"Imam Abu Hanifa engaged himself in the aquisition
of knowledge and exerted himself until he achieved what
others did not. Once he visited Mansur (the Abbasid caliph)
and found 'Isa ibn Musa with him. 'Isa said to Mansur,
'This is the scholar of the world today.'" [1]
Makki ibn Ibrahim once remembered Imam Abu Hanifa and said,
"He was the greates scholar of his time." [2]
Makki ibn Ibrahim was the Shaykh of Imam Bukhari through whom
Imam Bukhari has transmitted most of his narrations whose chains
reach the Messenger of Allah
through onle three
transmitters (thulathiyyat). 'Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak relates:
"I entered Kufa and enquired from the scholars as to who was the
most learned person in the city? They told me it was Abu Hanifa.
Then I enquired from them as to who was the most devout worshipper
and the one most occupied in acquiring sacred knowledge? Again they
told me it Abu Hanifa. Every good characteristic I enquired about,
they answered 'We do not know anyone who that characteristic could
be attributed to except Abu Hanifa.'" [3]
Muhammad ibn al-Bish said,
"I would visit Abu Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri. When visiting Sufyan
he would ask me where I had come from. I would inform him from
Abu Hanifa and he would remark, 'You have just come from the greatest
jurist in the world.'"
Abu Wahb Muhammad ibn Muzahin said,
"I heard Ibn al-Mubarak say, 'The greatest jurist is Abu Hanifa.
I have not seen anyone like him in the field of jurisprudence.'"
Imam Shafi'i reports that Imam Malik was asked if he had met Abu Hanifa?
His reply was: "Yes, I have seen a person who, if he says he could turn
this pillar into gold, would be able to provide evidence for it.'" [4]
Imam Shafi'i himself one said:
"People are dependant on Abu Hanifa in the field of jurisprudence." [5]
'Allama Sha'rani writes:
"Imam Shafi'i happened to visit Abu Hanifa's grave during the time of Fajr.
He performed the prayer without reciting qunut (a special du'a) and remarked,
'How could I recite qunut in the presence of this Imam when it was his opinion
not to recite it.'" [6]
Imam Abu Hanifa's opinion was to recite the qunut for forty days in Fajr at
the time of calamities only.
When the news of Imam Abu Hanifa's death reacher Shu'ba, he explaimed:
"Truly to Allah we belong and truly to Him we shall return (Inna lillahi
wa inna ilayhi raji'un)." He then said, "The light of sacred knowledge
has been extinguished from Kufa. They will never find anyone like
him again." [7]
Imam Dhahabi writes:
"Logic, debate, and wisdom aquired from the forbearers were not, by Allah,
the areas of learning pursued by the Companions and Followers (tabi'een);
Imam Awza'i, Thawri, Malik, and Abu Hanifa رضى الله عنها. Their fields of study were
the Qur'an and hadiths." [8]
Hence, this establishes that it was the science of Qur'an and hadith that
Imam Abu Hanifa excelled in, and not just other subjects.
Notes:
[1] al-Ansab 247
[2] I'la' al-sunan 18:308
[3] al-Mizan 58
[4] Tabyid al-sahifa 16
[5] Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 10:450
[6] al-Mizan
[7] al-Khayrat al-hisan 71
[8] Tadhkirat al-huffaz 192
