Ahmad ibn Hanbal

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Islamic scholar
Abu Abdillah Ahmed ibn Muhammed ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani
Title Sheikh ul-Islam
Born 780 CE/164 AH[1]
Baghdad, Iraq[2] [3]
Died 855 CE/241 AH (aged 74-75)[1]
Baghdad, Iraq[4]
Ethnicity Arab
Era Islamic Golden Age
Region Iraq
Jurisprudence Ijtihad
Creed Athari
Main interest(s) Fiqh, Hadith, Aqeedah[4]
Notable idea(s) Hanbali madhhab
Notable work(s) Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Salafi movement
Central figures
Organizations
Trends
Individuals
Related ideologies

Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani (780–855 CE / 164–241 AH) (Arabic: احمد بن محمد بن حنبل ابو عبد الله الشيباني‎) was an important Muslim scholar and theologian. He is considered the founder of the Hanbali school of Islamic jurisprudence. Ibn Hanbal is one of the most celebrated Sunni theologians, often referred to as "Sheikh ul-Islam,"[7] honorifics given to the most esteemed doctrinal authorities in the Sunni tradition. Ibn Hanbal personified the theological views of the early orthodox scholars, including the founders of the other extant schools of Sunni fiqh. Hanbal was a strong spokesman for the usage of hadiths.[8]

Biography[edit]

Early life and family[edit]

Legal writings, produced October 879.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal's family was originally from Basra, Iraq, and belonged to the Arab Banu Shayban tribe.[9] His father was an officer in the Abbasid army in Khurasan and later settled with his family in Baghdad, where Ahmad was born in 780 CE.[2]

Ibn Hanbal had two wives and several children, including an older son, who later became a judge in Isfahan.[7]

Education and Work[edit]

Ibn Hanbal studied extensively in Baghdad, and later traveled to further his education. He started learning jurisprudence (Fiqh) under the celebrated Hanafi judge, Abu Yusuf, the renowned student and companion of Imam Abu Hanifah. After finishing his studies with Abu Yusuf, ibn Hanbal began traveling through Iraq, Syria, and Arabia to collect hadiths, or traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Ibn al-Jawzi states that Imam Ahmad had 414 Hadith masters whom he narrated from. With this knowledge, he became a leading authority on the hadith, leaving an immense encyclopedia of hadith, the al-Musnad. After several years of travel, he returned to Baghdad to study Islamic law under Al-Shafi'i. He became a mufti in his old age, but is remembered most famously, as the founder of the Hanbali madhab or school of Islamic law, which is now most dominant in Saudi Arabia, Qatar as well as the United Arab Emirates.[10][11][12]

In addition to his scholastic enterprises, ibn Hanbal was a soldier on the Islamic frontiers (Ribat) and made Hajj five times in his life, twice on foot.[13]

Death[edit]

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal died in 855 CE in Baghdad, Iraq.

The Mihna[edit]

Main article: Mihna

Ibn Hanbal was famously called before the Inquisition or Mihna of the Abassid Caliph al-Ma'mun. Al-Ma'mun wanted to assert the religious authority of the Caliph by pressuring scholars to adopt the Mu'tazila view that the Qur'an was created rather than uncreated. According to Sunni tradition, ibn Hanbal was among the scholars to resist the Caliph's interference and the Mu'tazila doctrine of a created Qur'an—although some Orientalist sources raise a question on whether or not he remained steadfast[14]

Due to his refusal to accept Mu'tazilite authority, ibn Hanbal was imprisoned in Baghdad throughout the reign of al-Ma'mun. In an incident during the rule of al-Ma'mun's successor, al-Mu'tasim, ibn Hanbal was flogged to unconsciousness. However, this caused upheaval in Baghdad and al-Ma'mun was forced to release ibn Hanbal.[13] After al-Mu’tasim’s death, al-Wathiq became caliph and continued his predecessor's policies of Mu'tazilite enforcement and in this pursuit, he banished ibn Hanbal from Baghdad. It was only after al-Wathiqu's death and the ascent of his brother al-Mutawakkil, who was much friendlier to the more traditional Sunni dogma, that ibn Hanbal was welcomed back to Baghdad.

Works[edit]

The following books are found in Ibn al-Nadim's Fihrist:

  • Usool as-Sunnah : "Foundations of the Prophetic Tradition (in Belief)"
  • asSunnah : "The Propeht Tradition (in Belief)"
  • 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 Musnad

Quotes[edit]

  • 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 Sunnah is a garden, while the graves of the pious ascetics from the People of Innovation is a barren pit. The pious among Ahlus Sunnah are the Friends of Allah, while the sinners among Ahlul-Bidah are the Enemies of Allah.”[15]

Historical views[edit]

Ibn Hanbal has been extensively praised for both his work in the field of prophetic tradition and his defense of orthodox Sunni dogma. Abdul-Qadir Gilani stated that a Muslim could not truly be a wali of God except that they were upon Ibn Hanbal's creed; despite praise from his contemporaries as well, Yahya ibn Ma'in noted that Ibn Hanbal never boasted about his achievements.[7]

His juristic views were not always accepted. Qur'anic exegete Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, who at one time had sought to study under Ibn Hanbal, later stated that he did not consider Ibn Hanbal a jurist and gave his views in the field no weight, describing him as an expert in prophetic tradition only.[16] Likewise, Andalusian scholar Ibn 'Abd al-Barr did not include Ibn Hanbal or his views in his book The Hand-Picked Excellent Merits of the Three Great Jurisprudent Imâms about the main representatives of Sunni jurisprudence.[17] Thus, while Ibn Hanbal's prowess in the field of tradition appears to be undisputed, his status as a jurist has not enjoyed the same reception.

Early Islam scholars[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Arabic Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^ a b "مناهج أئمة الجرح والتعديل". Ibnamin.com. Retrieved 2010-03-21. 
  2. ^ a b Roy Jackson, "Fifty key figures in Islam", Taylor & Francis, 2006. p 44: "Abu Abdallah Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ibn Hilal al-Shaybani was born in Baghdad in Iraq in 780"
  3. ^ The History of Persia by John Malcolm – Page 245
  4. ^ a b c A Literary History of Persia from the Earliest Times Until Firdawsh by Edward Granville Browne – Page 295
  5. ^ "CLASSICAL BOOKS / Hadeeth / Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (al-Jaami' as-Saheeh)". Fatwa-online.com. Retrieved 2010-03-21. 
  6. ^ Al-Bastawī, ʻAbd al-ʻAlīm ʻAbd al-ʻAẓīm (1990). Al-Imām al-Jūzajānī wa-manhajuhu fi al-jarḥ wa-al-taʻdīl. Maktabat Dār al-Ṭaḥāwī. p. 9. 
  7. ^ a b c Foundations of the Sunnah, by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, pg 51-173
  8. ^ Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History, Ira M. Lapidus, p 162
  9. ^ H. A. R. Gibb et al., ed. (1986). "Aḥmad B. Ḥanbal". Encyclopaedia of Islam. A-B 1 (New ed.). Brill Academic Publishers. p. 272. ISBN 90-04-08114-3. "Aḥmad B. Ḥanbal was an Arab, belonging to the Banū Shaybān, of Rabī’a,..." 
  10. ^ http://www.islamawareness.net/Madhab/Hanbali/ahmad_ibn_hanbal.html
  11. ^ al-Dhahabi, Siyar A`lam al-Nubala’ 9:434-547 #1876 and Tadhkira al-Huffaz 2:431 #438
  12. ^ http://suzyashraf.tripod.com/index.html_essays
  13. ^ a b "Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal". 
  14. ^ Brill, E.J., ed. (1965-1986). The Encyclopedia of Islam, vol. 7. pp. 3.
  15. ^ Tabaqaat al-Hanaabilah (1/184)
  16. ^ Yaqut al-Hamawi, Irshad, vol. 18, pg. 57-58.
  17. ^ Camilla Adang, This Day I have Perfected Your Religion For You: A Zahiri Conception of Religious Authority, pg. 20. Taken from Speaking for Islam: Religious Authorities in Muslim Societies. Ed. Gudrun Krämer and Sabine Schmidtke. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2006.
  18. ^ The Quran
  19. ^ The Great Fiqh
  20. ^ Al-Muwatta'
  21. ^ Sahih al-Bukhari
  22. ^ Sahih Muslim
  23. ^ Jami` at-Tirmidhi
  24. ^ Mishkât Al-Anwar
  25. ^ The Niche for Lights
  26. ^ Women in Islam: An Indonesian Perspective by Syafiq Hasyim. Page 67
  27. ^ ulama, bewley.virtualave.net
  28. ^ 1.Proof & Historiography - The Islamic Evidence. theislamicevidence.webs.com
  29. ^ Atlas Al-sīrah Al-Nabawīyah. Darussalam, 2004. Pg 270
  30. ^ Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz by Imam Abu Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Hakam died 829

Further reading[edit]

  • 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.

External links[edit]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.
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