Ushbu mazhab kendisiga nisbat berilgan olim Ahmad ibn Hanbal ash-Shaybaaniy bo'lib, u miloddan keyingi 778 yilda Bag'dodda tug'ilgan. U o'z davrining eng buyuk hadis hofizlaridan va rivoyat qiluvchilaridan biriga aylandi. Hadis ilmiga e'tibor qaratgan Ahmad fiqh va hadis ilmini Abu Hanifaning mashhur shogirdi Imom Abu Yusuf huzurida, shuningdek bevosita Imom ash-Shofi'iy huzurida o'rgandi. Imom Ahmad o'z davri xalifalari tomonidan mu'taziliy falsafani qabul qilgani sababli bir qator ta'qiblarga duch keldi. Qur'on yaratilgan degan falsafiy qarashni rad etgani uchun xalifa al-Ma'mun (miloddan keyingi 813-842 yillar hukmronligi) buyrug'iga ko'ra ikki yil davomida qamoqqa olinib, kaltaklandi.

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.

Keyinchalik ozod etilgach, u al-Vosiq xalifa bo‘lib (hukmronlik davri 842–846 milodiy) persecutsiyani qayta boshlaguniga qadar Bag‘dodda ta’lim berishni davom ettirdi.

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

Shunda Imom Ahmad dars berishni to‘xtatdi va al-Mutavakkil (miloddan avvalgi emas, milodiy 847–862) hokimiyatni egallaguncha besh yil yashirinib yurdi.

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

Xalifa al-Mutavakkil inkvizitsiyani butunlay tugatdi: Mu'tazilo olimlarini haydab yubordi va ularning falsafasini rasman rad etdi. Ahmad esa to'qqiz yuz... (no) Let me redo that properly: Xalifa al-Mutavakkil inkvizitsiyani butunlay tugatdi: Mu'tazila olimlarini haydab yubordi va ularning falsafasini rasman rad etdi. Ahmad esa Bag'dodda dars berishni davom ettirdi va miloddan avvalgi... no, CE means milodiy: Ahmad esa milodiy 855-yilda vafot etguniga qadar Bag'dodda dars berishni davom ettirdi.

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.

Imom Ahmadning eng katta tashvishi hadisni to‘plash, rivoyat qilish va talqin qilish edi. Uning o‘qitish usuli al-Musnad deb nomlangan, 30 000 dan ortiq hadisni o‘z ichiga olgan keng to‘plamidan hadislarni diktant qilib o‘qitish, shuningdek, sahobalarning ularni talqin qilishga oid turli fikrlari bilan birga bo‘lardi. So‘ng u hadislarni yoki hukmlarni mavjud turli masalalarga qo‘llardi. Agar biror masalani hal qilish uchun mos hadis yoki sahobaning fikrini topa olmasa, o‘z fikrini bayon qilardi, lekin shogirdlariga uning o‘z yechimlarini yozib olishni taqiqlardi. Natijada uning mazhabi shogirdlari tomonidan emas, balki ularning shogirdlari tomonidan yozib olingan.

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.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal Qur'onga yondashishda o'zidan oldingilardan hech qanday farq qilmagan. Boshqacha aytganda, Qur'on har qanday holatda ham boshqa hamma narsadan ustun qo'yilgan.

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.

Xuddi shunga o'xshab, bu maktab asoschisining hukmlarni istidlol qilishda foydalangan asosiy qoidalari orasida Payg'ambar (s.a.v.) sunnati ikkinchi o'rinni egallagan. Uning yagona sharti shu edi: u marfu' bo'lishi, ya'ni to'g'ridan-to'g'ri Payg'ambarga ﷺ nisbat berilgan bo'lishi kerak edi.

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.).

Imom Ahmad sahobalar ijmoʻini tan oldi va uni asosiy usullar orasida uchinchi oʻringa qoʻydi. Biroq u sahobalar davridan keyingi ijmoʻ haqidagi da’volarni, olimlarning juda koʻpligi va ularning Musulmon davlati boʻylab keng tarqalganligi sababli, notoʻgʻri deb rad etdi. Uning fikricha, sahobalar davridan keyin ijmoʻ amalga oshishi mumkin emas edi.

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.

Agar biror masalada Sahobalar o‘rtasida turlicha fikrlar bo‘lgan sohada muammo yuzaga kelsa, Ahmad ham, Molik kabi, sahobalarning har bir alohida fikriga e'tibor berar edi. Shu sababli mazhab ichida ko‘plab alohida masalalar bo‘yicha bir nechta hukm paydo bo‘ldi.

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.

Agar to'rtta asosiy qoidadan birortasi ham hukm chiqarish uchun tayyor yechim bermasa, imom o'z shaxsiy mantiqiy xulosa chiqarishi (qiyos)dan ko'ra zaif hadisdan foydalanishni afzal ko'rar edi. Biroq bu shart bilan: hadisning zaifligi uning rivoyat qiluvchilaridan birining fosiq (buzuq xulqli) yoki kazzob (yolg'onchi) deb baholanganligi sababli bo'lmasligi kerak.

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).

Oxirgi chora sifatida, ya'ni boshqa asosiy qoidalarning hech biri to'g'ridan-to'g'ri qo'llanila olmagan taqdirda, Ahmad istamay bo'lsa-da, qiyos prinsipini qo'llagan va oldingi prinsiplardan biri yoki bir nechtasiga asoslanib yechim chiqargan.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

Imom Ahmadning asosiy shogirdlari uning ikki o‘g‘li, Solih (873 milodiy yilda vafot etgan) va Abdulloh (903 milodiy yilda vafot etgan) edi. Hadis ilmining eng nodir to‘plamlarini tuzgan buyuk muhaddislar, imom Buxoriy va Muslim ham imom Ahmad huzurida ta’lim olgan buyuk hadisshunoslar qatorida edi.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

Ushbu mazhabning ko‘pchilik izdoshlari hozir Falastin va Saudiya Arabistonida yashaydi. Uning Saudiya Arabistonida omon qolishi, musulmon dunyosining boshqa joylarida deyarli butunlay yo‘qolib ketganiga qaramay, so‘zsiz bog‘liq: nomi bilan “Vahhobiy” deb ataladigan harakatning asoschisi Hanbaliy mazhabi ulamolaridan ilm olgan edi, shu sababli bu mazhab harakatning rasmiy bo‘lmagan fiqh mazhabiga aylandi. ‘Abdul-‘Aziz ibn Sa‘ud Arabiston yarim orolining ko‘p qismini egallab, Saud sulolasiga asos solganida, Hanbaliy mazhabini podsholikning huquqiy tizimining asosi qilib belgiladi.

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.