Imam Abu Hanifa

 

Imam Abu Hanifa

Nu'man bin Thabit bin Zuta bin Mahan at-Taymi (Arabic: النعمان ابت), better known as Abū anīfah, (Arabic: حنيفة) (born in Kufa, Iraq in 80 AH / 699 AD — died in Baghdad, Iraq, 148 H / 767 AD) was the founder of the Hanafi School of Islamic Jurisprudence.

Abu Hanifah was also a Tabi'in, a generation after the Companions of the Prophet, because he had met one of the companions named Anas bin Malik, and narrated hadith from him and other companions.[3]

Imam Hanafi is mentioned as the figure who first compiled the book of fiqh based on groups starting from purity (taharah), prayer and so on, which was then followed by scholars after him such as Malik bin Anas, Imam Shafi'i, Abu Dawud, Imam Bukhari .

Little Abu Hanifa often accompanied his father in the silk trade. However, unlike other merchants, Abu Hanifa had a habit of going to the Mosque of Kufa. Because of his brilliant intelligence, he was able to memorize the Qur'an and thousands of hadiths.

As the son of a merchant, Abu Hanifah later became a profession like his father. He gets a lot of profit from this profession. On the other hand, he has a very broad vision, extraordinary intelligence, and a very strong memorization. Some scholars were able to catch this phenomenon, so they encouraged him to go to teach the scholars like he goes to the market every day.

At the time of Abu Hanifa studying, Iraq, including Kufa, was busy with three scientific halaqahs. First, halaqah which discusses the main points of aqidah. Second, halaqah which discusses the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah, the method and process of collecting it from various countries, as well as discussion of the narrators and the possibility of their personal and history being accepted or not. Third, halaqah which discusses fiqh issues from the Qur'an and Hadith, including discussing fatawa to answer new problems that arose at that time, which had never appeared before.

Abu Hanifah engages in a dialogue about the science of penmanship, monotheism and metaphysics. Attending the study of hadith and its narration, so that it has a large contribution in this field.

After Abu Hanifah explored scientific fields in depth, he chose the field of fiqh as a concentration of study. He began to study various issues of fiqh by studying with one of the famous Shaykhs in Kufa, he continued to learn from him until he was finished. Meanwhile, Kufa at that time became a place of domicile for Iraqi fiqh scholars.

Abu Hanifah was very enthusiastic in attending and accompanying his teacher, it's just that he was famous as a student who asked a lot of questions and debated, and insisted on defending his opinion, sometimes making the shaykh annoyed with him, but because of his love for the student, he always found out about the condition of his development. From the information he obtained, finally the sheikh knew that he always wakes up at night, revives him with prayers and recitations of the Qur'an. Because of the amount of information he heard, the sheikh named him Al-Watad.

For 18 years, Abu Hanifah studied with Shaykh Hammad bin Abu Sulaiman, at that time he was 22 years old. Considering that he has had enough, he looks for the right time to be independent, but every time he tries to get away from his teacher, he feels that he still needs him.

Bad news came from Basrah for Shaykh Hammad, a close family member had died, while he was one of his heirs. When he decided to go to Basra he asked Abu Hanifa to take his place as a teacher, giver of fatawa and directs dialogue.

When Abu Hanifah took the place of Shaykh Hammad, he was bombarded with many questions, some of which he had never heard before, so he answered some of them and suspended others. When Shaykh Hammad came from Basra he immediately asked these questions, which were no less than 60 questions, 40 of which were the same as Abu Hanifah's answers, and differed in opinion on 20 answers.

From this event, he felt that there were still many shortcomings that he felt, so he decided to wait for the teacher in the halaqah of knowledge, so that he could correct for him the knowledge he had obtained, as well as learn what he did not know.

When he reached the age of 40, his teacher Sheikh Hammad died, so he immediately replaced his teacher.

Abu Hanifah not only took knowledge from Shaykh Hammad, but also many scholars during the trip to Makkah and Medina, including Malik bin Anas, Zaid bin Ali and Ja'far ash-Sadiq who had a great consensus on the problems of jurisprudence and hadith.

Caliph Abu Ja'far Al-Mansur said to his ministers, “I am in need of a judge who can uphold justice in our country, with qualifications he is not afraid of anyone in upholding the truth, best understands the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet. Who do you think deserves to occupy this position?", then the minister replied, "As far as I know, the most appropriate scholar to occupy this position is Abu Hanifah An-Nu'man, how happy we would be if he accepted this offer as a judge!", " Is it possible that someone can refuse if we ask for it?” asked the Caliph again, "As far as we know, he never submits to anyone's request, it seems he does not like to occupy a position as a judge, so send someone a messenger, hopefully his heart will be open, and accept this offer."

The Caliph then sent a messenger asking him to appear while offering him a position as a judge. Abu Hanifah replied, "I will do istikhara first, pray 2 rakats asking God for guidance, if my heart is open then I will accept it, if not then there are still many other jurisprudents that can be chosen from among them by the Commander of the Faithful."

As time went on, it turned out that Abu Hanifah did not come to see the Caliph, so he sent a messenger to ask him to appear, Abu Hanifah then went to see him but he decided to refuse the position of judge that was offered to him.

It turned out that the Caliph did not give up just like that, he swore that Abu Hanifah would accept the position as a judge that was offered, but Abu Hanifah still refused, saying, "O Commander of the Faithful, indeed I am not fit to occupy the position of judge," then the Caliph even replied, " You lie!” so Abu Hanifah said, "If you have judged me as a liar, then indeed liars do not deserve to be judges, and you should not appoint your people who do not meet the qualifications to occupy this strategic position. O Commander of the Faithful, fear Allah, and do not delegate trust except to those who fear Allah, if I do not get a guarantee of satisfaction, how will I get a guarantee of avoiding wrath?".

After a few days, the caliph received a rebuke from a relative, "O Amir al-mu'minin, indeed you have whipped yourself with a hundred thousand sword strokes."

So the caliph immediately ordered to pay 30,000 dirhams (about Rp. 2.1 billion) to Abu Hanifa in exchange for what he had suffered, then released him and returned him to his home.

It turned out that after the treasure was given, he refused. So the caliph ordered to throw him back in prison. However, the ministers suggested that Abu Hanifah be released immediately and be given a house prison, and forbade him to sit with the community or leave the house.

End of life

After a few days after being put under house arrest, he got sick, getting worse and worse. Finally he died at the age of 68 years. News of his death soon spread, when the Caliph heard the news, he said, "Who can forgive me from you life or death?" One of the scholars of Kufa said, "The light of knowledge has been turned off from the city of Kufa, indeed they have never seen a scholar of his size forever." Another said, "Now the mufti and fakih of Iraq are gone."

His body was carried on his shoulders on the backs of the five students, until he reached the bathhouse, he was bathed by Al-Hasan bin Imarah, while Al-Harawi poured water over his body. He prayed for more than 50,000 people. In six rounds which were closed with prayers by his son, Hammad. He could not be buried except after the Asr prayer because of the congestion, and a lot of crying. He made a will that his body be buried in the Al-Khairazan Grave, because it is a good burial ground and not stolen land.

Cleric's Praise

Imam Malik "Subhanallah, I have never seen a person like him, By Allah, if Abu Hanifa thinks that an instrument is made of gold, then surely he can prove the truth of what he said."

Imam Shafi'i "Whoever wants to deepen jurisprudence, should become a foster child of Abu Hanifah, Abu Hanifah is a person who was given taufik by God in the field of fiqh."

"Whoever has not read the books of Abu Hanifah, then he has not deepened his knowledge, nor has he studied jurisprudence."

Imam Ahmad bin Hambal "Subhanallah, he is in a position of knowledge, wara' and asceticism, concerned with the afterlife, which no one sees."

Ibn Juraij "I heard that an-Nu'man (Abu Hanifah's nickname) was the most sane person, guarded religion with his knowledge, did not prioritize lovers of the world over lovers of the hereafter, I believe that in the world of science he will have amazing achievements."

Imam Fudhail bin Iyadh "Abu Hanifah is a jurist who is famous for his jurisprudence, quite extensive wealth, known for his kindness to everyone who disturbs him, very patient in seeking knowledge both day and night, always silent, speaks little until problems come to him halal and haram, very meticulous in showing the truth, always running away from the property of the ruler."