Abū Ḥanīfa

Savant

Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit is the first, in chronological order, of the four great imams of Sunni fiqh. Born in Kufa, Iraq, in 80 AH (699), he died in Baghdad in 150 AH (767), the same year that Imam al-Shāfiʿī was born. He is often called “al-Imām al-Aʿẓam”, “the greatest imam”. His school, ḥanafism, is today the most widespread in the Muslim world: it is in the majority in Turkey, the Balkans, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. A trader turned scholar Abū Ḥanīfa comes from a family of Persian origin. His father, Thābit, was a merchant in Kufa. The young Nuʿmān first trades in silk fabrics (al-khazz). There he acquired precise knowledge of contracts, prices, associations and market practices, which would later influence his legal thinking. It is reported that the scholar ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī, noticing his intelligence, encouraged him to frequent scientific circles. Abū Ḥanīfa then turned to study, without ever abandoning his activity as a merchant, which assured him his independence. Kufa, city of science Kufa was then one of the great intellectual centers of Islam. Many Companions had settled there, notably ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. Abū Ḥanīfa studied for about eighteen years with Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān, who himself had received the knowledge of Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, heir to the teaching of Ibn Masʿūd. When Ḥammād died, Abū Ḥanīfa succeeded him as head of his circle. He also met many scholars during his pilgrimages to Mecca and his stays in Medina, including ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ. A method based on reasoning Abū Ḥanīfa is often presented as the master of the “school of reasoning” (ahl al-raʾy). This does not mean that he neglected the texts. He himself summarized his method as follows: he first took the Book of God, then the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, then the words of the Companions; only then did he use his own effort of reflection. His method is based on: the Quran; the Sunnah; consensus (al-ijmāʿ); the opinions of the Companions; analogy (al-qiyās); legal preference (al-istiḥsān), which allows us to reject an analogy that is too rigid when it leads to injustice; custom (al-ʿurf). He was very demanding about the authenticity of the hadiths, especially in a region where many dubious stories circulated. Fiqh “by hypothesis” One of the originalities of Abū Ḥanīfa is to have developed fiqh taqdīrī, a law “by hypothesis”. He didn't just answer questions already asked: he considered possible situations in order to prepare the answers in advance. His teaching took the form of real discussion sessions. He would ask his students a question, listen to their opinions, sometimes debate for a long time, then the conclusion was written down. It can be seen as one of the first forms of collective legal work in the history of Islam. A man of piety and probity Biographers describe Abū Ḥanīfa as a man of great piety, who prayed long nights and recited the Quran abundantly. His honesty in business was proverbial. It is said that he instructed an associate to sell a piece of fabric by reporting a defect; the associate forgot to mention it. Abū Ḥanīfa then gave the entire sum of the sale as alms. He was also generous to his students, sometimes taking care of their needs so that they could devote themselves to study. Refusal of the office of judge Abū Ḥanīfa repeatedly refused the office of judge (qāḍī), which he considered too heavy and too exposed to the pressures of power. Under the Umayyads, the governor Ibn Hubayra had him whipped for refusing an official function. Under the Abbasids, the caliph Abū Jaʿfar al-Manṣūr in turn offered him the office of supreme judge. He refused again. According to many sources, he was then imprisoned in Baghdad, where he died in 150 A. His independence from power remains one of the striking traits of his personality. Its students and the school’s training Abū Ḥanīfa did not leave behind a major legal treatise written by his hand. His school has come down to us through its students, in particular: Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb, who became the first “judge of judges” (qāḍī al-quḍāt) under the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, author of Kitāb al-Kharāj; Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, who also studied with Imam Mālik and wrote the founding works of the school; Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl, renowned for the finesse of his reasoning by analogy. Thanks to Abū Yūsuf, the ḥanafi school became the reference school of Abbasid justice. It was later that of the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire. What scholars have said about him Imam al-Shāfiʿī is said to have said: “People, in matters of fiqh, are all indebted to Abū Ḥanīfa. » Imam Mālik, when asked about him, reportedly replied that he was a man so skilled in argumentation that he could demonstrate that a stone column was made of gold. His death Abū Ḥanīfa died in Baghdad in 150 AH (767). A huge crowd attended his funeral. He is buried in the neighborhood that today bears his nickname, al-Aʿẓamiyya, where the Abū Ḥanīfa mosque is…