1. One day a number of Kharijites invaded the Imam's house and, catching hold of him said, "Say, you abandon kufr." The Imam promptly said, "I abandon your kufr." The Kharijites maintain that by committing a sin a man becomes a kafir, which amounts to saying that sin and kufr are identical. What the Imam meant was that he repented of what they thought to be kufr. Somebody later on went to the Kharijites and told them that the Imam had befooled them: So the Kharijites came back to the Imam and asked him to explain why he had tricked them with a verbal quibble. "Is it your conviction or merely a suspicion that I have done so?" inquired the Imam. "No, it is only suspicion" replied the Kharijites. "In that case," said the Imam, "you should beg Allah's forgiveness, because Allah has Himself said, ' Verily, sometimes doubting is a sin.'"

2. One day, when the Imam was sitting in a mosque surrounded by his pupils, a group of Kharijites rushed in. Frightened, the pupils started running away. The Imam however, stopped them, told them to have no fear, and asked them to resume their seats. The leader of the Kharijites went up to the Iman and said, "Who are you people?" "People seeking refuge," replied the Imam; "Allah has said, 'If any polytheist seeks refuge, give it to him, so that he may listen to God's kalam, and then escort him to a place of safety". The Kharijites considered every Muslim not belonging to their sect as a kafir deserving to be put to death. This group had come with the intention of getting Abu Hanifa (rahmatullahi alaih) to state his form of belief, charge him with kufr and assassinate him; but they were disarmed by the verse quoted by the Imam, which imposed an obligation on them to protect his life and the lives of his pupils. So the leader said to his men, "Recite the Qur'an for them to hear and then escort them to their homes."

3. For all his solemnity and dignity, the Imam occasionally liked to crack a joke. Here are a few witty remarks made by him. One day he said to his barber, who was trimming his hair, "Pluck the grey hairs." "Hairs plucked," said the barber, "they will grow again, and thicker than before." "If that is so", said the Imam, "then pluck all the black hairs so that they grow again and thicker." Hearing of this repartee, Qadi Sharik remarked, "Abu Hanifah did not abandon arguing by analogy even in talking to his barber."

"Imam Abu Hanifah - Life & Works" by M.Hadi Hussain