Hanafi
(Sunni)
Hanafi, Hanafiyyah, Hanafi School
General Information
Aba Hanafa, Nu'man Abu Hanifah (d. 767)
Doctrines
The Hanafiyyah school is
the first of the four orthodox Sunni schools of law. It is distinguished
from the other schools through its placing less reliance on mass oral
traditions as a source of legal knowledge. It developed the exegesis of
the Qur'an through a method of analogical reasoning known as Qiyas.
It also established the principle that the universal
concurrence of the Ummah (community) of Islam on a point of law, as
represented by legal and religious scholars, constituted evidence of the
will of God. This process is called ijma', which means the consensus of
the scholars. Thus, the school definitively established the Qur'an, the
Traditions of the Prophet, ijma' and qiyas as the basis of Islamic law. In
addition to these, Hanafi accepted local customs as a secondary source of
the law.
History
The Hanafi school of law
was founded by Nu'man Abu Hanifah (d.767) in Kufa in Iraq. It derived
from the bulk of the ancient school of Kufa and absorbed the ancient
school of Basra. Abu Hanifah belonged to the period of the successors
(tabiin) of the Sahabah (the companions of the Prophet). He was a Tabi'i
since he had the good fortune to have lived during the period when some of
the Sahabah were still alive. Having originated in Iraq, the Hanafi
school was favoured by the first 'Abbasid caliphs in spite of the school's
opposition to the power of the caliphs.
The privileged position which the school enjoyed under the 'Abbasid
caliphate was lost with the decline of the 'Abbasid caliphate. However,
the rise of the Ottoman empire led to the revival of Hanafi fortunes.
Under the Ottomans the judgement-seats were occupied by Hanafites sent
from Istanbul, even in countries where the population followed another
madhhab. Consequently, the Hanafi madhhab became the only authoritative
code of law in the public life and official administration of justice in
all the provinces of the Ottoman empire. Even today the Hanafi code
prevails in the former Ottoman countries. It is also dominant in Central
Asia and India.
Symbols
The Hanafi school of jurisprudence has no distinctive symbol system.
Adherents
There are no official
figures for the number of followers of the Hanafi school of law. It is
followed by the vast majority of people in the Muslim world.
Headquarters / Main Centre
The
school has no headquarters as such. It is followed by the majority of the
Muslim population Of Turkey, Albania, the Balkans, Central Asia,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India and Iraq.
Bülent Şenay
Overview of World Religions Project
Hanafiyyah School, Hanafi
Shi'a Information
Abu Hanifa (699-767) placed the emphasis on opinions reached by
individual reasoning, and used analogy extensively. His broad
interpretations displayed a flexibility that increased the appeal of
his jurisprudence, particularly to rulers who sought easy
justifications for their actions. He was by profession a trader in
silk in Kufa, where he also taught, and the school of law that now
bears his name claims the largest number of Sunni adherents.
Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
THE ELEMENTS OF ISLAM, Chapter 4
Hanafis
Advanced Information
Unfortunately, we are not aware of any scholarly texts on this
subject which have yet been translated into English. We know
that a number of Arabic scholars have written wonderful texts
in Arabic, and look for the day when we will be able to add
higher quality texts to this presentation.
Also, see:
Islam, Muhammad
Koran, Qur'an
Pillars of Faith
Abraham
Testament of Abraham
Allah
Hadiths
Revelation - Hadiths from Book 1 of al-Bukhari
Belief - Hadiths from Book 2 of al-Bukhari
Knowledge - Hadiths from Book 3 of al-Bukhari
Times of the Prayers - Hadiths from Book 10 of al-Bukhari
Shortening the Prayers (At-Taqseer) - Hadiths from Book 20 of al-Bukhari
Pilgrimmage (Hajj) - Hadiths from Book 26 of al-Bukhari
Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihad) - Hadiths of Book 52 of al-Bukhari
ONENESS, UNIQUENESS OF ALLAH (TAWHEED) - Hadiths of Book 93 of al-Bukhari
Hanafiyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Malikiyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Shafi'iyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Hanbaliyyah School Theology (Sunni)
Maturidiyyah Theology (Sunni)
Ash'ariyyah Theology (Sunni)
Mutazilah Theology
Ja'fari Theology (Shia)
Nusayriyyah Theology (Shia)
Zaydiyyah Theology (Shia)
Kharijiyyah
Imams (Shia)
Druze
Qarmatiyyah (Shia)
Ahmadi
Ishmael, Ismail
Early Islamic History Outline
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Islamic Calendar
Interactive Muslim Calendar
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