This Madh-hab is named after its founding scholar, Abu Haneefah, whose actual name was Nu’maan ibn Thaabit. He was born in the year 702 CE. Kufah, (Iraq). His father was a silk merchan of Persian origin, who accepted Islaam during the reign of the Khulafaa Raashidoon (Righteous Caliphs). Abu Haneefah began his earlier studies in the field of philosophy and dialectics known as ‘Ilm al-Kalaam, but after mastering its various disciplines, he left it and went into an indepth study of Fiqh and Hadeeth. He chose as his main teacherk, Hammaad ibn Zayd, who was among the greatest scholars of Hadeeth of his time. Abu Haneefah studied under him for eighteen years. During this time he became qualified to teach, but instead remained Hammad’s student until the latter died in the year 742 CE. After Hammaad’s death Abu Haneefah took up the position of teacher at the age of forty and became the most outstanding scholar in Kufah. As such, he appeared to bea valuable prize to the Umayyad caliphs of that time. They offered him the position of Qaadee (judge) of Kufah, but he refused the post in spite of being physically beaten for his refusal by the Ameer of Kufah, Yazeed ibn ‘Umar. Similarly, during the rule of the ‘Abbaasids, he also refused royal appointment, and was consequently imprisoned in Baghdad by the Caliph Abu Ja’far al-Mansoor (754-775 CE). He remained imprisoned until his death in 767 CE. Abu Haneefah was considered among the minor Taabi’oon (students of the Sahaabah), because he had met a few of the Sahaabah and had related some Hadeeths from them. 128

Imaam Abu Haneefah base his teaching method on the principle of Shoorah (group discussion). He would present a legal problem to his students for debate and discussion and tell them to record its solution whenever they arrived at a unified position.

Because of this interactive approach to making legal rulings, we could say that the Hanafee Madh-hab was as much a product of Abu Haneeafh’s students’ efforts as it was a product of his own efforts.

They would also debate on hypothetical problems and work out solutions, based on the principle of preparing for a problem before its occurrence. Because of their leaning towards hypothetical Fiqh which often introduced an issue with the question, “what if so and so happened?”, they became known as the what-iffers or Ahl ar-Ra’i (the opinion people).

The early jurists of this Madh-hab deduced Islamic laws from the following sources, which are listed in the order of their importance:

They considered the Qur’aan to be the primary unquestionable source of Islamic law. In fact it was used to determine the accuracy of the other sources. Accordingly any other source that contradicted the Qur’aan was considered inaccurate.

The Sunnah was consulted as the second most important source of Islamic law, but with some qualification as to its use. They stipulated that it was not suffcient that a Hadeeth be accurate (Saheeh), but it had to be also widely known (Mash-hoor), if it was to be used as a legal proof. This condition was laid down as a safeguard against false Hadeeths which were cropping up frequently in that region where only a few notable Sahaabah had settled (‘Alee and Ibn Mas’ood).

Third in importance as a source of Islamic law was the unanimous opinion of the Sahaabah on any point of law not specified in the Qur’aan or the Sunnah. That is, Ijmaa’ of the Sahaabah on any point of law not specified in the Qur’aan or the Sunnah. That is, Ijmaa’ of the Sahaabah was given precedence over the personal opinions of Abu Haneefah and his students in their deduction of Islamic law. The Hanafee Madh-hab also recognized the Ijmaa’ of Muslim scholars in any age as valid and binding on Muslims.

If there were different opinions among the Sahaabah on a particular point of law and no Ijmaa’ was subsequently formed, Abu Haneefah would choose the opinion which appeared most appropriate to the case in question. In establishing this as a vital principle of his Madh-hab, Abu Haneefah again gave more weight to the opinions of the Sahaabah than to his own.129

However, he did apply his own reasoning in a limited sense by choosing one of their various opinions.

Abu Haneefah felt no obligation to accept the deductions of the students of the Sahaabah (Taabi’oon) in areas where no clear proof was available from any of the above mentioned sources.

He considered himself the equal of the Taabi’oon and would make his own Ijtihaad based on the principles of Qiyaas which he and his students established.

Istihsaan, in short, is the preference of one proof over another proof because it appears more suitable, even though the preferred proof may be technically weaker than the one it is preferred to.

This may involve the preference of a Hadeeth which is specific over a general one, or it may even involve the preference of a more suitable law over the one deduced by Qiyaas.

Local customs were given legal weight in areas where there were no binding Islamic customs available. It was through the application of this principle that various customs found in the multiplicity of cultures within the Islamic world entered the legal system and became mistakenly classified as Islamic.130

The most famous of Abu Haneefah’s students were Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl, Abu Yoosuf and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan.

Zufar was one of those who followed Abu Haneefah’s example and refused to accept appointment as Qaadee even though many attractive offers were made to him. He preferred to teach, which he did until he died at the early age of 42 in Basrah.

Abu Yoosuf was born into a poor family in Kufah. He studied Hadeeth extensively until he became a noteworthy Hadeeth scholar then studied Fiqh in Kufah for nine years under Imaam Ibn Abee Lailaa (died 765 CE) whose father was a famous Sahaabee from Madeenah. Abu Yoosuf later studied under Abu Haneefah for nine years, and when Abu Haneefah died, he went to Madeenah and studied for a short period under Imaam Maalik. Abu Yoosuf was appointed chief judge of the state by the ‘Abbaasid caliphs, al-Mahdee (775-785 CE), al-Haadee (785-786

CE) and Haroon ar-Rasheed (786-809 CE). In his capacity as chief judge, he used to appoint judges for the various cities and all his appointees were followers of the Hanafee Madh-hab. Thus, he was instrumental in the spread of this school of thought throughout the Muslim empire. 131

Imaam Muhammad was born in WSasit, but grew up in Kufah. Like Abu Yoosuf, his early studies were also in Hadeeth. He studied briefly under Abu Yoosuf and later travelled to Madeenah where he studied under Imaam Maalik for three years. During this period he became one of the main narrators of Maalik’s Hadeeth book al-Muwatta’ Imaam Shaafi’ee was among the many scholars who later studied uner Muhammad ibn al-Hasan in Baghdad.

Muhammad ibn al-Hasan also accepted appointment as Qadee during the reign of Caliph Haroon ar-Rasheed, but soon gave it up because of the many compromises which it demanded, and returned to his teaching post in Baghdad.

Those who now follow the Hanafee Madh-hab are found mostly in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Guyana, Trinidad, and Surinam and to some extent Egypt. When the ottoman rulers codified Islamic law according to the Hanafee Madh-hab in the nineteenth century CE and made it state law, any scholar who aspired to be a judge was obliged to learn it. As a result, the Madhhab spread throughout the Ottoman Islamic State during the last Part of the nineteenth century.