Top 40 Hanafi Scholars

We hear so many times that we follow Imam Abu Hanifa, just one person, what if he was wrong, what if he made mistakes etc etc. Well InshaAllah this will clear things up a little.

Imam Abu Hanifa had thousands of students. Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhummad and Sayidina Ibn Mubarak were the most famous students of Imam Abu Hanifa.

Imam Abu Hanifa had a council of 40 students who lived and studied in his academy. He has reportedly spoken on 83,000 juristic issues.

Whenever an issue came to the attention of Imam Abu Hanifas council they used to discuss the matter for months and reach a conclusion based on the consensus. The council used to resolve the problems of the community, they were unlike some of the scholars today who are harsh and send people away. They used to speculate and assume issues and then passed Fatwas on them.

The Fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa is compatible and applicable to modern times.

28 of Imam Abu Hanifas students became judges in different towns, cities and provinces and 8 became Imams, capable of passing legal rulings according to the Quran and Sunnah.

The 40 Students of Imam Abu Hanifa and the Ulama of the founding Hanafi School

1. Imam Zufar(R) (Passed away 158 A.H.)
2. Imam Malik bin Mughawwal(R) (Passed away 159 A.H.)
3. Imam Dawood Taa'ee(R) (Passed away 160 A.H.)
4. Imam Mandil bin Ali(R) (Passed away 168 A.H.)
5. Imam Nadhar bin Abdul Kareem(R) (Passed away 169 A.H.)
6. Imam Amr bin Maymoon(R)(Passed away 171 A.H.)
7. Imam Hiban bin Ali(R) (Passed away 173 A.H.)
8. Imam Abu Ismah(R) (Passed away 173 A.H.)
9. Imam Zuhayr bin Mu'aawiyah(R) (Passed away 173 A.H.)
10. Imam Qaasim bin Ma'n(R) (Passed away 175 A.H.)
11. Imam Hammad bin Imam Abu Hanifa(R) (Passed away 176 A.H.)
12. Imam Hayyaaj bin Bistaam(R) (Passed away 177 A.H.)
13. Imam Shareek bin Abdullah(R) (Passed away 178 A.H.)
14. Imam Aafiyah bin Yazeed(R) (Passed away 180 A.H.)
15. Imam Abdullah ibn Mubarak(R) (Passed away 181 A.H.)
16. Imam Abu Yusuf(R) (Passed way 182 A.H.)
17. Imam Muhammad bin Nuh(R) (Passed away 182 A.H.)
18. Imam Hushaym bin Basheer Sulami(R) (Passed away 183 A.H.)
19. Imam Abu Sa'eed Yahya bin Zakariyyah(R) (Passed away 184 A.H.)
20. Imam Fadhl bin Ayyaadh(R) (Passed away 187 A.H.)
21. Imam Asad bin Amr(R) (Passed away 188 A.H.)
22. Imam Muhammad bin Hasan as Shaybani(R) (Passed away 189 A.H.)
23. Imam Ali bin Mis'ar(R) (Passed away 189 A.H.)
24. Imam Yusuf bin Khalid(R) (Passed away 189 A.H.)
25. Imam Abdullah bin Idrees(R) (Passed away 192 A.H.)
26. Imam Fadhl bin Moosa(R) (Passed away 192 A.H.)
27. Imam Ali bin Tibyaan(R) (Passed away 192 A.H.)
28. Imam Hafs bin Ghayyaath(R) (Passed away 194 A.H.)
29. Imam Wakee bin Jarrah(R) (Passed away 197 A.H.)
30. Imam Hisham bin Yusuf(R) (Passed away 197 A.H.)
31. Imam Yahya bin Sa'eed al Qattan(R) (Passed away 198 A.H.)
32. Imam Shu'ayb bin Ishaq(R) (Passed away 198 A.H.)
33. Imam Abu Mutee Balkhi(R) (Passed away 199 A.H.)
34. Imam Abu Hafs bin Abdur Rahmaan(R) (Passed away 199 A.H.)
35. Imam Khalid bin Sulayman(R) (Passed away 199 A.H.)
36. Imam Abdul Hameed(R) (PAssed away 203 A.H.)
37. Imam Hasan bin Ziyaad(R) (Passed away 204 A.H.)
38. Imam Abu Aasim Nabeel(R) (Passed away 212 A.H.)
39. Imam Makki bin Ibraheem(R) (Passed away 215 A.H.)
40. Imam Hammad bin Daleel(R) (Passed away 215 A.H.)

The pillars of this committe were Imam Abu Yusuf(R), Imam Zufar(R), Imam Dawood Taa'ee(R), Imam Yusuf bin Khaalid(R), Imam Yahya bin Zakariyyah(R), Imam Muhammed(R),Hadhrat Imam Abdullah ibn Mubarak(R) and Imam Abu Hanifa himself.

With regard to this committee, Imam Wakee(R) who was the teacher of Imam Shafi'i(R) said, "How could there have remained any errors in this work of Imam Abu Hanifa(R) when he had with him experts of Hadith, experts in Arabic....A person who has such people as companions cannot be wrong because there would always be someone to correct him if he erred"

SubhanAllah.

8 Comments

Adnaan wrote on 18 Nov 2010

Assalamu alaykum,

Can you please give the referances for the above article?

Blogger's Reply:

Waalaykum Salaam, Reference as requested.
Towards Understanding Taqleed (Part 2) Page 340-343
Author: Mufti Afzal Hossen Elias
Publisher: Zam Zam Publishers
This book is amazing, alHumdulillah, it covers many important subjects and is too cheap for the amount of info it contains, priceless @ only �4.
www.azharacademy.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=2069

Adnaan wrote on 19 Nov 2010

references given above

Adnaan wrote on 27 Nov 2010

Wa'alaykum as Salam,

Jazakallahu khairan. I was looking for this for so long.. Is there any book which gives a brief history of each one of them in English?

imran yaqoob wrote on 5 Mar 2013

Assalamualaikum!
I am a mechanical engineer.I face a serious problem.I am a hanafi.Majority of our relatives are so called hanafi ( brelvi mushriks ).Because of jalousness they became my enemies.they acts like hindus.they do black magic.they are very cruel and criminal peoples.they also have police support.Now they have reached at the climax of thier evil deeds.they attached with me their evil representatives every place where I go.even in mosques thier evil representives do this shetani act.Kindly guide me in these seriou circumstances.

Salaam, apologies for not being able to reply any sooner. There was an error with the settings.

I am not an Aalim so the best advice I can give you is to get in touch with an Aalim (a pious one) and ask him to guide you and help you.

In the mean time, until you get in touch with the Aalim, try this web site,

central-mosque.com/index.php/Soul/black-magic-and-satanic-influences-protection-a-cure.html

This is a websiye that belongs to Brother Muadh who also has a blog on MuftiSays.

Jazakallahu Khair.

Shoaib wrote on 25 Mar 2013

Assalamu alaikum,
I have a question. If there is a difference of opinion among scholars, are we supposed to follow the majority? Ex, Hanbali are against one idea, but Maliki, Shafi and Hanfi scholars say it is valid? Does this make it valid and the correct view? Also, since I follow the Hanafi school of thought, and the scholars of the Hanafi say something is valid, whereas a few scholars of another Maddab (Maliki for example), say it is not, do I follow the view of Hanafi? JazakhAllah.

Jazakallahu khair,

I would sincerely ask you ti speak to your Hanafi Imam regarding such questions. I am not an Imam and I'm not qualified to answer.

Personally, I would follow one school in terms of Fiqh all the way.

Jazakallahu khair.

abdul wali khan panezai wrote on 9 Nov 2013

i like this forum...

raheel sheikh wrote on 2 Apr 2014

Assalaam-o-Alikum

Please tell me who is the hanafi ullama rite now I am hanafi but I dont know about that :( if u know so please tell me

WasSalaam,

The 40 Scholars mentioned in the blog were the top main scholars who would sit and discuss the issues and come to a conclusion. Today, all their principles are applied. Today we have many many ulama, but not of the calibre of these 40. Yet they have the knowledge that was taught by the greats and can deduce rules from there.

One example of a top scholar is Mufti Taqi Usmani and his likes. There are plenty more too. Unfortunately, we will not be able to name them all.

WasSalaam

Mohammad wrote on 15 Apr 2014

Where is ibn Abidin, al-Humam, al-Kasani?

Where these not scholars of a latter time? The 40 imams mentioned were in the shura with Imam Abu Hanifa.

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