Imam Azam - The Hadith Expert

 The Holy Quran and the Hadith are the base and the primary sources of Islamic law.  They contain the answers to all questions that human beings may face in their whole life up until the end of the world.  Even though, the Holy Quran is simple, it contains many things which cannot be understood; not only by common people but even by experts of language.  Mere expertise over language does not give one any mastery over law and legal implications and nuances.  Life is ever-changing and as such the rules governing it also change with the times.  There are many things which are not explicitly mentioned in the Holy Quran and Hadith, but which are necessary today, for e.g. share business, fixed deposits, Islamic rules about insurance and other such rules.  In these and such issues, we have to use the guidelines laid down by the Jurists (Mujtahideen).  Those guidelines have been laid down in the light of what the Holy Quran and Hadith say and what they demand.

 

Nowadays, the enemies of Islam are raising many objections about Islam.  It is our duty to combine all our forces and answer to them and not that we fight among themselves.

 

Imam Azam is a great Hadith-Expert (Muhaddith).  The narrations of his students are present in Sihah Sittah (The 6 most authentic books in Hadith) like Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Jame’ Tirmidhi and others.

 

When the beginning verses of Surah Juma’a was revealed:

 

It is He Who has sent amongst the Unlettered a messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom― although they had been, before, in manifest error― (2) As well as (to confer all these benefits upon) others of them, who have not already joined them: and He is Exalted in Might, Wise.  Surah Juma’a (62:2, 3)

 

Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) asked the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam): O Prophet of Allah (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam)! Who are the ones who will come after and You will recite the verses of the Holy Quran to them and purify them? The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) did not answer and held His peace.  The question was repeated thrice.  Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (May Allah be well pleased with him) says: At that time, Hadhrat Salman Farsi (May Allah be well pleased with him) was present with us.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) kept His hand on Hadhrat Salman Farsi (May Allah be well pleased with him) and said: If faith (Iman) is as far as the planet Venus, then some people among them (i.e. the people of Hadhrat Salman Farsi), why some only one person will get it from there also.

 

Hadhrat Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti (May Allah shower His mercy on him) writes in “ Tabyeez Us Saheefa ” that this Hadith is perfectly correct, which gives glad tidings of the coming of Imam Azam Abu Hanifa and expresses his superiority.

 

All the scholars agree that this Hadith has the prophecy of the coming of Imam Azam Abu Hanifa and his superiority, because in the people of “Faras,” there is no one more knowledgeable than him.

 

The books of Hadith are filled with the Hadith narrated by the illustrious students of Imam Azam Abu Hanifa.  His teachers only of Hadith are 4000.  Most of them are Companions or Taba’een.

 

Hadhrat Imam Azam Abu Hanifa deeply respected the Family of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and his research in Fiqh has the support and the backing of the Prophet’s Family.

 

Hadhrat Imam Abu Yusuf (May Allah shower His mercy on him) states that once Hadhrat Imam Azam Abu Hanifa was sitting in Masjid Haraam.  People would come, ask their questions and he would answer them.  Suddenly, Hadhrat Imam Jafar Sadiq (May Allah be well pleased with him) sat there.  As soon as Imam Azam Abu Hanifa saw him, he stood up and said: O prince of the Prophet of Allah! If I knew that you were here, you would not have found me sitting when you were sitting.  Hadhrat Imam Jafar Sadiq (May Allah be well pleased with him) said: O Abu Hanifa! Sit down and keep instructing the people.  I have seen my forefathers doing the same.

 

Imam Bukhari (May Allah shower His mercy on him) has recorded 22 Hadith in Sahih Bukhari in which there are only 3 links (narrators) between him and the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  This is a great honor for him.  In 20 out of these 22 Hadith, the teachers of Imam Bukhari are all Hanafi Muhadditheen.

 

Makki bin Ibrahim (May Allah shower His mercy on him) is a Hanafi Muhaddith, he is an close student of Imam Azam Abu Hanifa from whom Imam Bukhari took 11 out of his 22 Hadith.  Imam Bukhari took 6 of those Hadith from Imam Abu A’asim Zahaak An Nabeel and took 3 of these Hadith from Muhammad bin Abdullah Ansari (May Allah shower His mercy on him).  In these 20 Hadith, the teachers of Imam Bukhari are the students of Imam Azam Abu Hanifa.  Without these Hanafi Hadith-experts (Muhadditheen), Imam Bukhari would have only 2 of these Hadith.

 

Once during the lecture of Hadhrat Makki bin Ibrahim (May Allah shower His mercy on him), he was teaching Hadith from Imam Azam Abu Hanifa (May Allah shower His mercy on him).  A person got up and said: Teach us the Hadith got from Ibn Juraij instead of the Hadith of Abu Hanifa.  Hadhrat Makki bin Ibrahim got angry and said: We do not teach to the fools and the disrespectful.  Leave my class at this very moment! You do not have permission to write down the Hadith, which I have taught.  When that person went away, he resumed teaching the Hadith taught from Imam Azam Abu Hanifa.

 

Hadhrat Abdul Azeez bin Maimoon (May Allah shower His mercy on him), whose narrations are recorded in Sihah Sittah.  Great Muhaddithin like Muhaddith Abdur Razzaq, Waki bin Jarrah are his students.  He says that the person who loves Imam Azam Abu Hanifa is a Sunni and the one who hates him is a Bida’ati (innovator in religion)

 

That is why for your good we advise you not to fall prey to sectarianism, but to trust the elders of the religion and benefit from their research.  If anyone wants to carve out a new path for himself, then it’s their wish, but they have no right to taunt those who follow the guidelines laid down by the elders.