An Introduction to Hanbali Fiqh: The last of the great four Imams was Abu Abdillah Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal ash-Shaybani. He was born in Baghdad, 164 years after the Hijra and was raised by his single mother. His early Islamic education began by studying the fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifah under his student, Qadhi Abu Yusuf. At 16 he left to begin his rigorous study of hadith under teachers from all corners of the Islamic world. Ibn al-Jawzi narrates to us that Imam Ahmad had more than 414 hadith teachers. His favourite would prove to be none other than Imam ash-Shafi’i. This became apparent through the many similarities between Shafi’i and Hanbali fiqh. Methodology employed by the Madhab After 40 years of pursuing knowledge and gaining expertise in more than six disciplines of Islamic thought, Imam Ahmad finally settled down to begin issuing legal rulings (fatawa). The methodology used to derive these rulings was later codified by the students of the madhab as follows. 1. Divine Text (Quran & ahadith – narrations from the Prophet SAW) 2. The Rulings of the Companions of the Prophet SAW. 3. In cases of differing rulings from the Companions, Imam Ahmad relied on the ruling supported by divine text. 4. In the event that there was not any evidence from the previous sources, Imam Ahmad would prefer Mursal Hadith (narrations with an unknown narrator) or Hasan (li Ghayrihi) Hadith (narrations that are weak, but upgraded to ‘sound’ status due to supporting narrations). 5. Qiyas (analogical deduction), which was used out of dire necessity. What made the madhab of Imam Ahmad unique was his extensive focus on using daleel (evidence, proof) from the divine texts and narrations of the companions above any form of opinion, reasoning of analogizing. Many of his rulings began by “There are x number of ahadith concerning it…”. Additionally, while the students and founders of the other madhahib focused primarily on practical issues, Imam Ahmad stood out because of his added focus on aqeedah (creed, theology). His contributions to the science of Islamic Theology are innumerable, and are best left for a separate article on the topic. Furthermore, Imam Ahmad often refused to answer hypothetical questions. Ibn Muflih reports multiple instances of him rebuking questioners for posing such questions in al-Adab ash-Shar’iyyah. At the time, other teachers and jurists would go to the extent of formulating their own hypothetical questions and answering them. Also, as is apparent through his methodology, Imam Ahmad was very cautious when it came to “Ra’y” or forming rulings based on opinions. The Prevalence of the Madhab Of all four major schools of thought, the Hanabilah are the fewest in number. As-Suyuti reported that they were only found in pockets of Iraq and Sham (Syria, Jordan, Palestine). A few were also found in Egypt after the fall of the Fatimid Dynasty. This was primarily because since it was the last madhab to arrive on the scene, many of the judicial courts were already held by the Shafi’is or Hanafis, and the Maliki’s in North Africa. The spread of a madhab was dependent on the number of Qadhis (Judges) from the madhab that were accessible to the public. As accounted by adh-Dhahabi in zaghl al-‘ilm, the hanabilah had a trend of gaining knowledge and then abstaining from worldly stations (such as becoming a judge) in favor of asceticism (zuhd). As of late, the Hanbali madhab has gain increased prominence among the people of the Arabian peninsula due to the reformation lead by Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Wahhab. The establishment of many centers of learning in Saudi Arabia has allowed for the editing and propagating of the madhab throughout the world, thus ushering a modern day revival of the Hanbali madhab. Hanbali fiqh books here... kalamullah/umdah-al-fiqh.html
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:30:32 +0000
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