Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (RH)

Abu ‘Abdullah Ahmad Ibn Hanbal ash-Shaybani (Rahmatullahi-alai) was born in Baghdad in the moth Rabee’ul-Awwal in the year 164 (AH). His father was amongst the soldiers of Marw, he died while still a youth and Imam Ahmad was raised as an orphan as it is said that his mother fled from Marw and took Ahmad with her. Abul-Fadl Saalih Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said, ‘I heard my father saying, ‘I was born in the year 164 (AH), in the beginning of Rabee’ul-Awwal.’’

Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal travelled extensively in quest of knowledge and studied various subjects in his hometown. Imam Ad-Dhabi describes Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal as, ‘The true Shaykh of Islam and leader of the Muslims in his time, the master of Hadith and proof of the religion.’ Imam Ahmad was interested in acquiring knowledge of Hadith and travelled through Iraq, Syria, Arabia and other places in the Middle East studying religion and collecting Hadith of the Prophet (SAW). Abul-Fadl Saalih Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said: ‘My father said, ‘I studied Hadith when I was sixteen years old.’’ His travels occupied several years of his life. After returning home, he became a student of Imam Shafi’e who taught his Islamic Fiqh and its fundamentals. Imam Shafi’e (RH, d. 204 AH) further states, “I left Baghdad, and I did not leave behind me a man better, having more knowledge, or greater fiqh (understanding), nor having greater taqwaa (piety) than Ahmad Ibn Hanbal.” This proves to us the dedication and commitment Imam Ahmad had to learn the religion of Allah (SWT).

Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal was very firm in faith and due to this he was imprisoned, like the other great imaams, but he potentially submitted to corporal punishment and yet refused to deviate from his beliefs. He had two knowledge imparting-circles: a special one at his home for student with great zeal for knowledge and another general dars (lesson) following the ‘Asr prayer for ordinary knowledge-seekers. He taught a number of keen students. Most eminent among them was Abu Bakr Al-Maruzy, who was close to him and most liked by him on account of his knowledge, truthfulness, morality and integrity. Imam Ahmad had a heart unattached to worldly affairs, Abu Dawud (d. 257 AH) said: ‘The lectures of Imam Ahmad were sittings of the Hereafter. He would not mention in them anything of the worldly affairs; and I never saw him mention this world.’ Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal is the founder of the Hanbali school of thought.

Imam Ahmad compiled a great encyclopaedia of Ahadith called ‘Al-Musnad’, a collection of Hadith that served as the basis of his school of legal thought, the Hanbali Madhab. It was compiled during his lifetime and by his son ‘Abdullah. Al-Musnad contains over 30,000 Ahadith which include discipline of Salah, matters of ‘Aqidah and much more. After a lifetime of great achievements the imam dies in the year 241 (AH), on Friday on the twelfth of Rabee’ul-Awwal, he was buried in Baghdad.

And Allah knows best.    

Imam Malik Ibn Anas (RH)

Imam Malik (Rahmatullahi-‘alai) also known as Abu Abdullah (Kuniyya) was a faqih which means a person who is an expert in Fiqh and Islamic law. He was born in Madina in the year 711 (AH) in the era of the tabi’een, 79 years after the death of the noble Prophet (SAW) but his nationality was originally Yemeni. Imam Malik Ibn Anas (RH) is one of the four great imams and founder of the Maliki school of thought. His grandfather moved to Madina during the reign of ‘Umar Ibn Khattab (RA). Both his father and grandfather studied the topic of religious sciences under the companions of Madina and therefore Imam Malik was brought up in an Islamic environment. He started off learning Islam from his father and also his uncle. Imam Malik went onto master the sciences of Fiqh, Hadith and Tafsir in Madina.

During his childhood he would never set foot outside Madina Munawwarah for purposes of acquiring knowledge, he was surrounded by the knowledge of the tabi’een in Madina, even his own house was a resource for acquiring knowledge. His teachers were the following: Nafi’i (a prominent scholar in his own right), Abdur-Rahman Ibn Hurmuz, Safwaan Ibn Sulaym, Ibn Shihaab Zuhri and much more.  It was through his determination and great zeal for knowledge that at the age of 17 he had acquired a vast amount of Islamic knowledge that with the approval of his teachers and scholars Imam Malik (RA) was given permission to give fatwaas (theories). Imam Malik (RH) continued seeking knowledge into his 20s and 30s in which he began to teach in Masjid Al-Nabawi with the Qur’an in one hand and a book of Hadith in the other, answering questions according to those sources. He was later known as the Shaykh of Madina as he used to narrate Hadiths with the most authentic chain of narrations. Imam Malik went on to compile a collection of Hadiths called ‘Al-Muatta’ (The Approved) which is authentic saying of the Prophet (SAW) containing 61 chapters, this is why Imam Malik is unique out of the four imaams. Al-Muatta is placed on the same level (sometimes above) the compilations of Bukhari and Muslim. Imam Shafi’e comments: ‘There is no book on earth, after the Qur’an that is more authentic than al-Muatta.’ Taahir Ibn Khalid al-Aylee relates from his father, form Ibn ‘Uyaynah who said: ‘Maalik did not convey a Hadith, except that it was authentic, and he did not relate except from one who was thiqah (reliable). And I have only seen al-Madina waste away after his death,’ meaning in terms of knowledge[1]. Imam Malik’s prominent students were Imam Abu Yusuf (RH), Muhammad Al-Shaybani-both of which were students of the great Imam Abu Hanifa (RH) - and Imam Malik also taught Imam Shafi’e (RH).

Imam Malik was an extremely humble person who refused to narrate Ahadith while walking out of respect of the words of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). He also would not ride animals on the same ground that the Holy Prophet (SAW)’s feet touched. Imam Malik Ibn Anas -also known as Abu Abdullah- died on the fourteenth of Rebee’ul-Awwal, in the year 179 (AH). So the leader, ‘Abdullah Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Ibn ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas al-Hashimi prayed over him[2]. Imam Malik (RH) is buried in Jannahtul-Baqee, cemetery in Madina.

And Allah knows best.

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[1] The Creed of the Four Imaams - Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdur-Rahman al-Khumayyis

[2] The Creed of the Four Imaams - Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdur-Rahman al-Khumayyis

Imam Muhammad Ibn Idris Ash-Shafi’e (RH)

Imam Shafi’e is the architect of the Shafi’e school of thought. He was born in Gaza, Palestine in the year 150 (A.H), the year Imam Abu Hanifa (RH) passed away. Imam Shafi belonged to the noble tribe of the Quraysh and he originated from the Hashim family, he was from the same lineage as the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Since he was born in Makkah he was brought up in an Arab environment and he was in contact with various Arab tribes therefore deepening his knowledge of the Arabic language and literature. At the age of 7, Imam Muhammad Ibn Idris Ash-Shafi’e had already memorised the entire 604 pages of the Qur’an. At the age of 13 he had memorised the whole Muatta of Imam Malik which is one of the prominent collections of Hadith (1720 saying on Fiqh). He later travelled to Madina in which he studied Fiqh and Hadith with Imam Malik Ibn Anas in which Imam Malik was impressed by Imam Shafie’s intelligence and then provided his with financial assistance in order for him to stay and learn fiqh. He also pursued studies in Baghdad with Imam Muhammad Ibn Hasan Ash-Shaibani, who was a disciple of Imam Abu Hanifa (RH). He was honoured by Imam Malik (RH) and other scholars of Madina at the age of 15 when they all consented to declare him a Mufti. Imam Shafi’e passed away in Qairo (Egypt) at the age of 54 after a short illness. The Shafi’e school of thought is dominant in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Egypt. There are Prophetic Hadiths predicting the coming of Imam Shafi’e (RH), the Prophet (SAW) said: “Oh Allah! Guide Quraysh, for the science of the scholar that comes from them will encompass the earth. Oh Allah! You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of them taste reward!” (Al-Bayhaqi, strong chain of narration)[1]

Imam Shafi’e was one of the prominent scholars of linguistic science if classical Arabic. He had memorised thousands of poems of Arab poets and he is considered one of the great scholars of Arabic literature by the authors, scholars and writers of classical Arabic. Some of Imam Shafie’s eminent teachers were: Muslim Bin Khalid Al-Zangi (Mufti in Makkah), Malik Bin Anas (RH, founder of the Malik school of thought) and Ibrahim Bin Yahya (Prominent scholar of Madina). Imam Shafi’e was also a prominent scholar of Arab history and also studied Astronomy and Medicine. He was a skilled debater and held a strong position among the scholars of Hadith. He wrote about 123 books on Islamic issues/subjects, ‘Kitab-ul-‘ilm’ is his marvellous collection of Hadith covering 140 topics, containing 4000 pages in 7 volumes. Imam Shafi’e also compiled two other collection of Hadith known as ‘Kitab-ul-Mabsoot’ and ‘Musnad Assh-Shaif’e’. In one of his books on the principles of Fiqh (Kitab-ul-Risalah) he has outlined the regulations that govern the methodology of Fiqh, in the light of the Qur’an and the Hadith. This is an academic work of the highest standard.

Imam Muhammad Ibn Idris Ash-Shafi was a master of Fiqh and Hadith. Hundreds of students from all over the world travelled to learn under Imam Shafi’e and attend his discourses. According to one report, people had seen 700 horses and camels and other transports at one time outside his home. From this we can see that Imam Shafi’e was a prominent and popular teacher. His prominent students were the following: A teacher of Imam Bukhari, Imam Abu Bakr Abdullah Ibn Zubair Hamidi of Makkah (d. 219 AH), a teacher of Imam Muslim, Imam Hurmala Ibn Yahya of Egypt (d. 244 AH), another teacher of Imam Bukhari and Imam Abu Dawud and Imam Tirmizi (RH), Imam Hasan Ibn Muhammad of Baghdad (d. 259 AH), Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal (RH) (d. 241 AH), founder of the Hanbali school of though and a great scholar of Fiqh and Hadith. Imam Shafi’e was born in Gaza, studied in Makkah, Madina and Baghdad then travelled to Makkah where he stayed for nine years delivering lectures on Islamic Law and went on to and settled down in Egypt until he died.

Imam Shafi’e is recorded to have kept the company of learned people till the very end of his life, it is recorded he spent his last days in the company of Abdullah Ibnul Hakam, a well known scholar of his time. It is said he died on a Friday in the Islamic calendar month of Rajab at the age of 54 in the year 204 AH. The Governor of Egypt, acknowledging his academic distinction led his funeral prayers.

And Allah knows best.

      

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[1] http://www.shafiifiqh.com/the-biography-of-imam-ash-shafii/#footnote_4_579