Alouddin
03-06-2004, 04:23 AM
All praise is for Allah Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon Muhammad (Salallahu-a'laihi wassallam), his pure family, his companions and all those who strive to follow in their footsteps till the last day. To proceed :
Al-Nu`man bin Thabit al-Taymi, Al-Imam Abu Hanifah was born in Kufa, Iraq, in the year 80 AH. He was lucky to be born in the second generation of Islam, since he had the opportunity to learn from some companions of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and many renowned scholars of the second generation. It has been pointed out that Abu Hanifah was the first to codify Islamic law or jurisprudence (commonly known as Fiqh) compiled from the Quran and the Sunnah.
Our hero was a merchant by profession, but he spent both ends of the day in teaching in the mosque. He was exemplary in his conduct both as a merchant and a teacher. For he was not only very honest in his commercial dealings, but he was very conscientious as well, to the extent that he would refuse any profit he felt uneasy about, even if it was a legitimate one. Once a lady came to his store and requested him to sell a silk dress for her. He asked her about the suggested price for the dress. When she told him “100 dirhams”, he told her that it was worth more than that. She could not believe that until it was sold for her before her own eyes for 500 dirhams. On another occasion our hero warned his partner not to sell a certain garment due to some defects in it. Somehow his partners forgot and sold that garment. When our hero knew that, he decided to give out in charity all the money earned that day, and he broke the partnership with his friend who sold the defective garment even though inadvertently.
As a teacher, our hero used to support all his needy students in order for them to devote all their time to learning. His encouragement of education made him very generous even to scholars. It is reported that when he wanted to buy clothes for himself or his family, he would do the same for some of the scholars he knew. In fact, our hero's generosity reached everyone that came in contact with him. One day he was walking down the street when he noticed a man trying to hide from him. Abu Hanifah asked the man, “Why are you trying to hide from me?” When he was told that he owed our hero 10,000 dirhams and was embarrassed because he could not pay the money to him, our hero informed the man that he no longer wanted the loan back. He further asked the man to forgive him for causing him so much trouble and feeling of embarrassment!
As a typical man of piety our hero was very kind to all his acquaintances, whom he visited when ill and inquired about when absent. A very interesting case is reported in the encounter between our hero and his drunkard neighbor, who would get drunk and keep singing aloud all night long causing so much annoyance to Abu Hanifah. Once the police caught the man (the noisy neighbor) and took him to prison. Abu Hanifah noticed that night that the neighborhood was quiet. So he inquired about his noisy neighbor. Upon knowing of his neighbor's imprisonment, he rushed to the governor of the city interceding for his neighbor who was immediately released. Not only that, Abu Hanifah gave the man some money to compensate for the earnings he lost due to imprisonment. The drunkard was so impressed with this kind attitude and treatment that he decided to repent and devote his time to learning the message of Islam in the mosque.
Imaam Abu Hanifah's fear of falling into fault made him refuse all the offers made by governors and the Caliph to appoint him in public offices, including the post of a judge. For that reason Caliph Abu Ja`far al-Mansoor ordered that Abu Hanifah be put in jail where he died in the year 150 AH.
But even if our hero died in prison, his name is still very much alive in the memory of Islamic history and millions of the followers of his school of thought and others all over the world.
Imaam Abu Hanifah is the first in Islam to organize the writing of fiqh under sub-headings embracing the whole of the Law, beginning with purity (taharah) followed by prayer (salah), an order which was retained by all subsequent scholars such as Imaam Malik, Imaam Shafi`ee, Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others.
Imaam Sufyan al-Thawri praised Imaam Abu Hanifah when he said: "We were in front of Abu Hanifah like small birds in front of the falcon," Both Ibn al-Mubarak and Sufyan al-Thawri said: "Abu Hanifah was in his time the most knowledgeable of all people on earth."
Imaam Ibn 'Abdul Barr relates in Al-Intiqaa' fi Fadaa'il ath-Thalaathah al- A'immah al-Fuqahaa' (p. 145) that Imaam Abu Hanifah said "It is not permitted for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got them." and encouraged people to follow the authentic hadith and learn the proofs and daleels (Proofs). Ibn 'Aabideen quotes in al-Haashiyah (1/63) that Imaam Abu Hanifah said "When a hadith is found to be sahih, then that is my madhhab."
fiqh.net
Al-Nu`man bin Thabit al-Taymi, Al-Imam Abu Hanifah was born in Kufa, Iraq, in the year 80 AH. He was lucky to be born in the second generation of Islam, since he had the opportunity to learn from some companions of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam), and many renowned scholars of the second generation. It has been pointed out that Abu Hanifah was the first to codify Islamic law or jurisprudence (commonly known as Fiqh) compiled from the Quran and the Sunnah.
Our hero was a merchant by profession, but he spent both ends of the day in teaching in the mosque. He was exemplary in his conduct both as a merchant and a teacher. For he was not only very honest in his commercial dealings, but he was very conscientious as well, to the extent that he would refuse any profit he felt uneasy about, even if it was a legitimate one. Once a lady came to his store and requested him to sell a silk dress for her. He asked her about the suggested price for the dress. When she told him “100 dirhams”, he told her that it was worth more than that. She could not believe that until it was sold for her before her own eyes for 500 dirhams. On another occasion our hero warned his partner not to sell a certain garment due to some defects in it. Somehow his partners forgot and sold that garment. When our hero knew that, he decided to give out in charity all the money earned that day, and he broke the partnership with his friend who sold the defective garment even though inadvertently.
As a teacher, our hero used to support all his needy students in order for them to devote all their time to learning. His encouragement of education made him very generous even to scholars. It is reported that when he wanted to buy clothes for himself or his family, he would do the same for some of the scholars he knew. In fact, our hero's generosity reached everyone that came in contact with him. One day he was walking down the street when he noticed a man trying to hide from him. Abu Hanifah asked the man, “Why are you trying to hide from me?” When he was told that he owed our hero 10,000 dirhams and was embarrassed because he could not pay the money to him, our hero informed the man that he no longer wanted the loan back. He further asked the man to forgive him for causing him so much trouble and feeling of embarrassment!
As a typical man of piety our hero was very kind to all his acquaintances, whom he visited when ill and inquired about when absent. A very interesting case is reported in the encounter between our hero and his drunkard neighbor, who would get drunk and keep singing aloud all night long causing so much annoyance to Abu Hanifah. Once the police caught the man (the noisy neighbor) and took him to prison. Abu Hanifah noticed that night that the neighborhood was quiet. So he inquired about his noisy neighbor. Upon knowing of his neighbor's imprisonment, he rushed to the governor of the city interceding for his neighbor who was immediately released. Not only that, Abu Hanifah gave the man some money to compensate for the earnings he lost due to imprisonment. The drunkard was so impressed with this kind attitude and treatment that he decided to repent and devote his time to learning the message of Islam in the mosque.
Imaam Abu Hanifah's fear of falling into fault made him refuse all the offers made by governors and the Caliph to appoint him in public offices, including the post of a judge. For that reason Caliph Abu Ja`far al-Mansoor ordered that Abu Hanifah be put in jail where he died in the year 150 AH.
But even if our hero died in prison, his name is still very much alive in the memory of Islamic history and millions of the followers of his school of thought and others all over the world.
Imaam Abu Hanifah is the first in Islam to organize the writing of fiqh under sub-headings embracing the whole of the Law, beginning with purity (taharah) followed by prayer (salah), an order which was retained by all subsequent scholars such as Imaam Malik, Imaam Shafi`ee, Abu Dawud, Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and others.
Imaam Sufyan al-Thawri praised Imaam Abu Hanifah when he said: "We were in front of Abu Hanifah like small birds in front of the falcon," Both Ibn al-Mubarak and Sufyan al-Thawri said: "Abu Hanifah was in his time the most knowledgeable of all people on earth."
Imaam Ibn 'Abdul Barr relates in Al-Intiqaa' fi Fadaa'il ath-Thalaathah al- A'immah al-Fuqahaa' (p. 145) that Imaam Abu Hanifah said "It is not permitted for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got them." and encouraged people to follow the authentic hadith and learn the proofs and daleels (Proofs). Ibn 'Aabideen quotes in al-Haashiyah (1/63) that Imaam Abu Hanifah said "When a hadith is found to be sahih, then that is my madhhab."
fiqh.net