The True Picture Concerning The Criticism Levelled Against Imam E Aa’Zam (Radiyallahu Anhu)

[wasim raza]

Abdullah Ibn Mubarrak said:

‘He was the Greatest of all

those who was well-versed

in Islamic laws’. Imam Shaf’i

said: ‘All those who study

Fiqh, are children of Imam

Abu Hanifah’ (Islamic law).

Imam Yahya Bin Mau’een

said: ‘there are no

accusations on Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh,

and he is clean from all

lies’. Whoever wants to

learn Fiqh, he is dependent

upon Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh. The

people should pray for

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh after

their prayers. He was the

one of the greatest scholars

on the earth. When he used

to recite the Qur’an at night,

he used to cry so much that

his neighbours used to pity

him. The place were he

died, Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh read the

Qur’an seventy thousand

times. He died on 15 Rajab,

150 A.H. At his funeral,

there were so many people

that the Salaah of Janazah

had to be read six times.

May Allah grant him peace

and Blessings.

[Tazkarra Al Hufaz, Tarikh

Ibn Kathir, By Hafidhh Dhabi

and Hafidhh Ibn Kathir,

“biography of Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh]

 

 

 

 

Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyyah says:

There is no doubt regarding

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh’s

knowledge, people later

attributed many lies to

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh, which

were all untrue. The aim of

such writings was to taint

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh.

[Minhaaj Al Sunnah Al

Nabaweea, Vol./1, page. 259,

By Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyyah]

Hafidhh Ibn Al Qayyim says:

Imam Abu Hanifah would

not do Qiyyas, even if he

found a weak Ahadith. There

are two types of Qiyyyas:

1) Which is against the

Qur’an and the Sunnah, this

is not permissible:

2) One that is in the light of

Qur’an/Sunnah, this is

permissible, our Prophet

[May Allah bless Him and

grant Him peace] also gave

permisiion to Ma’az Bin

Jabal to do Qiyyas.

[Aalmul Muaqqeen chap

Qiyaas]

Why is it then today, after

such great scholars like

Hafidhh Dhahabi and

Hafidhh Ibn Kathir who have

corrected such erroneous

lies against Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh,

that people still propagate

such vile accusations?

A review of Islamic history

reveals that when Allah

Almighty bestows any

extraordinary scholar with

His blessings, you can be

sure that they would not

have respite from

distortions, slander and lies

that are leveled against

them. Imam Abu Hanifah

was one of those great

scholars of Islam against

which such attempts were

made. It is apparent, from

the history books that Imam

Abu Hanifah, (like the three

Orthodox Sunni Mujtahid

Imams; Imam Malik, Imam

Shafi’ee, and Imam Ahmed)

had many enemies.

Why did they have enemies,

one may ask? Many of those

who argued against and

attacked them, were from

misled Sects, such as the

Khawarij. There were also

those from amongst the

court of the Khalif who for

one reason or another, had

opened their hearts to

jealousy, but as such, had

the support of the court and

their stances were often

enough not questioned

With such ferocity, and by

the number of accusations

leveled against Imam Abu

Hanifah (Rahmatullah) it is

unfortunate to say that

some of these accusations

did have an effect on a few

simple minded Muslims. It

should be said that they

cannot be entirely at fault,

since even with the case of

Aisah (Radiallaho anha.) we

recall that even some of the

Companions were convinced

of these false accusations.

However, this incident was

no small matter. It resulted

in Allah Ta’ala sending

Revelation as a warning to

those companions who

believed the accusation.

Allah Ta’ala questioned them

that upon hearing the

accusations, why did they

not reject such slander?

To some extent, we can also

say that similarly to the

erroneous accusations that

were leveled against Aisha

that were shown to be

baseless. Imam Abu Hanifah

(Rahmatullah) also faced

such accusations, that have

been mentioned by various

pious people of later

generations in their books.

We should thus learn from

the incident involving Aisha

(May Allah bless her and

grant her peace]) that we

should not accept

accusations from the

enemies of Imam Abu

Hanifah (Rahmatullah) such

as the Kawarij and the

Mutazilah. Whenever people

utter words of malice and

indulge themselves in

accusations against Imam

Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah)

they never mention that the

majority of them are found

to stem from two particular

misled Sects – namely the

Khawarij and the Mu’tazilah.

Rather, people end up

mentioning two particular

people. They are Imam

Bukhariand Khatib al

Baghdadi.

[wasim raza]

1) Imam Bukhari has stated:

Imam Abu Hanifah

(Rahmatullah alayh) was a

Murji’i.

[Al Tareekh Al Kabir under

the life history of Nauman

Bin Thabit]

Imam Bukhari also writes:

The time when Sufian Thuri

(great scholar of Islam)

heard news about the death

of Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh he said

‘Praise be to Allah that such

a man had died as he was

gradually destroying Islam.

There could not be a worse

person born in Islam’.

[Tareek Sagheer biography

of Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh]

Imam Bukhari also writes

that :

On two occasions Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

was ordered to repent from

making blasphemous

statements.

[Khitab Al Daufa Walmat

Rukin by Imam Bukhari, Al

Intiqa By Imam Abdul 'barr]

Imam Bukhari informs us

that he had taken these

statements from his tutor

Na’eem bin Hamad.

[Tareekh Al Saghir by Imam

Bukhari]

Imam Bukhari was so

impressed by his tutor, that

he never mentioned or used

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh as a

reference for his book “As

Sahih Al Bukhari” Although

whenever he did mention

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh he

referred to him as Kufi

(Nicknamed from his

homeland – Kufa).

Before we proceed any

further, it is important to

refer to one particular

accusation against Imam

Abu Hanifah (Rahmatullah)

which was that he belonged

to a deviant sect called the

Murji’i. To answer this, we

first need to see what

character Imam Abu Hanifah

(Rahmatullah) possessed.

Importantly, who gave Imam

Bukhari information

regarding Imam Abu

Hanifah (Rahmatullah) and

In Sha Allah, we will

demonstrate that he was not

a Murjie and pinpoint from

where this false accusation

came from.

I have mentioned that

Naeem Bin Hammad

conveyed this information

to Imam Bukhari, but before

proceeding any further, let

us take note of what

Hafidhh Dhahabi, Hafidhh

Asqalani and Kateeb al

Baghdadi have written in

connection to Naeem bin

Hammad.

We learn that Naeem Bin

Hammad was a famous

Scholar from a reion called

Marau. He had sight in one

eye only. During the later

part of his life he went to

live in Egypt. At first, he

belonged to a sect called

Jahmiyya, and was an active

member. He then later left

this sect and wrote a book,

which was the first book to

use the science of Musnad.

These were a compilation of

narrations by the Sahaba,

which were placed in an

alphabetical order,

according to whom he had

narrated the Hadith. During

this particular period, the

Umma used to question

whether the Holy Qur’an

was Makhluq (created).

When this question was put

forward to Naeem Bin

Hammad he did not give an

explanation. He was then

sent to prison along side

Yaqub Faqia. He died in 228

Hijra. It was noted that no

Janza [funeral prayer] was

prayed over him and he was

buried without a Kaffan

[shroud].

[Tazkaratul Hufaz, Khateeb

Baghdadi and Tahzeeb al

Tahzeeb, by Hafidhh

Dhahabi, Hafidhh Asqalani

and Khateeb , biography of

Naeem Bin Hammad]

This is a brief overview of

his life and now we shall

examine as to what status

he held as a scholar. We

shall do this by looking at

what Hafidhh Dahabi and

Hafidhh Asqalani have

written, since they compiled

together all the works by

previous scholars who had

written concerning Naeem

Bin Hammad. What follows,

are their accounts:

 

 

 

 

 

Imam Abu Dawud said that:

Naeem Bin Hammad, had

attributed 20 Hadith to the

Prophet [May Allah bless

Him and grant Him peace]

which he in fact had never

said, thus being fabricated

sayings.

Here are two examples of

such fabrications:

1) Abu Huraira reported

that:

The Prophet of Islam [May

Allah bless Him and grant

Him peace] had said: “A

time would come, when if

you adhered to ten percent

of Allah’s commands you

will succeed, and if you

leave this ten percent you

will die. (spiritually, not

physically).

The Prophet [May Allah bless

Him and grant Him peace]

had never uttered such

words, this is a Munkar

narration.

2) Abu Huraira narrated

that :

The Prophet [May Allah bless

Him and grant Him peace]

had said: “A time will come

when my Ummah will be

split into more than 70

sects. The worst will be

those who indulge in Qiyyas

(analogical deduction) in

matters of uncertainty.”

Abu Zur’a said : “I asked

Imam Yayha bin Mu’een,

where did Naeen bin

Hammad get this Hadith? He

answered that it has no

origins and that this is not a

Hadith but has been

invented. Whatever Naeem

Bin Hammad had said about

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh were all

lies and had no substance.

Abu Zur’a said that

whenever Naeem Bin

Hammad would narrate a

Hadith of the Prophet [May

Allah bless Him and grant

Him peace], he would add in

his own words in the

Hadith. Whenever he would

narrate a fabricated Hadith

he would attribute it to the

“great Imam of Hadith.”

Daar Qutni said that

whenever Naeem used to

mention a fabricated Hadith,

he would do so to support

the Sunnah. He had a lot of

Munkar narrations, which

other Imams did not have.

[Mizan Al Etedaal, and

Tahzeeb Al Tahzeeb, by

Hafidhh Dahabi and Hafidhh

Asqalani, biography of

Naeem Bim Hamaad]

Imam Bukhari took his

narrations from Naeem Bin

Hammad for his book, Sahih

al-Bukhari and Tareekh.

Since Naeem Bin Hammad

received criticism from

amongst the Muhaditheen

likewise, Imam Bukhari also

received criticism for his

book of Hadith from the

scholars of Hadith.

This overview concerning

the character of Naeem Bin

Hammad will allow us to

understand that he was not

a reliable Hadith expert in

the eyes of the Scholars of

Hadith. Now we shall

elaborate upon the

statements made by Imam

Bukhari about Imam Abu

Hanifah (Rahmatullah) by

noting what the scholars of

Hadith had to say

concerning him.

From this we can

demonstrate that Imam

Bukhari’s Tarikh is in no way

free from error, nor did it

remain uncriticised from

hadith scholars. As a result,

it would be unfair to

“blindly” accept everything

that has been written in it

as the absolute Truth.

By now, it should have been

made obvious that the

person that gave Imam

Bukhari (ie Naeem Bin

Hammad) information

regarding Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

was unreliable. The

Muhaditheen tell us that he

used to make up fabricated

Hadith of the Prophet [May

Allah bless Him and grant

Him peace], and he also

made false stories about

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh. As we

are told not to believe in his

narrations, similarly, we

should not accept those

statements regarding Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

alayh since they are all lies,

according to Hafidhh

Dhahabi and Hafidhh

Asqalni.

Anyone who has read the

the history of Islamic

scholarship accepts and

understands that criticisms

were not only made against

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh but were

also made against many of

the Muhaditheen. The

simple principal is, that

when accusations are made

against any of the great

scholars of Islam, who have

the respect from the

majority of the Umma those

accusations are rejected. We

shall provide you with some

examples:

Accusation made against

Imam Bukhari.

 

 

 

 

Hafidhh Ibn Hajar Asqalani

stated:

Imam Bukhari was accused

of saying that the Qur’an

was Makhluq (Created) but

in reality he was saying the

words that we are reciting

are Makhluq (Created). In

one meeting a question was

posed to Imam Bukhari, as

to whether the Qur’an is

Makhluq or not? He replied,

that whatever we do is our

doing, and our doing is

Makhluq. When the Ulema

heard about this everyone

ceased to communicate to

him, except for Imam

Muslim and Ahmad Salma.

However, Imam Muslim

stopped taking any

narrations from Imam

Bukhari. Imam Muhammad

Ibn Yahya (who was the

teacher of both Imam

Muslim, and Imam Bukhari)

was also against Imam

Bukhari on this issue. He

then wrote many letters to

various scholars informing

them about Imam Bukhri’s

belief of the Qur’an. The

result of this was that

wherever Imam Bukhari

traveled the people would

always harass him. Imam

Bukhari prayed to Allah that

He would take his soul into

the next life. As a result

from the fear of the

scholars Imam Bukhari

never clarified whether the

Qur’an was Makhluq or not

to the Scholars of the

Kharasaan.

[Tahzeeb Al Tahzeeb by

Hafidhh Asqalani]

From this incident, you can

see what Imam Bukhari

implied something else, but

what people understood it

to be was something else. It

went so far that Imam

Bukhari made Du’a for

himself, “O Allah Take me

away from this world” and

Allah accepted his Du’a and

he passed away; Both

Hafidhh Asqalani and

Hafidhh Ibn Kathir have

mentioned in their books.

The same happened to

Imam Abu Hanifah: as he

used to say one thing and

the Khawarij and Mutazilah

interpreted it as a

completely different thing.

Another accusation:

 

 

 

 

Hafidhh Asqalani writes:

Imam Bukhari also had

another teacher whose

name was Ibn al Madini.

Imam Bukhari used to

attend his classes (Kitaab Al

Ilaal) from which Ibn Al

Madini used to teach from a

book. This book was very

precious to him and he

would not allow anyone to

come near it. One day, Ibn

Al Madini went to visit some

of his property and Imam

Bukhari saw this as an

opportunity to obtain the

book. He went to Ibn Al

Madini’s son and persuaded

him with some money to

part with the book for a

short while. Once Imam

Bukhari received the book

he took it to be copied

hastily. By the time Ibn Al

Madini had returned, Imam

Bukhari had returned the

book. When classes

resumed and Ibn Al Madini

began to read from the

book, he asked a question

to his students. Before he

finished the question Imam

Bukhari had already

produced the correct answer

(which was from his book).

Ibn Al Madini then realized

that Imam Bukhari had seen

the contents of his book.

The shock of this behavior

from Imam Bukhari sent Ibn

Al Madini into a state of

illness, from which he later

died.

Hafidhh Ibn Al Asqalani

after writing this account

said that he did not believe

it and then he gave the

reason. He said that this

was against the status of

Imam Bukhari.

[Tahzeeb Al Tahzeeb, under

“Life History of Imam

Bukhari,” by Hafidhh Ibn

Asqalni]

Imam Muslim writes that:

Hadrat Abbas and Hadrat Ali

(Radiall hu anhu) had a

dispute between each other,

so thay went to the

Khaleefah of the time, i.e.

Hadrat Umar (Radiall hu

anhu) to settle their dispute.

Hadrat Abbas (Radiall hu

anhu) said, concerning

Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu anhu)

“O Ameer-ul-Mu’mineen,

judge between me and this

liar, sinner, disloyal person,

betrayer” Hadrat Umar

(Radiall hu anhu) then made

his judgement in their

affair.

[sahih Muslim baab-ul-fayy]

Hafidh Ibn Taymiyyah

writes:

Hadrat Ibn Mas’ud, and

Hadrat Uthmaan (Radiall hu

anhu) used to verbally abuse

each other. Hadrat Ammar

bin Yaasir said to Hadrat

Uthmaan that Uthmaan, had

become a kaafir. Hadrat Ali

(Radiall hu anhu) once asked

Ammar, “Do you not deny

the God who Uthmaan

worshipped?” Once, Husaid

bin Huzair said to Sa’d bin

Ubaidah, “You have become

a munaafiq and you support

the munaafiqeen!” In this

way other Sahaba used to

do this to each other but we

know that when one pious

person accuses another

pious person it has no

effect on his status.

[Minhaaj-as-Sunnah,

chapter, ikhtilaaf-us-sahaba,

by Hafidh Ibn Taymiyyah]

Sayyed Mawdoodi writes:

The scholars of Hadith

criticized each other

throughout history, but they

were human and so have

made mistakes. The reason

for this was because

sometimes a scholar may

not like another scholar for

a personal reason. This is

why we see in history that

scholars have criticized each

other in strange ways. An

example is of Ibn Abdul

Barr, who wrote in his book

Jaami’al-bayaan, Imam

Hummad had once said that

the scholars of Hijaaz have

no knowledge. He also said

that our children know more

than them. He also said that

Imams Ataa ibn Rubaah,

Tawoos, and Mujaahid had

no knowledge. Imam Zuhri

said, whilst commenting on

the scholars of Makkah, he

had never seen anyone

break the walls(i.e the rules)

of Islam more than the

scholars of Makkah. Even

though great Sahaba and

Taabe’een were resident in

Makkah.

We know that Shaabee and

Ibraheem Nakhee were great

scholars but they used to

attack each other. Shaabee

said “Look at at Ibraheem

Nakh’ ee! He asks me

masaa’il by night and

preaches to the people in

the morning as though it is

his own research!” Ibraheem

Nakhee said: “Look at

Shaabee! He is a liar, and

narrates Hadith from

Masrook, but he has never

met him!” Imam Dahaaq

once boasted that he know

more than the companions.

Imam Sayyid bin Jubair once

said that Shaabee was a liar.

He also said about Imam

Ikramah that he is the

student of Abdullah bin

Abbas and he attributes

false Ahadith to ibn Abbaas.

Imam Malik said about

Muhammad bin Is-haaq that

he is was one of the dajjaal.

Imam Malik also said about

the scholars of Iraq that

they have become like the

people of the book, so don’t

say that they are speaking

the truth or that they are

lying. Imam Abdullah bin

Mubarak once said, “I don’t

consider Imam Malik to be a

scholar” Imam Abu Hanefah

said about Imam ‘Amash

that he has never kept the

fast of Ramadhan nor taken

the bath of major impurity.

Imam Yahya bin Mu’een has

criticised the high-ranking

scholars of Hadith. He has

even said that Imam Shafi’ is

weak in Hadith. This is the

situation of the scholars of

Hadith but the strangest

thing is that human

weaknesses even overcame

the Sahabah. For this reason

the Sahabah used to

critisize each other. An

example is Abdullah bin

Umar, who when was told

that the Witr Salaah was not

compulsory by Abu

Hurairah, said that Abu

Hurairah was a liar.

Hadrat A’isha (Radiall hu

anha) once said the Anas

bin Malik and Abu Sa’eed

Khudree do not know

anything

About Hadith as they were

children at the time of the

Prophet [May Allah bless

him and grant Him peace].

Once Hasan bin Ali (Radiall

hu anhu) interpreted a verse

of the Qur’an and someone

said that ibn Umar and

Abdullah bin Zubair have

given another interpretation.

Hasan then said that they

are both liars. Hadrat Ali

(Radiall hu anhu) once said

that Mugheerah bin Shubah

is a liar. Ubaidah bin Thabit

said that Mas’ood bin Aws

Ansaari is a liar, even

though he fought in the

battle of Badr.

If one wants to investigate

this matter further one can

read the history of jarh-ut-

ta’deel. These books have

critisised other scholars.

The reason for this is that

they were human and had

human weaknesses and so

sometimes they would call a

weak scholar a good scholar,

and vice versa. It is

necessary to refer to these

books carefully before

making any presumptions

about a particular scholar.

[Tafheemaat, chapter,

maslak-e-it’daal, by Sayyed

mawdoodi]

It is proved, from the

above, that if a scholar

claims something about

another scholar then we

cannot say that his claim is

always correct. The only

thing that we can conclude

is that the claim is only the

scholar’s personal view. If

we say that the claim is

always correct then we

would have to accept every

scholar’s word, which is

impossible. An example is

that of Hadrat Abbas

(Radiall hu anhu) claiming

that the Ali (Radiall hu anhu)

was a liar, sinner, and

betrayer. We cannot accept

that Hadrat Ali (Radiall hu

anhu) was actually that

which Abbas (Radiall hu

anhu) said. This is because

we know about the

greatness of Hadrat Ali

(Radiall hu anhu) who was

neither a liar nor betrayer.

He was one of the ten who

was given glad tidings of

Jannah (Paradise) in their

lifetime and the fourth

Khaleefah of Islam. We

know also that Imam Malik

was a great scholar so no-

one can accept Abdullah bin

Mubaarik’s claim that Imam

Maaik was not a scholar. We

also do not accept Imam

Yahya bin Mu’een’s claim

that Imam Shaafe’ee was

weak in Hadith. In the same

way, no-one can accept the

claims made against Imam

Abu Hanefah by following

what some scholars say

about him. In short, we

have to see what the

majority of scholars have

said about a particular

scholar and then accept or

reject their opinions.

[wasim raza]

2) Khatib al Baghdadi:

His correct name was Abu

bakr Ahmed Bin Ali Al

Khatib Al Baghdadi and he

passed away 463 Hijra.

Khatib Baghdadi was a great

scholar of Hadith wrote

many books on Usul-al-

Hadith (principles of Hadith)

but his most popular book is

Tareekh Baghdad, (written in

14 volumes). The copy that I

am using was issued in Al

Maktaba Salfia Al Madina Al

Manawara. If we look at

volume 13 under the life

history of Nauman Bin Sabit

(name of Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh) there

are two chapters on Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

alayh.

In the first chapter he

writes how the other

scholars have praised Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

alayh and in the second

chapter he talks about what

the enemies of Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

said about him. Khatib

Baghdadi said that I

personally recognized the

greatness of Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

and his knowledge. It is my

right that where I have

mentioned his excellence I

can also bring forward the

opinions of the people who

were against him. The

enemies of Imam Abu

Hanifahh do not mention

those narrations, which are

in praise of Imam Abu

Hanifahh. They only mention

Khateeb’s narration, which

are against him- and imply

that al Khateeb too was

against the Imam.

Before we go further, at this

point it can be concluded

that whatever has been said

against Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh cannot

be accepted as the truth:

Our Shaykh Shah Abu Al

Hassan Zaid Farooqi Naqsh

Bandi said: “In 1931 I was in

Egypt. In that period an

article was published in the

popular newspaper Al

Ahraam that Khateeb’s

Tareek has been published

and will be available soon.

In his Tareekh there is one

chapter against Imam Abu

Hanifah. Al Azhar decided

that it was upon themselves

to respond to this chapter

written by Khatib Baghdadi.

This response was then

printed in the footnote of

the book Tareekh Baghdad.

Upon reading the above

book and its footnote it is

clearly understood that the

said chapter is totally

untrue.

Furthermore it is noted that

whosoever reported

Khateeb’s accusations

against Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayy. We see

that in the same book he

also says that these

narrators are not

trustworthy. Moreover

Muhadis Al Asar Alama

Zahidul Al Kausri

(Rahmatullah Alai) wrote a

book called Taneeb Al

Khatib in which he clarifies

that truly these accusations

are false and notes that all

the evidences used were

from the same book Tareekh

Baghdad.

Now let us see what Khateeb

says about Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

in Tareekh Baghdad under

the biography of Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh.

(a number of examples are

taken)

1. Khateeb says Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

was from the Murj’iee

2. He says that Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

confirmed that Riba

(interest) is halal

(Permissible)

3. In Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh Halqas

(meetings) there was no

salutation

(Salaah/blessings) bestowed

on the Prophet [May Allah

bless Him and grant Him

peace].

3. Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayhs and his

students were like

Christians. (As’tagfirullah)

(Changing Qur’an and

Sunnah like the Christians).

4. Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayhs

followers said that his

knowledge was greater than

that of the Prophets [May

Allah bless Him and grant

Him peace]. (‘Astagfirullah’)

5. Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh used to

say that had the Prophet

[May Allah bless Him and

grant Him peace] been

present at his time he would

have taken his opinion (that

is He would have learnt

many things) from me.

(‘Astagfirullah’)

6. When a Hadith would be

presented he would reject

and say scrap this with the

pig’s tale.

[Tareekh Baghdad by

Khateeb Al-Baghdadi under

Nu’maan Bin Thabit]

We do not need to go any

further as you will have

already realised that this is

not acceptable by any

Muslim. From the above

accusations let us clarify

one thing that the other

accusations are very similar.

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh said that

if Usman Bathi Al Basri was

present in my time he would

have taken many of my

opinions but the above

narrator Khateeb al-

baghdadi removed Usmans

name and replaced it by the

Prophet [May Allah bless

Him and grant Him peace].

[Footnote, Tareekh Baghdad

chapter Abu Hanifahh]

Khateeb took this

information from Yusaf Bin

Sabat, Abi Nassar, Azdi, and

Al Wass Wassy, In the same

book, Khateeb also wrote

about these narrators, that:

One of them was who used

to make fabricated Hadiths.

One of them was weak in

the Hadith, the other was a

person who did not even

believe in Hadiths. One of

them was Qadari (Sect), one

of them used to make up

fabricated stories.

To prove that Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

was a Kaffir. From the

writings of Khateeb, we are

led to believe that Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

alayh was an atheist, Jew,

innovator, etc., etc., we seek

shelter in Allah, from this!!!

Now we shall review the

accusations that were made

against Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh who said

that he was a Murji’i. Who

were the Murji’ee? And who

called Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh one?

Allama Shahar Sattaani,

wrote in his famous book Al

Milal, that:

In the early days the Shi’ahs

began to propogate stories

against Abu Bakr and Umar

Radi Allaho unhooma.

During a period where there

were differences amongst

the Companions, the Shi’ahs

also made strange stories

concerning their differences.

It was also the time when

the Khawarij declared the

majority of Muslims, as

Kafir they believed that

whoever committed a major

sin was a Kafir. At this

time,the sahiah sect became

famous. They said that

differences that the

companions of the Prophet

[May Allah bless Him and

grant Him peace] had

should go without anything

said about them, we should

remain silent, and the

matter will be dealt with

Allah Sub Hana hu Wataala.

They also believed that

those Muslims who commit

a great sin (Kabiraa) are not

kafirs. Some of the Murji’e

believed that Imaan (Faith)

is embedded in the heart,

so that, if someone utters

blasphemous remarks, or

worships statues, or has a

belief like a Jew or Christian,

or worships whatever he

likes, he still is beloved to

Allah and a perfect Muslim.

They thus believed that if a

Kafir was to perform a good

act then he/she would

receive no benefit from it,

similarly, if a Muslim was to

indulge himself in

blasphemous he/she

remarks, or commits any

major sin, it would have no

effect on his/her Imaan. In

this way, they left all good

actions out and they openly

indulged themselves in bad

actions.

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh also said

that those who commit a

major sin were not Kafirs.

The enemies of Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

picked upon this point to

argue that he was a Murji’e.

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh openly

conducted good acts and

never said not to do good

actions. He also never

encouraged people that

worship what you like. The

Mutazillah called every one

who did not agree with

them concerning their belief

as Murji’e. The Khawarij, on

the other hand, argued that

the one who claimed that to

perform a major sin is not

to be a Kafir. In this way,

the Khawarij and Mutazillah

gave Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh the title

of Murji’ee. These two sects

not only called Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh a

Murji’e, but many other

great scholars of Islam,

such as: Hassan Bin

Muhammad, Sa’eed Ibn

Jubair, Talaq Bin Habib,

Umar Bin Murar, Mahaarib

Bin Wassaar, Maqaatil Bin

Sulimaan, Hamaad Bin Abi

Sulaimaan, called a number

of the scholars as Murji’e.

[Al Milal, By Allama Shahar

Sitaani, Madhab Al

Islammiya and Hiyaat Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

alayh, By Allama Abu

Zuhraar Misri]

If Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh was a

Murji’ee, it would have

become apparent in all the

Hanafi books that it is

permissible to worship the

cross, idols or you can be a

Christian, Jew etc. Why is it

then that in the Hanafi

books it is clearly stated

that to worship idols, the

cross etc., is Kufr? (See the

books of Hanafi Fiqh)

Why is it also, that there is a

special book, which explains

what punishments are

expected for those who

perform bad acts? If you

take any book concerning

Hanafi Fiqh, you will see two

chapters dedicated to

explaining what things can

make you a Kafir. The other

chapters will deal with the

punishments’ that those

people will receive who

indulge themselves. In acts

of adultery, stealing and

other evil acts. This is a

clear proof that those who

claim that Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

is a Murji’ee, is repeating

those accusations made by

the Khawarij and the

Mutazalah are wrong.

There is another accusation

made by people that Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

alayh knew only seventeen

Hadith. Let’s examine what

little truth this bears but

before we go further lets

see the sources from which

Imam Abu Hanifah

Rahmatullah alayh extracted

his information.

Hafidhh Iban Al Qayyim

states:

Allah Soob ha Na hu

Wat’aala sent the Prophet

[May Allah bless Him and

grant Him peace] to teach

Islam. During that early

period those that learnt

became known as

companions which were

over hundreds of

thousands, out of which one

hundred and thirty (130)

gave more Fatwas than the

rest. There were seven

amongst the companions

that gave the highest

number of Fatwas. Those

seven were Umar Bin

Khatab, Ali Bin Abu Talib,

Abdullah Bin Masaud, Umul

Momineen Aisha, Zaid Bin

Sabet, Abdullah Bin Abbass,

Abdullah Bin Umar Radi

allahounhoom. Umar sent

Abdullah Bin Masaud to

reside at Koofa. This was

because Abdullah Bin

Masaud had great

knowledge. Prophet [May

Allah bless Him and grant

Him peace] said in a

statement that he was great

scholar.

Once two groups of people

came from Syria and Koofa

to visit Umar. Umar gave

gifts to both groups and the

group from Koofa asked

Umar “why is it that we have

received less than the

Syrians.” Umar replied: ‘Did

I not give you Abdullah Bin

Masaud which is the

greatest of all gifts’.

Abdullah Bin Masaud often

said that I know about every

Surah in the

Qur’an and further who and

what it was revealed for, if I

know a person that knows

more than me I must go to

him and learn from him.

Ibn Umar used to say Ibne

Masaud is filled with

knowledge. Imam Ibn Jareer

says that there is no other

companion whose students

wrote all his Fatwas and his

Fiqh, except Abdullah ibn

Masuood. After a short

while hundreds of other

companions also went to

Koofa to reside there. Later

when Ali became Khaleefah

he also moved to Koofa that

is how Koofa became the

capital of the Islamic State.

This then influenced further

companions to move to

Koofa. Koofa became one of

the center points of

knowledge of the

Companiuns. At that time

the most popular school

was of Ali and Abdullah Bin

Masaud.

Later on some people

started to attribute

fabricated narrations linked

to Ali. Which is why the only

acceptable narrations of Ali

are those which are through

his generation and through

students of Abdullah Bin

Masuad. Ali and Abdullah

Bin Masaud had many

popular students like Umar

Bin Sharjeel, Masrooq, Al

Qamma, and others. And

then Abraham and Hammad

Bin Suleiman became their

students and Imam Abu

Hanifah Rahmatullah alayh

became their student.

[Aalam Al Muwaqqaiy-een

Chapter Qiyyas by Hafidhh

Ibn Al Qayyim]

Imam Ibn Sa’ad says:

One large group of

Companions started to

reside in Kufa, There were

more than five hundred

companions residing in

Kufa. That is why Umar Radi

allaho unho said that Kufa is

the center of the treasure.

(Faith) Kufa was the center

at that time of knowledge.

[Tabaqat Ibn Sa'ad volume 6

chapter Kufa]

In the very same Kufa Imam

Abu Hanifah Rahmatullah

was born. In the same

place, he acquired his

knowledge, he saw and

learnt from the Companions

and learnt from the

Tabe’een. To learn more

knowledge he often

travelled to Makkah, Madina,

Syria, Yemen and Basra.

How can it be said that he

only knew seventeen

Ahadith? It is like saying to

a Hafidhh of the Qur’an that

he knows Surah Fatiha only!

Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyyah

writes that:

Amongst the Scholars there

were those who are Scholars

of Ahadith, and some that

were Scholars of Fiqh. The

Scholars who are

knowledgeable of both

Ahadith/Fiqh are Imam

Sahfi’, Imam Ahmed, Imam

Ishaq, Imam Abu-Yusuf,

Imam Abu Hanifah.They also

had a very high status which

was suitible for all of them

Rahmatullahe ajmaeen.

[Kitab Al Istegatha page 13

by Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyya]

When Hafidhh Ibn Taymiyya

writes and accepts that

Imam Abu Hanifah was a

scholar in Ahadith, and fiqh,

then how can his followers

discredit Imam Abu Hanifah,

and say that he only knew

seventeen Ahadith?

Ibn Khaldun has touched

upon the accusation that

Imam Abu Hanifah knew

only seventeen hadith. He

has written about it in his

book At-Muqadmah. He

writes that this accusation is

completely false as, Imam

Abu Hanifah’s student Imam

Abu Yusuf and Imam

Muhammad narrated a great

number of Hadith from

Imam Abu Hanifah. Which

they have written in their

books, and they have

written two books where

they have accumulated all

the Ahadith that they

narrate from Imam Abu

Hanifah; (the name of the

books are Kitabul Al Athar

by Imam Abu Yusuf, and

Kitabul Al Athar by Imam

Muhammad.) More-over all

the narrations of Hadith are

accumulated in one book,

which is called Jamie Al-

Masaneed by Imam Abu

Hanifah the famous scholar

of Hadith/Fiqh. Imam Abu

Hanifah is one of the first

people who have dictated

books on Hadith/Fiqh. The

Hadiths which Imam Abu

Hanifah has narrated, he

heard them directly from

the Companions or the

Tabeen (Student of the

Companions) He was the

first Imam in Hadith/Fiqh,

Imam Bukhari, Imam

Muslim, Imam Nasai, Imam

Tirmizi, Ibn Majah, etc, etc,

they all came a very long

time after him, So that is

why his status should be the

highest of all of them. From

the famous scholars of

Hadith/Fiqh he is the only

one who is a Ta’bee (Who

have seen the Companions)

This Privilege was awarded

to Imam Abu Hanifah and

not to Imam Malik Imam

Sahfi’, Imam Ahmed, Imam

Bukhari, Imam Muslim,

Imam Abu Dawood, Imam

Tirmizi, etc, etc, He was

unique in this privilege

Lastly I make Du’a that may

Allah Soobha Nahu Wata’ala

grant all the scholars the

best possible place in

Paradise. They worked hard

for Islam and spent their

lives gathering information

and passing it on to us,

especially Imam Abu

Hanifah, may Allah Soobha

Nahu Wata’ala fill his grave

with (Noor) light.

May Allah Soobha Nahu

Wata’ala accept what I have

written and if I have made

any mistakes may He forgive

me. Amin.