Imam al-A‘zam Abu Hanifa (RA): The Role Model (part 42)
The Hadith Works of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA)
The Hadith Musnads of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) (Continued…)
Second: The Compilers of These Musnads and Their Biographies
These works are Musnads narrated from Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), but they became known by the names of those who compiled and transmitted them. Therefore, it is appropriate to introduce some of these individuals and provide an account of their lives.
Compiler of the First Musnad: Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub ibn al-Harith al-Harithi al-Bukhari was a renowned jurist known by the title “Ustad” (Master). Abu Abdullah ibn Mandah narrated from him. Al-Khalili describes him as follows: “He was highly proficient in this field and was known as the Ustad. He authored many works and was also the one who compiled the Musnad of Abu Hanifa (RA).”
He narrated from such figures as Ubaydullah ibn Wasel, Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sa’igh, and Abd al-Samad ibn al-Fadl al-Balkhi.
Others have described him as follows: “He was a distinguished jurist and a Hanafi shaykh who lived in Transoxiana. He was a hadith scholar who excelled in jurisprudence above all others of his time.”
He was the author of several works and passed away in 340 AH, after living for eighty-two years. [1]
Compiler of the Second Musnad:Talha ibn Muhammad ibn Ja’far al-Mu’addil al-Shahid al-Baghdadi was well known during the time of al-Daraqutni. He had received authentic oral transmissions (sama’) and was among the associates of Ibn Mujahid. He narrated hadith from al-Baghawi, Abu Sakhrah al-Katib, and Umar ibn Abi Ghilan. He passed away in 380 AH.
Al-Uqayli and Ibn Abi Hatim considered him weak because of his inclination towards Mu’tazilism. Among those who narrated from him were Abu al-Ala al-Wasiti, Abdullah al-Azhari, al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Khallal Abu al-Qasim al-Tanukhi, Abu Muhammad al-Jawhari, and others.
Although some of his students also questioned his reliability because of his inclination towards Mu’tazilism, the allegation that he actively called people to Mu’tazilism does not appear particularly convincing. This is because, during that period, Mu’tazilism had become a tool in political disputes, and being associated with it could lead to imprisonment and severe restrictions. This was especially so when the Hanbali school gained influence in Baghdad and its prominent figures became close to ministers and rulers. Anyone with even a slight reputation for Mu’tazilism could be arrested. Talha ibn Muhammad eventually died in Baghdad at the age of ninety. [2]
Compiler of the Third Musnad: Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar ibn Musa ibn Isa ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi narrated from Hamid ibn Shu’ayb al-Balkhi, Abu Bakr al-Baghindi, and Qasim ibn Zakariya al-Mutarriz.
Among those who narrated from him were Abu Hafs ibn Shahin, al-Daraqutni, al-Barqani, and Ibn Abi al-Fawaris.
Al-Dhahabi says of him, “He was the hadith master and scholar of Iraq.”
Al-Khatib describes him as follows: “He was a truthful hadith master, a learned scholar, and a prolific narrator.”
Al-Barqani says, “Al-Daraqutni wrote down thousands of hadiths from him and held him in great respect and esteem. He would always say, “He is trustworthy and reliable.”
Abu Nu’aym described him as a hadith master and a trustworthy person. Al-Baji also affirmed his status as a hadith master while noting the presence of Shi’ite views in some of his opinions. He passed away in 379 AH.
Compiler of the Fourth Musnad: Ahmad ibn Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn Musa ibn Mihran, Abu Nu’aym al-Isfahani al-Sufi al-Ahwal, was the compiler of this Musnad.
Al-Dhahabi says, “Scholars from across the world had granted him permission to narrate hadith. In Wasit, Abdullah ibn Umar ibn Shawdhab granted him permission; in Nishapur, Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm; in Syria, Khaythamah ibn Sulayman al-Tarabulusi; and in Baghdad, Ja’far al-Khuldi.”
Many hadith masters travelled to his residence to acquire knowledge because he was a great scholar, a renowned hadith master, and a person with a distinguished chain of transmission (isnad). Among those who narrated from him were al-Khatib Abu Salih al-Mu’adhdhin, Abu Ali al-Wakhshi, and Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Attar.
They believed that nowhere in the world was there anyone with a greater mastery of hadith or a more distinguished chain of transmission than him.
Because of his distinguished chain of transmission, he remained unrivaled in both the East and the West for fourteen years. Everyone who wrote his biography praised him and his valuable book, Hilyat al-Awliya. He passed away in 430 AH at the age of ninety-four. [3]
Compiler of the Fifth Musnad: Abu Muhammad ibn Abd al-Baqi Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Ansari al-Khazraji was the compiler of this Musnad.
Imam al-Dhahabi describes him as follows: “He was a shaykh, an imam, a scholar, an expert in the laws of inheritance (fara’id), an upright person, the leading hadith authority of his time, and a renowned judge.”
He heard hadith from his father and al-Khatib. Abu al-Qasim al-Tanukhi, Abu al-Fath ibn Shita, and the Chief Judge Abdullah ibn Salamah also granted him permission to narrate hadith.
Among those who narrated from him were al-Sam’ani, Ibn Asakir, Ibn al-Jawzi, and Abdullah ibn Muslim ibn al-Jawaliqi.
Al-Dhahabi reports from Ibn Asakir that he considered him a criticized narrator. However, he also quotes Ibn al-Jawzi as saying, “He was trustworthy, firmly established in knowledge, learned, authoritative, and highly skilled in the science of inheritance.”
Al-Sam’ani also says, “I have not seen anyone who brought together such a variety of sciences as he did. He had complete mastery of the science of inheritance and arithmetic.”
At one point in his life, he travelled and was captured by the Romans. They imprisoned him and demanded that he utter words of disbelief, but he steadfastly refused. During his captivity, he learned the Roman script and writing system. He lived for more than ninety years, yet his senses and intellectual faculties remained unchanged.
It is reported that he narrated Sahih al-Bukhari, the Musnad of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), and other books. He eventually passed away in 535 AH. [4]
Compiler of the Sixth Musnad: The compiler of this Musnad was Abdullah ibn Adi ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Jurjani, Abu Ahmad, the imam, great hadith master, and expert critic. He was born in Dhu al-Qa’dah in 277 AH. He grew up in Jurjan and began writing down hadith there in 290 AH under the guidance of Ahmad ibn Hafs.
He then travelled to other regions, including Syria, Egypt, and other lands, in pursuit of knowledge, where he heard hadith from shaykhs and prominent scholars.
He wrote down hadith there in 290 AH from Ahmad ibn Hafs al-Sa’di. Among those from whom he narrated were Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Qasim al-Razwas, Bahlul ibn Ishaq al-Anbari, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Marwazi, Abu Khalifah al-Jumahi, and al-Hasan ibn Sufyan.
Abu al-Abbas ibn Uqdah, Abu Sa’d al-Malini, al-Hasan ibn Ramin, and Hamzah al-Sahmi also narrated from him.
Hamzah al-Sahmi praised him highly, saying, “There was no one equal to him in his time.”
Al-Daraqutni also greatly praised his book Al-Kamil fi Du’afa al-Rijal, saying: “This book is sufficient in this field, and nothing needs to be added to it.”
Ibn Asakir considered him trustworthy, while al-Dhahabi says, “He was unrivalled in his knowledge of the hidden defects of hadith and the narrators.”
Many scholars praised him. He eventually passed away in Jumada al-Akhirah 365 AH. [5]
Compiler of the Seventh Musnad:The compiler of this Musnad was Hasan ibn Ziyad al-Lu’lu’i, whose biography was presented earlier in the section on the students of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA).
Compiler of the Eighth Musnad: The compiler of this Musnad was Umar ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Malik ibn Ashras ibn Abdullah ibn Mitjab al-Baghdadi, who was known as “Ibn al-Ashnani.”
Al-Sam’ani says, “He possessed sound and reliable hadiths, and many people heard hadith from him.”
He heard hadith from his father and also from Muhammad ibn Isa ibn Hiban al-Mada’ini, Musa ibn Sahl al-Washsha’, Abu Bakr ibn Abi al-Dunya, and others.
Among those who narrated from him were Abu al-Abbas ibn Uqdah al-Hafiz, Abu Amr ibn al-Sammak, Muhammad ibn al-Muzaffar, Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni, and Abu Hafs ibn Shahin.
He served as a judge in some regions of Syria and also in Baghdad. Al-Sam’ani says that al-Daraqutni spoke about the reasons for considering him weak.
He eventually passed away in Dhu al-Hijjah 339 AH. [6]
Compiler of the Ninth Musnad: The compiler of this Musnad was Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Mahdi al-Kala’i al-Muqri al-Qurtubi. His kunyah was Abu Umar, and he was known as “Ibn Mahdi.”
He narrated from Abu al-Tarf al-Qanazi, Judge Yunus ibn Abdullah, Abu Muhammad ibn Banush, and Makki ibn Abi Talib al-Muqri.
In his book Al-Silah [7]—which is the only source in which details of his life are mentioned—Ibn Bashkuwal describes him as a Qur’an reciter, a virtuous and pious person, and a scholar of the various modes of Qur’anic recitation.
He passed away on Saturday, the tenth of Dhu al-Qa’dah 432 AH.
Compiler of the Tenth Musnad:The compiler of this work was al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Khusraw al-Balkhi, who resided in Baghdad and was a Hanafi jurist.
Al-Dhahabi describes him as follows: “He was a hadith scholar, a learned man, and a highly beneficial figure for the people of Baghdad. He compiled the Musnad of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA).”
He narrated from Malik al-Baniyasi, Abu al-Hasan al-Anbari, and Abd al-Wahid ibn Fahd. Figures such as Ibn al-Jawzi benefited from his knowledge.
Al-Sam’ani reports that Ibn Nasir and Ibn Asakir considered him weak and lacking in strength as a narrator.
Compiler of the Eleventh Musnad: The compiler of this Musnad was Judge Abu Yusuf, whose biography was presented earlier in the section on the students of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA).
Compiler of the Twelfth Musnad:The compiler of this Musnad was Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, the renowned student of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) and the codifier of Hanafi jurisprudence.
Compiler of the Thirteenth Musnad:The compiler of this Musnad was Hammad ibn Abi Hanifa (RA), the only son of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA).
Al-Safadi says of him: “He was a righteous and virtuous person.”
It is narrated that after the death of the Imam, many trusts consisting of gold and silver remained in Hammad’s possession. Their owners were either absent or orphans. Hammad took all these trusts to the judge so that they could be handed over.
The judge said to him: “We will not take these from you, because you yourself are qualified and trustworthy enough to look after them.”
Hammad insisted and said: “First, weigh them and issue a receipt for them so that my father’s responsibility may be discharged and his religious obligation fulfilled. After that, you may do whatever you consider appropriate.”
The judge did as he requested. After several days, when the weighing had been completed, Hammad disappeared. He returned only after the judge had entrusted those deposits to someone else. [9]
Compiler of the Fourteenth Musnad: The compiler of this work was also Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani (RA). This is considered his second narration.
Compiler of the Fifteenth Musnad: The compiler of this Musnad was Abu al-Qasim Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Awwam al-Sa’di. The sources and biographical works contain no further details about his life.
[5] Tarikh Jurjan by al-Sahmi, Abu al-Qasim Hamzah ibn Yusuf ibn Ibrahim al-Sahmi al-Jurjani al-Hafiz, second edition, Beirut: Alam al-Kutub, 1401 AH, p. 226, no. 443; Tadhkirat al-Huffaz by al-Dhahabi, 3/940; Shadharat al-Dhahab by Ibn al-Imad, 20/51.
