A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Some have tried to discredit Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit (r.a.) by stating that not all ahadits had been compiled during the time of Imam Abu Hanifah ( r.a. ), implying that his opinion or ijtihad on many issues is not reliable.   Those who make this charge do not realise its implication.   If this statement had any weight in it, then nothing, even up to now can be considered to be proper, absolute and sound as not all sayings of the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) have ever been compiled.   This would also mean that whatever swahabah and tabi’in did is not sound either because compilation of ahadits did not even start in their era.   The compilation of ahadits was not concluded until the 5 th century with Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi ( r.a. ) being the last of the great recognised muhadditsin to compile ahadits with his own asanid .   This means that any doubt thrown on the veracity of Imam Abu Ha...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is my answer to a Quora question: “ What is the view of the 4 major a’immah of fiqh on Sufism? ”   Sufism, otherwise known as taswawwuf , or ‘irfan , is the field of spirituality, one of the religious sciences.   It is neither a distinct sect, nor can it be divorced from Islam.   A Sufi is a master of this field of the religious science.   A practitioner of Sufism is not actually a Sufi, any more than any person who studies fiqh , jurisprudence, is automatically a faqih , jurist.   Almost every major scholar of Sunni Islam either subscribes to some of the doctrines of taswawwuf , or had teachers who did.   In effect, they were almost all Sufis.   The founder of the Maliki madzhab , Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Malik ibn Anas ( r.a. ) said, “Whoever practices taswawwuf without learning shari’ah corrupts his faith, while whoever learns shari’ah without practicing taswawwuf corrupts himself. ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   Imam Abu Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ath-Thahawi, ( r.a. ) wrote his ‘Aqidat ath-Thahawiyyah to faithfully propagate the views of Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ).   He wrote, “We do not consider any of the people of our qiblah to be unbelievers because of any wrong action they have done, as long as they do not consider that action to have been lawful,” meaning that the commission of sin does not negate the shahadah unless there is the belief that a sin is not a sin.   And he wrote, “Nor do we say that the wrong action of a man who has belief does not have a harmful effect on him,” meaning the affirmation that sins have a consequence even for a Muslim.   And he wrote, “We hope that Allah ( s.w.t. ) will Pardon the people of right action among the believers and Grant them entrance into the Garden through His Mercy, but we cannot be certain of this, and we cannot bear witness that it will definitely happen and t...

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 shayk...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ A preacher in an Amritsar mosque claimed that he was more learned than Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) because he remembered more ahadits .  This fact was brought to the attention of Mawlana ‘Abd al-Jabbar al-Ghaznawi ( r.a. ), who was his teacher.  Mawlana ‘Abd al-Jabbar ( r.a. ) rusticated the offender from his school, and predicted that he would become an apostate.  After a week, he became a follower of the deviant, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.  Someone later asked Mawlana ‘Abd al-Jabbar ( r.a. ), how he knew that that this man, called ‘Abd al-‘Ali would apostatise, he replied. “I was reminded of a hadits , from Swahih al-Bukhari , which Allah ( s.w.t. ) states, ‘I Declare war on the enemies of my friends.’”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Muhammad Amin ibn ‘Abidin ( r.a. ) said that Shaykh Abu ‘Ali Hasan ibn ‘Ali ad-Daqqaq ( q.s. ), the shaykh of Imam Abu al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Huzan al-Qushayri ( r.a. ), received his path from Shaykh Abu al-Qasim an-Naswir Abadi ( q.s. ), who received it from Imam Abu Bakr Dulaf ibn Jahdar ash-Shibli ( q.s. ), who received it from Shaykh Abu al-Hasan as-Sirri ibn al-Mughallis as-Saqathi ( q.s. ), who received it from Khwaja Abu Mahfuzh Ma’ruf ibn Firuz al-Karkhi ( q.s. ), who received it from Shaykh Abu Sulayman Dawud ibn Nuswayr ath-Tha’i ( q.s. ), who received the knowledge, both the external and the internal, from Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) himself.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Muhammad Amin ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abidin ( r.a. ) said, “ Fiqh was planted by ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, irrigated by ‘Alqamah, harvested by Ibrahim an-Nakha’i, threshed by Hammad, milled by Abu Hanifah, kneaded by Abu Yusuf, and baked by Muhammad ash-Shaybani.   As a result, the Muslims are nourished by this bread.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) said, of Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad asw-Swadiq ( q.s. ), “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.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Hammad ibn Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) said, of his father, Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ), “My father was very handsome, dark, had good posture, would wear a lot of perfume, was tall, would not speak except in reply to what someone else had said, and he would not involve himself in what did not concern him.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) wrote, in al-Fiqh al-Akbar , “The believers are equal in iman and tawhid , but they vary in their deeds.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) said, “Do not follow vain desires, for verily he who prospers is preserved from lust, greed and anger.”

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم Imam Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak ( r.a. ) said, “Imam Abu Hanifah visited Madinah on the 12 th Rabi’ al-Awwal, and I saw him distributing drinks to the children of Madinah and telling them to rejoice as it is the day of Rasulullah ( s.a.w. ) was Sent to us.”

‎ بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) described his own experience at the maqam of Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit (r.a.) ( r.a. ): “I derive blessing from Imam Abu Hanifah, and I visit his grave every day.  When I face a problem, I offer two rak’ah of prayer, and visit his grave, and I pray to Allah ( s.w.t. ) to Solve my problem.  And I have not even left the place that my problem is solved.”   Hafizh Khathib al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ash-Shafi‘i ( r.a. ) related the incident, with a sound chain of transmission, in his Tarikh al-Baghdadi .  Imam Shibab ad-Din Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hajr al-Haytsami ( r.a. ) recorded this, in al-Khayrat al-Hisan fi Manaqib al-Imam al-A‘azham Abu Hanifah ; Imam Muhammad Zahid ibn Hasan al-Kawtsari ( r.a. ), in Maqalat , and Imam Muhammad Amin ibn ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abidin ( r.a. ) in Radd al-Muhtar ‘ala Durr al-Mukhtar .

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ It is safe to say that, in Sunni Islam, the madzhab of the Ahl al-Bayt , or most directly linked to them, is the Hanafi madzhab .   Imam al-A’azham , Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) gained much knowledge from Imam Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Baqir ( q.s. ) as well as his son, Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad asw-Swadiq ( q.s. ).   In Swirath an-Nu’man , it is written that “Abu Hanifah sat for a long time at Imam Muhammad al-Baqir’s feet and acquired from him much valuable knowledge of fiqh and ahadits , not available anywhere else.”     Even Shi’ah books fully attest to this fact and much more.   Imam Jamal ad-Din al-Hasan ibn Yusuf Muthahhar al-Hilli ( r.a. ), a famous Shi’ah scholar, wrote in his books, Nahj al-Haqq , and Minhaj al-Karamah fi Thariqa’ al-Imamat , that Imam Abu Hanifah ( r.a. ) learned from Imam Muhammad al-Baqir ( q.s. ) as well as from his son, Imam Ja’far asw-Swadiq ( q.s. ), attaining high grades in...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Hafizh Khathib al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Ali ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) narrated, in Tarikh al-Baghdadi , that the swaduq , truthful, Qadhi al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali as-Saymari ( r.a. ) narrated to them, that the tsiqah , trustworthy, Imam ‘Umar ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Muqri ( r.a. ) told him, that the trustworthy Shaykh Makram ibn Ahmad ( r.a. ) told them, that Shaykh ‘Umar ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ( r.a. ) told them, that the trustworthy Shaykh ‘Ali ibn Maymun ( r.a. ) told them, “I heard ash-Shafi’i say, ‘I swear I seek the blessing of Abu Hanifah, and come to his grave every day.  Whenever I have a certain need, I pray two rak’ah, then I come to his grave and ask Allah ( s.w.t. ) for my need at his grave, and little time passes until it is fulfilled.’”   Imam ash-Shafi’i ( r.a. ) never met Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ).  He was born on the day the latter passed away.  However, he did study under Imam Abu Hanifah’s ( ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ We all see things through our cultural prism.  It is a rare person, even amongst the ‘ulama who can see beyond that.  Therein lies the greatness of the likes of Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ) and the other a’immah of the madzahib of fiqh that people do not appreciate.  They took the religion of the Arabs and made it the religion of the world.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The Wahhabi sect says “ al-istawa’ ”, “establishment”, means “ al-istiqrar ”, “literal settlement” upon the ‘Arsh .  ibn al-‘Utsaymin said, regarding istawa’ , “We know the meaning of istawa’ and we believe it and accept it, and He is upon is His Throne, and His Establishment thereupon is of aboveness and settledness.  We do not know the modality of this al-istawa’ .”   “ Istiwa’ ” is a Divine Act in the translation of Imam Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Husayn al-Bayhaqi’s ( r.a. ) al-Asma’ wa asw-Swifat .  The Wahhabi sect deny the position of the Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah .  The Wahhabi sect took from the earlier, heretical position of  Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah  ( r.a. ), and assert that “settledness” takes place over the Throne.  Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) asserted that Allah ( s.w.t. ) descends, and can be above, fawq , and below, taht ; “without how”.  He claimed, false...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Although they were both students of Imam Ja’far ibn Muhammad asw-Swadiq ( q.s. ), Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ), and Imam  Abu ‘Abdullah  Malik ibn Anas ( r.a. ), differed on the role of speculative fiqh .  Imam Abu Hanifah ( r.a. ) encouraged it, while Imam Malik ( r.a. ) strongly discouraged it.  When Imam Malik ( r.a. ) challenged Imam Abu Hanifah ( r.a. ) on this, Imam Abu Hanifah ( r.a. ) cited the example of a man who went to war, and his wife received news that he was killed.  She then married again, but her husband returned.  Who was the husband then?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Regarding Imam Abu Hanifah Nu’man ibn Tsabit ( r.a. ), Shaykh Bishr ibn Harits al-Hafi ( q.s. ) said, “None criticises Abu Hanifah except an envier or an ignoramus.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Speaking about Imam Abu ‘Abd ar-Rahman ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak ( r.a. ), Imam Quthb ad-Din Mahmud ibn Dhiya ad-Din ash-Shirazi ( r.a. ) said, “He learned fiqh with Malik and ats-Tsawri, and he was the first of Abu Hanifah’s companions.  Then, he left him, and abandoned his madzhab .”   Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Wadhdhah ( r.a. ) said, “In the end, he avoided mentioning Abu Hanifah in his books, and he did not read his work to people.”   All the people here are great scholars.  It does not mean they were all friends, or got along.