Ka tuna—Allah ya shiryar da kai!—cewa idan an fuskanci zaɓi mai wuya, hanya guda tilo ta gano abin da ya dace a aikata ita ce a ajiye ra'ayin kai da son zuciya a gefe, a nemi gaskiya cikin tsari, ba tare da yin girmamawa fiye da kima ga sunaye da martabar mutanen da abin ya shafa ba. Idan ka yi haka, duhun ruɗani zai watse. Amma idan ka bari son zuciyarka ta ɓatar da kai, zai yi wuya ka sake komawa kan tafarki madaidaici. 98.1

Recall—may God lead you aright!—that when faced with a difficult choice, the only way to discern the right course of action is to put personal feelings and partisanship aside and search systematically for the truth, without undue deference to the names and reputations of those involved. If you do this, the fog of perplexity will dissipate. If, on the other hand, you allow yourself to be led astray by your inclinations, it will be difficult to find your way back to the straight and narrow. 98.1

Ka lura, cewa bayan nazarin tushen dokar Shari'a da ginshiƙan ilimin fiqhu, da kuma binciken tarihin rayuwar waɗanda suka yi amfani da hankalinsu wajen hidimar Shari'a, na gano cewa mutumin nan shi ne mafi sanin waɗannan fannoni. 98.2

Note, then, that after examining the evidentiary basis of the Law and the foundations of jurisprudence, and delving into the biographies of those who exercised their faculties on behalf of the Law, I find our man to have been the most knowledgeable in those fields. 98.2

Da farko, ya kasance mai himma wajen kiyayewa da yada Littafin Allah.3

To begin with, he was active in the preservation and transmission of the Book of God. 98.3

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Mahaifina Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya koya mini Alqur'ani duka da kansa, da zabinsa.530 98.4

[ʿAbd Allāh:] My father Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal taught me the entire Qurʾan by his own choice.530 98.4

Aḥmad da kansa ya karanta rubutun tare da Yaḥyā ibn Ādam, ʿUbayd ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar, da wasu, — an bar jerin majiyoyinsu a nan. Yayin karatu, ba ya barin lafazin harafin alif ya kusanci na i, yana mai kawo Hadisi: "An saukar da Alƙur'ani da lafazin da yake kusa da u fiye da i, don haka ku karanta shi haka." Ba ya haɗa harrufa masu makwabtaka da juna sai dai a kalmar ittakhadhtum ("kun riƙe") da makamancinta, kamar yadda Abū Bakr ya yi. Kuma yana tsawaita dogayen sautuka zuwa iyakacin matsakaici.532

Aḥmad himself read the text with Yaḥyā ibn Ādam, ʿUbayd ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, Ismāʿīl ibn Jaʿfar, and others—omitting here the list of their authorities. When reading, he would not let the pronunciation of a approximate that of i, citing the Hadith: “The Qurʾan was revealed with a pronounced closer to u than to i, so recite it that way.” He would not assimilate adjacent letters except in the word ittakhadhtum (“you have taken”)531 and the like, as did Abū Bakr. And he would extend long vowels to a moderate extent.532

Ya kuma tsara littattafai a kan ilimomin Alkur'ani, ciki har da tafsiri, nasakh, tarjih da makamantansu, kamar yadda muka lura a cikin babin da ke kan rubuce-rubucensa.

He also compiled works on the Qurʾanic sciences, including exegesis, abrogation, transposition, and the like, as we have noted in the chapter on his writings.

Idan aka zo ga Hadith, an yarda gaba ɗaya cewa shi ne keɓaɓɓe, ko a cikin sauran malamai masu ƙwarewa, saboda yawan hadisan da ya haddace da kuma ikonsa na bambance ingantattu da waɗanda ake shakka. A cikin malaman farko, Mālik ya san hadisai fiye da kowane wanda ya zo kafinsa. Don ganin cewa Aḥmad ya fi Mālik, mutum zai iya kwatanta Musnad ɗin Aḥmad da Muwaṭṭa' ɗin Mālik. 98.5

Turning to Hadith, there is universal agreement that he was unique even among his fellow exemplars in the sheer amount he memorized as well as his ability to distinguish the authentic from the dubious. Among earlier men of learning, Mālik knew more Hadith than anyone who came before him. To see that Aḥmad in turn outdid Mālik, one need only compare Aḥmad’s Authenticated Reports with Mālik’s Well-Trodden Path. 98.5

Idan aka tambaye shi, bayan haka, game da martabar masu ruwaito Hadisi, Aḥmad zai iya lissafa kyawawan halayensu da lahaninsu daga zuciya duk lokacin da aka tambaye shi, cikin sauƙi kamar yadda zai karanta surar farko ta Al-Qur'ani. Duk wanda ya duba littafin Lahanuka wanda Abū Bakr al-Khallāl ya tattara zai gane wannan nan take. Babu wani daga cikin abokan aikinsa da zai iya kai shi a wannan fanni, kuma babu wanda zai iya yin takara da shi wajen ƙwarewa a hukunce-hukuncen shari'a, fifikon da aka danganta ga sahabban Annabi ﷺ, abubuwan da suka yarda da juna, da kuma sabanin ra'ayoyinsu.

If asked, furthermore, about the reputations of Hadith transmitters, Aḥmad could list their virtues and defects from memory whenever he was asked as easily as he might recite the opening chapter of the Qurʾan. Anyone who looks at the Defects compiled by Abū Bakr al-Khallāl will see this immediately. None of his colleagues could match him in this respect, nor could any contest his mastery of the legal opinions, special virtues, points of agreement, and differences of opinion attributed to the Companions of the Prophet.

Game da nazarin harshen Larabci, Aḥmad da kansa yana cewa, "Na rubuta Larabci fiye da Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī." 98.6

As for the study of the Arabic language, Aḥmad himself used to say, “I’ve written more Arabic than Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī.” 98.6

Dangane da hukunce-hukuncen shari'a da aka yi bisa qiyasi, Aḥmad yana da abubuwan ban mamaki na tunani da fasahar cire hukunci da suka fi yawa da za a iya kawo su a nan, sai dai ana iya samun misalai da yawa a cikin babin kan ƙarfin hankalinsa. 98.7

As for ruling on legal questions on the basis of analogy, Aḥmad has more feats of deductive reasoning to his credit than we have room for, but several examples may be found in the chapter on his powers of intellect. 98.7

Baya ga dukkan waɗannan ilimomin da ya samu, yana kuma da ƙarfin hali na kin duniya da kuma sanya wa kansa tsantseni a addini wanda babu wani daga cikin takwarorinsa da ya iya kaiwa gare shi. Babu wani malami da aka siffanta shi da kin karɓar kyaututtukan da abokansa suka ba shi, da kuma albashin da hukumomi suka yi masa alƙawari, da irin wannan tsananin ƙin da bai taɓa sassautawa ba.

In addition to all of these scholarly attainments, he had the force of character to renounce the world and impose on himself a scrupulousness that none of his fellows could match. No other scholar is described as declining with such unremitting severity the gifts offered by his friends as well as the emoluments dangled by the authorities.

Idan da ba zan ji tsoron haɗarin da hakan zai jawo wa sunayensu ba, da zan iya ambaton misalan kyautuka da sauran manyan malamai suka karɓa, da kuma yadda suka nuna shirinsu na sassauta ƙa'idodinsu a irin waɗannan lokuta. Amma Aḥmad, sabanin haka, ya ƙi ko da abubuwan da aka halatta, kamar yadda wannan littafi ya nuna sosai fiye da isa. 98.8

Were I willing to risk the danger to their reputations, I could cite examples of gifts accepted by the other major figures and describe their willingness to relax their standards in such cases. Aḥmad, conversely, renounced even permitted things, as this book has shown in more than sufficient detail. 98.8

Baya ga duk abin da ke sama, Aḥmad ya nuna kansa a matsayin mutumin da ke iya jure wahalu masu girma da ban tsoro saboda gaskiya, wani abu da babu wani daga cikin abokan tafiyarsa da ya kai shi.

In addition to all of the above, Aḥmad proved himself capable of suffering great and terrible ordeals in the service of truth, a feat unmatched among his comrades.

[Al-Shāfiʿī:] Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ya tambaye ni: wane ne ya fi: malaminsa ko nawa?533 Sai na tambaye shi ko yana son a ba kowane mutum hakkinsa, ko kuwa kawai alfahari ne. Ya amsa da cewa yana son kwatance mai adalci. 98.9

[Al-Shāfiʿī:] Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan asked me who was better: his exemplar or mine?533 I asked him if he wanted to give each man his due or merely have a boasting match. He replied that he wanted a fair comparison. 98.9

"To wannan dai," na ce, "to ka faɗa mani inda mutuminka ya fi ƙwarewa." "Cikin Littafi, da ijmāʿi, da sunnah, da qiyās." "Yanzu ka faɗi gaskiya, tare da Allah a matsayin shaida!" — hmm, the rules require "God," so: "Yanzu ka faɗi gaskiya, tare da Allah ka zama shaida! Wane ne ya fi sanin Littafin Allah, mutuminmu ko naku?" "To, idan dai ina rantse, to mutuminku ne." "Me kuma game da sunnar Annabi ﷺ?" "Mutuminku ne kuma." "To, ra'ayoyin Sahabbai fa?" "Mutuminku ne kuma." "To, me ya rage maka sai qiyās?" "Babu kome." "Ko a nan ma, mu ne muka fi cancanta da amfani da qiyās fiye da ku. Bambancin shi ne, mu muna yin qiyās ne bisa nassosin da aka saukar, domin hujjar ta bayyana." Kwatancen da ake yi a nan shi ne tsakanin Abū Ḥanīfah da Mālik ibn Anas.

“In that case,” I said, “tell me where your man excels.” “In the Book, consensus, sunnah, and analogy.” “Tell the truth now, with God as your witness! Who knows the Book of God better: our man or yours?” “Well, if I’m under oath, then it’s your man.” “What about the sunnah of the Prophet?” “Your man again.” “And the opinions of the Companions?” “Your man again.” “So what have you got left besides analogy?” “Nothing.” “And even there, we have better claim to using analogy than you. The difference is that we draw analogies on the basis of revealed texts so that the reasoning is clear.” The comparison here is between Abū Ḥanīfah and Mālik ibn Anas.

Ta hanyar ruwaya da al-Shāfiʿī ya yi, ba sai mun shiga muhawara da magoya bayan Abū Ḥanīfah ba. An amince cewa Aḥmad ya fi Mālik, domin Aḥmad ya koyi duk abin da Mālik ya sani, sa'an nan ya ƙara a kai, kamar yadda kowane kwatance tsakanin al-Muwaṭṭaʾ da al-Aḥādīth al-Mu'ayyada ke tabbatarwa. Al-Shāfiʿī kuwa, duk da cewa yana da zurfin ilimi a fannoni daban-daban, ya yarda cewa Aḥmad ya fi shi a riwayar Hadisi; kuma Hadisi shi ne ginshiƙin da hukuncin fiqhu ke juyawa a kansa. 98.10

By reporting this exchange, al-Shāfiʿī saves us the trouble of debating with the partisans of Abū Ḥanīfah. Aḥmad’s superiority to Mālik is acknowledged, Aḥmad having learned everything Mālik knew and then added to it, as attested by any comparison of the Well-Trodden Path and the Authenticated Reports. Al-Shāfiʿī, for his part, was well versed in the various fields of learning but conceded Hadith transmission to Aḥmad; and Hadith is the pivot upon which legal reasoning turns. 98.10

[Aḥmad:] Al-Shāfi'i ya ce mini, "Kai ka fi ni sanin Hadisi. Duk lokacin da wani Hadisi ya tabbata yana ingantacce, ka sanar da ni don in karɓe shi." 98.11

[Aḥmad:] Al-Shāfiʿī told me, “You know Hadith better than I do. Whenever a Hadith turns out to be sound, let me know so I can adopt it.” 98.11

ʿAbdullahi ya ce: Na ji mahaifina yana cewa, "Al-Shafi'i ya taba gaya mini cewa: 'Aḥmad, duk lokacin da hadisi game da Manzon Allah ﷺ ya tabbata yana da inganci, ka sanar da ni domin in yi amfani da shi.'" 98.12

[ʿAbd Allāh:] I heard my father say, “Al-Shāfiʿī once said to me, ‘Aḥmad, whenever a report about the Emissary of God proves to be sound, let me know so I can use it.’” 98.12

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Na ji mahaifina yana cewa, "Muḥammad ɗan Idris al-Shāfi'i ya taɓa faɗa mini, 'Aḥmad, ka fi ni sanin waɗanne hadisai ne ingantattu. Duk lokacin da ka sami ingantacce, ko daga Kufa, ko Basra, ko Sham, ka sanar da ni don in karɓe shi.'" 98.13

[ʿAbd Allāh:] I heard my father say, “Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī once said to me, ‘Aḥmad, you know better than I which reports are sound. Whenever you find a sound one, whether from Kufa, Basra, or Syria, let me know so I can adopt it.’” 98.13

Duk lokacin da al-Shāfiʿī a cikin littafinsa ya ce, "Na ambato wata majiya amintacciya" ko "Na ji wata majiya amintacciya tana ruwaitowa," yana nufin mahaifina.

Whenever in his book al-Shāfiʿī says, “I cite a trustworthy source” or “I heard a trustworthy source report,” he means my father.

Wannan ne ya sa littafin da al-Shāfiʿī ya rubuta a Baghdad ya fi karfin hujja fiye da wanda ya rubuta a Masar.534 Lokacin da yake nan, yakan tambayi mahaifina, wanda zai gyara masa; amma a Masar babu wanda zai kama shi idan ya yi amfani da hadisi mai rauni. Na ji mahaifina yana cewa, "al-Shāfiʿī ya koyi abubuwa da yawa daga wurina fiye da yadda ni na koya daga wurinsa." [Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh:] Na ji mahaifina yana cewa, "al-Shāfiʿī bai taba haduwa da wani kamar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ba." 98.14

This is why the book al-Shāfiʿī wrote in Baghdad is better argued than the one he wrote in Egypt.534 When he was here, he would ask my father, who would correct him; but in Egypt there was no one to catch him when he used a weak report. I heard my father say, “Al-Shāfiʿī learned more from me than I did from him.” [Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh:] I heard my father say, “Al-Shāfiʿī never met anyone like Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” 98.14

Wasu daga cikin abokan Aḥmad sun faɗa mini cewa yana cewa, "Al-Shāfiʿī ya koya daga wurinmu fiye da yadda mu muka koya daga wurinsa." 98.15

[Aḥmad ibn Kāmil:] Several of Aḥmad’s associates told me that he used to say, “Al-Shāfiʿī learned more from us than we did from him.” 98.15

[Abū Ḥātim:] Ina ganin Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya fi al-Shāfiʿī matsayi. Domin al-Shāfiʿī malami ne na fiqhu, ba masanin Hadisi ba, ya koyi game da Hadisi daga wajen Aḥmad. Sau da yawa yakan tambaye shi, “Shin wannan riwaya tana da ƙarfi? Shin mutane sun san ta?” Idan Aḥmad ya ce eh, sai ya karɓe ta ya gina a kanta. 98.16

[Abū Ḥātim:] I’d give Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal precedence over al-Shāfiʿī. Being a jurist and not a Hadith expert, al-Shāfiʿī learned about Hadith from Aḥmad. He would often ask him, “Is this report strong? Do people know it?” If Aḥmad said it was, he would take it and build on it. 98.16

[Al-Athram:] Wata rana, yayin da muke cikin majalisar al-Buwayṭī, ya karanta mana, yana ambaton al-Shāfiʿī, cewa tayammum yana ƙunshe da bugu biyu.535 Amma sa’ad da na karanta Hadisin da ʿAmmār ya ruwaito daga Annabi ﷺ yana cewa, “Tayammum yana ƙunshe da bugu ɗaya,”536 sai ya goge “bugu biyu” a cikin littafinsa ya canza shi zuwa “bugu ɗaya,” kamar yadda yake a ruwayar ʿAmmār. 98.17

[Al-Athram:] Once when we were in al-Buwayṭī’s circle, he read to us, citing al- Shāfiʿī, that ablution with sand consists of two passes.535 But when I recited the Hadith where ʿAmmār quotes the Prophet as saying, “Ablution with sand consists of one pass,”536 he rubbed “two passes” out of his book and changed it to “one pass,” as in the report of ʿAmmār. 98.17

Ya kuma ce, "Duk lokacin da ka sami ingantaccen hadisi daga Annabi ﷺ, ka fifita shi a kan duk abin da nake iya faɗa. Ka karɓi Hadisin ka yi aiki da shi kamar yadda zai zo daga gare ni." [Al-Būshanjī:] Ina ganin Aḥmad ya fi Sufyān al-Thawrī ilimi da zurfin fahimta. Bayan haka, Sufyān bai taɓa fuskantar wata jarrabawa mai tsanani kamar wadda Aḥmad ya sha ba. Haka kuma, Sufyān da sauran malaman garinsu a zamaninsa ba za su iya sanin abubuwa kamar yadda Aḥmad ya sani ba, tun da Aḥmad ya san abin da duk su tare suka sani. Ya kuma fi sanin waɗanda suke ruwaito hadisi daidai da waɗanda suke yin kuskure, har ma da waɗanda suke gaskiya da waɗanda suke ƙarya. 98.18

He also said, “Whenever you find a reliable account of the Prophet, prefer it to whatever I might have said. Adopt the Hadith and use it as if it had come from me.” [Al-Būshanjī:] I think of Aḥmad as more learned and more insightful than Sufyān al-Thawrī. After all, Sufyān never had to suffer an ordeal as terrible as the one Aḥmad went through. Also, Sufyān and the other local scholars of his time cannot have known as much as Aḥmad did, since Aḥmad knew what all of them knew put together. He also had a clearer sense of which of them transmitted accurately and which ones made mistakes, not to mention which were honest and which ones lied. 98.18

[Mu'allif:] Abin da ke sama ya kamata ya ba da cikakken ra'ayi game da fifikon ilimi wanda ya sa mutane da yawa suka shiga cikin tafsirin Ahmad. Waɗanda daga cikin abokan aikinsa waɗanda ke ƙoƙarin sanin Shari'a ba kawai suke koyi da shi ba. Maimakon haka, suna aiki bisa ga abin da hukunce-hukuncensa ke nunawa. Ta haka, suna iya fifita wata ruwaya ta ra'ayinsa a kan wata, har ma su zaɓi matsayin da malaman makarantar farko ba su taɓa karɓa ba, muddin ya dace da abin da hukunce-hukuncensa ke nunawa. Ana iya danganta matsayin ga makarantar Ahmad ne kawai ta fuskar cewa ya dace da ruhin gaba ɗaya na maganganunsa. 98.19

[The author:] The foregoing should give a clear idea of the scholarly preeminence that has persuaded so many to join Aḥmad’s interpretive tradition. Those of his associates who strive to know the Law do not merely imitate him. Rather, they act in accordance with the implication of his rulings. In doing so, they may favor one report of his view over another, and even choose a position that was never adopted by the original jurists of the school so long as it is consistent with the implication of his rulings. The position may thus be attributed to Aḥmad’s school only in the sense that it conforms to the general spirit of his statements. 98.19

Idan magoya bayan Abū Ḥanifah sun yi alfahari da cewa malaminsu ya san wasu daga cikin Sahabbai fa?20

What if partisans of Abū Ḥanifah boast that their exemplar knew some of the Companions? 98.20

Ga raddi guda biyu. Na farko shi ne a ambato abin da al-Dāraquṭnī ya ce, "Abū Ḥanīfah bai taɓa haɗuwa da wani daga cikin Sahabbai ba"; da kuma abin da Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb ya ce, "Ya ga Anas ibn Mālik." Na biyu kuma shi ne a ce, bisa wannan dalili, to ya kamata a ba Sa'īd ibn al-Musayyab da wasu waɗanda suka haɗu da Sahabbai fifiko a kan Abū Ḥanīfah.537

There are two rebuttals. The first is to cite al-Dāraquṭnī, who said, “Abū Ḥanīfah never met any of the Companions”; and Abū Bakr al-Khaṭīb, who said, “He saw Anas ibn Mālik.” The second is to say that by that reasoning they should grant Saʿīd ibn al- Musayyab and others who did meet the Companions precedence over Abū Ḥanīfah.537

Idan magoya bayan Mālik suka yi alfahari da cewa malaminsu ya sadu da Tabi'ai?21

What if partisans of Mālik boast that their exemplar knew the Successors? 98.21

Wannan da'awa ana ɓata ta ne da komawa zuwa ga Tabi'ai da ya haɗu da su. Waɗancan Tabi'ai sun san Sahabbai, duk da haka sun ba Malik fifiko a kansu.538

This claim is invalidated by reference to the Successors whom he met. Those Successors had known the Companions, and yet gave Mālik precedence over them.538

Idan suka ce, "Mālik shi ne ma'ajiyar ilimin Madīna," to ka amince da hakan, amma sai ka ce mana, Aḥmad, abin koyinmu, ya samu duk abin da Mālik ya sani, kuma ya ƙara a kai.

If they say, “Mālik is the repository of the knowledge of Medina,” then concede the point, but then say that our exemplar Aḥmad acquired everything Mālik knew and added to it.

Idan mabiyan al-Shāfi'ī suka yi alfahari da cewa nasabarsa tana kusa da ta Annabi, wanda ya ce: "Ku sanya Kuraishawa a gaba, kada ku fita a gabansu; ku koyi daga gare su, kada ku yi kwarin gwiwar koya musu"? 98.22

What if partisans of al-Shāfiʿī boast that his lineage strikes close to that of the Prophet, who said, “Put Quraysh first and do not step out ahead of them; learn from them and do not presume to teach them”? 98.22

Mun mayar da wannan martani da cewa zumunci ba ya nufin a ba shi fifiko a kan wasu a ilimi. Daga cikin Tabi'ai, kusan dukkan malaman da suka yi fice ba Larabawa ba ne na asali, amma mawallafa ne ga kabilu. Daga cikinsu akwai al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, Ibn Sīrīn, ʿAṭāʾ, Ṭāwūs, ʿIkrimah, Makḥūl, da sauransu. Saboda girman iliminsu, an ga cewa sun fi waɗanda suke zamani da su, waɗanda darajarsu ta dogara ne kawai ga asali.