Esingizda bo'lsin — Alloh sizni to'g'ri yo'lga yo'naltirsin! — qiyin tanlov oldida to'g'ri yo'lni topishning yagona usuli shaxsiy his-tuyg'ular va tarafkashlikni chetga surib, haqiqatni tizimli ravishda izlashdir, bunda ishtirokchilarning ismlari va obro'siga haddan tashqari ergashmasdan. Agar shunday qilsangiz, adashish tumani tarqaladi. Agar esa o'zingizni moyilliklaringizga yetaklashga yo'l qo'ysangiz, to'g'ri va tekis yo'lga qaytib kelish qiyin bo'ladi. 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

E'tibor bering, shariat dalillarini va fiqh asoslarini tekshirib chiqib, hamda shariat nomidan ijtihod qilgan olimlarning hayot yo'llarini o'rganib, shuni ko'ramanki, bizning odamimiz bu sohalarda eng bilimdon bo'lgan. 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

Avvalo, u Alloh Kitobini saqlash va yetkazishda faol edi. 98.3

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

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Otam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal menga butun Qur'onni o'z xohishi bilan o'rgatdilar.530 98.4

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

Aḥmad o‘zi Yahyo ibn Odam, Ubayd ibn as-Sabbah, Ismoil ibn Ja’far va boshqalar bilan birga o‘qigan — ularning rivoyat zanjirlaridagi ro‘yxatni bu yerda keltirmaymiz. O‘qishda u “a” harfining talaffuzini “i”ga yaqinlashtirmas edi va shu hadisni dalil qilib keltirardi: “Qur’on “i”dan ko‘ra “u”ga yaqinroq talaffuz bilan nozil bo‘lgan, shuning uchun uni shunday o‘qinglar.” U qo‘shni harflarni — “ittakhadhtum” (“siz oldingiz”)531 va shunga o‘xshash so‘zlardan tashqari — bir-biriga moslashtirib o‘qimas edi, xuddi Abu Bakr qilganidek. Cho‘ziq unlilarni esa o‘rtacha darajada cho‘zib o‘qirdi.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

U Qur'on ilmlari bo'yicha ham asarlar yozgan, jumladan tafsir, nasx, taqdim va taxir va boshqa mavzularda, buni biz uning asarlari haqidagi bobda qayd etganmiz.

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.

Hadis ilmi borasida, u o‘z zamondoshlari orasida ham yodlagan hadislari miqdori va sahih bilan zaifni ajrata olish qobiliyati jihatidan noyob ekanligi borasida umumiy kelishuv bor. Oldingi olimlar orasida Molik o‘zidan oldin o‘tganlarning hammasidan ko‘proq hadis bilgan. Ahmadning Molikdan ustun kelganini ko‘rish uchun Ahmadning "Musnad" asari bilan Molikning "Muvatto" asarini solishtirish kifoya. 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

Agar hadis rivoyat qiluvchilarining obro'si haqida so'ralsa, Ahmad ularning fazilatlari va kamchiliklarini so'ralganda xuddi Qur'onning birinchi surasini yod o'qigandek, xotiradan aytib bera olardi. Abu Bakr al-Xallol tuzgan "Kamchiliklar" kitobiga nazar solgan kishi buni darhol ko'radi. Uning zamondoshlaridan hech kim bu borada unga teng kela olmas edi, shuningdek, Payg'ambar ﷺ sahobalariga nisbat berilgan fatvolar, xususiy fazilatlar, ittifoq qilingan va ixtilof qilingan masalalar bo'yicha uning bilimiga hech kim da'vo qila olmasdi.

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.

Arab tilini o'rganishga kelsak, Ahmad o'zi shunday derdi: "Men Abu Amr ash-Shaybaniydan ko'proq arabcha yozganman." 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

Qiyos asosida huquqiy masalalarda hukm chiqarishga kelsak, Ahmadning mantiqiy xulosa chiqarish borasidagi yutuqlari bu yerda sanab o'tishga joy yetmaydigan darajada ko'p, ammo bir nechta misollarni uning aql-idrok qobiliyatlari haqidagi bobdan topish mumkin. 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

Bu barcha ilmiy yutuqlariga qo‘shimcha ravishda, u dunyodan voz kechish va o‘ziga hamkasblari hech qachon erisha olmagan darajada qat’iy taqvo qoidalarini joriy qilish irodasiga ega edi. Boshqa hech bir olim do‘stlari taklif qilgan sovg‘alarni, shuningdek hukumat tomonidan havola etilgan mukofotlarni bunchalik to‘xtovsiz qat’iyat bilan rad etgan deb tasvirlanmagan.

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.

Agar ularning obro'siga xavf tug'dirishga tayyor bo'lganimda, boshqa yetakchi shaxslarning sovg'alarni qabul qilgani va shunday hollarda o'z me'yorlarini yumshatishga tayyor ekanliklari haqida misollar keltirishim mumkin edi. Aksincha, Ahmad hatto ruxsat etilgan narsalardan ham voz kechgan, bu haqda ushbu kitobda yetarlicha batafsil ko'rsatilgan. 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

Bundan tashqari, Aḥmad haqiqat yo'lida katta va dahshatli sinovlarga bardosh bera olishini isbotladi, bu jihatdan u o'z safdoshlari orasida tengi yo'q edi.

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 mendan so'radi: uning namunasi yoki mening namunam — qaysi biri afzal? Men undan har bir kishiga haqini berishni xohlaydimi yoki shunchaki maqtanish bellashuvini xohlaydimi, deb so'radim. U adolatli taqqoslashni xohlashini aytdi. 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

“Unda holda,” dedim men, “o‘sha odamingiz qayerda ustun ekanini ayting.” “Kitobda, ijmoda, sunnatda va qiyosda.” “Endi haqiqatni ayting, Alloh guvohligida! Alloh kitobini kim yaxshiroq biladi: bizning odamimizmi yoki sizningmi?” “Xo‘sh, agar qasam ichgan bo‘lsam, unda sizning odamingiz.” “Payg‘ambarning sunnati-chi?” “Yana sizning odamingiz.” “Sahobalarning fikrlari-chi?” “Yana sizning odamingiz.” “Unda qiyosdan boshqa nimangiz qoldi?” “Hech narsa.” “Qiyosda ham biz sizlardan ko‘ra haqliroqmiz. Farq shundaki, biz qiyosni vahiy qilingan matnlarga tayangan holda chiqaramiz, shunda fikrlash aniq bo‘ladi.” Bu o‘rinda qiyos Abu Hanifa va Molik ibn Anas o‘rtasida qilinmoqda.

“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.

Shofiiy ushbu rivoyatni keltirish orqali Abu Hanifa tarafdorlari bilan bahslashish zaruratidan bizni xalos qiladi. Ahmadning Molikdan ustunligi tan olingan, chunki Ahmad Molik bilgan hamma narsani o‘rgangan va unga yana qo‘shgan, buni "Al-Muvatto" va "Ishonchli rivoyatlar" kitoblarini solishtirish har qanday kishiga tasdiqlaydi. Shofiiy esa ilmning turli sohalarida chuqur bilimga ega edi, lekin hadis rivoyat qilishda Ahmadni tan oldi; hadis esa fiqhiy mulohazalar tayanadigan asosdir. 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:] Ash-Shofi'iy menga dedi: "Sen hadisni mendan yaxshiroq bilasan. Qachon bir hadis sahih bo'lib chiqsa, menga xabar ber, shunda uni qabul qilaman." 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

ʿAbdulloh: Dadam aytganlarini eshitganman: “Ash-Shofiʿiy menga bir kuni dedi: ‘Ahmad, Allohning Elchisidan rivoyat qilingan biror xabar sahih ekani ma’lum bo‘lsa, menga xabar ber, men uni qo‘llay olishim uchun.’” 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:] Otam aytganini eshitdim: “Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shofiy menga bir kuni dedi: ‘Ahmad, sahih xabarlarni men emas, sen yaxshiroq bilasan. Qachonki sahih bir xabarni topsang, u Kufadan, Basradan yoki Shomdan bo‘lishidan qat’i nazar, menga xabar ber, shunda uni qabul qilaman.’” 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

Al-Shāfiʿī bu kitobida "ishonchli manba keltiraman" yoki "ishonchli manbadan eshitdim" deganida, u mening otamni nazarda tutadi.

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

Shu sababli al-Shofi'iy Bag'dodda yozgan kitobi Misrda yozganidan dalilliroq bayon etilgan.534 U shu yerda bo'lganida otamdan so'rar edi, otam esa uni to'g'rilab qo'yardi; ammo Misrda uni zaif rivoyatni ishlatganida tutib oladigan hech kim yo'q edi. Men otamning shunday deganini eshitganman: "Al-Shofi'iy mendan olgan ilmi, men undan olganimdan ko'proq edi." [Muhammad ibn Ishoq ibn Rohaveyh:] Men otamning shunday deganini eshitganman: "Al-Shofi'iy Ahmad ibn Hanbalga o'xshagan biror kishi bilan hech uchrashmagan." 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

Bir necha Ahmad hamrohlari menga aytishicha, u shunday derdi: «Ash-Shofi'iy bizdan biz undan o'rganganimizdan ko'proq narsa o'rgangan.» 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

[Abu Hotim:] Men Ahmad ibn Hanbalni al-Shofiiydan ustun qo'yardim. Shofiiy faqih bo'lgani va hadis mutaxassisi bo'lmagani uchun hadisni Ahmaddan o'rgangan. U tez-tez undan so'rardi: "Bu rivoyat sahihmi? Odamlar uni bilishadimi?" Agar Ahmad uni sahih deb aytsa, u uni qabul qilib, unga asoslanib ish tutardi. 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:] Bir marta biz al-Buvaytiy majlisida bo‘lganimizda, u bizga al-Shofi'iydan rivoyat qilib, tayammum ikki zarbdan iborat ekanini o‘qib berdi.535 Lekin men ʿAmmār ﷺ dan rivoyat qilingan hadisni, ya'ni Payg‘ambar ﷺ “Tayammum bir zarbdan iborat”, deganlarini keltirganimda, u kitobidagi “ikki zarb” so‘zlarini o‘chirib, ʿAmmār rivoyatidagidek “bir zarb”ga o‘zgartirdi. 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

U'zi ham shunday dedi: “Qachonki Payg'ambar haqida ishonchli rivoyat topsangiz, uni men aytgan har qanday gapdan ustun qo'yinglar. Hadisni qabul qilinglar va u mendan kelgandek foydalaninglar.” [Al-Būshanjī:] Men Ahmadni Sufyon as-Savriydan ko'proq ilmli va ko'proq teran fahmli deb bilaman. Axir, Sufyon Ahmad boshidan o'tkazgan dahshatli sinovning birortasini ham boshidan o'tkazmagan. Shuningdek, Sufyon va uning davridagi boshqa mahalliy olimlar Ahmad bilgan narsalarning hammasini bilishlari mumkin emas edi, chunki Ahmad ularning barchasi birgalikda bilgan narsalarni bilar edi. U ularning qaysi biri aniq rivoyat qilganini va qaysi biri xato qilganini, shuningdek, qaysi biri rostgo'y va qaysi biri yolg'onchi ekanini ham yaxshiroq farq qilardi. 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

[Muallif:] Yuqoridagilar Ahmadning ilmiy ustunligi haqida aniq tasavvur berishi kerak, bu ustunlik ko'pchilikni uning talqin an'anasiga qo'shilishga ko'ndirgan. Uning shogirdlaridan Shariatni bilishga intilayotganlar faqat uni taqlid qilmaydilar. Balki uning hukmlarining mazmuniga muvofiq ish tutadilar. Shunda ular uning qarashlarining bir rivoyatini boshqasidan afzal ko'rishlari mumkin va hatto maktabning dastlabki faqihlari tomonidan qabul qilinmagan pozitsiyani tanlashlari mumkin, agar u Ahmadning hukmlari mazmuniga mos kelsa. Shunday qilib, bu pozitsiya faqat uning bayonotlarining umumiy ruhiga mos kelgani ma'nosida Ahmad maktabiga nisbat berilishi mumkin. 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

Agar Abū Ḥanifah tarafdorlari o'z peshvolari ba'zi sahobalar bilan uchrashgan bo'lgani bilan faxrlansa-chi? 98.20

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

Birinchi raddiya shunday: al-Doraqutniy, "Abu Hanifa sahobalarning hech biri bilan uchrashmagan", deb aytgan; Abu Bakr al-Xatib esa: "U Anas ibn Molikni ko'rgan", deb aytgan. Ikkinchi raddiya esa shundan iboratki, bu mantiq bo'yicha Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab va sahobalar bilan uchrashgan boshqa zotlarga Abu Hanifadan ustunlik berilishi kerak bo'ladi.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

Agar Molik tarafdorlari o'z peshvolari tobeinlarni bilganini faxr bilan aytsalar-chi? 98.21

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

Bu da'vo tobe'iyn bilan rad etiladi, ular sahobalarni bilgan bo'lib, shunga qaramay Molikni ulardan ustun qo'ygan edilar.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

Agar ular "Mālik — Madina ilmining xazinasidir", desalar, bu gapni tan oling, lekin shundan so'ng aytingki, bizning ibratli namunamiz Ahmad Mālik bilganining hammasini egallagan va unga yana qo'shgan.

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.

Agar al-Shofe'iyning tarafdorlari uning nasabi Payg'ambarga yaqin ekani bilan maqtansalar-chi, u zot (ﷺ) aytgan: "Qurayshni oldinga qo'yinglar va ulardan oldinga o'tmanglar; ulardan o'rganinglar va ularga o'rgatishga jur'at qilmanglar"? 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

Shunga javoban aytamizki, qarindoshlik ilmda unga boshqalardan ustunlik berishni talab qilmaydi. Tobeinlar orasida deyarli barcha olimlar arab bo'lmagan qabilalarga mansub kishilar edi. Ularga al-Hasan al-Basriy, Ibn Sirin, Ato, Tovus, Ikrima, Makhul va boshqalar kiradi. Katta ilmlari tufayli ular nasab sharofatigagina tayangan zamondoshlaridan ustun deb tushunilgan.