Mazhab ini dinisbahkan kepada seorang ulama, iaitu Ahmad bin Hambal ash-Shaybaanee, yang dilahirkan di Baghdad pada tahun 778 M. Beliau menjadi salah seorang penghafal dan periwayat Hadith yang paling hebat pada zamannya. Dengan menumpukan perhatian kepada pengajian Hadith, Ahmad turut mempelajari Fiqh dan ilmu Hadith di bawah Imam Abu Yoosuf, murid terkenal Abu Haneefah, serta di bawah Imam ash-Shaafi'ee sendiri. Imam Ahmad telah melalui satu siri penganiayaan di bawah khalifah-khalifah pada zamannya kerana mereka menerima pakai fahaman falsafah Mu'tazilah. Beliau dipenjarakan dan dipukul selama dua tahun atas perintah Khalifah al-Ma'moon (memerintah 813-842 M), kerana penolakan beliau terhadap konsep falsafah bahawa al-Qur'aan itu makhluk.

The scholar to whom this Madh-hab is attributed is Ahmad ibn Hambal ash-Shaybaanee, who was born in Baghdad in the year 778 CE. He became one of the greatest memorizers and narrators of Hadeeth of his time. Concentrating on the study of Hadeeth, Ahmad studied Fiqh and Hadeeth science under Imaam Abu Yoosuf, the famous student of Abu Haneefah, as well as under Imaam ashShaafi’ee himself. Imaam Ahmad went through a series of persecutions under the caliphs of his time due to their adoption of Mu’tazilite philosophy. He was jailed and beaten for two years by order of Caliph al-Ma’moon (rule 813-842 CE), because of his rejection of the philosophical concept that the Qur’aan was created.