Imam al-A‘zam Abu Hanifa (RA): The Role Model (part 40)
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) and the Merits of the Hanafi Madhhab (Continued…)
Seventh: The Large Number of Followers of the Hanafi Madhhab in Most Countries of the World
Researchers believe that sixty percent of the world’s Muslims follow and adhere to the Hanafi madhhab, while the remaining forty percent are divided among the other three madhhabs.
The broad scope of the legal issues addressed by Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), together with the large number of his students who spread throughout the east and west, north and south, and established schools to convey this madhhab to the people, were among the principal factors that led the majority of the Muslim world to follow the Hanafi madhhab.
In 170 AH, Imam Abu Yusuf (RA) was appointed Chief Judge of the Abbasid Caliphate. From that time onward, judicial matters throughout the vast Abbasid territories were conducted according to the Hanafi madhhab. When the Ottoman Caliphate came to power, the reigning caliph officially declared the Hanafi madhhab the official madhhab of the empire.
Through the efforts of Abdullah ibn Farrukh, Asad ibn al-Furat (RA), and their students, this madhhab reached North Africa, including Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. It was also present in al-Andalus for a short period. Furthermore, during the reign of Caliph al-Mahdi, the Hanafi madhhab spread in Egypt, where judicial affairs and matters of personal status continued to be administered according to this madhhab for many years.
In the lands of the Levant, people in most countries follow the Hanafi madhhab, and it is also widely practiced in Iraq. Indeed, in Transoxiana, no madhhab other than the Hanafi madhhab was known. Followers of this madhhab are found from Armenia and Azerbaijan to the distant regions of China.
The Hanafi madhhab has also spread throughout South Asia, including present-day India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, as well as in Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Turkestan, Afghanistan, the Caucasus, and Brazil. Undoubtedly, the faith and confidence that such a vast number of people place in the Hanafi madhhab constitute, in themselves, the strongest evidence of the comprehensiveness and superiority of this school of Islamic jurisprudence.
There are many other arguments on this subject, but to avoid unnecessary length, this brief discussion will suffice.
Conclusion
Through this research, we have reached the conclusion that, among all the madhhabs, the Hanafi madhhab is superior and possesses numerous distinctive features and merits that are not found in other schools. These include the following:
The founder of the Hanafi madhhab is counted among the Tabi‘in.
The Hanafi madhhab is, in essence, the result of organizing and compiling the jurisprudence and legal verdicts of the noble Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all).
This madhhab was the first to be compiled through a consultative process and organized into chapters and books.
The first research committee in Islamic history was established by Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) to strengthen the foundations of Islamic jurisprudence.
The Hanafi madhhab pioneered Fiqh Taqdiri (hypothetical jurisprudence).
This madhhab allows considerable scope and flexibility in the application of analogy (qiyas) and juristic preference (istihsan).
The Hanafi madhhab has the largest number of followers in the world compared with the other madhhabs.
