbal (164H-241H/778CE-855CE) "Do not follow my opinion, neither follow the opinion of Malik, nor ash-Sharfi’ee, nor Awza’I, nor ath-Thawri, but take from where they took." ~ Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal  رﺡ  اfrom I’lam al-Muqaqqi’een 4   "  $ %! : " @ /.52 ", $ , :  E  / > ,  %4; ". He, Imam Ahmad, memorized one million hadith, and the hadith he included in his Musnad were around thirty thousand. ~ Abu Zur’ah He memorized one million ahadith, not all were different, but each had a different narrator. It’s a wonder he didn’t mix up the narrators. Amongst those ahadith there were authentic ahadeeth, as well as weak and fabricated ones. His Lineage Ahmad ibn Hanbal AshShaybani; originally Arab. His Early Life His mother was traveling with his father when they were going on jihad towards the east and he was born in Maru, Khurasan. Then she took him back to Baghdad, which became home of the other Arab tribes as well. All of the Arabs would come with the Abbasids, to Baghdad. He grew up as an orphan and his mother raised him. It was reported that he was an intelligent child. She used to wake him up before fajr, get him ready and take him to the masjid. She would them come back later in the day to bng him back home. His early days built a strong resolve in him. He grew up in Baghdad, during the Golden Age of the Abbasid Dynasty. Part of the golden age was the big theological earthquake, from the time of Al-Mamun. He survived the time of eight Abbassid Caliphates, living for 77 years.