2. The Teachers and Students of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA)
The Teachers of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) Among the Great Tabiun and Tabi al-Tabiin
The number of teachers of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) among the Tabiun and Tabi al-Tabiin was very large. According to al-Khwarizmi, Abu Hafs al-Kabir (may Allah have mercy on them both) counted the number of his teachers as high as four thousand. Some of them were both his teachers and students at different times, including great scholars such as Imam Malik, Imam al-Layth ibn Sad al-Misri, Jafar al-Sadiq, and others (may Allah have mercy on them all). Here, we mention the names of some of the most famous among them in alphabetical order:
Ibrahim ibn Yazid ibn Qays al-Nakhai, Ayyub ibn Abi Tamimah al-Sakhtiyani, Bahz ibn Hakim, Abu Abd al-Malik Bahlul ibn Amr al-Sayrafi al-Majnun, Thabit ibn Aslam al-Bunani, Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Maaruf bi al-Sadiq, Hammad ibn Sulayman, Hajjaj ibn Artah, Rabah ibn Zayd al-Qurashi, Zayd ibn Aslam, the freedman of Umar ibn al-Khattab, Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them), Salim ibn Abdullah ibn Umar (one of the Seven Jurists), Said ibn Abi Arubah, Sufyan al-Thawri, Sulayman ibn Mihran al-Amash, Shubah ibn al-Hajjaj (Amir al-Muminin in Hadith), Tawus ibn Kaysan, Amir ibn Sharahil al-Shabi, Abdullah ibn Dinar, Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr al-Awzai, Abd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz al-Araj, Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Ikrimah ibn Ubayd Allah (the freedman of Ibn Abbas), Alqamah ibn Zuhayr, Amr ibn Shuaib, al-Layth ibn Sad al-Misri, Malik ibn Anas (Imam of Dar al-Hijrah), Abu Abd Allah Makhul al-Shami, Muhammad ibn Sirin, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, Muhammad ibn al-Husayn Abu Jafar al-Baqir, Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Nafi ibn Abdullah al-Madani (the freedman of Abdullah ibn Umar), and Yahya ibn Said al-Ansari.
The Students of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA)
The number of students who learned jurisprudence and Hadith from Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) was so great that it is beyond the scope of this discussion to mention them all. Abu Muhammad al-Harithi (RA) states in this regard: “The students of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) were more numerous than the students of many major Hadith scholars and Imams, such as Imam Malik ibn Anas, Imam al-Awzai, Sufyan al-Thawri, Yahya al-Qattan, Imam al-Shafii, and others (may Allah have mercy on them all). Nevertheless, I shall suffice by mentioning the names of eight hundred of them.” He then proceeds to enumerate them.
Here, we mention the names of some of his most famous students in alphabetical order:
Ibrahim ibn Adham al-Balkhi, the ascetic and exemplary leader; Ishaq ibn Yusuf al-Makhzumi, known as al-Azraq; Israil ibn Yusuf ibn Abi Ishaq al-Subai; Ayyub ibn Abi Tamimah al-Sakhtiyani; Bilal ibn Abi Bilal Mirdas al-Fazari; Jurayj ibn Muawiyah al-Kufi; Jarir ibn Hazim; Jafar ibn Awn; Jafar ibn Muhammad ibn Ali al-Husayn, known as al-Sadiq; Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Lului; Hammad ibn Imam Abu Hanifa; Hammad ibn Salamah; Hamzah ibn Habib al-Zayyat, the Quran reciter; Dawud ibn Nasir Abu Sulayman al-Tai, the jurist and ascetic; Rabia ibn Yunus ibn Yunus, the chamberlain of al-Mansur; Zufar ibn Abi Zaidah Khalid ibn al-Hudhayl, one of the ascetic jurists; Zuhayr ibn Muawiyah Abu Khaythamah al-Juafi; Said ibn Abi Arubah; Sufyan ibn Uyaynah; Shaqiq ibn Ibrahim al-Balkhi, the ascetic; Dahhak ibn Makhlad; Abbad ibn al-Awwam; Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak al-Marwazi, the Imam; Abdullah ibn Yazid al-Makki; Abd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam Abu Bakr al-Sanani; Abd al-Malik ibn Wafid Abu Salamah al-Majishun; Awn ibn al-Ala; Isa ibn Mahan; Fudayl ibn Dukayn; Fudayl ibn Iyad Abu Ali, the ascetic; Layth ibn Sad al-Fahmi al-Harith al-Misri, the renowned Imam; Malik ibn Anas; Muhammad ibn Ishaq, the Imam of the scholars of Maghazi; Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Farqad, al-Qadi, Imam Abu Abdullah Shaybani; Muhammad ibn Khazim, the Hadith memorizer; Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Waqid al-Waqidi; Muhammad ibn Fudayl al-Dabbi; Masar ibn Kidam; Mualla ibn Mansur; Mamar ibn Rashid; Makki ibn Ibrahim; Yazid ibn Zuray; and Yaqqub ibn Ibrahim, Imam Abu Yusuf al-Qadi. (Uqud al-Marjan, pp. 90–159.)
3. Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) Among the Hadith Memorizers
Some scholars who authored books on the generations of Hadith scholars have included Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) among the memorizers of the Noble Hadith. At the forefront of these scholars is Allamah al-Dhahabi (RA).
Allamah al-Dhahabi (RA), in the introduction to his great work Tadhkirat al-Huffaz, writes, “هذه تذكرة بأسماء معدلي حملة العلم النبوي، ومن يرجع إلى اجتهادهم في التوثيق والتضعيف والتصحيح والتزييف.” This means: “This is a record of the names of the foremost transmitters of prophetic knowledge whose scholarly judgments are relied upon in assessing the reliability or weakness of narrators and in determining the authenticity or weakness of reports.”
After mentioning the names of other Hadith scholars, he also mentions Imam Abu Hanifa (RA).
After Allamah al-Dhahabi (RA), the renowned Hanbali Hadith scholar Ahmad ibn Abd al-Hadi al-Maqdisi (RA), in his work Al-Mukhtasar fi Tabaqat Ulama al-Hadith, also mentions Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) alongside the other Hadith memorizers. At the beginning of his book, he writes:
“وبعد، فهذا كتاب مختصر، يشتمل على جملة من الحفاظ من أصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم والتابعين، ومن بعدهم، لا يسع من يشتغل بعلم الحديث الجهل بهم.” This means: “This is a concise book containing a group of Hadith memorizers from among the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH), the Tabiun, and those who came after them. It is not appropriate for anyone engaged in the science of Hadith to remain ignorant of these great scholars.”
Likewise, the renowned Shafii Hadith scholar and historian Ibn Nasir al-Din al-Shafii (RA), in both of his works, Badia al-Bayan an Mawt al-Ayan and its commentary, Al-Tibyan li-Badia al-Bayan, which he composed in both poetic and prose forms concerning the generations of Hadith memorizers, states:
“بعدهما فتى جريج الداني
مثل أبي حنيفة النعمان”
This means that one year after the death of Hajjaj ibn Artah and al-Zubaydi (may Allah have mercy on them both), Imam Abu Hanifa Numan ibn Thabit (RA) passed away.
According to Allamah al-Manawi (RA), the term “Hafiz” refers to a person who has memorized one hundred thousand Hadiths, together with their texts and chains of transmission.
Al-Yawaqit wal-Durar Sharh Nukhbat al-Fikar, vol. 2, p. 420.
4. Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) Counted Among the Imams of Hadith
Just as all scholars agree that Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) was a great authority in jurisprudence, the majority of Hadith scholars have also emphasized his position as an Imam in the science of Hadith.
The renowned Hadith scholar, Imam Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (RA), said, “رحم الله مالكا كان إماما، رحم الله شافعيا كان إماما، رحم الله أبو حنيفة كان إماما.” Translation: “May Allah have mercy on Malik; he was an Imam. May Allah have mercy on al-Shafii; he was an Imam. May Allah have mercy on Abu Hanifa; he was an Imam.”
Although the statement of Imam Abu Dawud (RA) concerning the Imamate of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) is somewhat general, Imam al-Tirmidhi and the renowned Shafii Hadith scholar Imam al-Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on them both), when citing the statements of the Imams of Hadith concerning jarh wa tadil, have used the statements of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) regarding Jabir al-Jufi and other weak narrators as evidence. This in itself is evidence supporting Imam Abu Dawud’s statement regarding the Imamate of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) in Hadith.
Likewise, the renowned Hadith scholar al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (RA), while discussing the Hadith “لا نكاح إلا بولى,” states: “قد وصل هذا الحديث عن أبي إسحاق جماعة من أئمة المسلمين غير ما ذكرناهم، منهم أبو حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت، ورقبة بن مصلقة العبدي ومطرف بن طريف الحارثي…” He also writes in the forty-ninth chapter of his famous work Marefat Ulum al-Hadith concerning the sciences of Hadith:
هذا النوع من هذه العلوم معرفة الأئمة الثقات المشهورين من التابعين وأتباعهم، ممن يجمع حديثهم للحفظ والمذاكرة والتبرك بهم… فمنهم من أهل الكوفة: عامر بن شراحيل… وإبراهيم النخعي… وأبو حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت التيمي [1]
This means that this chapter of the science of Hadith deals with the biographies of those famous Tabiun and Tabi al-Tabiin who possessed the status of Imamate and reliability and whose Hadiths were collected for memorization, scholarly discussion, and seeking blessing through their knowledge. In this list, Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) is mentioned alongside the great Hadith scholars of Kufa, such as Amir ibn Sharahil, Ibrahim al-Nakhai, and other scholars.
In reality, recognizing a person as an Imam in Hadith simultaneously constitutes testimony to the strength and reliability of his transmission chains and an acknowledgment that his judgments concerning jarh wa tadil are accepted as authoritative. In other words, just as he is regarded as trustworthy and truthful in transmitting Hadith, his views concerning the authentication or weakening of the Hadiths of other transmitters are also accepted as authoritative. For this reason, whenever Hadith scholars referred to Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) as an “Imam” because of his reliability, they also affirmed his authority in the field of jarh wa tadil.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (RA), in his book Talkhis Kitab al-Istighathah, says: “وکلام يحيى بن معين، والبخاري، ومسلم، وأبي حاتم، وأبي زرعة، والنسائي، وأبي أحمد بن عدي، والدارقطني وأمثالهم، في الرجال، وصحيح الحديث، وضعيفه، هو مثل كلام مالك، والثوري، والأوزاعي، والشافعي وأمثالهم في الأحکام، والحرام. وفي الأئمة من هو إمام مع هؤلاء وهؤلاء مشارك للطائفتين، وإن کان بأحد الصنفين أجدر. وأكثر أئمة الحديث والفقه كمالك، والشافعي، وأحمد… ولأبي حنيفة أيضا ماله ذلك.”
His meaning is that the Imams can be divided into two categories:
The first category consists of the Imams of Hadith who discuss the authentication or weakening of reports and the reliability or weakness of narrators, such as Imam al-Bukhari, Imam Muslim, Imam al-Nasai (may Allah have mercy on them), and others.
The second category consists of the Imams of jurisprudence who discuss rulings and matters of what is lawful and unlawful. However, among them are scholars who were Imams in both fields and whose statements are accepted in both, such as Imam Malik, Imam al-Shafii, Imam al-Awzai, Imam Abu Hanifa, and a number of other jurists (may Allah have mercy on them all).
