Hakikat Kitabevi Publications No: 10 answer to an enemy of islam

“Abû Hanîfa is the light of my umma.” There is
no need to repeat about his wara’, zuhd, generosity, keen sight and
sagacity, which are well known. Three-fourths of the knowledge of
fiqh belongs to him. And he shares the remaining one-fourth with
the other a’immat al-madhâhib. Al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î said, “The
sources of men’s knowledge on fiqh are Abû Hanîfa and his
disciples. He who wants to learn fiqh should resort to Abû
Hanîfa’s knowledge and his disciples. When I asked Imâm Mâlik if
he had seen Abû Hanîfa, he said, ‘Yes, I have seen Abû Hanîfa.
He was such a man that if he had claimed that this pillar were
made of gold he would have proved it right. No one could oppose
him.’ ” Men had been asleep concerning the knowledge of fiqh,
and Abû Hanîfa woke them all. When ’Isâ ibn Mûsâ, one of the
’âbids (worshippers, devotees) and zâhids (ascetics) of the time,
was in the company of Abû Ja’far Mansûr, who was the Amîr al-
Mu’minîn [Head of the Faithful], Abû Hanîfa entered the room.
’Isâ said to Mansûr that the visitor was a world-wide great ’âlim.
Mansûr asked the imâm from whom he had acquired knowledge.
He said he had learned from the disciples of Hadrat ’Umar (radiy-
Allâhu ’anh). And Mansûr said, “Indeed, you have got a very
sound support.”
Al-Imâm al-a’zam Abû Hanîfa performed salât every night.
Once, while he was sleeping in the Ka’ba, he was waken by a voice:
“O Abû Hanîfa! Thou hast served Me faithfully. Thou hast known
Me well. On account of this faith and acknowledgement of thine, I
have forgiven thee and those who will follow thee until
Doomsday.” What good news for Abû Hanîfa and for the
followers of his madhhab! His beautiful moral character and good
qualities could exist only in an ’ârif and imâm who was a mujtahid.
Of the mujtahid-imâms and mature ’âlims whom he educated,
’Abdullah ibn Mubârak, Imâm Mâlik, Imâm Mis’ar, Abû Yûsuf,
Muhammad ash-Shaibânî and Imâm Zufar are the witnesses of his
high status. Though he wished to keep away from the people and
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go into retirement because he had much modesty and bashfulness,
he began to issue fatwâs when he was commanded by Rasûlullah
(sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam) in his dream to promulgate his
madhhab. His madhhab spread far and wide. His followers
increased in number. Those who envied him appeared, yet they all
were routed and disgraced. Many scholars learned the usûl and
furû’ of his madhhab and wrote many books. Those who could
observe and understand his naqlî (narrated, traditional) and ’aqlî
(mental) documentation wrote about his superiority. Though Abu
’l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzî quotes some stories belittling al-Imâm al-
a’zam in his book, he wrote them not to belittle al-Imâm al-’azam
but to show that there were those who were jealous of him. In the
same book he praises al-Imâm al-a’zam more than others. Al-
Imâm al-’azam’s father, Thâbit, had visited Hadrat ’Alî (radiy-
Allâhu ’anh), who had invoked for a blessing on him and his
children. The prayer manifested on al-Imâm al-a’zam. Attaining
the suhba of some of as-Sahâbat al-kirâm, particularly of Hadrat
Anas ibn Mâlik (radiy-Allâhu ’anh), he was honoured with being
one of the Tâbi’ûn.
[’Abd al-Wahhâb ash-Sha’rânî wrote:
“Before writing my book