What is the Hanbali madhhab? Who is its founder? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. Madh-habs are called religious-legal schools. The Islamic creed has been around for centuries. During this time, an impressive number of schools were formed, some of which were only political and theological, while others were theological. What is the Hanbali madhhab, we will find out below.
Meaning
Many people wonder what is the Hanbali madhhab. The development of scientific thought in Islam influenced the emergence of famous theologians. Based on the works of such masters, powerful schools of applied application of the Sacred Koran and Sunnah appeared. Everything that in these schools concerns Sharia, the form of relationships, everyday worship, the resolution of legal issues and other things, takes place according to the ijtihad of the founder of this educational institution.
The word "madhhab" means "to go", "to go". Therefore, in religion, any direction based on someone else's opinion was called a madhhab. The phrase "to follow this person's madhhab" means to accept his opinion in religious matters and follow his path.
The creators of the direction took the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad and the Koran as a basis. There were some differences between the madhhabs precisely because of the hadiths. The fact is that some hadiths could not reach the founders, which caused a decision that was different from other directions. Despite this, there were no disagreements between the schools.
Madhabs in Islam
You don't know what the Hanbali madhhab is? In general, today only 4 madhhabs have been preserved among Sunni Muslims: Maliki, Hanbali, Shafi'i and Hanafi. The Zahirite madhhab has now practically disappeared. The Jafarite madhhab is widespread among Shiites.
Founder
The founder of the Hanbali madhhab is Imam Abu Abd Lah Ahmad bin Hanbal. It is known that he was born in Baghdad and died in the same city (165/780 - 241/855). There were several directions in his school, which relied on the various opinions of the Sahaba and Tabiyins, doubts and discrepancies in the fatwas of Ibn Hanbal. They were inconsistent transmission of his findings.
The madhhab we are considering had a theoretical fundamental basis and never recognized the closing of the “gates of ijtihad”. The madh-hab did not receive much popularization. Today it is the main school in Saudi Arabia.
The Origins of the Madhhab
What is the history of the Hanbali madhhab? “Madhabulhanabil”, as the Arabs call it, takes its origin from the creator of this madhhab, the great faqih and muhaddis, Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad. He was born in the city of Baghdad (as discussed above) in the month of Ribiul Awal 165 AH.
Ahmad has devoted his entire life to acquiring skills. From childhood, he began to memorize the Koran, comprehended the secrets of the Arabic language. When he was 15 years old, he took up the science of hadith. At the age of 20, Ahmad began to travel and gain knowledge throughout the Islamic state. He visited Mecca, Yemen, Kufa, Medina, Basra, Sham and other centers of Islamic science of those times. His mentors were such famous priests as Ash-Shafi, Sufyan ibn Wayna, Vaki, ibn Mahdi and others. In the same way, knowledge was taken from him and passed on by such masters as Al-Bukhari, Yahya ibn Adam, Abu Daud and many others.
He did not stop learning until he became a mujtahid, imam of muhaddiths, imam of the madhhab and masters of his period. Imam Ash-Shafiee (may Allah be pleased with him) described him as follows: “Leaving Baghdad, I did not leave there more knowledgeable in fiqh, more ascetic, more God-fearing and experienced than Ahmad ibn Hanbal.”
In the era of Ahmad, Caliph Al-Mamun fell under the influence of a misguided sect. He began to popularize the doctrine of the creation of the Koran. But he soon passed away, so he could not meet with Imam Ahmad.
When al-Mu'tasim took the post of caliph, the priest Ahmad underwent severe trials. He was imprisoned for 18 months because he rejected the idea of creatingKoran. He was also flogged many times until he lost his memory, but he still defended his views, because he knew that Muslims would follow his opinion. If he says anything that contradicts the Sunnah and the Koran, then thousands and thousands of people will be misled.
He was released from prison in 220. In the era of Caliph Al-Wasykabi-Llah Ahmad, no evil befell him. And when al-Mutawakkil took the post of caliph, he always consulted with Imam Ahmad and honored him.
Imam Ahmad died on Friday 12th of the month of Rabi ul-Awwal 241 AH. Where is the founder of the Hanbali madhhab buried? His grave is in Baghdad (Iraq, Abbasid caliphate). May Allah reward him with goodness from Islam and all Muslims! Amen!
Features
Among the reasons for the small - in comparison with other madhhabs - the number of followers can be mentioned as follows:
- Hanbali madhhab - fiqh collected after the formation of the three famous madhhabs.
- Among the Hanbalis, there were almost no Sharia judges who would popularize their madhhab. Also, Hanbali fiqh did not have a ruler who would popularize it.
- Hanbalis have always been known for their steadfast and uncompromising stance towards the adherents of innovations.
- Scholars who fully studied fiqh often showed meekness and did not praise their madhhab. After all, their goal was not to follow the madhhab, but the truth.
At the stage of formation and development, the Hanbali madhhab was popular in Iraq, Sham and Egypt, but over time it almost disappeared.
Prayer
So, you already know what the Hanbali madhhab is. Namaz in this canonical school has some features. For example, scholars believe that Hanbalis place their hands like this:
- Below the chest and above the navel.
- Below the navel.
It should be noted that among the Ulama of the Hanbali madhhab there are different opinions regarding the position of the hands during prayer, which Ibn Kudama mentioned in his al-Kafi fi Fiqh al-Imam A'mad.
Scholars who spread the Madhhab
What are the scientists of the Hanbali madhhab famous for? Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Hazm and other masters played a huge role in the development of this school. Imam Ahmad wrote many works on hadith. This is, for example, the famous book "Musnad". Unfortunately, the imam did not write any works on fiqh, just as he did not allow his students to write books on this science.
This was due to the fact that the imam paid much attention to the science of hadith, as indicated by his creation "Musnad". He wished that his disciples would also revere asaram and hadith more than fiqh.
The adherents of Imam Ahmad began to write books on fiqh and propagate his own madhhab after his death. His sons Salih and Abdullah, Ahmad ibn Khani, Ibrahim ibn Ishak, Harb ibn Ismail al-Karamaniy especially distinguished themselves in this. The most significant popularizers of Hanbali fiqh were Umar ibn al-Husayn, Abdul-Aziz, Abu Bakr Ahmad.
One of the first who created a book about Hanbali fiqh, later called "MakhtasarulHirakiy," was Abu al-Qasim Umar. He worked hard completing all the ideas presented by Imam Ahmad. He identified the most faithful of them and compiled a book on fiqh. After that, many masters continued his work.
It should be noted that it is impossible to list all the books of the Hanbalis, since there are a huge number of them.
