1. Imam Abu Hanifah
The name of Imam Abu Hanifah is No’man bin Sabit Zooti. Abu Hanifah is his nickname. He was
born in 80 Hijri in Kufa, a city of present day Iraq. As a profession, his family was cloth merchant
and he also took in the same profession. A famous scholar of Kufa,Sha’bi apprehended his
sharp-mindedness and sought him to achieve education. So, he joined the prominent circle of
Hadhrat Hammad bin Abi Sulaiman and remained in his company till his demise. He benefited
from all the scholars of Hadith in Kufa. He traveled Hijaz many a times and learned from the
scholar’s and other educated ones. He benefited from Imam Malik in Medina and Imam Malik
also benefited from him. He had so many teachers among them are senior Tab’een (the
successor of the companions of Prophet) from Makkah, Medina, Iraq and Syria. He himself was
a Tab’ee, since he had the honour of visiting some companions of the Prophet (pbuh), though
he did not narrate from them. After the demise of Hadhrat Hammad, all of his students agreed
that Abu Hanifah, the youngest of them, is ablest among them to succeed their Shaikh. So they
forced him to take over his position. This circle had the grand collection of the derivation
method of Hadhrat Umar Farooq, traditions and fatwas of Hadhrat Abdullah bin Mas’ood,
rulings and thoughts of Hadhrat Ali and the Hadiths and traditions of scholars of Hadith in Kufa.
Imam Abu Hanifah was bestowed matchless mind, power of understanding and derivation,
expansion and depth in knowledge. He had good moral characters and held a high position in
fearing Allah, piety, righteousness and nobility.
He was prosperous, so he used to spend wealth wholeheartedly in the path of Allah. He was
famous in honesty in dealings and business. Because of these virtues, his circle of teaching
earned fame far and wide and prominent scholars started to attend his classes where this
generous teacher encouraged them and discussed the academic matters openly. He observed
the Umayyad sultanate and witnessed its decline. The Abbasid caliphate was established before
his eyes. Some Alvis also made armed efforts to gain power. Realizing them as able for the
position, he extended oral and financial support to them. When the Abbasid caliphate was
established the Caliph Mansoor offered him the post of Qazi, most probably, in order to test his
loyalty to his government. He denied it and as a punishment was whipped lashes at public place
and was put in to prison. He was then about seventy years old. He continued teaching while he
was in prison and the punishment of whips also continued. Ultimately, he died in prison in 150
H in the month of Rajab and was buried in the graveyard of Khaizuran.
2. Problems and solution
The Fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifah bears this characteristic that it was collectively formulated.
Hadhrat Umar Farooq populated the city of Kufa with keen interest and sent Hadhrat Abdullah
bin Mas’ood as teacher and Qazi with this letter: “O people of Kufa! I prefer you on myself by
sending Ibn Mas’ood.” So much of the companions turned to Kufa that it accommodated more
than one thousand companions. Hadhrat Ali Murtuza, the fourth Caliph of Islam, made it his
capital. Later, this city competed the cities of Makka and Medina in Hadith and Islamic sciences.
This city was newly built,therefore the new coverts, who were from urban background and
brought with them an asset of Greek and Persian sciences and philosophy, inhabited there in a
big number. The mixing of Arabs with Iranian culture created countless many new problems and
issues. On the other side, there came up so many sects due to political differences and
amalgamation of religions and nations. Some of them were secretly involved in anti-Islamic
efforts. One of these phenomena was to forge false Hadith. Every sect forged Hadith to support
its view. The cities of Hijaz; Makka and Medina,were secure from such kinds of special cases to
an extent .Hadhrat Umar Farooq had a special relation with Iraq. He himself sent Hadhrat
Abdullah bin Mas’ood to Kufa. Hadhrat Umar was given the title of Muhaddith from the Prophet
(pbuh) i.e. 'his tongue and heart spoke according to the revelation'. There were several verses in
the Glorious Quran which were revealed according to his opinion. Hadhrat Umar Farooq
prevented the companions to go out of Medina in his time of caliphate. He formed two groups
among the companions. He used to consult smaller group of the elder companions in special
cases. And, whenever there happened to occur any important matter he used to assemble all of
the companions for consultations. His style of derivation was that he used to deliberate in the
depth of the Quranand Hadith, used to keep the objectives of Shariah and the interest of the
Muslims before his eyes, observed the circumstances and used to reach a conclusion by
collective decision.
His interpretative judgments and Awwaliyaat (pioneering judgments)are well known, and they
not only played a key role to enliven the Islamic Shariah in the wide Islamic caliphate but also
provided a firm basis for his successors. This style of derivation was circulated in Kufa by
Hadhrat Ali and Abdullah bin Mas’ood. Hadhrat IbnMas’ood and his disciples, Alqamah and
Ibrahim Nakh’ee, on one hand applied strict laws in accepting narrations so that no false Hadith
is accepted. On the other hand, they avoided attributing Hadith directly to the Prophet (pbuh) and
liked to narrate attributing to companions and Tab’eens lest an incorrect meaning is associated to
the Prophet (pbuh). Thirdly, they applied their reasons and issued fatwas. These were the
characteristics and styles that Imam Abu Hanifah inherited.
