Selections of the wit and wisdom of Imam Abu Hanifah (RA)

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Selections of the wit and wisdom of Imam Abu Hanifah (RA)

Taken from "Imam Abu Hanifah Life & Works" by M.Hadi Hussain, a translation of Allamah Shibli Nu'mani's "Sirat-i-Numan"

1. One day a number of Kharijites invaded the Imam’s house and, catching hold of him said, “Say, you abandon kufr.” The Imam promptly said, “I abandon your kufr.” The Kharijites maintain that by committing a sin a man becomes a kafir, which amounts to saying that sin and kufr are identical. What the Imam meant was that he repented of what they thought to be kufr. Somebody later on went to the Kharijites and told them that the Imam had befooled them: So the Kharijites came back to the Imam and asked him to explain why he had tricked them with a verbal quibble. “Is it your conviction or merely a suspicion that I have done so inquired the Imam. "No, it is only suspicion,’ replied the Kharijites. “In that case," said the Imam, "you should beg God’s forgiveness, because Allah has Himself said, ' Verily, sometimes doubting is a sin’ ”.

2. One day, when the Imam was sitting in a mosque surrounded by his pupils, a group of Kharijites rushed in. Frightened, the pupils started running away. The Imam however, stopped them, told them to have no fear, and asked them to resume their seats. The leader of the Kharijites went up to the Iman and said, "Who are you people?" "People seeking refuge," replied the Iman; Allah has said, "If any polytheist seeks refuge,give it to him, so that he may listen to God's kalam, and then escort him to a place of safety". The Kharijites considered every Muslim not belonging to their sect as a kafir deserving to be put to death. This group had come with the intention of getting Abu Hanifa to state his form of belief, charge him with kufr and assassinate him; but they were disarmed by the verse quoted by the Imam, which imposed an obligation on them to protect his life and the lives of his pupils. So the leader said to his men, "Recite the Qur'an for them to hear and then escort them to their homes.”

3. For all his solemnity and dignity, the Imam occasionally liked to crack a joke. Here are a few witty remarks made by him. One day he said to his barber, who was trimming his hair, “Pluck the grey hairs.” “Hairs plucked,” said the barber, “grow again and thicker than before.” “If that is so”, ordered the Imam, “then pluck all the black hairs so that they grow again and thicker.” Hearing of this repartee, Qadi Sharik remarked, “Abu Hanifah did not abandon arguing by analogy even in talking to his barber.”

Salam `alaykum

>Selections of the wit and wisdom of Imam Abu Hanifah (RA)
 Taken from "Imam Abu Hanifah Life & Works" by M.Hadi Hussain, a translation of Allamah Shibli Nu'mani's "Sirat-i-Numan"<

Please see remarks on these translated excerpts further below.

This weak servant is preparing a short biography of the Imam. It is nearly complete in English but requires additional work and time. I have tried to reference everything in detail and have sought to retain only what is established as authentic.

Main sources: al-Khatib, Tarikh Baghdad; Ibn `Abd al-Barr, al-Intiqa'; al-Dhahabi, Manaqib Abi Hanifa and Tabaqat al-Huffaz; Ibn Hajar, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wal-Nihaya; al-Suyuti, Tabyid al-Sahifa; al-Haytami, al-Khayrat al-Hisan.

For added benefit this ~100-page biography should be read in conjunction with the section titled "The vindication of the Imam Abu Hanifa from the claim of 'Salafis' that he was da`if (weak in hadith)" in the _Encyclopedia of Islamic Doctrine_.

Following are the section headers so far:

The Prophet's (saws) Prediction of Abu Hanifa
Abu Hanifa is the only Successor Among the Four Imams
His Authorities and Disciples in Hadith
His Praise of Ja`far al-Sadiq
His Trustworthy Rank in Hadith Narration
Abu Hanifa's Major Disciples in Fiqh
Abu Hanifa Innovated the Sub-Headings of Fiqh
Ibn Jurayj's Praise of Abu Hanifa
Sufyan al-Thawri's Awe before Abu Hanifa
Ibn al-Mubarak's Praise and Vindication of Abu Hanifa
Imam Malik's Praise of Abu Hanifa
Ibn `A'isha's Vindication of Abu Hanifa
Yahya ibn Sa`id al-Qattan's Taqlid of Abu Hanifa
Al-Shafi`i's Praise of Abu Hanifa's Leadership in Fiqh
Al-Fadl ibn Dukayn's Praise of Abu Hanifa
Al-Dhahabi's Praise of Abu Hanifa
Abu Hanifa on Imitation (Taqlid)
His Scrupulous Godwariness and Generosity
His Trial
His Superlative Devoutness and Nickname of "Pillar" (Watad)
Al-Shafi`i's Tawassul Through Abu Hanifa
Some Positions of Abu Hanifa
- His Inference of the Time of `Asr from the Parable of the Communities
- The Cancellation of Ablution by Laughter
- On Facing the Prophet's (saws) Grave During Du`a
- His Supposed Objection to Tawassul (Using Intermediaries)
Abu Hanifa's Definition of Sunnism
His Definition of Belief (Iman)
The Sunni Irja' of Abu Hanifa and His School
Iman neither increases nor decreases
The Differentiation between Islam and Iman
Ibn Hajar's Commentary on al-Bukhari's Chapter-Title and Narration of the
Hadith of Iman and Islam
Abu Hanifa's Belief that the Prophet's (saws) Parents Are in Paradise
His Precedence and Pre-Eminence in Dialectic Theology (Kalam)
A Close Encounter with the Khawarij
The Early Hanafi Imams also Entered Kalam Disputations
Abu Hanifa's Works in Kalam
- Al-Fiqh al-Akbar
- Al-Wasiyya
- Risalat al-Irja' ila `Uthman al-Batti [transl. in full]
- Al-`Alim wal-Muta`allim
- Al-Fiqh al-Absat
The Aim of Those Who Deny the Existence of Sunni Kalam
The First Mutakallim is `Ali ibn Abi Talib (ra)
The Involvement of the Mujtahid Imams in Kalam
- Al-Shafi`i
- Malik
- Al-Awza`i
- Ahmad
- Al-Bukhari
Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi's Works
Abu Hanifa's Miraculous Foresight
His Sense of Humor

One of the best modern biographies of the Imam is that of the light-filled Hanafi Faqih of Albania presently living in Damascus, Allama Wahbi Sulayman Ghawji al-Albani -hafizahullah-, in its sixth printing (orig. 1392/1972) at Dar al-Qalam, Damascus, which I received from his noble hand: _Abu Hanifata al-Nu`man: Imam al-A'immat al-Fuqaha'_ 384 pp. (Incidentally, Shaykh Wahbi and Mawlana al-Shaykh Nazim could pass for twin brothers in resemblance.)

Another widespread biography is that of Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zahra.

>1. One day a number of Kharijites invaded the Imam’s house and, catching hold of him said, “Say, you abandon kufr.” The Imam promptly said, “I abandon your kufr.”<

The report actually goes: Tub! - Mimma atoob? Tub!! - Mimma atoob?? Repent. - Of what should I repent? Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani the Khariji then said: "Of your assent to the arbitration [between Mu`awiya and `Ali]!" Abu Hanifa said: "Will you debate me?" He said yes. Abu Hanifa said, "What if we disagree? Who will decide between us?" He said So and so. Abu Hanifa said: "So you accept him as a judge?" He said yes. Abu Hanifa said: "Then you have accepted arbitration." Al-Dahhak remained speechless. This was in 127.

The Kharijites maintain that by committing a sin a man >becomes a kafir, which amounts to saying that sin and kufr are identical. What the Imam meant was that he repented of what they thought to be kufr. Somebody later on went to the Kharijites and told them that the Imam had befooled them: So the Kharijites came back to the Imam and asked him to explain why he had tricked them with a verbal quibble. “Is it your conviction or merely a suspicion that I have done so inquired the Imam. "No, it is only suspicion,’ replied the Kharijites. “In that case," said the Imam, "you should beg God’s forgiveness, because Allah has Himself said, ' Verily, sometimes doubting is a sin’ ”.<

>2. One day, when the Imam was sitting in a mosque surrounded by his pupils, a group of Kharijites rushed in. Frightened, the pupils started running away. The Imam however, stopped them, told them to have no fear, and asked them to resume their seats. The leader of the Kharijites went up to the Iman and said, "Who are you people?" "People seeking refuge," replied the Iman; Allah has said, "If any polytheist seeks refuge, give it to him, so that he may listen to God's kalam, and then escort him to a place of safety". The Kharijites considered every Muslim not belonging to their sect as a kafir deserving to be put to death. This group had come with the intention of getting Abu Hanifa to state his form of belief, charge him with kufr and assassinate him; but they were disarmed by the verse quoted by the Imam, which imposed an obligation on them to protect his life and the lives of his pupils. So the leader said to his men, "Recite the Qur'an for them to hear and then escort them to their homes.”<

Shaykh Wahbi mentioned that the Imam underwent four fitnas but did not include any of the above except what I cited. The second fitna was with the Khawarij also, the third with the governor Ibn Hubayra in 130, and the fourth with the Caliph Abu Ja`far al-Mansur who imprisoned and tortured him then released him under house arrest until his death cf. Manaqib Ibn al-Bazzazi (2:19) unless he died in prison, poisoned cf. Manaqib al-Muwaffaq (2:174), in a state of sajda as narrated by al-Muwaffaq (2:185) from Abu Hayyan al-Ziyadi. And Allah knows best.

>3. For all his solemnity and dignity, the Imam occasionally liked to crack a joke. Here are a few witty remarks made by him. One day he said to his barber, who was trimming his hair, “Pluck the grey hairs.” “Hairs plucked,” said the barber, “grow again and thicker than before.” “If that is so”, ordered the Imam, “then pluck all the black hairs so that they grow again and thicker.” Hearing of this repartee, Qadi Sharik remarked, “Abu Hanifah did not abandon arguing by analogy even in talking to his barber.”<

Al-Tahtawi in his Hashiya on Maraqi al-Falah (p. 342): "In al-Khulasa, from al-Munataqa: 'Abu Hanifa did not abominate the plucking of gray/white hair except if done for cosmetic purposes (tazayyun).' We must understand this to mean a few hairs. If much, then it is abominated as per the report of Abu Dawud: 'Do not pluck gray/white hair (al-shayb) for it is the light of the Muslim on the Day of Resurrection.'"

Was-Salam

Hajj Gibril
--
GF Haddad