Hanafi School of thought/islamic jurisprudence
Introduction of Hanafi School
Noman Ibn thabit,
Popularly known as Imam abu hanifa was born in Kufa in 80 century during the reign
of Abdul Malik Ibn Marwan, and Umayyad King. He studied Islamic Jurisprudence
in the city of Kufa, Makah and Madina under wide range of eminent teachers who
were Jurists, and traditionists Of the time. The prominent teacher of Imam Abu
Hanifa was Hamad Ibn Abi Sulaiman, who was himself of the disciple of Ibrahim
Nakhei. Imam spends 18 years under the guidance of Hamad where from he learnt the
fiqh of Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Masood and also received the Futwas
of Ibrahim Nakhei. He also met Imma Mohammad Bakir, the 5th Imam of
Shias and his son Imam Jaffer Al Sadik, a great Muslim jurist and the 6th
Imam of Itna Asharia Shias. He had interactions and dialogues with both of them
and acknowledged them as being great jurist of the time. Imam abu Hanifa
regarded both of them in high esteem. He heard that traditions of prophet [saw]
from Abu Abdullah ibn-ul Mubarak, As-shabi, Kathadah, Al A’mash and other men
of eminence in the branch of learning. After the death of Imam Hamad in 120 he
succeeded him as and started giving discourses in fiqh to the student and other
persons. His public lecturers in Kufah soon gave him fame as a great jurist. He gained
immediate notoriety as the Master of Jurisprudence thanks to his exceptional
reasoning and deduction skills, as well as the advantages of a sharp recall and
lucid comprehension.He
witnessed both rise and fall of Umayyad dynasty. He spent 52 years of his life
under Umayyad rule and 18 years under Abhashed rule.
Imam abu
Hanifa made his living As a cloth merchant and would bear all the expenses of
his full time pupils. He trained a class of jurists who were not only expert in
law but also were expert in various disciplines. Abu Hanifa preferred
discussion method over dictation and lecture method. Everyone was given an
equal chance of debating and discussing the legality of any issue which was put
forth. Everyone was free to give his opinion and counter opinion with arguments
from the Quran and Hadith. In this way the participatory approach was adopted
by Imam Abu Hanifa which allowed him to be listener, listener and teacher
simultaneously. After listening to all the discussions and opinions of
disciples on every aspect of the issue, the Imam would finally give his opinion
or judgements regarding the issues concerned.
Most of the
Times disciples would agree with the opinion of Imam. However, it also happened
that the disciples and Imam would differ with each other’s opinion. In such a
scenario all the opinions would be reduced in writing, which resulted in
preparing a vast literature on Hanafi jurisprudence. In 132 hijri he
constituted a committee of 40 men, among his main disciples for the
codification of laws. Of this committee yahya ibn zaid, hafs ibn ghiyath, abu
yousf, daud-at-tati, habban and mandal were men of great reputation and
traditionists, Zufar was noted for his power of deducing rules of law and qasim
ibn muim and Imam Mohammed were great Arabic scholars. The committee used to
discuss any practical and theoretical question that arose or suggested itself,
and to conclusions which they are agreed upon after a full and free debate were
duly recorded. It took 30 years for the code to be completed, Abu Hanifa never
accepted any post in the government of the time, therefore, became victim of
Umayyad and Abbasid rullers. Finally, the great jurist was put into prison by
Al Mansour, where he was poisoned to death in 150 hijri at the age of Seventy. Imam Abu Yusuf
and Imam Mohammed were his two main disciples and main promoters of Hanafi
School. So Hanafi school emerged on the works of Imam Abu Hanifa and his
disciples.
It is to be
noted that Imam Abu Hanifa’s personality and works have also been made
controversial at different times. Some people have gone so far in praising him
that they have raised him to the status of Prophet and companions and are not
ready to differ with his opinion in any case whatsoever. On the other hand,
there are people who allege him of deviating from Suratulmustaqeem, trampling
with the Sunnat of the Prophet [saw] and more importantly allege him of giving
Futwas without taking recourse to texts of Sharia. It is submitted that both
the views are unrealistic and unsound.
Silent features of Hanafi School:
- Quran is the first and foremost Source of deducting the form of rituals, bearing on civil and criminal laws, or for deducting the moral principles which should govern the case.
- Hadis as the second source. However, the scrutiny and reliability of Hadith were held in high esteem by Imam Abu Hanifa because of his piety. He had laid down very strict tests for checking the authenticity of traditions. He would not accepted hadith unless he was satisfied that the authority is beyond doubt. This is the reason many critics of Imam Abu Hanifa alleged him of using Qiyas more than hadith. However, it is to be noted that Imam in his life time rebutted this allegation. It is pertinent to mention that Iraqi jurists would check credibility Of Hadith not merely on the touchstone of authenticity of narrators but also other allied evidences like time, place, person, event, etc.
- He would rely more on the fatwas and narration of hadith transmitted through Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Abdullah ibn Masood as both had lived in Kufa. Hazrat Ali has transferred his capital from Medina to Kufa during his reign.
- The Reliance on the principle of Qiyas is the special character of Kufa school of Abu Hanifa. He elevated the status of Qiyas and used it frequently in the absence of authentic Hadith, or any sayings of the companions.
- This school affirmed the validity of Ijma in every age.
- The doctrine of Istihsan was evolved by this school, I.e. using the rule of law as needed in certain situations.
- Recognize the authority of local customs and usages as a source of law for the purpose to infer.
The
followers of this school are majority in number as compared to all other schools
of Islamic jurisprudence and are separate across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, China and parts of Russia,many parts of Central Asia, Egypt, Iraq,
Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and palastine.
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