The spread of the Hanafi School of Jurisprudence

The spread of the Hanafi School of Jurisprudence

 

Sufyan bin ‘Uyainah (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) says:  In the beginning, it was thought that the opinions of Abu Hanifa would not go out of Kufa, but within a short space of time, they spread all over the world.

 

Sufyan bin ‘Uyainah (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) is that person that it is written in Tadhkiratul Huffadh about him:   ‘Allama Al Hafidh Al Imam Al Hujjah.. and such honorifics.  It is also written that he performed 70 Hajj.  Many people would come for Hajj only to meet him.  There would be a huge throng of people before him.  Imam Ahmad (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) says:  I haven’t seen anyone who knows more Hadith than him

 

The extraordinary fame of the Hanafi School of Jurisprudence that Ibn ‘Uyainah (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) describes is not surprising, because not taking into consideration all other factors, only the fact that such a great Imam acknowledging it is by itself a powerful means.

 

Just think!  If he was so great an Imam that Hadith-experts would go to Hajj only to meet him, then what would other pilgrims and Hadith-experts think of the honor of meeting him?  It is also obvious that there must have been no other city or town from which people did not meet him.  When such a great Imam would praise Imam Abu Hanifa (May Allah be well pleased with him) and say:  Whoever needs jurisprudence (Fiqh) should sit in the company of the students of the Imam.

 

Just think!  How fast the Hanafi School must have spread in the Islamic world.  It spread so fast in such a short time that Hadith-experts felt envious about it.

 

Abu Nu’aim (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) says:  In the gathering of Abu Hanifa, for the whole day and a part of the night, there would be a huge crowd of students.  People would grudgingly become followers of the Imam.

 

Ibn Ma’een says about Abu Nu’aim (May Allah shower His Mercy on them) him:  I haven’t seen a better person than him and ‘Affan.  Ahmad bin Saleh says:  I haven’t seen anyone more truthful than him.

 

Just think of this!  The words of this great Hadith-expert prove that people would grudgingly enter the following of the Imam.  He just suggested the reason for this that people would crowd around him all day and for a part of the night.  After listening to the words of the Imam, a feeling of certainty would certainly develop in the just folk, which would make them followers of the Imam.  The reason behind the huge crowd of people was also this.  What can this following mean other than following the Hanafi School of jurisprudence?

 

As far as “grudgingly” is concerned, it obviously doesn’t mean that the Imam would force them to become his followers, as the Imam had no political or state power.  What it means is that the proofs given by the Imam would be so compelling that no one could dare deny them.  That’s why, forced by the proofs they would have to accept the words of the Imam.

 

Yahya bin Adam says that if Abu Hanifa had any desire for this world, then his words would not have been implemented in the whole world in spite of the jealous folk.  This means that in the whole Islamic world, the Hanafi School was followed.

 

How was it that the Hanafi School spread to the very borders of the Islamic world and even great Hadith-experts followed it, even though Imam Azam (May Allah be well pleased with him) had no personal power nor did the government help him in any way.  In fact, the government opposed him, because of which the Imam was jailed and was stopped from issuing edicts. 

 

The only reason that his opinions and edicts spread when the Imam himself was in such a pitiful state was that the truthfulness of the Imam and the compelling proofs affected the just temperaments of the elders of the religion, which made them follow the Hanafi School without anyone asking them to.

 

Yahya bin Sa’eed Qattan says:  The issues which people always need, there is no one to describe them except Abu Hanifa (May Allah be well pleased with him). 

 

Yahya bin Adam (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) says that the mosque of Kufa was filled with jurisprudence, Ibn Abi Layla, Hasan bin Salen, Shuraik and others were there but before Imam Azam, they paled and the kings and the rulers started giving judgments on the opinions of the Imam. 

 

In all the countries in the Islamic world, the words and opinions of Imam Abu Hanifa (May Allah be well pleased with him) were being acted upon.  This shows that in those days, people would mostly follow Imam Azam Abu Hanifa (May Allah be well pleased with him) and the Hanafi School of jurisprudence.

 

[Excerpted from Haqeeqatul Fiqh, Vol. 2]