The Life of Imam Abu Hanifa Episode 2 The Life of The Four Imams Sheikh Ali Hammuda

what is interesting is that imam abu hanifa's initial interest was not in it was in something called kellam kalam is literally in reference to the science of discourse which deals with trying to firmly establish the religious beliefs by adducing the proofs and banishing the doubt that's the science of kalam so imam abu hanifa wanted to debate with the deviant ones to argue case for islam to defend it and he visited the city of basra in iraq no less than 27 times for this very purpose to defend the religion to argue case for orthodox islam so he debated people like jeremiah safwan he debated the the muratazila the khawarij and other sects and so by around the age of 20 years old abu hanifa had just become an internationally recognized figure he was star turning to the turning point now in the life of imam abu hanifah from the field of qalam to the field of fick the study of the how did that happen it was during study circle when he was teaching and woman she came to him and she asked him fic based question about divorce he didn't know how to answer it so he referred her to another nearby study circle within the same masjid which was led by man called hamad ibn abi sulaiman and he said to the woman tell him to tell me and he said to the woman when you get the answer come and tell me what the answer is so she came to abu hanifa and she said asked him the question this was the answer that he gave me then if said his same statement have just lost interest for kalam so he picked up his shoes and he made his way to the other side of the mosque and he sat in the thick study circle of hamad he sat in the study circle of hamad for staggering 18 years serving him for the duration of the whole period and not leaving his side till hamad had passed away and hamad he realized that in front of him was not normal human being this was marvel of human being was memorizing what he was teaching word for what and other other students were forgetting and so hamad he said no one is to sit at the forefront of the of the study circle next to me eventually abu hanifa became his deputy teaching in the place of his teacher when hamad was absent and then abu hanifa formerly succeeded hamad in that study circle in kufa when hannah had passed away but before hamad had died there was very interesting happening that took place between abu hanifah and his teacher hamad and this happened around 10 years into the study of abu hanifa with his teacher abu hanifa himself he narrates this story he said accompanied hamad for 10 years after those 10 years passed my soul began to yearn for position of authority he's being honest with himself want position of authority i'd be studying for 10 years so it occurred to me that maybe should now break away from hamad study circle and just set up my own study circle in the masjid on one evening made my way to the mosque with the intention of doing just that to break away just started my own study circle i'm ready it's been 10 years but when saw hamad my teacher couldn't do it during that evening when we were studying with him news was conveyed to hamad that relative of his in basra in iraq had just passed away and that this relative had left behind him sum of wealth and that hamad was his only inheritor so he instructed me abu hanifa to go and sit in his place to teach subhanallah waited so it came naturally from allah subhanahu wa so hamadi left and the students they began to ask me questions abu hanifa said and they began to ask me questions that had not heard hamad answered before so would offer them answers but would write down the question and the answer for my own record to show hamad when he comes back two months later hamad came back and showed him the questions that people asked me and how answered them there were around 60 questions hamad approved of my answers to 40 of them and he disagreed with 20 of them so vowed to myself that will not leave his side till the day he passes away clearly this is an ocean of knowledge what was thinking trying to take position prematurely see brothers and sisters at times person may eagerly aspire for something right but you know that going for it at that moment is not the right thing to do you yearn for it but you know it's premature so you wait and you exercise so much patience and then guess what happens lo and behold the matter which you are heading towards is now heading towards you the time is now right the outcome is now best it is also important to note here before we proceed that hamad was scholar take note of this who was taught by man called ibrahimo the main jurist of iraq at his time who was taught by man called al-khana who was taught by abdullah the companion of the prophet saw islam who was taught by the messenger of allah therefore the faith of imam abu hanifah it has its roots in the earliest of traditions and is man abu hanifa of trustworthiness and knowledge and both of these things cannot be doubted about the great imam abu hanifa what do we know of the personality and the manners of imam abu hanifah can tell you that he was man of zord meaning minimalism he had pretty much renounced the world on all of his delights and he was man of warah meaning he was person who would steer well away from the doubtful matters he was very cautious to protect his hereafter and look at the conversation between abdullah ibn mubarak and sufyan sauri is so distant from backstabbing mean have never even heard him backstab his enemies what did sofiane say he said something beautiful he said he said is wiser than to allow human being to walk away with his good deeds backstab someone and to allow him to walk away with his good deeds on the day of judgment is smarter than doing that also promise himself that every time he takes an oath by allah's name wallahi every time he takes an oath by allah's name to give dinar of gold in charities lot of money because he was training himself not to abuse oath taking because it's involving allah's name now subhanallah i'm sure you're thinking what i'm thinking this is so different to those who are using allah's name for the pettiest of oaths and the lightest of all matters whether it's about food or games or and allah he said the way man come guard your oaths it's the name of allah abu hanifa was also one of the most generous of people he actually made pledge with himself that every every dirham that he spends on his family he will spend its equivalent in charity can we do that amazing allahu akbar what about the worship of imam muhammad this is key quality that comes up every single time when passing over the pages of the biography biographies of the luminaries of our past that worship was just on another level and this is the core purpose of knowledge and if this knowledge is not doing this for person then this person has fallen victim to the four elements which the prophet muhammed seek refuge in you from knowledge which is not beneficial number one and from heart that does not humble itself to you and from having desire that is never satisfied and from making dua that is not answered number one you ought to be protecting me from knowledge that is not beneficial so you and we have to frequently ask ourselves this question in this age of information overload it is true that my knowledge is growing you may say but is it causing me to grow and here remember the words of abuja allah abdullah you would say whoever gains knowledge that does not cause him to weep then this person has not gained beneficial knowledge this was the advice of our predecessors to one another apply it let it appear in your in your vision in your lowering of the gaze in your salah he will say to his students if allah gives you new bit of knowledge then make sure you give this knowledge new bit of worship and do not he said make your main intention to teach the knowledge that should not be your main intention to benefit others to teach your benefit is to remove ignorance from yourself and to worship allah he would say if i'm spending my hours during the day foolishly and i'm spending my nights ignorantly then what is the point of the knowledge i'm writing he said what is the point so exemplary ibadah exemplary worship was the hallmark of our predecessors and the sign of true knowledge may allah give us the sign for was no exception he carried out hajj no less than 55 times and he would also pray the fajr the dawn prayer without needing to renew his wado from the aisha prayer at night for no less than 30 years meaning what he didn't sleep during that time no one don't need it from aisha till fajr means he didn't sleep he was awake worshiping he said that saw imam performing the fed your prayer then he would sit down until noon teaching was that six seven hours then he would remain in his place teaching till sunset then remain in his place after salah till aisha night so said to myself when does the imam find any time to worship allah so saw that the crowds began to lessen in the evening so abu hanifa made his way to the masjid and he stood in prayer all the way until the time for fajr from the night until that he went into his house he changed his clothes he came back out for the dawn prayer he said monitored this behavior of abu hanifa and only ever recall him fasting during the day or praying at night may allah forgive us you think we're speaking about him all these years later for for no reason that's why some of his family members mother of his child she said that abu hanifa would sleep just between bahrain that's it he would sleep with in the summer and in the winter he would sleep lightly in the first part of the night in the masjid know this may amaze some of us and it is deserving of amazement but brothers and sisters wallahi this is the nature of the soul this is the data of the soul it will become accustomed to whatever we get it used to if you offer your soul excessive sleep it starts to demand these quantities if we discipline the soul with patience with dua with consistency right and we we train it to minimize its need for sleep for example in preparation for the lofty matters of life the soul eventually will surrender to your wishes even if after some time and maybe it's worth mentioning here that there is no doubt that when allah sees sincerity in person and genuine desire to live life of gold high aspirations vision setting allah will facilitate it allah will facilitate it in your body in your soul in your health and your wrath allah will facilitate it in ways that he cannot imagine show allah the intention on the topic of abu hanifa's worship he once recited the quran from cover to cover in one unit of sarah abu halifa would also complete the full recitation of the quran from cover to cover once every three days and once abu hanifa spent the whole night in salah repeating just one ayah from the quran over and over again as he wept and shed tears and repeating it what was the ayah yes but the hour is their appointment the day of judgment is their appointment and the allah is most disastrous and most bitter may allah protect us in our families so man of this type of work ethic and fear and consciousness of allah like must never be accused of purposely opposing part of their religion god forbid us what do we know of the knowledge and the intelligence of imam abu hanifah imam malik was asked he met abu hanifah they said to him have you have you seen abu hanifa imam maliki said nam yes he said look saw man saw man if he wanted to convince you that that pillar over there was made out of gold he would be able to argue case for it this was his argument was strong and imam you also once said in praise of imam abu hanifah look who is praising him every student of fickle is dependent upon abu hanifa and asha he said no human no woman has ever given birth to man who was wiser than in fact abu hanifa himself once saw himself in in dream subhanallah he was exhuming the grief of the prophet digging it out so he sent to muhammad ibn sireen the famous dream interpreter to get this dream interpreted muhammad musin when he heard this dream he showed so much interest in it and he said who saw it who saw it and then he said yes the one who saw this dream he spills over with knowledge in unprecedented ways that's what it means what do we know of the manners of imam abu hanifah imala had neighbor and he would spend most of the night drinking and then when he would become drunk he would repeat the same couplets over and over again what were the couplets he would say they have neglected me they have neglected me but what man they have neglected they shall realize they are lost during the times of war he kept repeating that couplet as if to say that no one has given me the attention deserve they have neglected me but they will realize in war when i'm missing the type of man they have neglected he'd keep doing this until he would fall asleep now seeing that abu hadid spent the whole night in salah he was awake he caught his neighbor's racket from the beginning right to the end each evening on one evening did not hear his noisy neighbor so he inquired about him and he discovered that he had been arrested by the city police because of drunkenness and they they'd taken him to be imprisoned and so on the next morning imam abu hanifa with all of these colossal responsibilities and scholars coming to study with him as we shall find out he carried out his federal prayer he mounted his right and he made his way to the governor and the governor when he saw abu hanifa he honored him they know who this man is and abu hanifa made request please can you free my neighbor and so the governor of course honored this request this intercession of imam abu hanifah he granted him that he freed him and they freed all of those who had been in prison that evening as well so imam and the neighbor they were walking home and when they arrived home abu hanifa turned to his neighbor and he said to him young man have neglected you you're always singing at night right they've neglected me they've forsaken me he said young man have neglected you and what did the neighbors say he said he said no no you have not you have preserved you have safeguarded me to may allah subhanahu wa reward you for being such good neighbor and guardian of this right and this would mark the beginning of the repentance of this man and he would not return to his old ways again how beautiful were the words dear brothers and sisters of imam al-hasan al-basri who said about this idea of being neighborly and what does it mean is it about giving dishes of food to your neighbor that's part of it but al-hasan he said being neighborly is not simply about not harming your neighbor being neighborly is about being patient towards harm allah give us this patience was also man of immense meaning caution with respect to those doubtful matters he wouldn't take any risks pertaining to the hereafter never not going to risk it and he once actually sent his business partner to sell an item of clothing worth thirty thousand dirham and this item had defect which abu hanifa made clear to his business partner that when you sell it you have to make it clear to the buyer beforehand that there is this problem with it the item was sold the money was given to abuhami for huge fortune but then his partner said to him ya allah have forgotten to tell him about the defect so at once donated the entire thirty thousand the entire thirty thousand god this is what our this is the prophet salallahu be cautious be cautious in your conduct and you will be in allah's eyes the most devout of all people see sign that allah subhanahu ta'ala wants good for muslim is that he inspires him or her to show great caution with respect to matters of religion caution with respect to the glances caution when choosing your words cautious with your choice of dress and how you appear in public cautious with respect to your finances caution caution she said that my father abu bakr allah had servant who would bring abu bakr from his earnings which he would eat from and on one of those days abu bakr was eating from what his servant brought him then the servant said do you know where got this from abu bakr said no don't. he said he said once in the days of pre-islamic period of ignorance told somebody about his future yet fortune telling told him about his future although in reality have no knowledge of fortune telling but cheated him and when he met me he gave me some money for the service that conned him into accepting and so this is what you are eating from abu bakr what did abu bakr do he wedged his finger into the back of his throat and vomited everything that he had eaten no delay no searching on the internet trying to find fatwa around it instantly he got it out of his system that's it in other narrations it mentions abu bakr actually tried to induce vomit and he failed so he began to drink water until his belly was full then he tried again and he vomited and again and vomited till nothing was coming out then when he finished he raised his hands and he said allah apologize to you for what remains in my veins and has passed into my intestines and then they said to him may allah have mercy on you abu bakr you you do all of this to yourself because of one mouthful you do all of this because of one mouthful abu bakr he said if this food was only going to leave my body with the departure of my soul meaning had to die would have still made sure that it evicts my body and that is because heard the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says anyone whose body grows through impermissible earnings then the hellfire is worthy of that body so don't wait to be taken by surprise the day of judgment don't really ask questions whilst you still can about every part of your life investigate it diligently your finances your clothes your relationships your addictions your doings every penny that is coming into your account exercise water meaning caution and make it part and parcel of every one of your decisions this was the behavior of imam abu hanifah may allah have mercy what do we know of the school of thought of imam abu hanifah brothers and sisters it is very important to note here that the fik of imam abu hanifa was formulated as part of collective effort so it's not merely the opinions of imam abu hanifah he would say in the study circle of knowledge that included the likes of muhammad ibul hassan shaibani al-qaeda and other scholars of language and hadith and judiciary and this was the main study circle in the city of kufa what would happen next is that amasala meaning matter of discussion would be posed and every participant would be invited to speak and there would be this back and forth which would sometimes last up to month trying to discuss the conclusion to one masala one matter of discussion did not impose his opinion on the gathering then in the end when they have finished talking about hanifa would give his input then when all of the discussion had ended an opinion had been settled upon this opinion would then be documented as part of the firk of imam so you can say that this study circle was in essence the formation of the very first major malfiri the very first fikki council in our muslim ummah isn't it amazing so that's how his was collated it was collective effort and this is why when wakir he heard man saying imam abu hanifa made mistake he said how can he make mistake how can he make mistake when with abu hanifa was the likes of abu yusuf and who are known for their chaos the process of deductive analogy and he has with him and half and hen and mandel who are known for their memorization of hadith and he has with him al-qasim ibn man who is known for his knowledge of the arabic language and he has with him and who are known for their and their their caution their wara he said whoever has such people as his companions will rarely make mistakes because if he does they will correct him the point here is to show not faultlessness or flawlessness the point is to show you it was collective effort not just abu hanifah who was weighing in on an opinion by himself and so behind the line if there was matter that remained unclear to abu hanifah this really struggled to reach conclusive opinion what would he say ya salaam he would say to his friends this is because of sin this must be because of sin that have committed so he would repent to allah and he would say and at times he will stay in prayer till the matter becomes clear to him then he will say to his friends hope that have been forgiven. was blessed with great students like abu yusuf who would act as the judge for the khalifas the caliphs of his era like haruna rasheed and he had students like muhammad and students like zufar now the rest of the three imams as we shall find out they also had students they were blessed with dutiful students but it could be argued that nobody can be compared to the students of imam abu hanifah specifically particularly with respect to the service which they offered to the works of their imam and the huge role that they played in promoting his mother happy school of thought to the east and west bearing in mind just how few the books were which imam abu hanifah actually ordered himself there's so few that you could attribute directly to him so it was his students who carried the lord on behalf of abu hanifah to the world and his school of thought today is the most widely adopted school of thought and as early as the abbasid dynasty it was abu hanifah school of thought which they had chose to adopt and spread across the muslim world and the same can be said about the ottoman dynasty again they had adopted abu hanifa's school of thought and they played huge role in promoting it to the world and playing role in promoting it to iraq and asham and egypt the indian subcontinent and even as far as china and in fact today there are over maybe half of the muslim umba who are followers of the imam abu hanifa at his school of thought finally what do we know about the death of imam abu hanifa may allah have mercy upon him was invited on at least two occasions to accept the position of judge and he refused both occasions he felt inadequate to take this responsibility on the second occasion when he refused the request of abu dhafi would endure his first experience of prison life and others have suggested that he was actually lashed one hundred and ten times because of it and abu hanifah he said he said the grief that knew that my mother was experiencing because of what was going through that was more painful to me than the lashes that were falling on my body allahu akbar dutiful to his mother as well and there behind bars imam abu hanifa was made to endure grueling conditions and this was the situation of every imam who left legacy allah who will test them and he was at the time around 70 years of age but they didn't show mercy to this old man his body had fatigued his limbs were weak but his resolve allahu akbar was unmoved and this is one of the miraculous properties of iman it gives us strength that cannot be described but subhanallah nevertheless there is only so much that the body of an old man can take and so in the year 150 after the hijrah in the month of rajab was fettered in chains his blessed soul would return back to its creator some have suggested that al mansour had actually poisoned his food and so if this is true we can also hope that imam abu hanifah had attained insha'allah the position of shahada ma to them as well imam ibn kathir he said that the funeral prayer of imam abu hadifa was carried out upon him six times due to the congestion of the people who came to attend it and his grave is there in baghdad who have mercy upon him however allah subhana wa ta'ala's mercy upon this muslim ummah is vast because in the same year which imam abu hanifa passed away in in the year 150 after the hijrah another great imam would be born he is muhammad we shall be speaking about in another episode and therefore the scholars they said about this death and birth they said moon has died and another moon was born you