Imam al-A‘zam Abu Hanifa (RA): The Role Model (part 28)
The Political Life of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) (Continued…)
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) and the Abbasids
The Political Climate of the Abbasid Period
The call to establish Abbasid rule was initiated in 100 AH by Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) with the aim of overthrowing Umayyad rule and calling people toward the family of the Prophet (Ahl al-Bayt). Initially, the propagators of this movement turned their attention toward Iraq and Khurasan.
After the death of Muhammad ibn Ali in 124 AH, his son, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ali, continued the movement. During the caliphate of Marwan ibn Muhammad, the last Umayyad caliph, Abbasid activities intensified. Ibrahim was arrested in the region of Humayma in Jordan and the Sharah Mountains and died in prison.
After him, the Abbasid leaders continued the uprising. In accordance with Ibrahim’s instructions, his brother Abdullah ibn Muhammad, known as al-Saffah, assumed leadership of the movement and received the allegiance of the people. He conquered Iraq, Khurasan, and some cities in the Levant. Eventually, Marwan fled to Egypt, where he was captured and killed in 132 AH. With these events, the Umayyad rule came to an end, and the Abbasid Caliphate was established.
Abu al-Abbas Abdullah ibn Muhammad (al-Saffah) was chosen as the first Abbasid caliph, and his caliphate continued until 136 AH. He was succeeded by his brother, Abu Jafar al-Mansur, who assumed the caliphate.
At the beginning of Abbasid rule, Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) was prepared to cooperate with them and encouraged jurists and scholars to support the new government. He had suffered severe persecution under the Umayyads and had migrated to Makkah because of their oppression. After the Abbasids came to power, he returned to Kufa. However, after witnessing the Abbasids’ oppression of the family of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), his position changed, and his heart became inclined toward supporting the descendants of Ali (RA).
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) openly expressed his devotion to and support for the family of Ali (RA), particularly in 145 AH, when Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hasan (Nafs al-Zakiyyah) rose in Madinah and his brother Ibrahim launched an uprising in Iraq.
Most of Muhammad’s supporters (Nafs al-Zakiyyah) were from Khurasan, and for this reason, they were unable to provide him with direct assistance at that time. Nevertheless, they had a special bond of loyalty and affection toward him. It is also reported that Imam Malek issued a fatwa in Madinah declaring it obligatory to rise alongside Muhammad (Nafs al-Zakiyyah).
Ibn Jarir and Ibn Kathir narrated that Imam Malek (RA) encouraged the people to pledge allegiance to Nafs al-Zakiyyah. When the people objected that they had already pledged allegiance to Caliph al-Mansur, Imam Malek (RA) replied: “You gave your allegiance under compulsion, and an allegiance given under compulsion is not valid.” Following this fatwa, the people pledged allegiance to Nafs al-Zakiyyah and then returned to their homes.
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) and Abu Jafar al-Mansur’s Unsuccessful Attempts
Between 148 and 150 AH, that is, from the completion of the construction of Baghdad until the death of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), Abu Jafar al-Mansur began his efforts to establish closer relations with the Imam. He first summoned Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) from Kufa to Baghdad and pressured him to accept a judicial position. Initially, he offered the Imam the position of judge in a particular region. After the Imam rejected this proposal, al-Mansur offered him the position of chief prosecutor, which was a high-ranking office at the time, but the Imam again refused. Finally, he asked Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) to accept the position of Chief Judge (Qadi al-Qudat), the head of the judicial system throughout the Islamic Empire, which would have placed all judges under his authority. However, Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) once again refused to accept the position.
The Offer of Judicial Office and the Final Trial of Imam Abu Hanifa’s (RA) Life
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) placed his entire life at risk in his pursuit of justice and a system based on the oneness of Allah (SWT). With firm determination, he sought to establish the principles of divine justice as an official foundation of governance. When Abu Jafar al-Mansur employed his final means of winning the Imam’s approval and offered him the highest offices, including the position of Chief Judge, it might have appeared that the Imam should accept the offer as a divine opportunity and use it to achieve his objectives.
However, the Imam’s insight led him to understand that this offer was a decisive test in his life. He knew well that al-Mansur’s primary purpose in making the offer was to control and restrict him. The caliph had only two options for achieving this objective: either make the Imam a participant in the government by granting him an important position or remove him from his path.
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), likewise, saw two paths before him: either accept the caliph’s offer and save his life, which would mean abandoning the scholarly and educational achievements he had established; or reject the offer, thereby confirming the caliph’s suspicions about him, facing serious consequences, and sacrificing his life for the continuation of his Islamic mission and ideals.
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) chose the second path. He endured imprisonment, torture, and flogging with courage and eventually attained martyrdom in an Abbasid prison, leaving his noble objectives permanently recorded in the history of Islamic struggle.
