Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Encyclopedia
Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani was an important Muslim
scholar and theologian
. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali
school of fiqh
(Islamic jurisprudence). Imam Ahmad is one of the most celebrated Sunni theologians, often referred to as "Sheikh ul-Islam
" or the "Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah," honorifics given to the most esteemed doctrinal authorities in the Sunni tradition. Imam Ahmad personified the theological views of the early orthodox scholars, including the founders of the other extant schools of Sunni fiqh, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik ibn Anas
, and Imam ash-Shafi`i
.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal's family was originally from Basra
, Iraq
, and belonged to the Arab
Banu Shayban tribe. His father was an officer in the Abbasid army in Khorasan
and later settled with his family in Baghdad
, where Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born. Ahmad had two wives and according to Imam Ahmad, and his older son later became a judge in Isfahan. Ahmad had a very close relationship with his sons, particularly his older son, Salih. It was said that Ahmad would recite the Quranic chapter Al-Kahf
often, and he would recite the chapter over a bowl of water and direct his son to drink from it whenever his son felt ill.
and study extensively in Baghdad, and later used his travels to further his education. He was chiefly interested in acquiring knowledge of the hadith
and travelled extensively through Iraq, Syria
, and Arabia studying religion and collecting traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. His travels lasted several years. Upon returning home, he studied under Imam Shafi on Islamic law. This and the fact that he was a scholar of hadith, were responsible for his deep devotion to the textual views on Islam, and his opposition to innovation of any kind. Imam Shafi, who was a scholarly giant in his own right, stated:
Ibn Hanbal spent 40 years of his life in the pursuit of knowledge, and only thereafter did he assume the position of a mufti
. By this time, he had mastered six or seven Islamic disciplines, according to al-Shafi'i. He became a leading authority in hadith and left a colossal hadith encyclopaedia, al-Musnad
, as a living proof of his proficiency and devotion to this science. He is also remembered as a leading and the most balanced critic of hadith his time. He established himself as the Imam in the sciences of Quran, authoring works in exegesis (Tafsir
), science of abrogation (al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh), as well as the different modes recitations (Qira’at), preferring some modes of recitation over others, and even expressing dislike for the recitation of Hamza due to its exaggerated elongation of vowels. Ibn Hanbal became a principal specialist in jurisprudence, since he had the advantage of benefiting from some of the famous early jurists and their heritage, such as Abu Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas
, al-Shafi'i, and many others. His learning, piety and unswerving faithfulness to traditions gathered a host of disciples and admirers around him. He further improvised and developed upon previous schools, becoming the founder of a new independent school of jurisprudence, known as the Hanbali school. Some scholars, such as Qutaiba b. Sa’id, noted that if Ibn Hanbal had witnessed the age of Sufyan al-Thawri, Malik, al-Awza’i and Laith b. Sa’d, he would have surpassed them all. He became an expert in the Arabic language, poetry, and grammar.
in deciding questions of law and theology.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
scholar and theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali
Hanbali
The Hanbali school is one the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. The jurisprudence school traces back to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal but was institutionalized by his students. Hanbali jurisprudence is considered very strict and conservative, especially regarding questions of dogma...
school of fiqh
Fiqh
Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
(Islamic jurisprudence). Imam Ahmad is one of the most celebrated Sunni theologians, often referred to as "Sheikh ul-Islam
Sheikh ul-Islam
Shaykh al-Islām is a title of superior authority in the issues of Islam....
" or the "Imam of Ahl al-Sunnah," honorifics given to the most esteemed doctrinal authorities in the Sunni tradition. Imam Ahmad personified the theological views of the early orthodox scholars, including the founders of the other extant schools of Sunni fiqh, Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas
Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik ibn Abī 'Āmir al-Asbahī is known as "Imam Malik," the "Sheikh of Islam", the "Proof of the Community," and "Imam of the Abode of Emigration." He was one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam...
, and Imam ash-Shafi`i
Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i
Abū ʿAbdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shafiʿī was a Muslim jurist, who lived from 767 CE to 820 CE. He was active in juridical matters and his teaching eventually led to the Shafi'i school of fiqh named after him. Hence he is often called Imam al-Shafi'i...
.
Early life and family
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and belonged to the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
Banu Shayban tribe. His father was an officer in the Abbasid army in Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
and later settled with his family in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, where Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born. Ahmad had two wives and according to Imam Ahmad, and his older son later became a judge in Isfahan. Ahmad had a very close relationship with his sons, particularly his older son, Salih. It was said that Ahmad would recite the Quranic chapter Al-Kahf
Al-Kahf
Sura al-Kahf "The Cave" is the 18th surah of the Qur'an with 110 ayat. It is a Meccan sura.-People of the Cave:Verses 9 – 26 of the chapter tell the story of the People of the Cave . Some number of young monotheistic men lived in a time where they were persecuted. They fled the city together, and...
often, and he would recite the chapter over a bowl of water and direct his son to drink from it whenever his son felt ill.
Pursuit of knowledge
Ahmad moved to IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and study extensively in Baghdad, and later used his travels to further his education. He was chiefly interested in acquiring knowledge of the hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
and travelled extensively through Iraq, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, and Arabia studying religion and collecting traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. His travels lasted several years. Upon returning home, he studied under Imam Shafi on Islamic law. This and the fact that he was a scholar of hadith, were responsible for his deep devotion to the textual views on Islam, and his opposition to innovation of any kind. Imam Shafi, who was a scholarly giant in his own right, stated:
"I left BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, and I did not leave behind me a man better, having more knowledge, or greater fiqhFiqhFiqh is Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is an expansion of the code of conduct expounded in the Quran, often supplemented by tradition and implemented by the rulings and interpretations of Islamic jurists....
(understanding), nor having greater taqwaTaqwaTaqwá is the Islamic concept of the fear of God.-Etymology:The term taqwá comes from the Arabic root W-Q-Y from the 8th stem verb, ittaqá "be wary, Godfearing."...
(piety) than Ahmad Ibn Hanbal."
Ibn Hanbal spent 40 years of his life in the pursuit of knowledge, and only thereafter did he assume the position of a mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
. By this time, he had mastered six or seven Islamic disciplines, according to al-Shafi'i. He became a leading authority in hadith and left a colossal hadith encyclopaedia, al-Musnad
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal is a collection of Hadith collected by the famous Sunni scholar Ibn Hanbal to whom the Hanbali madhab of Sunnis is attributed.-Description:...
, as a living proof of his proficiency and devotion to this science. He is also remembered as a leading and the most balanced critic of hadith his time. He established himself as the Imam in the sciences of Quran, authoring works in exegesis (Tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
), science of abrogation (al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh), as well as the different modes recitations (Qira’at), preferring some modes of recitation over others, and even expressing dislike for the recitation of Hamza due to its exaggerated elongation of vowels. Ibn Hanbal became a principal specialist in jurisprudence, since he had the advantage of benefiting from some of the famous early jurists and their heritage, such as Abu Hanifah, Malik ibn Anas
Malik ibn Anas
Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik ibn Abī 'Āmir al-Asbahī is known as "Imam Malik," the "Sheikh of Islam", the "Proof of the Community," and "Imam of the Abode of Emigration." He was one of the most highly respected scholars of fiqh in Sunni Islam...
, al-Shafi'i, and many others. His learning, piety and unswerving faithfulness to traditions gathered a host of disciples and admirers around him. He further improvised and developed upon previous schools, becoming the founder of a new independent school of jurisprudence, known as the Hanbali school. Some scholars, such as Qutaiba b. Sa’id, noted that if Ibn Hanbal had witnessed the age of Sufyan al-Thawri, Malik, al-Awza’i and Laith b. Sa’d, he would have surpassed them all. He became an expert in the Arabic language, poetry, and grammar.
Death
After Imam Ahmad turned 77, he was struck with severe illness and fever, and became very weak, yet never complaining about his infirmity and pain until he died. In spite of his debilitation, he would urge his son, Salih b. Ahmad, to help him stand up for prayer. When he was unable to stand, he would pray sitting, or sometimes lying on his side. After hearing of his illness, the masses flocked to his door. The ruling family also showed the desire to pay him a visit, and to this end sought his permission. However, due to his desire to remain independent of any influence from the authority, Ahmad denied them access. On Friday, the 12 of Rabi' al-Awwal 241 AH, the legendary Imam breathed his last. The news of his death quickly spread far and wide in the city and the people flooded the streets to attend Ahmad’s funeral. When he died, he was accompanied to his resting place by a funeral procession of eight hundred thousand men (800,000) to One million and three hundred thousands men (1,300,000) or around two million people (2,000,000) as was estimated by few scholars attending the funeral and sixty thousand women (60,000), marking the departure of the last of the four great mujtahid Imams of Islam.The Mihna
Ibn Hanbal was famously called before the Inquisition of the Abassid Caliph al-Ma'mun - known as the mihna. Al-Ma'mun wanted to assert the religious authority of the Caliph by forcing the top scholars of the time to admit that the Qur'an was created rather than uncreated. Ahmad ibn Hanbal was one of the few scholars to refuse to back down to the Caliph, setting the train in motion for the increasing power of the ulamaUlama
-In Islam:* Ulema, also transliterated "ulama", a community of legal scholars of Islam and its laws . See:**Nahdlatul Ulama **Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama **Jamiatul Ulama Transvaal**Jamiat ul-Ulama -Other:...
in deciding questions of law and theology.
Works
The following books are found in Ibn al-Nadim's Fihrist:- Kitab al-`Ilal wa Ma‘rifat al-Rijal: "The Book of Narrations Containing Hidden Flaws and of Knowledge of the Men (of Hadeeth)" Riyad: Al-Maktabah al-Islamiyyah
- Kitab al-Manasik: "The Book of the Rites of Hajj"
- Kitab al-Zuhd: "The Book of Abstinence" ed. Muhammad Zaghlul, Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-'Arabi, 1994
- Kitab al-Iman: "The Book of Faith"
- Kitab al-Masa'il "Issues in Fiqh"
- Kitab al-Ashribah: "The Book of Drinks"
- Kitab al-Fada'il Sahaba: "Virtues of the Companions"
- Kitab Tha'ah al-Rasul : "The Book of Obedience to the Messenger"
- Kitab Mansukh: "The Book of Abrogation"
- Kitab al-Fara'id: "The Book of Obligatory Duties"
- Kitab al-Radd `ala al-Zanadiqa wa'l-Jahmiyya "Refutations of the Heretics and the Jahmites" (Cairo: 1973)
- Tafsir : "Exegesis"
- the MusnadMusnad Ahmad ibn HanbalMusnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal is a collection of Hadith collected by the famous Sunni scholar Ibn Hanbal to whom the Hanbali madhab of Sunnis is attributed.-Description:...
Quotes
- It is said that, when told that it was religiously permissible to say what pleases his persecuters without believing in it at the time of mihna, Ahmad said "If I remained silent and you remained silent, then who will teach the ignorant?".
- With regard to innovation within religion, Ahmad said “The graves of sinners from People of SunnahSunnahThe word literally means a clear, well trodden, busy and plain surfaced road. In the discussion of the sources of religion, Sunnah denotes the practice of Prophet Muhammad that he taught and practically instituted as a teacher of the sharī‘ah and the best exemplar...
is a garden, while the graves of the pious ascetics from the People of Innovation is a barren pit. The sinners among Ahlus SunnahSunni IslamSunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
are the Friends of AllahAllahAllah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
, while the pious among Ahlul-Bidah are the Enemies of Allah.”
Historical views
- ImamImamAn imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
Abu Dawood, who was a collector of prophetic hadithHadithThe term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
stated:
- The HanafiHanafiThe Hanafi school is one of the four Madhhab in jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after the Persian scholar Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit , a Tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani...
scholar Yahya ibn Ma'inYahya ibn Ma'in-Biography:He was a close friend of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.He is often quoted regarding Ilm ar-RijalImam Yahya ibn Ma’een was a famous Muhaddith and expert of Rijaal...
stated:
- When Abdul-Qadir Gilani was asked whether there existed a person who was a waliWaliWalī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
of AllahAllahAllah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
who was upon a creed other than the creed of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Gilani answered:
Further reading
- Ibn al-Jawzi, Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad
- Nadwi, S. A. H. A., Saviors of Islamic Spirit (Vol. 1), translated by Mohiuddin Ahmad, Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, Lucknow, 1971.
- Melchert, Christopher, Ahmad ibn Hanbal (Makers of the Muslim World), Oneworld, 2006.