Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit (r.a.) was a Sufi Shaykh

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit (r.a.) was the founder of the Hanafi madzhab.  It was reported by Imam Muhammad Amin ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abidin (r.a.), in ad-Durr al-Mukhtar, that Imam Abu Hanifah (r.a.) said, “If it were not for two years, I would have perished.  For two years I accompanied Ja’far asw-Swadiq, and I acquired the spiritual knowledge that made me a gnostic in the Way.”  He was referring to his shaykh, Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad asw-Swadiq (q.s.). 

This was further explained by Imam ibn ‘Abidin (r.a.): “Abu ‘Ali ad Daqqaq received his path from Abu al-Qasim al-Naswirabadi, who received it from ash-Shibli, who received it from as-Sirri as-Saqathi, who received it from al Ma’ruf al-Karkhi, who received it from Dawud ath-Tha’i, who received the knowledge, both the external and the internal, from the imam, Abi Hanifah.”  Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Hasan ibn ‘Ali ad-Daqqaq (q.s.) was the shaykh of Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Huzan al-Qushayri (r.a.).