IMAM ABU HANIFA was the son of a Persian merchant, born in 699 A.C. at Kufa, Iraq. He was named Nu'man. He received his early education in the local Madressa where he learnt the Holy Qur'an. Later, he received training in the Hadith (sayings of the Holy Prophet)and in the Fiqh (the religious law of Islam).
He possessed uncommon intelligence and logical mind which was both sharp and brilliant. His memory was so good that he retained the knowledge he received from his teachers with remarkable accuracy.
Imam Abu Hanifa joined his father's business, wherein he showed scrupulous honesty and fairness.
His agent in another country once sold a consignment of silk cloth on his behalf but forgot to point out a slight defect to the customers. When Abu Hanifa learnt this, he was greatly distressed because he had no means of returning the money to the customers; so he immediately ordered the entire proceeds of the sale of the consignment of silk to be distributed to the poor.
Imam Abu Hanifa was keenly interested in education. He established a school at Kufa, which later became a famous College of Theology. Here the great master, Imam Abu Hanifa, lectured on religious subjects.
Fiqh, or Islamic law was systematically studied by his students under his guidance. A number of his devoted and highly intelligent students worked under him for thirty years, and it is their labour which gave us the Hanafi school of law, one of the four Sunni schools of law followed by a large section of the Muslims.
Imam Abu Hanifa was the most liberal of the four Imams. His system is likewise, the most flexible and adaptable. He saw Islamic law as an organic growth in which changes would be necessary from time to time as new conditions and new social tendencies and ideas demanded. He advocated the use of reason based on the Qur'an and the Sunnah in the consideration of religious questions.
In 763 A.C. al-Mansoor, the Abbasid ruler of Baghdad, offered him the post of Chief Qazi of the State, but the Imam declined to accept it and chose to remain independent.
In his reply to al-Mansoor, the Imam excused himself by saying that he did not regard himself fit for the post offered Al-Mansoor, who had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post lost his temper and accused the Imam of lying.
"If I am lying," the Imam said, "then my statement is doubly correct. How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a Chief Qazi?"
Incensed by this reply, the ruler had Imam Abu Hanifa arrested and locked in prison. Even there, Imam Abu Hanifa continued to teach those who were permitted to come to him.
In 765 A.C. Imam Abu Hanifa died in prison. So great was the number of people who came to pay their respects to this great scholar that his funeral service was performed six times before he was actually buried. |
