Mwanazuoni ambaye madhehebu haya yanahusishwa naye ni Ahmad ibn Hambal ash-Shaybaanee, aliyezaliwa mjini Baghdad mwaka 778 CE. Alikuwa mmoja wa wahifadhi na wasimulizi wakubwa wa Hadith wa wakati wake. Akijikita katika somo la Hadith, Ahmad alisoma Fiqh na elimu ya Hadith chini ya Imaam Abu Yoosuf, mwanafunzi maarufu wa Abu Haneefah, pamoja na chini ya Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee mwenyewe. Imaam Ahmad alipitia mfululizo wa mateso chini ya makhalifa wa wakati wake kutokana na kupitisha kwao falsafa ya Mu'tazilah. Alifungwa jela na kupigwa kwa miaka miwili kwa amri ya Khalifa al-Ma'moon (utawala 813-842 CE), kwa sababu ya kukataa dhana ya kifalsafa kwamba Qur'aan imeumbwa.

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.

Baadaye aliachiliwa huru, akaendelea kufundisha huko Baghdad hadi al-Waathiq alipokuwa khalifa (utawala wa 842-846 CE) na akafufua tena mateso.

Later set free, he continued teaching in Baghdad until al-Waathiq became caliph (rule 842-846 CE) and renewed the persecution.

Hapo hapo, Imam Ahmad aliacha kufundisha na akajificha kwa miaka mitano, hadi Khalifa al-Mutawakkil (847-862 CE) alipochukua madaraka.

Thereupon, Imaam Ahmad stopped teaching and went into hiding for five years until Caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-862 CE) took over.

Khalifa al-Mutawakkil alikomesha mateso ya mahojiano (mihnah) kabisa kwa kuwafukuza wanazuoni wa Mu'tazila na kukataa rasmi falsafa yao. Ahmad aliendelea kufundisha mjini Baghdad hadi alipofariki mwaka 855 CE.

Caliph al-Mutawakkil ended the inquisition permanently by expelling the Mu’tazilite scholars and officially rejecting their philosophy. Ahmad continued to teach in Baghdad until he died in the year 855 CE.

Lengo kuu la Imaam Ahmad lilikuwa ukusanyaji, usimulizi na ufafanuzi wa Hadiyth. Mbinu yake ya kufundisha ilihusisha kuwasomea wanafunzi Hadiyth kutoka mkusanyiko wake mkubwa uliojulikana kama al-Musnad, ambao ulikuwa na Hadiyth zaidi ya 30,000, pamoja na maoni mbalimbali ya Maswahaba kuhusu tafsiri yake. Kisha angezitumia Hadiyth au hukumu hizo kutatua matatizo mbalimbali yaliyokuwepo. Ikiwa hakuweza kupata Hadiyth au maoni yanayofaa kutatua tatizo, angetoa maoni yake mwenyewe, huku akiwakataza wanafunzi wake kuandika suluhisho zozote za kwake. Matokeo yake, Madhhab yake haikuandikwa na wanafunzi wake bali na wanafunzi wa wanafunzi wake.

Imaam Ahmad’s greatest concern was the collection, narration, and interpretation of Hadeeth. His teaching method consisted of dictating Hadeeths from his vast collection known as alMusnad, which contained over 30,000 Hadeeths, as well as the various opinions of the Sahaabah concerning their interpretation. He would then apply the Hadeeths or rulings to various existing problems. If he could not find a suitable Hadeeth or opinion to solve a problem, he would offer his own opinion while forbidding his students to record any of his own solutions. As a result, his Madhhab was recorded, not by his students but by their students.

Hakukuwa na tofauti kati ya jinsi Ahmad ibn Hambal alivyoshughulikia Qur’aan na jinsi walivyofanya wale waliotangulia kabla yake. Kwa maneno mengine, Qur’aan ilipewa kipaumbele juu ya kila kitu chini ya hali zote.

There was no difference between the way Ahmad ibn Hambal approached Qur’aan and that of those who preceded him. In other words, the Qur’aan was given precedence over all else under all circumstances.

Vivyo hivyo, Sunnah ya Mtume (s.w.) ilikuwa katika nafasi ya pili miongoni mwa misingi mikuu iliyotumiwa na muasisi wa madhehebu haya katika kuchota hukumu za kisheria. Sharti lake pekee lilikuwa kwamba iwe Marfoo', yaani inahusishwa moja kwa moja na Mtume ﷺ.

Likewise, the Sunnah of the Prophet (s.w.) occupied the number two position among the fundamental principles used by the foiunder of this school in the deduction of laws. His only stipulation was that it be Marfoo’, i.e. attributed directly to the Prophet (s.w.).

Imamu Ahmad alikubali makubaliano ya maoni ya Maswahaba, na akaliweka katika nafasi ya tatu miongoni mwa misingi ya msingi wa sheria. Hata hivyo, alikataa madai ya Ijmaa' nje ya zama za Maswahaba kuwa si sahihi, kutokana na wingi mkubwa wa maulamaa na kutawanyika kwao katika himaya yote ya Waislamu. Kwa mtazamo wake, Ijmaa' baada ya zama za Maswahaba haiwezekani.

Imaam Ahmad recognized the consensus of opinion of the Sahaabah, and placed it in the third position among the fundamental principles. However, he discredited the claims of Ijmaa’ out side the era of the Sahaabah as being inaccurate, due to the vast number of scholars and their wide diffusion throughout the Muslim empire. In his opinion Ijmaa’ after the era of the Sahaabah was impossible.

Ikiwa tatizo lilijitokeza katika eneo ambalo Maswahaba walitoa maoni yanayopingana, Ahmad, kama alivyofanya Maalik, alikuwa akiyapa uzito maoni yote ya mtu mmoja mmoja. Kwa sababu hiyo, ndani ya Madh-hab kulijitokeza mifano mingi ya hukumu nyingi kwa suala moja moja.

If a problem arose in an area where the Shaabah had expressed conflicting opinions, Ahmad, like Maalik, would give credence to all the various individual opinions. Because of that, there developed within the Madh-hab many instances of multiple rulings for individual issues.

Kwa hukumu ya kesi ambayo hakuna kati ya kanuni nne zilizotangulia iliyotoa suluhisho tayari, Imamu alikuwa akipendelea kutumia Hadithi dhaifu badala ya kutumia hoja yake mwenyewe ya kimantiki (Qiyaas). Hata hivyo, hilo lilikuwa kwa sharti kwamba udhaifu wa Hadithi usitokane na ukweli kwamba mmoja wa wapokezi wake amewekwa katika daraja la Faasiq (mtu aliyepotoka kimaadili), au la Kadh-dhaab (mwongo).

For a ruling on a case where none of the previous four principes offered a ready solution, the Imaam used to prefer to use a weak Hadeeth rather than applying his own deductive reasoning (Qiyaas). However, this was on condition that the weakness of the Hadeeth was not due to the fact that one of its narrators was classified as a Faasiq (degenerate), as a Kadh-dhaab (liar).

Kama suluhisho la mwisho, yaani pale ambapo kanuni nyingine kuu zisingeweza kutumika moja kwa moja, Ahmad angelazimika kwa shingo upande kutumia kanuni ya Qiyaas na kupata suluhisho kwa kutegemea kanuni moja au zaidi kati ya zile zilizotangulia.146

As a last resort, that is when no other major principle could be directly applied, Ahmad would reluctantly apply the principle of Qiyaas and deduce a solution based on one or more of the previous principles.146

Wanafunzi wakuu wa Imamu Ahmad walikuwa watoto wake wawili, Saalih (alifariki 873 CE) na ‘Abdullaah (alifariki 903 CE). Imamu Bukhaaree na Muslim, waandishi wa makusanyo mashuhuri zaidi ya Hadeeth, walikuwa miongoni mwa wanazuoni wakubwa wa Hadeeth waliosoma chini ya Imamu Ahmad.147

Imaam Ahmad’s main students were his own two sons, Saalih (died 873 CE) and ‘Abdullaah (died 903 CE). Imaam Bukhaaree and Muslim, compilers of the most outstanding collections of Hadeeth, were among the great scholars of Hadeeth who studied under Imaam Ahmad.147

Wafuasi wengi wa Madhhab hii sasa wanapatikana Palestina na Saudi Arabia. Kuendelea kuwepo kwake Saudi Arabia, baada ya kukaribia kutoweka kabisa sehemu nyingine za ulimwengu wa Kiislamu, kunatokana na ukweli kwamba mwanzilishi wa harakati inayoitwa Wahhab alisoma chini ya maulamaa wa Madhhab ya Hambali, na hivyo ikawa, bila rasmi, Madhhab ya Fiqh ya harakati hiyo. Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud alipoiteka sehemu kubwa ya Rasi ya Arabia na kuanzisha ufalme wa Saud, alifanya Madhhab ya Hambali kuwa msingi wa mfumo wa sheria wa ufalme huo.

The majority of the followers of this Madh-hab can now be found in Paledtine and Saudi Arabia. Its suvival in Saudi Arabia, after almost completely dying out elsewhere in the Muslim world, is due to the fact that the founder of the so called Wahhab, had studied under scholars of the Hambalee Madh-hab, and thus it unofficially became the Fiqh Madh-hab of the movement. When ‘abdul- ‘Azeez ibn Sa’oud captured most of the Arabian peninsula and established the Saudi dynasty, he made the Hambalee Madh-hab the basis of the kingdom’s legal system.