Mufti Ziauddin Naqshbandi's address at Imam Azam Conference, Bengaluru

Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi Founder/Director of Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center addresses Imam Azam Conference at Bengaluru

A great conference - Imam A’adham Conference was organized at Masjid Amir Kaleemi, Mysore 26 road, Bengaluru, in which for special address from the North, Allama Maulana Zia Ul Mustafa Qadri Razawi Amjadi, founder/director of Jamia Amjadia and from the South Maulana Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi Qadri, Naib Shaykh Ul Fiqh Jamia Nizamia and founder/director Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center were invited. Maulana Muhammad Akbar Ali Khan ran the conference.

Mufti Sahab said that Imam A’adham (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) had spent his whole life in piety & fear of Allah SWT. Because of this, Allah SWT had expanded his heart. Allah SWT has granted Imam A’adham (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) extraordinary memory and juristic power. Through the blessings of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) Imam A’adham (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) worked out 83000 rulings. Imam A’adham (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) did not offer his opinion against the Holy Quran and the Hadith, but he worked out the rulings of the Shariah in the light of the Holy Quran and Hadith. Imam Sha’arani (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him), who is a Shafi’e, says about the rulings of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him): I have researched and compared, the rulings of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) or any of his students are extracted from the verses of the Holy Quran or the Hadith or the Traditions of the Sahabah or with the permitted Qiyas (analogical reasoning) on the Holy Quran and Hadith.

Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) was born in 80 A.H. and passed away into the presence of Allah SWT in 150 A.H. The books of Hadith are full of the Hadith narrated by his great students. Imam Bukhari (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him) has recorded 22 Hadith in Sahih Bukhari in which there are only 3 links between the narrator and the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam). This is a great honor for him, but in20 of these Hadith, Hanafi Hadith-Experts are his teachers. Makki bin Ibrahim is a Muhaddith (Hadith-Expert), a close student of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) from whom Imam Bukhari took 11 of these Hadith; from Abu A’asim Zahhak An Nabeel, Imam Bukhari (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him) took 6 of these Hadith; from Muhammad bin Abdullah Ansari, he took 3 Hadith. These Muhaddithin are the students of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) and the teachers of Imam Bukhari (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him). If these teachers of Imam Bukhari (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him) are removed then he will have only 2 Hadith of only 3 links with the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).

Mufti Sahab also said that one of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa’s (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) students, the great Muhaddith Abdur Razzaq, about whom the world of knowledge knows that he is a master extraordinaire in the sciences of Hadith. This one student has narrated 2496 Hadith, which are recorded in the books of Hadith- Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawood, Sunan Nasai, Jame Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan Darmi and Musnad Ahmed bin Hambal. He praises Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) and narrated Hadith from him in his Musannaf. Hadhrat Yahya bin Ma’in, holds such a great place in the sciences of Hadith that Imam Ahmed bin Hambal (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) used to say: If Yahya has not heard a Hadith, then that Hadith does not exist.” This great Muhaddith used to give the Islamic legal rulings (fatwa) on the Hanafi Madhhab. Reliable and authentic Fiqh is the Fiqh of Abu Hanifa. I have seen the Muhaddithin of my age following it. Of special note is that Yahya bin Ma’in is one of those Muhaddithin to whom Imam Bukhari (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him) showed his book, Sahih Bukhari, after completing it. When Yahya bin Ma’in endorsed it, only then he brought it before the world. If the followers of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa (May Allah SWT be well pleased with him) are called misguided and innovators (bid’ati) then the status of Sahih Bukhari, which has been endorsed by the students of Imam A’adham Abu Hanifa will also be harmed. Imam Bukhari (May Allah SWT shower His Mercy on him) has also taken Hadith from 21 Hanafi Muhaddithin. That is why for your good we advise you not to fall prey to sectarianism, but to trust the elders of the religion and benefit from their research. If anyone wants to carve out a new path for himself, then it’s their wish, but they have no right to taunt those who follow the guidelines laid down by the elders.

Mufti Sahab said: The Holy Quran and the Hadith are the base and the primary sources of Islamic law. They contain the answers to all questions that human beings may face in their whole life up until the end of the world. Even though, the Holy Quran is simple, it contains many things which cannot be understood; not only by common people but even by experts of language. Mere expertise over language does not give one mastery over law. Life is ever-changing and as such the rules governing it also change with the times. There are many things which are not explicitly mentioned in the Holy Quran and Hadith, but which are necessary today. For e.g. share business, fixed deposits, Islamic rules about insurance and other such rules. In these and such issues, we have to use the guidelines laid down by the Mujtahidin. Those guidelines have been laid down in the light of what the Holy Quran and Hadith say and what they demand.

Nowadays, the enemies of Islam are raising many objections about Islam. It is our duty to combine all our forces and answer to them and not that we fight among themselves.