Abu Hanifa In Shia Islam

[aljawad786]

Salam Alaikum, I just wanted to know if anyone had any information on Abu Hanifa. I was recently reading some books by Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as) which stated that he was a true follower of the ahlul bayt. I was wondering if anyone else had read this in any of the books. Also it seems that in defiance to Mansur he was imprisoned for not wanting to be the Chief Justice and died in jail in protest. I also read that his so called student Abu Yusuf took the position by Mansur and fabricated the Hanafi school of thought as dictated by Mansur. Have we been maligning a true follower of the ahlul bayt because we do not know his true history. Can someone shed some more light on this because I think we as Shias owe it to Abu Hanifa to have him recognized as true follower of Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as) rather than the stories stated about him which were actually the writings of some one else.

[Yusuf_Ali]

Salam Alaikum, I just wanted to know if anyone had any information on Abu Hanifa. I was recently reading some books by Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as) which stated that he was a true follower of the ahlul bayt. I was wondering if anyone else had read this in any of the books. Also it seems that in defiance to Mansur he was imprisoned for not wanting to be the Chief Justice and died in jail in protest. I also read that his so called student Abu Yusuf took the position by Mansur and fabricated the Hanafi school of thought as dictated by Mansur. Have we been maligning a true follower of the ahlul bayt because we do not know his true history. Can someone shed some more light on this because I think we as Shias owe it to Abu Hanifa to have him recognized as true follower of Imam Jaffar Sadiq (as) rather than the stories stated about him which were actually the writings of some one else.

uAlaikum Salam,

May I ask what book this is you are referring to ?

[al-`Ajal Ya Imaam]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركته

There is a Hadeeth in Kitaab al-Kaafi where our Imaam al-Kadhim [as] cursed Abu Haneefah:

عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي عُمَيْرٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِأَبِي الْحَسَنِ مُوسَى ( عليه السلام ) جُعِلْتُ فِدَاكَ فُقِّهْنَا فِي الدِّينِ وَ أَغْنَانَا اللَّهُ بِكُمْ عَنِ النَّاسِ حَتَّى إِنَّ الْجَمَاعَةَ مِنَّا لَتَكُونُ فِي الْمَجْلِسِ مَا يَسْأَلُ رَجُلٌ صَاحِبَهُ تَحْضُرُهُ الْمَسْأَلَةُ وَ يَحْضُرُهُ جَوَابُهَا فِيمَا مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا بِكُمْ فَرُبَّمَا وَرَدَ عَلَيْنَا الشَّيْ‏ءُ لَمْ يَأْتِنَا فِيهِ عَنْكَ وَ لَا عَنْ آبَائِكَ شَيْ‏ءٌ فَنَظَرْنَا إِلَى أَحْسَنِ مَا يَحْضُرُنَا وَ أَوْفَقِ الْأَشْيَاءِ لِمَا جَاءَنَا عَنْكُمْ فَنَأْخُذُ بِهِ فَقَالَ هَيْهَاتَ هَيْهَاتَ فِي ذَلِكَ وَ اللَّهِ هَلَكَ مَنْ هَلَكَ يَا ابْنَ حَكِيمٍ قَالَ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَعَنَ اللَّهُ أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ كَانَ يَقُولُ قَالَ عَلِيٌّ وَ قُلْتُ قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ حَكِيمٍ لِهِشَامِ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ وَ اللَّهِ مَا أَرَدْتُ إِلَّا أَنْ يُرَخِّصَ لِي فِي الْقِيَاسِ .

"I asked (Imaam) Abu al-Hasan Musa [as], ‘May Allah take my soul in your service, please make us Faqeeh, people of proper understanding in religion. Allah has granted us the blessing of your existence among us and has made us independent of other people. This blessing is so great that even if a whole group of us would come to one place no one would need to ask an other come up with a question so that the other would prepare and answer for it. Sometimes we come across an issue for which we have heard nothing from you or from your forefathers. We than look into the best of the resources with us and the closest that we have with us from you can we take such a finding as an authority? "Never, never, by Allah Oh Ibn Hakeem many people have been destroyed in it" Reply from the Imaam [as]. Ibn Hakim has said that the Imaam then said, "May Allah Curse Abu Haneefah who used to say, "`Alee said so and so, therefore, I said so and so." Mohammad b. Hakeem has said that he told Hisham b. al-Hakam, "By Allah, I only wanted the Imam to give us permission to use analogy.’" (Sorry for the bad translation)

Source: Kitaab al-Kaafi volume 1 pp. 56 Hadeeth 9

Grading: Hasan Mohammad Baqir Majlisi [ra] in Meeraat al-`Oqool volume 1 pp. 193

Saheeh by al-Bahbudi in Saheeh Kaafi volume 1 pp. 8 (though we do not usually look at his grading due to the inconsistency of his Minhaaj)

و السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركته

[Gwalch]

Source? Abu Hanifa was actually an average student of Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (as), so I don't think he's ever written about him.

[89jghur32]

He was cursed by the Imam (as):

9 - `Ali b. Ibrahim from his father from Ibn Abi `Umayr from Muhammad b. Hakim. He said: I said to Abu ‘l-Hasan Musa عليه السلام: May I be made your ransom, we have become learned in the religion, and by you Allah has made us free of need from the people, to the point that a congregation from us will be in a gathering, a man will not ask his companion the issue that is present to him, but that its answer will be present to him in what Allah has bestowed us by you. So sometimes something comes upon us regarding which nothing from you or your fathers has reached us. So we look to what is the best of what is present to us and the most agreeable of things for what has come to us from you, and we go by it. So he said: How far be it, how far be it! In that – by Allah – has been destroyed he who has been destroyed, O Ibn Hakim. He said: Then he said: May Allah curse Abu Hanifa. He would say “`Ali said, but I say..” (hasan)

[aljawad786]

The main source of information that I began with was from Wikepedia and under that link there are a great number of references that attest to the fact that not only was Abu Hanifa a student of Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) but that he was a lover of the ahlul bayt. The book I was reffering to is called Subeh Sadiq written by Mufti Ghulam Rasul in which he states the reverence and admiration Abu Hanifa had for Imam Jafar Sadiq (as). I am sorry but I did not mean to misquote I meant a book about Imam Jafar Sadiq (as). Other well known scholars such as Maulana Maudidi in his book "Khilafat o malookiat" write that not a single page of information was left behind by Abu Hanifa. So how can there be a Hanafi school of thought when the teacher was imprisoned and poisoned for wanting to revolt against al-Mansur? It is hard to imagine that after spending 2 years in the company of both our Holy Imams, Imam Muhammad Baqir (as) and Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) he would come up a completely different school of thought that would go against some of the basic teachings of the ahlul-bayt. And looking at the personality of our own Imams it would be difficult to see how they would have kept him in their Institute for 2 years if they felt he was not loyal or a loving follower. Otherwise why would such a well known personality not accept the offer to be Chief Judge of the State by Al-Mansur unless he had loyalty to someone else. He suffered in prison for his actions and we should acknowledge his scarifices as a true martyr rather than condemning him. Also from history we know that Abu Yusuf one of his students decided to take the position by Al-Manusr since he was extremely poor. Abu Yusuf was not well known and it is very conceivable that he used his teachers name as the means to his own success and established the Hanafi school of thought. Otherwise why would so many Wahabis want to even refute the fact that Abu Hanifa was a student of Imam Jafar Sadiq (as). We as Shias should take this opportunity to point out to our Sunni brothers that they are following the fiqha of Abu Yusuf and not Abu Hanifa. As such proving that only the Jaffari school of thought leads to correct guidance.

[al-`Ajal Ya Imaam]

Source? Abu Hanifa was actually an average student of Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (as), so I don't think he's ever written about him.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركته

Firstly, the narration is from al-Kaafi and is graded Hasan by one scholar (Majlisi) and Saheeh by another (refer to the references I gave above+the Hadeeth). Secondly, I hope you understand that being a "Student" in those days wasn't much, my definition if I were to go sit down as, for example, brother al-Irshad is teaching in a public lecture, I'd be called his student. Being called the student of someone could simply just mean you sat in in some of their public lectures. It's been exaggeration too much, honestly.

و السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركته

[Ali-Reza]

Yes I wanted to make sure everyone else answers before I do. Abu Hanifa can not be the best student of Imam it is not logical because his madhab is misguided and has misguided many. How could you be student of Imam Jafar Sadigh (as) but not believe in Imamah!

The Sunni Imams were puppets of caliphs of their time. They learned enough to teach people about Fiqh and etc without giving credit to authorities of Islam Ahlulbayt.

Everytime I hear nonesense like this, my BS sensors and Alarms start going off!

[Ali-Reza]

Oh here is a video by world known Yassir Habib ;)

I know many dont like him by this is nice video (in Arabic)

[aljawad786]

Thank you for all the information you have provided. I went on line to look at that particular verse in al-Kafi and I found it stated as such

H 168, Ch. 19, h 13

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa ibn ‘Ubayd from Yunus ibn ‘Abd al-

Rahman from Sum‘a ibn Mihran who has said the following.

"I said to (Imam) abu al-Hassan (a.s.), ‘May Allah keep you well, in our meetings we discuss

the issues and find out that for almost every thing there is something in writing with us and

that is all because of the blessings of your existence among us. We only find few small things

for which we do not find any thing in writing we look on each other and we find certain issues

similar to it then we use analogy in its best form." The Imam said, "What do you have to do

with analogy? Many people before have been destroyed because of analogy." The Imam then

said, "When you face an issue and know he rule about it deal with accordingly and if you

would have no knowledge about its rule then this. He pointed to his own mouth, meaning

thereby; this will give you the answer." The Imam then said, "May Allah…? Abu Hanifah

who used to say, "Ali said so and so, therefore, I said so and so. The Sahabah said so and so,

therefore, I said so and so." The Imam then asked me, "Have you been sitting with him?" I

then relied, "No, I have not sat with him but such are his statements." I then said to the Imam

(a.s.). "May Allah keep you well, did the holy Prophet bring in his everything that people

needed?" The Imam said, "Yes, and all that they will need up to the Day of Judgment." I then

said, "Is any thing lost from it?" The Imam replied, "No, it all is with the people to who they

belong.’" In this copy it states "May Allah...?" It does not say the words curse him. Secondly this was a question asked about the use of analogies by Abu Hanifa. In fact in another Hadiths the Imam does confront him on this issue

H 175, Ch. 19, h 20

Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from Ahmad ibn ‘Abdallah al-‘Aqili from ‘Isa

ibn ‘Abdallah al-Qurashi who has said the following.

"Once abu Hanifah came to see Imam abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) who said to abu Hanifah, "O abu

Hanifah, do you practice analogy as I hear you do?"

Abu Hanifah replied, "Yes, I do practice analogy." The Imam then said to him, "Do not

practice it because the first person who used analogy was Satan when he said, "Lord, you

have created me from fire and created him from clay." He analogized fire with clay. If he

would have analogized the light in the clay and fire he would have learned about the

difference between the two lights and the excellence of one over the other."

I never in my statement said that he was the best student of the Imam , all I want to ascertain was that he was a lover of the ahlul-bayt otherwise why did he not take the Chief Justice position offered to him by Al-Mansur and spend his time rotting in a jail without food or water. He could have lived a lavish life and written as many Hadiths as he wanted to establish his so called school of thought. Again I am reiterating that he did not leave behind a single page of writing so how can a school of thought be based on someone who did not leave behind any works. I am suggesting to have an opinion that his no good lousy student Abu-Yusuf made up the whole Hanafi school of thought to give credence to Al-Mansur who was the ruler of the time. Again I think it is beneficial to investigate this matter further since by proving the Hanafi school of thought was not advocated by even Abu Hanifa himself we can prove that there is only one true school of thought and that is the Jaffari School of Thought.