Abu Hanifa

Muslim scholarship states that there is no disagreement with his name being Nu'man. This name is said to mean blood on which the body survives, which some suggest is the soul. An alternate meaning is that this is the name of a pleasantly smelling red or purple flower. A third alternative is that it is the fa'lan (template) from the word ni'mah (blessing), as Muslims{{clarify|date=April 2025}} believe Abu Hanifah is God's blessing upon His creation.{{rp|72}}

How Abu Hanifa earned his patronymic is disputed. According to some linguists, including Muhyi al-Din, ḥanīfa refers to "inkpot" in Abu Hanifa's dialect. He was often seen with one, thus earning his name this way. According to this interpretation, his name literally means the "Father of the Inkpot". Alternatively, Hanifah is the feminine form of hanif, which means a recluse (nasik) or submitter (Muslim).{{rp|72}}

However, some historians contest he earned it as he had a daughter named Hanifa. His name would then mean the "Father of Hanifa". The opposing side believes he never had a daughter with such name.

Historians disagree with regards to where he was born, though they agree he was born during the period of the Umayyad Caliphate. However, they differ regarding the year: 699 CE / 80 AH (held by the majority of classical Muslim scholarship),{{rp|71}}{{cite book|last1=Çakmak|first1=Cenap|title=Islam: A Worldwide Encyclopedia|date=18 May 2017|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-217-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JSHFDgAAQBAJ&dq=abu+hanifa+born+in+kufa&pg=PA32}}{{cite book|last=Suwaidan|first=Dr. Tareq Al|title=Imam Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man|publisher=الابداع الفكري|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_a3DwAAQBAJ&dq=abu+hanifa+born+in+kufa&pg=PT28|quote=Abu Hanifa, may God have mercy on him, was born in Kufa in 80 AH, as the preponderant opinion states. This is what al-Khattab mentioned in his narration of Isma'il, Abu Hanifa's grandson, ...}} 696 CE / 77 AH,{{cite book|last=Ibn Abd al-Barr|author-link=Ibn Abd al-Barr|title=Jami' Bayan al-Ilm wa-Fadlih}} 689 CE / 70 AH,{{cite book|last=Ibn Hibban|author-link=Ibn Hibban|title=al-Jarh wa-l-Ta'dil}} or 680 CE / 61 AH.{{cite book|last=adh-Dhahabi|author-link=adh-Dhahabi|title=The Virtues of Imam Abu Hanifa|publisher=Visions of Reality Publishing|pages=9–10}} Many historians choose the latest date, 699 CE / 80 AH; however, Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari believed the date of 689 CE / 70 AH is supported by two considerations:{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

• First, Muhammad ibn Makhlad al-Attar considered the narration of Abu Hanifa's son, Hammad, from Malik ibn Anas to be an example of an older man's narration rather than a younger man.
• Second, Abu Hanifa was concerned with who should succeed Ibrahim al-Nakha'i after his death in 96 AH. This concern would have only arisen if he was older than 19, since it is considered he only took his religious studies seriously after then. If Abu Hanifa was born in 80 AH, Abu Hanifa would have been 16 at the time of al-Nakhai's death.

Abu Hanifa is thought to be of Persian ancestry.S. H. Nasr (1975), "The religious sciences", in R.N. Frye, The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 4, Cambridge University Press. p.474: "Abū Ḥanīfah, who is often called the "grand imam"(al-Imam al-'Azam) was PersianCyril Glasse, "The New Encyclopedia of Islam", Published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. p.23: "Abu Hanifah, a Persian, was one of the great jurists of Islam and one of the historic Sunni Mujtahids" However, he has also been stated to have descended from the Zutt, Jats who migrated into Iraq during the Islamic Golden Age.{{Cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam |volume=II (C-G) |date=1998 |url=https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/1481 |editor= Schacht |editor2=Lewis |editor3=Pellat |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-07026-4|quote=Abu Hanīfa was also of Zuṭṭ stock, his grandfather being known as Zūṭi, apparently a corruption of Zuṭṭi.|page=489}}{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA161 |title=Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World | author-link =André Wink|date=1991 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-09249-5 |language=en|page=161|quote=Some Jat freemen became famous in the Islamic world, as for instance Abu Hanifa ( 699-767 ? )}}{{Cite book |last=Malik |first=Jamal| author-link = Jamal Malik|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZAT1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |title=Islam in South Asia: Revised, Enlarged and Updated Second Edition |date=2020 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-42271-1 |language=en|quote="...Abu Hanifa (699–767), the founder of the Hanafi school of law, who was of Jat stock, most likely descending from those early prisoners sent to Iraq."|page=44}} His grandfather, Zuta, may have been captured by Muslim troops in Kabul and sold as a slave in Kufa, where he was purchased and freed by an Arab tribesman of the Taym Allah, a branch of the Banu Bakr. Zuta and his progeny thereafter would have become clients of the Taym Allah, hence the sporadic references to Abu Hanifa as "al-Taymi".{{sfn|Schacht|1960|p=123}} According to his grandson Isma'il, however, his lineage went back to free Persians who had never been held as slaves. He called Abu Hanifa's great-grandfather "Marzuban", which is an Arabicized form of the Sasanian military office of marzban, held by governors of the frontier provinces of the Sasanian realm.

There is scant biographical information about Abu Hanifa. It is generally known that he worked a producer and seller of khazz, a type of silk clothing material. He attended lectures on jurisprudence conducted by the Kufan scholar Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 737).{{sfn|Schacht|1960|p=123}} He also possibly learnt jurisprudence (fiqh) from the Meccan scholar Ata ibn Abi Rabah (d. {{circa|733}}) while on pilgrimage.

When Hammad died, Abu Hanifa succeeded him as the principal authority on Islamic law in Kufa and the chief representative of the Kufan school of jurisprudence.{{sfn|Schacht|1960|p=123}} Abu Hanifa gradually gained influence as an authority on legal questions, founding a moderate rationalist school of Islamic jurisprudence that was named after him.

{{portal|Islam}}

File:Abu Hanifa Mosque, 2008.jpg in Baghdad, Iraq]]

In 763, al-Mansur, the Abbasid caliph offered Abu Hanifa the post of qadi al-qudat (chief judge of the state), but he declined the offer, choosing to remain independent. His student Abu Yusuf was later appointed to the post by Caliph Harun al-Rashid.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e40?_hi=0&_pos=10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405233909/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e40?_hi=0&_pos=10|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 5, 2016|title=Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=Abu Yusuf|publisher=Oxford University Press}}

In his reply to al-Mansur, Abu Hanifa said that he was not fit for the post. Al-Mansur, who had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post accused Abu Hanifa of lying.

"If I am lying," Abu Hanifa responded, "then my statement is doubly correct. How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a qadi?"

Incensed by this reply, al-Mansur had Abu Hanifa arrested, locked in prison and tortured. It was said that once in prison he was never fed nor cared for.Ya'qubi, vol. III, p.86; Muruj al-dhahab, vol. III, pp. 268–270. Even in prison, the jurist continued to teach those who were permitted to visit him.

On 15 Rajab 150,{{Cite book |url=http://www.islamicinformationcentre.co.uk/alsunna.htm |title=Understanding the Ahle al-Sunnah: Traditional Scholarship & Modern Misunderstandings |last=Ammar |first=Abu |publisher=Islamic Information Centre |year=2001 |chapter=Criticism levelled against Imam Abu Hanifah |access-date=2018-06-13 |chapter-url=http://www.islamicinformationcentre.co.uk/alsunna7.htm}} (15 August 767{{Cite web |url=https://habibur.com/hijri/150/7/ |title=Islamic Hijri Calendar For Rajab – 150 Hijri |website=habibur.com |access-date=2018-06-13}}) Abu Hanifa died in prison. The cause of his death is not clear, as it was said by some that Abu Hanifa issued a legal opinion for bearing arms against al-Mansur, so al-Mansur had him poisoned.Najeebabadi, Akbar S. (2001). The History of Islam. vol, 2. Darussalam Press. pp. 287. {{ISBN|9960-892-88-3}}. His fellow prisoner and founder of Karaite Judaism, Anan ben David, was said to have received life-saving counsel from Abu Hanifa.Nemoy, Leon. (1952). Karaite Anthology: Excerpts from the Early Literature. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. pp. 4–5. {{ISBN|0-300-00792-2}}. It was said that so many people attended his funeral that the funeral service was repeated six times for the more than 50,000 people who had massed before he was actually buried. The historian al-Khatib said that for a full 20 days people performed funeral prayers for him. Many years later, the Abu Hanifa Mosque was built in the Adhamiyah neighbourhood of Baghdad. Abu Hanifa also supported the cause of Zayd ibn Ali and Ibrahim al Qamar, both Alid Zaydi Imams.

The structures of the tombs of Abu Hanifa and Abdul Qadir Gilani were destroyed by Shah Ismail of the Safavid Empire in 1508.[https://books.google.com/books?id=QjzYdCxumFcC&dq=hanifa+tomb+destroyed+safavids&pg=PA71 Encyclopedia of the Ottoman Empire] In 1533, the Ottomans conquered Baghdad and rebuilt the tombs of Abu Hanifa and Abdul Qadir, as well as other Sunni sites.{{cite book|title=The Second Formation of Islamic Law: The Ḥanafī School in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire|last=Burak|first=Guy|date=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-09027-9|place=Cambridge|pages=1}}

The sources from which Abu Hanifa derived Islamic law, in order of importance and preference, were: the Qur'an, the authentic narrations of the Muslim prophet Muhammad (known as hadith), consensus of the Muslim community (ijma'), analogical reasoning (qiyas), juristic discretion (istihsan) and the customs of the local population enacting Muslim laws ('urf).{{Cite web |title=Hanafi school {{!}} Definition & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hanafiyah |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} The development of analogical reason and the scope and boundaries by which it may be used was recognized by the majority of Muslim jurists, but its establishment as a legal tool was the result of the Hanafi school. While it was likely used by some of his teachers, Abu Hanifa is regarded by modern scholarship as the first to formally adopt and institute analogical reason as a part of Islamic law.See:
*Reuben Levy, Introduction to the Sociology of Islam, pg. 236–237. London: Williams and Norgate, 1931–1933.
*Chiragh Ali, The Proposed Political, Legal and Social Reforms. Taken from Modernist Islam 1840–1940: A Sourcebook, pg. 280. Edited by Charles Kurzman. New York City: Oxford University Press, 2002.
*Mansoor Moaddel, Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse, pg. 32. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
*Keith Hodkinson, Muslim Family Law: A Sourcebook, pg. 39. Beckenham: Croom Helm Ltd., Provident House, 1984.
*Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary, edited by Hisham Ramadan, pg. 18. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006.
*Christopher Roederrer and {{Interlanguage link|Darrel Moellendorf|de}}, Jurisprudence, pg. 471. Lansdowne: Juta and Company Ltd., 2007.
*Nicolas Aghnides, Islamic Theories of Finance, pg. 69. New Jersey: Gorgias Press LLC, 2005.
*Kojiro Nakamura, "Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians." Orient, v. 10, pgs. 89–113. 1974

As the fourth Caliph, Ali had transferred the Islamic capital to Kufa, and many of the first generation of Muslims had settled there. The Hanafi school of law based many of its rulings on the prophetic tradition as transmitted by those first generation Muslims residing in Iraq. Thus, the Hanafi school came to be known as the Kufan or Iraqi school. Ali and Abdullah, son of Masud helped form much of the base of the school, as well as other personalities from the direct relatives (or ahl al-bayt) of Muḥammad from whom Abu Hanifa had studied such as Muhammad al-Baqir. Many jurists and historians had reportedly lived in Kufa, including one of Abu Hanifa's main teachers, Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman.Nadwi, Sayyid Ijteba. Nuqoosh-e-Tabinda. (in Urdu) (1994 First ed). Jamia Nagar: Dar Irnaws p. 254{{Cite web |date=April 20, 2017 |title=The Leading Fiqh Scholars (Founders of the four schools of Fiqh) |url=https://islamicfiqh.net/en/articles/the-leading-fiqh-scholars-founders-of-the-four-schools-of-fiqh-3}}

File:Madhhab Map3.png

He was highly regarded across the various fields of sacred knowledge and significantly influenced the development of Muslim theology.{{Cite book |last=Magill |first=Frank Northen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC |title=Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages |date=January 1, 1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781579580414 |page=17 |language=en}} During his lifetime, he was acknowledged as a jurist of the highest calibre.{{Cite book |last=Hallaq |first=Wael B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPCN1yXEdg8C |title=The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law |date=January 1, 2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521005807 |page=159 |language=en}} The Shafi'i and prominent hadith scholar, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, stated that criticism of Abu Hanifa holds no significance, as figures like Abu Hanifa are "on a degree to which Allah - the Exalted - has raised them, in that they are followed and imitated."{{Cite book |last=as-Sakhawi |first=Shams ad-Deen |title=al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi Tarjama Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajr |date=1999 |publisher=Dar Ibn Hazm, Beirut |pages=vol.2 pp.946–947}}

Additionally, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali praised Abu Hanifah in his Ihya. In Ayn al-Ilm, an abridgement of the Ihya, the author is quoted as saying, "So the greatest scholar for us is Abu Hanifah" and that "even the Imam's counterparts have acknowledge his precedence in fiqh (jurisprudence)". Quoting this statement, Ibn Hajar al-Haythami has quoted Al-Shafi'i as saying, "In fiqh people are dependent on Abu Hanifa".{{rp|31-32}}

Ibn Taymiyya credited Abu Hanifa for his knowledge and addressed the accusations against him, stating, "There is no doubt regarding Imam Abu Hanifa's knowledge. People later attributed many lies to Imam Abu Hanifa, which were all untrue. The aim of such writings was to taint Imam Abu Hanifa".{{Cite book |last=Ibn Taymiyya |title=Minhaj as-Sunna An-Nabawiyya |pages=vol.1, page 259}} His students, Ibn Kathir and al-Dhahabi, held similar opinions about Abu Hanifa, extensively rebuking accusations against him and praising his contributions.{{Cite book |last=Ibn Kathir |title=Al-Bidāya wa l-Nihāya}}{{Cite book |last=adh-Dhahabi |title=Tadhkira al-Huffaz}}

He received the honorific title al-Imam al-A'zam ("the highly venerated Imām"){{Cite book |last=Houtsma |first=M. Th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7CP7fYghBFQC |title=E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936 |date=January 1, 1993 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004097902 |page=840 |language=en}} and his tomb, surmounted by a dome erected by admirers in 1066 is still a shrine for pilgrims.{{Cite book |last=Magill |first=Frank Northen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CurSh3Sh_KMC |title=Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages |date=January 1, 1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781579580414 |page=18 |language=en}} It was restored in 1535 by Suleiman the Magnificent after the Ottoman conquest of Baghdad.

Abu Hanifa is considered to have been criticized by several figures, such as Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, and al-Awzāʿī. According to some later sources, he was perceived by Ibn Abi Shaybah and Ibn Sa'd and to be a heretic and in opposition to the instructions of Muhammad, and al-Bukhari's teacher, al-Humaydi, was one of the first to pen a refutation of his Abu Hanifa's thought.{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Ahmad |title=Heresy and the formation of medieval Islamic orthodoxy: the making of Sunnism, from the eighth to the eleventh century |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-09837-3 |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom New York, NY |pages=27–37, 45–46, 57–68}} The Zahiri scholar Ibn Hazm quoted Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah: "The affairs of men were in harmony until they were changed by Abù Hanìfa in Kùfa, al-Batti in Basra and Màlik in Medina".Camilla Adang, "This Day I have Perfected Your Religion For You: A Zahiri Conception of Religious Authority," p.33. Taken from Speaking for Islam: Religious Authorities in Muslim Societies. Ed. Gudrun Krämer and Sabine Schmidtke. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2006 Early Muslim jurist Hammad ibn Salamah once related a story about a highway robber who posed as an old man to hide his identity; he then remarked that were the robber still alive he would be a follower of Abu Hanifa.Ignác Goldziher, The Zahiris, pg. 15. Volume 3 of Brill Classics in Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. {{ISBN|9789004162419}}

Additionally, Mahmud al-Ghazali (not to be confused with Abu Hamid) wrote the work al-Mankhul, which, according to Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, contains vile fanaticism, despising words and digraceful belittlement of Abu Hanifa. In response to it, al-Kardari authored, Al-Radd wa al-Intisar which Ibn Hajar states, "dispelled evil with evil".{{rp|29-30}}

Today, the Hanafi school is followed by 45% of Muslims{{Cite web |last=Esposito |first=John |date=2017 |title=The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims |url=http://themuslim500.com/downloads/TheMuslim500-2017-lowres.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927233013/http://themuslim500.com/downloads/TheMuslim500-2017-lowres.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2017 |access-date=August 2, 2017 |website=The Muslim 500 |page=32 |df=mdy-all}} and Abu Hanifa is popularly known amongst Sunni Muslims as a man of the highest personal qualities: a performer of good works, remarkable for his self-denial, humble spirit, devotion and pious awe of God.{{Cite book |last=Waines |first=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYxZ0QpKBGsC |title=An Introduction to Islam |date=November 6, 2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521539067 |page=66 |language=en}}

Abu Hanifa is regarded by some authorities as one of the tabi‘un, the generation after the sahaba, who were the companions of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. This is based on reports that he met at least four sahaba including Anas ibn Malik,{{Cite book |last=Meri |first=Josef W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BFZsBgAAQBAJ |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia |date=October 31, 2005 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135456030 |page=5 |language=en}} with some even reporting that he transmitted hadith from him and other companions of Muhammad.[http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/abu_hanifa.htm Imām-ul-A’zam Abū Ḥanīfah, The Theologian]http://www.islamicinformationcentre.co.uk/alsunna7.htm last accessed June 8, 2011 Others take the view that Abu Hanifa only saw around half a dozen companions, possibly at a young age, and did not directly narrate hadith from them.

Abu Hanifa was born at least 60 years after the death of Muhammad, but during the time of the first generation of Muslims, some of whom lived on until Abu Hanifa's youth. Anas ibn Malik, Muhammad's personal attendant, died in 93 AH and another companion, Abul Tufail Amir bin Wathilah, died in 100 AH, when Abu Hanifa was at least 20 years old. The author of al-Khairat al-Hisan collected information from books of biographies and cited the names of Muslims of the first generation from whom it was reported that the Abu Hanifa had transmitted hadith. He counted 16 of them, including Anas ibn Malik, Jabir ibn Abd-Allah and Sahl ibn Sa'd.{{cite web |title=Imam-ul-A'zam Abū Ḥanīfah, The Theologian |url=http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/abu_hanifa.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212202055/http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/misc/abu_hanifa.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2010 |publisher=Masud.co.uk}}{{rp|75-79}}

Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi listed 97 hadith scholars who were his students. Most of them went on to be hadith scholars, and their narrated hadiths were compiled in the Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim and other books of hadith.Tāhzibul Kamal by Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Mizzi Imām Badr al-Din al-Ayni included another 260 students who studied hadith and fiqh with Abu Hanifa.Māganīl Akhīar by Imām Aini

His most famous students were Imām Abu Yusuf, who served as the first chief justice in the Muslim world, and Imām Muhammad al-Shaybani, who was the teacher of the Shafi‘i school of jurisprudence founder, Imām Al-Shafi‘i. His other students included Abdullah ibn Mubarak and Fudhayl bin Iyaadh{{Cite web|url=https://ilmfeed.com/40-students-of-imam-abu-hanifah/|title=40 Great Students of Imam Abu Hanifah|date=March 26, 2014|website=ilmfeed.com}}

Al-Nadr ibn Muhammad recalled Abu Hanifa had "a beautiful face, beautiful clothing, and fragrant scent."{{cite book |last=Al-Dhahabi |url=https://shamela.ws/book/10906/4649 |title=Siyar al-A'lam al-Nubula' |volume=6 |pages=399–400 |author-link=Al-Dhahabi}}

His student Abu Yusuf described him as "well-formed, from the best of people in appearance, most eloquent in speech, sweetest in tone, and clearest in expressing his thoughts."

His son Hammad described him as "very handsome, dark-skinned, having good posture, wearing much cologne, tall, not speaking except in reply to someone else, and not involving himself in what did not concern him."

Ibn al-Mubarak remarked he "never saw a man more revered in gatherings, nor better in character and forbearance, than Abu Hanifa."

{{See also|Ahl al-Bayt|Banu Hashim}}

{{Islam scholars diagram}}

As with Malik ibn Anas (who was a teacher of Imam al-Shafi'i,{{citation |title=The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qurʼan, the Muwaṭṭaʼ and Madinan ʻAmal |last=Dutton |first=Yasin |author-link=Yasin Dutton |page=16}}{{cite book |last=Haddad |first=Gibril F. |title=The Four Imams and Their Schools |location=London, the U.K. |publisher=Muslim Academic Trust |year=2007 |pages=121–194}}{{rp|121}} who in turn was a teacher of Sunni Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal), Imam Abu Hanifa was a student of Ja'far al-Sadiq, who was a descendant of the Islamic nabi (prophet) Muhammad. Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni fiqh are connected to Ja'far from the bayt (household) of Muhammad, whether directly or indirectly.{{cite web |url=http://historyofislam.com/contents/the-classical-period/imam-ja%E2%80%99afar-as-sadiq/ |title=Imam Ja'afar as Sadiq |work=History of Islam |access-date=2012-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721215837/http://historyofislam.com/contents/the-classical-period/imam-ja%E2%80%99afar-as-sadiq/ |archive-date=2015-07-21 |url-status=dead}}

In one hadith, Abu Hanifa once said about Imam Ja'far: "I have not seen anyone with more knowledge than Ja'far ibn Muhammad."{{cite book |title=Siyār Aʿlām An-Nubalāʾ |volume=6 |page=257 |language=ar}} However, in another hadith, Abu Hanifa said: "I met with Zayd (Ja'far's uncle) and I never saw in his generation a person more knowledgeable, as quick a thinker, or more eloquent than he was."{{cite book |title=Al-Tuhaf Sharh al-Zulaf |page=28 |language=ar}}

Imam Abu Hanifa was quoted as saying that Jahm ibn Safwan (d. 128/745) went so far in his denial of anthropomorphism (Tashbih) as to declare that 'God is not something (Allah laysa bi shay')' whereas Muqatil ibn Sulayman (d. 150/767) likened God to His creatures.{{cite book|author=M. S. Asimov and C. E. Bosworth|title=History of civilizations of Central Asia: Volume IV: The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century - Part Two: The Achievements|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9yTFnuWQKvkC|date=2000|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=9789231036545|page=122}}

Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi narrated in his Tarikh Baghdad (History of Baghdad) that Imam Abu Hanifa said: {{Cquote|Two groups of the worst of people are from Khurasan: the Jahmiyyah (followers of Jahm ibn Safwan) and the Mushabbihah (anthropomorphists), and he probably said (instead of Mushabbihah) "Muqatiliyyah" (followers of Muqatil ibn Sulayman).{{cite news|url=https://www.ilmgate.org/the-scholarly-acceptance-of-imam-abu-hanifah%E2%80%99s-pronouncements-on-al-jarh-wa-al-ta%E2%80%99dil/|title=The Scholarly Acceptance of Imam Abu Hanifah's Pronouncements on al-Jarh wa al-Ta'dil|work=IlmGate|date=December 11, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://darulmaarif.com/answers-to-doubts-over-the-aqidah-of-imam-abu-hanifah/|title=Answers to Doubts over the 'Aqidah of Imam Abu Hanifah|date=March 2014|publisher=Darul Ma'arif}}{{cite web|url=https://islamweb.net/ar/library/index.php?page=bookcontents&ID=1182&bk_no=60&flag=1|title=Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' by Al-Dhahabi|publisher=Islam Web}}}}

{{notelist}}

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• {{cite book

| last = al-Quduri

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| year = 1998

| publisher = Islamic Book Service, New Delhi

| isbn = 81-85738-59-9

}}

• Abdur-Rahman ibn Yusuf, Imam Abu Hanifa's Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar Explained

• [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abu-Hanifah Abū Ḥanīfah: Muslim jurist and theologian], in Encyclopædia Britannica Online, by Zafar Ishaq Ansari, The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Thinley Kalsang Bhutia, Surabhi Sinha and Adam Zeidan

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20181002205307/http://lostislamichistory.com/the-life-of-imam-abu-hanifa/ The Life of Imam Abu Hanifa] Biography at Lost Islamic History.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111118012441/http://www.renaissance.com.pk/feletfor96.html Imam Abu Hanifa] by Jamil Ahmad.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426000635/http://marifah.net/articles/wasiyya-abuhanifa.pdf Al-Wasiyyah of Imam Abu Hanifah] Translated into English by Shaykh Imam Tahir Mahmood al-Kiani.
• [http://www.rehmani.net/library/Imam-e-Azam/index.php Book on Imam e Azam Abu Hanifa] (Urdu)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101220213736/http://muslimheritage.com/day_life/default.cfm?oldpage=3&ArticleID=463 Abu Hanifa on Muslim heritage]
• [http://www.livingislam.org/ahanifa_e.html Imām Abū Ḥanīfah] By Shiekh G. F. Haddad
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160124165124/http://www.inter-islam.org/Biographies/4imam.htm Some teachers and students of Imam Abu Hanifa]

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Category:699 births

Category:767 deaths

Category:8th-century Arabic-language writers

Category:Deaths by poisoning

Category:Mujaddid

Category:People from Kabul

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Category:People from Najaf Province

Category:Quranic exegesis scholars

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