The Legacy of Imam Abu Hanifah

‘The Legacy of Imam Abu Hanifah’ – Delivered by Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq on Saturday January 30th 2010 at The Rex Centre (Birmingham, UK) 

Imām Abū Ḥanīfah is often referred to by the title al-Imām al-Aʿẓam, the Greatest Imām, for he left a great legacy in the science of fiqh. Despite this, the scholarship of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah is repeatedly attacked and scrutinised. For example, it is often suggested that he did not know Arabic and also lacked knowledge of ḥadīth. Thus, his credibility as an Imām is questioned and his fiqh (school of thought) are considered by some to be baseless and in contradiction to the Qurʾān and ḥadīth.

Imām Sufyān al-Thawrī said about him, ‘Anyone who hates Abū Ḥanīfah or speaks ill of him can only be one of two people, either he is completely ignorant or he is envious of him’. Imām al-Aaʿmash, a well-known Muḥaddith, once addressed a gathering of jurists and said, ‘O assembly of jurists, you are the doctors and we are the pharmacists and you O, Abū Ḥanīfah , you have taken both.’

A poet read in his honour, ‘They envied the young man when they could not keep up with his pace. So people are his adversaries and his enemies like the co-wives of a beautiful and fair maid who say of her that she is ugly merely out of spite and envy. So they are unable to withstand his greatness, his piety and his knowledge. And when there is no argument then the next stage is character assassination’.

Find out more about this towering individual and the true legacy he left behind and what he bequeathed the Ummah by listening to this highly motivational and extremely educational speech.

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