*Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal – Part 1*


His name was Ahmad, his father’s name was Muhammad, and his grandfather’s name was Hanbal. He was born in Rabi‘ al-Awwal 164 AH in Baghdad. He was 3 years old when his father passed away. His mother raised him. In Baghdad, he acquired knowledge from scholars, memorized the Noble Qur’an, and gained other sciences. Then he traveled to Kufa, Basra, Makkah, Madinah, Yemen, Syria, etc., to acquire knowledge, especially hearing hadith from the scholars of hadith. Among Imam Ahmad’s teachers, notable names are Imam Abu Yusuf, Hashim bin Bashir, Abu Hazim al-Wasiti, Waki‘ bin Jarrah, Yazid bin Harun, Imam Shafi‘i, Mu‘tamir bin Sulayman, and Bishr bin Mufaddal.


*Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal’s Rank in the Science of Hadith* — Just as Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal is counted among the Imams of Fiqh, he is likewise counted among the Imams of Hadith. His devotion to hadith and his status in hadith is accepted by the Muhaddithin and scholars. The Muhaddith Abu Zur‘ah said to Imam Ahmad’s son Abdullah: “Your father memorized a thousand hadiths.” Imam Ibrahim al-Harbi says: “I saw Imam Ahmad — Allah had gathered for him the knowledge of the earlier and later generations.” His son Hazrat Abdullah states: “My father wrote down one million hadiths. He would memorize whatever hadith was in his manuscript.”  


Imam Ahmad’s famous book on hadith is _Al-Musnad_, which comprises 6 volumes. In this book, more than 30,000 hadiths from approximately 700 companions have been compiled. The Imam himself says: “I selected this collection by choosing from a treasure of more than 700,000 hadiths.” Imam Ahmad wrote the manuscript of this book, but its arrangement and editing were done by his son Abdullah. Historians say that he started the work of writing _Al-Musnad_ at the age of 16. He kept compiling whatever hadith he heard from his teachers, and in his later years he began to separate and organize them. Imam Ahmad would avoid taking weak hadiths, but when only a weak hadith was available, he would mention it in his _Musnad_. The _Musnad_ is a work worthy of great appreciation. It can be called an encyclopedia of hadith.


*Imam Ahmad’s Juristic Status* — Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal is counted among the four Imams of Fiqh. Although Imam Ahmad would not, as a rule, give fatwas on hypothetical issues that had not occurred, nor would he present a new opinion in the presence of the sayings and practices of the predecessors. Therefore, some people did not accept him as a faqih, but this is not correct. Imam Ahmad was a faqih, and he holds a great position in the promotion and dissemination of Fiqh. Allama Abdur-Rahman Ibn al-Jawzi says: “I reflected on the evidences of Shari‘ah and the principles of Fiqh, and I read the conditions of the Mujtahid Imams, and I found that Imam Ahmad was given the greatest share of knowledge.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AL ASHARI SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY

 AL ASHARI SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY The more constructive among Asharite thinkers for no doubt on the right path and anticipated some of the more modern forms of idealism yet on the whole the object of the Asharite movement was simply to defend orthodox opinion with the weapons of Greek dialectic.Muslim thinkers of the school of Al AShari did not believe in the infinite divisibility of space and time with them space , time and motion are made up of points and instance which cannot be further subdivided. Ibne Azam however rejected the Asharaite notion of infinite smalls and modern mathematics has confirmed his view. the Asharite argument therefore cannot logically resolve the paradox of zeno Reference: The reconstruction of religious thought in Islam- Allama Iqbal.
Read more

FREDERICK II

Image
FREDERICK II His court was half Oriental and full of highly educated Arabs and some of these were associated in the education of the young King .now they were at some pains to make their point of view clear to him. He got a Muslim view of Christianity as well as a Christian view of ISlam and and unHappy result of this double system instruction was a view exceptional in the age of faith that all religion were  impostures.  He  talk freely on the subject . His blasphemies are on record. He gathered Jews and Muslim as well as Christian philosphers at his court and he did much to educate the Italian mind with saracenic influences. through him the Arabic numerals and algebra were introduced to Christian students and among other philosophers at his court was Michael Scott , who translated portions of Aristotle and the commentaries thereon of the Arab  philosopher averroes of cordoba. We have seen how the Arabs were the means of restoring Aristotle to Europe and how such a ...
Read more

Maulvi Samiullah Khan

Image
 Maulvi Samiullah Khan  He was a close aziz of Sir Syed. Born in 1834 in Delhi, after getting Arabic-Persian education, he got law education and got the post of Munsif. He had a keen eye on the law, hence gave clan-like decisions, but did this work according to his temperament. After not getting the desired results, he resigned and started practicing law.He started it on the very first day. Sir Syed's followers are helpful in his education movement. When a Madrasa was established in Aligarh under his mother, its supervision was handed over to him. He carried out his duties with utmost audacity. On the issue of Syed Mahmood's murder, he spoke to Sir Syed. There was a disagreement and there was a bad temper.But his sympathy for the college remained with him till the end. He died in Aligarh on 17th April 1908. As per his will, his body was taken to Delhi. He was laid to rest near his father's side near the tomb of Shah Abdul Aziz Muhammad Das, outside Delhi gate. incinerated R...
Read more