IMAM SHAFI’EE
Imam Muhammad Ibn Idress Shafi’ee was born in Ghazah, Palestine
in the year 150 AH. Imam Shafi’ee was a descendent from the Hashimi family
of the Quaraish tribe to which the Holy Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم) belonged. His father died around the time of his birth and his
mother migrated to Makkah with Imam Shafi’ee when he was 2 years of age.
During his
youth Imam Shafi’ee excelled in 2 activities: acquisition of deeni ilm and
archery. By the age of 7 Imam Shafi’ee had memorised the Qur’an and at ten
years of age he had committed the Mu’atta of Imam Malik to memory.
At the age of
13 with his mother’s permission Imam Shafi’ee departed Makkah arrived in
Madinah at the door of Imam Malik.
Teachers
His uncle,
Muhammed Ibn Ali Ibn Shafi’ee
Imam Malik
Imam Muhammad ibnul Hassan Shaybanee
Imam Waqee’
Imam Sufyan ibn Uyaynah
Imam
Shafi’ee is reported to have written over 150 books.
Imam
Shafi’ee was an expert in both Hanafi and Maliki fiqh. From which came
about the Shafi’ee fiqh, which was spread by his students.
Imam
Shafi’ee is a great role model, for both men and women. Never did he speak
a lie, and his hands reached out to the poor generously.
Imam Muhammad
said about him: The door of Fiqh was shut to the people, Allah opened it
because of Imam Shafi’ee.
Imam Shafi’ee died
in Cairo, Egypt, on FRIDAY evening after Maghrib, in RAJAB, 204 A.H. after a
short illness at the age of 54 years.
IMAM MALIK
Imam Malik’s Early
Years:
Abu Abdullah,
Malik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn Amer al-Asbahee was born in Madinah in the year 93
A.H. (714 CE). His ancestral home was in Yemen, but his grandfather settled in
Madinah after embracing Islam.
Born into a
well-to-do family, Imam Malik did not need to work for a living. He was highly
attracted to the study of Islam and ended up devoting his entire life to the
study of Fiqh. Imam Malik received his education in what was the most important
seat of Islamic learning, Madinah, and lived where the immediate descendants
and the followers of the companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam,
were living.
It is said that
Imam Malik sought out over three hundred Tabi’een or those who saw and followed
the companions of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Imam Malik held the
hadeeth of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, in such reverence that he
never narrated, taught any hadeeth or gave a fatwa without being in a state of
ritual purity, Ghusl. Ismael ibn abi Uwaiss said, “I asked my uncle Imam Malik
– about something. He had me sit, made ablution, then said, ‘Laa hawla wala
quwata illa billah.’ He did not give any fatwa without saying it first.”
Also, Imam
Malik saw fatwa as a sensitive, precise, and important action that can have far
reaching results, and used to be extremely careful about giving it to the
extent that if he was not sure about a matter, he would not dare to talk.
Al-Haytham said, “I once was with Imam Malik when he was asked more than forty
questions and I heard him reply, ‘I do not know,’ to thirty-two of them.”
Yet, he was the
man about whom ash-Shafi’ee said, ‘When scholars are mentioned, Malik is like
the star among them.’ Malik said that he did not sit to give fatwa, before
seventy of the Madinah scholars first witnessed to his competence in doing so.
Imam Malik
became the Imam of the Madinah, and one of the most renowned Imams of Islam.
Imam Malik’s Famous
Muwatta:
He is the
author of al-Muwatta’ (“The Approved”), formed of the sound narrations from the
Prophet together with the saying of his companions, their followers, and those
after them. Malik said, “I showed my book to seventy scholars of Madinah, and
every single one of them approved it for me (kulluhum wata-ani alayh), so I
named it ‘The Approved’.”
Imam Bukhari
said that the soundest of all chains of transmission was “Malik, from Nafi,
from Ibn Umar.” The scholars of hadeeth call it the Golden Chain, and there are
eighty narrations with this chain in the Muwatta. Malik composed al-Muwatta in
the course of forty years, having started with ten thousand narrations until he
reduced them to their present number of fewer than 2,000.
Like all
scholars of Islam, Imam Malik was famous for his piety and integrity. He
courageously stood up, and was prepared to suffer, for his convictions. When
the governor of Madinah demanded and forced people to take the oath of
allegiance to Khalifah al-Mansour, Imam Malik issued a fatwa that such an oath
was not binding because it was given under coercion. He based this opinion of
the hadeeth, “The divorce of the coerced does not take effect” (laysa ala
mustakrahin talag). This resulted in many people finding courage to express
their opposition, but Imam Malik was arrested, found guilty of defiance, and
publicly flogged.
Imam Malik’s
followers and disciples developed a Fiqh school, Madh-hab, based on his Ijtihad
which came to be known as the Maliki Madh-hab. This Madh-hab spread in North
Africa, al-Andalus, much of Egypt, and some of al-Sham, Yemen, Sudan, Iraq, and
Khurasan. Today, Malikis are mostly found in North and West Africa, Egypt,
Sudan and the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
On Monday 14th
of Rabi-ul-Awwal 179 A H., Imaam Malik (R.A) took leave from this world in the
city of Madinah and is buried in the famous al-Baqie cemetery.
IMAM ABU HANIFAH
Imam Abu Hanifah’s
Early Years:
Imam Abu
Hanifah was born in Kufa, Iraq in the year 80A.H. He was the son of a Persian
merchant and his full name is Nu’man bin Thabit ibn Zauti (more famously known
in Islamic History as ‘Imam Abu Hanifah’ and ‘Imam A’zam’).
His father –
Thabit – was privileged to meet Hazrat Ali (R.A.) who had at the time, made
Kufa his capital. Kufa, at the time of Imam Abu Hanifah was one the most
important learning centres in the Islamic world and was blessed with the
presence of over a thousand sahabah at one stage in its history.
Imam Abu
Hanifah is himself also a Tabi’ee (One who saw and benefited from at least one
Sahabi).
At the age of
20, Imam Abu Hanifah turned his attention towards the pursuit of advancing his
Islamic knowledge.
Imam Abu Hanifah’s
Teachers:
Imam Abu
Hanifah benefited from nearly 4,000 Sheikhs. Among his 1st and the most
important tutors was Imam Hammad (Died 120 A.H.) whose educational lineage is
linked with Hadhrat Abdullah Ibn Mas’ood (R.A.). Such was his respect for his
tutor, Imam Hammad that Imam Abu Hanifah says; whilst in my home I never even
stretched my legs towards the house of my tutor, despite living 7 streets away.
Imam Abu
Hanifah (R.A.) had joined his father’s business wherein he showed scrupulous
honesty and fairness. Once his agent had sold a consignment of silk cloth on
his behalf but forgot to mention a slight defect to the customers. When Imam
Abu Hanifah learnt of this, he was greatly distressed because he had no means
of the refunding the customers; so, he immediately ordered the entire proceeds
of the sale (30,000 Dirhams) to be given in charity.
Imam Abu
Hanifah was also keenly interested in education. He established a school at
Kufa, which later became a famous College of Theology. Here he delivered
lectures on Islamic Law and related subjects.
Fiqah or
Islamic Law was systematically studied by his students under his expert
guidance. A large number of his devoted and highly intelligent students worked
under him for 30 years, and it is the labour of these students that gave us the
Hanafi School of thought.
Imam Abu
Hanifah (R.A.) was the 1st of the Imams to advocate the use of “reason” in the
consideration of religious questions based on the Qur’an and Sunnah. He was
also the 1st Imam to arrange all the subjects of Islamic Law systematically.
His most
important work is the Kitab-ul-Aasaar which was compiled by his students – Imam
Abu Yusuf and Imam Muhammad.
In {146 A.H.}
763 A.C. Al-Mansoor – the Banu Abbas Khalifa of the Muslim Empire at Baghdad
whose capital was Baghdad – offered Imam Sahib the post of Chief Qadhi of the
state, but Imam Abu Hanifah declined to accept the post and chose to remain
independent. In his reply to Al-Mansoor, Imam Abu Hanifah excused himself by
saying that he did not regard himself fit for the post offered. Al-Mansoor, who
had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post, lost his temper and
accused Imam Abu Hanifah of lying.
“If I am
lying,” the Imam said, “then my statement is doubly correct. “How can you
appoint a liar to the exalted post of a Chief Qazi?”
Incensed by
this reply, Al-Mansoor charged the Imam with contempt, had him arrested and
locked in prison.
Even in prison,
Imam Abu Hanifah continued to teach those who were permitted to come to him.
It was here in
prison that Imam Abu Hanifah was administered a dose of poison in 150 A.H.
Realizing that the end was near, the Imam prostrated in prayer and passed away
in this condition in the month of Rajab, 150 A.H.
The news of his
death soon spread throughout Baghdad. The whole town came out to pay their last
homage to the greatest Imam of Islamic Law. More than 50,000 people
participated in the first Janaza Salaat. People continued to flock and before
the Janaza could be finally taken for burial, the Salaatul Janaza was offered 6
times in all. For days, people came in large numbers to pay their respects at
the grave side.
IMAM AHMAD IBN HANBAL
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born in the city of Baghdad during the
month of Rabi-ul Awwal 164 A.H. His father passed away either before he
was born or shortly afterwards, and it was his mother who diligently brought up
the Imam.
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s
Education:
He acquired his
childhood education through the Maktab but even there his piety and scholarly
character were recognised. Abu Afeef (r.a) has reported, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
(r.a) was within our learning group at the Maktab. At that time, he was very
young, and we, as students were aware of his piety. Having completed his
basic education at the age of 16, the Imam went on to study ahadith by
attending the study circles of Qazi Imam Abu Yusuf (r.a).
Having acquired
knowledge from the scholars of Baghdad, his zeal for learning took him to
different parts of the world including Kufa, Basra, Yemen, Makkah, Madinah and
Syria, to benefit from their great scholars. Sometimes, during long and
difficult journies to acquire ahadith, the Imam had to resort to manual work in
order to cover his expenses.
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s
Teachers:
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal had many teachers, amongst the most
prominent was Imam Shafiee (r.a) whom he met on several separate occasions and
each time he took full benefit of the opportunity. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
commented, ‘Only after sitting in the Majlis of Imam Shafiee (r.a) did I
understand and comprehend nasikh and mansukh hadith.’ One should
remember, the Imam was an accomplished scholar even before he met Imam Shafiee.
It was only at
the age of forty, in 204 A.H., the Imam began formally teaching hadith.
Whilst his teachers were still alive he refused to teach and narrate hadith out
of humility and respect for them. Imam Ahmad was acknowledged by the
Ulama of his time as the Imam ul Hadith.
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s
books:
Amongst his
publications, the more famous are Kitab ul Musnad (based upon 30,000 ahadith),
Kitab ul Tafseer, Kitab us Salaah, Kitab us Sunnah, Kitab un Nasikh and Mansukh
and others.
The Imam dressed very simply and disliked clothes which created
a false awe. He wore a turban, white clothes and a shawl. He never
accepted gifts offered by rulers and the affluent out of caution.
Imam Ahmad ibn
Hanbal died on the blessed day of Friday in Rabi ul Awwal 241 A.H at the age
77, after a period of illness which lasted nine days. The news of the
Imams death soon spread and after Jumuah more than 850,000 people performed his
janazah prayer with the rows formed in the city, streets, bazaars and even on
boats on the river Tigris. Even the non-Muslims mourned the passing away
of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
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| Rakibul Islam Salafi, Mumbai, India |
