Imam Abu Hanifa’s students

Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybani

 

 

Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybani was born in 132AH/750CE and died in 189AH. He was educated in Iraq, in the city of Kufa. He studied with the two great Scholars, Imam Abu Hanifa and his student, Abu Yusuf.  

 

He was extremely handsome, fair skin, a bit fat and well built. When he first came to join Imam Abu Hanifa’s class at the age of 15, Imam Abu Hanifa said, “Sorry you are not accepted because to join my class you have to learn the Quran by heart.”

 

So he came back a year later when he was 16 after he had memorised the Quran and then studied with Imam Abu Hanifa for 2 years. He was only 18 years old when Abu Hanifa died.  He died at the age of 57. {Transcribe from the lecture of Dr. Hesham Al-Awadi – The Four Great Imams – CD3} 

 

When his father first brought him to Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Abu Hanifa said, “Shave his head and let him wear old clothes lest he cause a problem (to the people because of his attractiveness). He also spent three years with Imam Malik and heard 700 hadith from him.  

 

He said, “My father left me behind 30,000 dirham’s. I spent 15,000 thousand on learning Arabic grammar and poetry and 15,000 on Hadith and Fiqh.”

 

Imam Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Shaybani would not sleep at night. He used to have several books, and whenever he became bored of reading one, he would turn to another, and used to get rid of sleepiness by using cold water and would say, “Sleep is indeed caused by heat.” {The Value of Time by Sheikh Abdul Fattah, p12}

 

The first treatise on international law was the Introduction to the Law of Nations written at the end of the 8^th century by al-Shaybani eight centauries before Hugo Grotius wrote the first European treatise on the subject.

 

Imam Muhammad and his student, Imam Shafi’i

 

Imam Muhammad treated Imam Shafi as a special student. Imam Shafi’i lived with Imam Muhammad for a period of 10 years and gain knowledge from him equal to 2 camel loads. {Suyuti, p254}

 

Imam Shafi’i said about his teacher;

 

“I looked at him and he was the most handsome of people. His forehead looked like ivory. His clothes were very beautiful. I asked him a question and he replied fast as an arrow.”

 

“I could say the Quran was revealed in the tongue of Muhammad ibn Hasan because of his immense eloquence.”

 

“From Muhammad ibn Hasan I took two camel-loads learning. I spent 60 dinars buying his books.”

 

“Imam Muhammad was one of the most intelligent persons in the world.” Al-Jawahir Al-Mudhiyya fi Tar Ajimi-Hanafiyya, p42}

 

{The Four Imams by Dr. G.F. Haddad, p14} 

 

Mohammed ibn al-Hassan ash-Shaybani was mounted and on his way to the king when he saw Shafi’i coming. Mohammed ibn al-Hassan al-Shaybani dismounted and told his servant to go to the king and give him an excuse for not coming.

Shafi’i said: “But there are other times that we can meet than this.”

Mohammed ibn al-Hassan ash-Shaybani: “NO”. Mohammed ibn al- Hassan ash-Shaybani took Shafi’ by the hand and led him into his house as a guest. {Principal Imams and Their Schools by Dr. Umar Abd-Allah, Disc 11 -6A}

 

 

 

 

Imam Abu Yusuf

 

 

Abu Yusuf (ra) was born in the year 113AH and died in the year 181AH/789CE. He was the main student of Imam Abu Hanifa (who spent 17 to 29 years studying under him) who helped spread the influence of the Hanafi School of Islamic Law through his writing and the government position he held. Later on Imam Abu Yusuf (ra) became the first Qadi Qudat (Chief Justice) in Islam. He was a Jude for the three Caliph.

 

Ibn Khaliikan al-Shafi’i writes,

 

“Qadi Abu Yusuf was the first person to propose a distinctive dress for the scholars which is still in fashion. Before they dressed like the common people.” {Ibn Khaliikan al-Maliki, biography of Imam Abu Yusuf; Imam Shibli Nu’mani p214}

 

Dawood b. Rasheed has stated that Imam Abu Yusuf (ra) would have been sufficient for Imam Abu Hanifa (ra) if he had no other student beside him. {Hasanul Taqazi, p15; The Four Illustration Imam by Maulana Makbool Ahmed Suharwi, p56}

 

Imam Abu Yusuf (ra) said,

 

“A student who does not respect and love his teacher is never successful.” {My Faith is Islam by Mawlana Feizel Chothia and Mu‘allimah Naeema Desai, Grade 3, p74} 

 

Imam Abu Yusuf and Abu Hanifa

 

Imam Abu Yusuf was a student of Imam Abu Hanifa for a period of 17 or 29 years studying under him, never missing the Zuhr prayer or leaving him except due to illness

 

They became so close and were so inseparable when the Imam fell ill on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, they would still not part from each other.

 

When the Imam’s son died, he left the kafan (shroud) in the hands of his neighbour and relatives in the fear that he would be deprived of the lessons of Imam Abu Hanifa which he will regret it for the rest of his life. {Hasanul Taqazi, p17; The Four Illustration Imam by Maulana Makbool Ahmed Suharwi, p56; The Merits of Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Muwaffaq al-Makki, Volume 1, p472; The Value of Time by Abu Ghuddah, p23}

 

 

Imam Abu Yusuf said,

 

“Treat your student with such sincerity and kindness that strangers are led to think they are your own children.”{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shibli Nu’mani p67; Etiquettes for Teachers by Maoulana Qaari Siddeeq Ahmed Baandhhwi Saheb, p5}

 

Imam Shafi’i

 

Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal (ra) said,

“Not one of the Scholars of hadith touches an inkwell or a pen without owing a huge debt to Imam Shafi’i.”

{Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya, vol. 10; The Four Imams by Dr. G.F Haddad, p196}

 

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani said, “There are 5 special merits of Imam Shafi’i:

 

 1. His sharing the Prophet’s lineage at the level of their common ancestors ‘Abd Manaf

 

2. His birth in the Holy Land of Palestine and upbringing in Makka

 

3. His education at the hands of superlative scholar together with his own superlative intelligence and knowledge of the Arabic language

 

4. The Hadith of the Prophet (s), “Oh Allah! Guide Quraysh, for the science of the Scholar that comes from them will encompass the earth. O Allah! You have let the first of them taste bitterness, so let the latter of them taste reward.” {Narrated by Bayhaqi, Abu Nu’aym and others. All with weak chains which, Bayhaqi and Ibn Hajar in Tawali al-Ta’nis, p42-44 said, if collated make the hadith strong}

 

5. The Hadith of the Prophet (s), “Truly Allah shall send forth for this community, at the onset of every hundred years, someone/those who will renew for it <the status of> its Religion.” {A sound hadith by agreement of the hadith Masters such as Suyuti, Iraqi and Ibn Hajar} 

 

 

 Imam Shafi’i (ra) was born in the village of Ghazza in Philistine in the year 150AH – the year Imam Abu Hanifa’s death. Shortly after the death of Imam Shafi’s father his mother took him at the age of two to Makka. He memorized the Quran at the age of 7, then Malik’s Muwatta at the age of 10, at which time his teacher would deputize him to teach in his absence. He received permission to give fatwa (legal ruling) at 15. {Narrated by Ibn Abi Hatim, The Merits of Imam Shaif, p39}

 

He died in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday evening after Maghrib, in Rajab, 204 A.H. after a short illness at the age of 54 years.

 Imam Shafi’i’s respect for his teacher, Imam Malik

 

Imam Shafi’i (ra) said,

“I use to turn the pages in front of Imam Malik (ra) very gently, quietly and carefully in order not to disturb the lesson of Imam Malik.”

{The Four Illustration Imam by Maulana Makbool Ahmed Suharwi, p87, p126,}

 

Imam Shafi’i’s care for his Student, Rabi’

Imam Shafi’i (ra) said to his student, Rabi’, “How I love you!” and another time: “Rabi’! If I could spoon feed you this knowledge I would spoon feed it to you.” Al-Rabi’ was slow in his understanding and that Shafi’i (ra) once repeated an explanation 40 times for him in the classroom, yet he did not understand it, then got up and left in embarrassment. Later, al-Shafi’i (ra) called him in private and explaining it to him again until he understood.

 

 

 

Al-Rabi’ said: “One time al-Shafi’i (ra)  invited people to dinner. After the people ate; al-Buwayti said to me, ‘sit and eat.’ I replied: ‘who has told us (students) to eat?’ whereupon al-Shafi, hearing me said, ‘Subhanallah! You {Rabi’} have permission to take all I own.’

In another incident Imam Shafi’ (ra) said to him, “Sleepy-head! You have permission to take all I own.”

 

Later on Rabia became on of the great student of Imam Shafi’I (ra)  after al-Muzani. {The Four Imams by Dr. G.F Haddad, p208-209} 

 Imam Shafi’i’s care for his Student, Abdul Hakim

 

 

Imam Shafi’i (ra) made the following poem when one of his student, Abdul Hakim was ill:

 

“The Beloved fell ill, so I visited him

and I fell ill out of concern for him.

The Beloved came to visit me

and I was healed by the sight of him.”

{The Four Imams by Abu Zahra, translated by Aisha Bewley, p375}

 

Sayings of Imam Shafi’i

 

Imam Shafi’i said,

 

“My brothers you will never gain knowledge until you have 6 things;

 

1.                        Intelligence

2.                        Seriousness

3.                        Hardwork

4.                        Funding (support)

5.                        Companionship of a teacher

6.                        Long periods of study.”

 

Al-Muzani asked his teacher Imam Shafi’i:

 

“How would you describe your love for knowledge?” He said,

 

“When I hear a word I had not heard before, the organs of my body wish they all could have the pleasure of hearing it like my ears.”

 

“What about your concern for it.” He said,

 

“It is like the concern of the greedy miser in seeking more wealth.”

 

“What about your seeking of it.?” He said,

 

“It is like the seeking of a mother seeking her lost only child.”

 

{Related by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani on the Virtues of Muhammad ibn Idris Al-Shafi’i; The Value of Knowledge by Sheikh Abdal Fattah Abu Ghuddah, p82}

 

 

 

Jokes

Imam Ali (ra) said, “Relax the minds for they also become tired.”(Fathul Qadeer by Shawkani, vol. 4, p54}

 

  

 

 Imam Abu Hanifa and the Donkey

 

 

 

Abu Hanifa had a Rafidi neighbor (a person who hates Abu Bakr and Umar) who had named his two donkey Abu Bakr and Umar out of hatred for the two companions of the Prophet (s), and he used to give less care to the second donkey. One time this person was nowhere to be seen and Abu Hanifa enquired about him. “He was trampled to death by one of his donkey,” came the reply. Abu Hanifa said, “No doubt the one he named Umar?” They said yes. 

 

{The Four Imams by Dr. G.F Haddad, p119; Imam Abu Hanifa, p211}

 

Imam Malik and his student

 

 Imam Malik said about one of his students,

“He’s a good student except he speaks a month’s worth of words in a day”

{Purification of the Heart by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, p151}

 

 The Intelligent Woman

 Fakr al-Din al-Razi is considered the greatest Scholar in Islam. His Tafsir (commentary on the Quran) which is 32 Volume known as “The Key to the Unknown” is the best Tafsir ever written. He also written books on  medicine, physics, , literature, history and law.

 

Once he was walking in the street with hundred of his students. A woman was in the way and the students said, “Move out the way women! Razi is coming! The women said, “What makes this Razi so great? The student reply, “He is the greatest Scholar living today. He has 1000 proof for the existence of God.”

                                                                                            

She said, “Why does he need 1000 proofs unless he has 1000 doubts.”

In another narration, the women said, “Why does your teacher need 1000 proofs for the existence of God when there is THE proof which is the existence of the universe?” The student were astonish and speechless whey they heard this inteligience response.

 

When Razi heard this he said, “Everybody should have the belief of this woman.” {Related by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, Aqida Tahawiyya in Birmingham 2007} 

The Burglar

 

 

 A thief went to Nasrudin’s house and carried away almost  all the possessions of the mullah to his own home. While Nasrudin had been watching from the street. After a few minutes Nasrudin took up a blanket, followed him, went in to his house, lay down and pretended to go to sleep. The thief asked Mullah, “who are you? And what are you doing in my house?” Mullah replied, “we were moving house, weren’t we?” 

 Thankful not to lose myself

One day there was news in every corner of the town about the Mullah’s donkey which he lost it. When his neighbors heard the news they got sad and decided to go to mullah’s house and help him to find his donkey. So they came to mullah’s house and they saw that mullah is very happy and very thankful from God! They found it very interesting and asked mullah: “Mullah aren’t you sad about the lost of your donkey?” Mullah laughed and said, “I am happier because God helped me that I was not riding it other wise I would’ve been lost as well.”   

 

Nasruddin teaches

 Nasrudin was a part time teacher, but got bored of the same routine. One day at the beginning of class, he asked his new pupils, “Do you know what I am about to teach you?”

“No,” they responded.

“Well then,” Nasrudin said, “Since you don’t have enough background information, there is no point in me trying to teach it to you.” And with that statement, Nasrudin left the building.

The next day, he came to the class and asked them, “OK—do you know, or don’t you know?”

Thinking that they were on to his trick, the students responded, “Yes, we know.”

“Well then,” Nasrudin replied, “if you already know, there is no point in me telling you!” And with that, Nasrudin left the building.

The next day, he came to the class and once again asked them, “Do you know, or don’t you know?”

The students, once again thinking that they were on to his trick, replied, “Half of us do, and half of us don’t.”

“OK, fantastic,” Nasrudin replied. “Now the half of you that do know can tell the other half that you that don’t!” And with that statement, Nasrudin left the building. 

 

 PSYCHOLOGY

 Mulla Nasrudin went to see a psychiatrist. He said:

‘My trouble is that I can’t remember anything.’

‘When did this start?’ asked the doctor.

‘When did what start?’ said Nasrudin.

Stupid Question?

 Nasruddin opened a booth with a sign above it:

Two Questions On Any Subject Answered For Only 100 Silver Coins

A man who had two very urgent questions handed over his money, saying:

- A hundred silver coins is rather expensive for two questions, isn’t it?

- Yes, said Nasruddin, and the next question, please?

Stories for Kids

 

The Prophet Muhammad (s) said:

 

“The Fragrance of children is the Fragrance of Paradise.” 

{Tabarani, Ibn Hibban & Bayhaqi; Commentary on Ihya uloom-iddin by Imam Murtada al-Zabidi al-Hanafi, vol. 6, p320}

 

 The Prophet’s iTouch

 

 

 

The uncle of the Prophet (s), Abbas asked the Prophet (s), “Do you know why I became a Muslim?”

The Prophet (s) said, “Please tell me why?”

His uncle said, “When you were a baby I would go and see you and you would have your finger pointing towards the moon, playing with the moon. Everywhere your finger moved the moon would move with your finger. The moon was your toy which stopped you from crying when you were a baby.”

{Imam Shami}

 

  The Story of the Elephant

 

  

The Prophet (s) said,

 

“Seek knowledge even as far as China.”

{Iraqi & Suyuti} 

 

Yahya ibn Yahya al-Andalusi was a young boy who travelled all the way from Spain to Medina to study with Imam Malik.  Once when he was in the circle of Imam Malik, a large elephant was walking pass the gate of the Mosque.

 

 The people of Medina never saw an elephant in their lives since elephants were not found in Arabia and Spain. All the students in the circle jumped and ran to see the elephant and left their teacher Imam Malik, except the little boy from Spain.

 

Imam Malik asked the little boy, “Why did you not go with the rest of the students, little boy.” The little boy said, “I did not come all the way from Spain to Medina to see an elephant. I came to see you and to benefit from your knowledge and manners. For this reason this animal holds no value compared to you and compare to the knowledge of the Prophet (s).”

 When Imam Malik heard this intelligent response he gave him the great title, ‘Aqil al-Andalus’ which means the ‘Intelligent One from Spain.’ 

 

When he was in the class of Imam Malik, Yahya would not cough or move from his sitting place and would always copy the clothes and manners of his teacher. When he completed his study he went back to Spain and became famous and became the most intelligent person in the whole of Spain as his teacher said he would become.   

 

DON’T GET DISTRACTED WHEN YOU ARE STUDYING KNOWLEDGE!

 The Mother of Abdul Qadir al-Jilani

 

Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani was born in in Jilan, a village in Iran. He obeyed Allah throughout his life.

 

He was related to the Prophet Muhammad (s), both from his father and mother’s side.

 

In those days Baghdad was the centre of knowledge. When Abdul Qadir was 10 years old his mother sent him to Baghdad to seek knowledge. At the time of departure, she sewed 40 dinars in his collar and advised him,

“My son! Always speak the truth and avoid lies.”

 

A caravan was going to Baghdad. He joined them. A gang of robbers attacked the caravan on the way and stole them. One robber came to Abdul Qadir, looked around and did not find anything.

He asked, “O child! Do you have anything?

Abdul Qadir answered, “I have 40 dinars sewn in my collar.”

 

The robber took them out and was so impressed by his truthfulness that he took him to his leader, Ahmed Badwi’ and told him the story.

 

Ahmed asked,

 

“Abdul Qadir! You were seeing that we were stealing the caravan. You could have save your money by telling a lie. Then why did you not save your money?”

 

The 10 year old boy replied,

 

“My mother advised me to speak the truth at the time of departure. How can I disobey her by telling a lie?” 

 

Ahmed Badwi, the leader of the robbers was so impressed by this answer that he began to think very strongly. He was thinking that a small boy like Abdul Qadir is so obedient to his mother and we are disobedient to our Lord.

 

Ahmed Badwi wept very much. He honestly repented from his bad life and started worshipping Allah. The other robbers followed their leader and gave up robbery and repented from their sinful life.

 

All this was to due to a small advice which his mother gave which he listen obediently to her, even in a difficult situation which changed the life of the robbers from robbing to worshipping Allah.

Imam Abu Hanifa’s Intelligence

Imam Shafi said,

 “The women of the world haven’t given birth to a man more intelligent than Abu Hanifa.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p210}

Harun Rashid said,

 

“Imam Abu Hanifa could see with the eyes of his mind that which the ordinary people were unable to see with the eyes of the head.” {Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p210}

 

 

 

 

 

The Poor woman

A woman appeared before Imam Abu Hanifa and said, “My brother passed away leaving behind 600 gold coins. However, I only received 1 gold coin from his estate.” Imam Abu Hanifa asked, “Who distributed the estate?” She replied, “Your student, Dawud Tai.” Imam Abu Hanifa said, “You are entitled to this much only.  

 

 

 

 He said, “Okay tell me. Your brother left behind 2 daughters?” She said, “Yes.” Imam Abu Hanifa said, “A mother as well?” she replied, “Yes.”Imam Abu Hanifa said, “He left behind a wife?” she said, “Yes.”Imam Abu Hanifa said, “He left behind 12 brothers and 1 sister?” She said, “Yes.” 

When she again replied in the affirmative, Imam Abu Hanifa added:

“The 2 daughters are entitled to two third of the estate and that amounts to 400 coins. The mother will get one sixth which is 100 coins and the wife will get one eight which is 75 coins. 24 coins of the remaining 75 coins will go to the 12 brothers. 2 coins for each one of them and the remaining coin will be your share.”

 {Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami, p227}

 

Love eating sweets

 Once a woman came to Imam Abu Hanifa, complaining to him about her child. She said, “My son loves eating too many sweets! Please give him advice that will stop him from eating sweets as he would listen to you. Imam Abu Hanifa said to her, “Come back and see me in a month’s time.” She comes back after a month has gone by. Imam Abu Hanifa said to the child “Son! You shouldn’t eat sweet! They are not good for you.”

The women look surprised and shocked and said, “It took you a month to tell him that. You could have told him a month a go.”

Imam Abu Hanifa smiled and said, “I was addicted to sweets as well, so I had to stop eating sweets before I could tell him to stop eating sweets.”

 

{Commentary on Imam Al-Gazali’s Al-Bidaya Wal-Hidaya by Sheikh Ibrahim} 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Answer!

 A person said to Imam Abu Hanifa:

(1) “What is you opinion of a man who has no hope for Paradise,

(2) Does not fear the Hell-fire,

(3) Is not scared of Allah’s wrath,

(4) Consume dead flesh,

(5) Performs prayer without ruku and sujood,

(6) Bears testimony to things he has not witness,

(7) Flees from the Mercy of Allah, and loves fitnah.”

 

Imam Abu Hanifa said,

 (1) “You said this person has no hope for Paradise (2) and does not fear the hell-fire because he has pinned his hope onto the owner of Paradise and fears the owner of Hell-fire.

(3) You said this person does not fear the hell-fire. This is because he is well aware that Allah will never be unjust in His punishment.

(4) You said this person consume dead flesh. This is because he eats dead fish.

(5) You said this person performs prayer without ruku and sujood. This is because he prays the funeral prayer.

(6) You said he testify things which he has not witness. This is because he has not seen God or the Prophet Muhammad (s).

(7) You said this person loves fitna. This means he loves wealth and children. Allah says in the Quran, “Verily your wealth and children are a Fitna (temptation).”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami, p216}

Imam Abu Hanifa’s Respect and love for his Students

Imam Abu Hanifa said,

“Treat your student with such sincerity and kindness that strangers are led to think they are your own children.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shibli Nu’mani p67}

“Treat your student as they were your sons because when you love them more, they will love you more and they would want to learn more.”

{Ibrahim Haqqi’s Ma’rifetname; Transcribe from the lecture of Dr. Hesham Al-Awadi – The Four Great Imams – CD3 – 8}

Imam Abu Yusuf (who studied with Imam Abu Hanifa for 17 or 29 years) said,

“I haven’t seen anyone as generous as Imam Abu Hanifa. Imam Abu Hanifa took care of me and my family for a period of 10 years. I haven’t seen anyone better in good character than him.  I use to say to Imam Abu Hanifa ‘You are so kind and generous.’ He replied, “If you seen the generosity of my teacher, Hammad, you would not have said am generous.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p198; Transcribe from the lecture of Dr. Hesham Al-Awadi – The Four Great Imams – CD2}

Asim Ibn Yusuf said,

“There is nobody who has any right against another as Imam Abu Hanifa had upon his student. The reason for this is that the smallest problem would emotionally affect him as well. Even if a fly sat on one of them, he would be distressed. The student enjoyed a very high position in his eyes.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p272; The Four Illustration Imam by Maulana Makbool Ahmed Suharwi, p31}

Ibn Abdur Jabbar said,

“The people haven’t seen anyone’s company better than the company of Imam Abu Hanifa nor anyone kinder to his student than Imam Abu Hanifa.”

“Imam Abu Hanifa was very generous. He was very kind to his friends and students especially at ‘Eid when he used to shower them all with gifts. If a man needed to get married, he used to get him married, provided the necessary expenses and attend to his other needs as well.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami, p197}

Al-Hajj sent a 1000 pairs of shoes to Imam Abu Hanifa as a gift. He gave everyone of them all to his student. After some time, when he himself needed to purchase a pair of shoes, someone asked him about all the shoes he received. He replied, “Not a single pair had reached my house. I gave them all away among my students.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p199}

Imam Abu Hanifa loved his student more than they ever loved him. He treated them as a father treats his children. He often gave them grants to cope with their needs.

{Adil Salahi, Pioneers of Islamic Scholarship p9-10}

Imam Abu Hanifa said the following poem to his students when the class finished:

“You are the joy of my heart and the removal of my sorrow.”

{The Four Imams by Abu Zahra, page 175, translated by Aisha Bewley; Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shibli Nu’mani, p207, p219; The Principle Imams by Dr. Umar Abdullah}

Imam Abu Hanifa’s Parents

Deaf, Dumb and Blind

 

Once upon a time, a pious young man of Persian origin was sitting by the bank of the Tigris River in Iraq when he saw an apple floating on the water. Feeling rather hungry, he picked up the apple and ate it. Soon afterwards he began to question himself on having something that did not belong to him, without the owner’s permission. Therefore he decided to look for the owner. Had the young man been a scholar, he would have known that he could not eat the apple without having to obtain permission from anyone. However, he went upstream, looking at houses close to the river, until he saw a house with a garden and an apple tree, full of fruits and with some branches stretching over the water. It was a splendid house, with a large garden full of apple trees. He knocked on the door and asked to see the owner. An old man opened the door with a pleasant face.

 

On hearing the story, the owner reflected a little before saying to the young man that he had committed a gross error.

 

The young man asked the owner to forgive him but the owner said no. The owner put a condition then he would forgive the man. He said to the young man, “I have a daughter of marriageable age, but she is deaf dumb and blind, and I am worried about what would happen to her after my death. Looking at you, I feel that you could provide her with the care she needs. If you prepare to marry her, I will forgive you.”

 

The young man thought hard, then decided that going through life with such a wife was much easier than having to go to hell for his misdeed. Therefore he accepted. Then on the wedding night he was surprised to find his wife was a beautiful and well educated young woman, with neither physical nor mental handicap of any sort.

 

So he went back to her father confused and shocked and said to him, “Your daughter is very beautiful with neither physical nor mental handicap of any sort. She can hear me very clearly, can speak beautifully and can see perfectly.”

 

The father said to the young man, “O young man! She is deaf because she never heard a lie. She is dumb because she never backbitted. She is blind because she never seen anything bad (haram).”  

 

It was into that marriage that a great person was born by the name of Imam Abu Hanifa. {Adil Salahi, Pioneers of Islamic Scholarship, p5-7; Tantawi, Tarikh, p80; Dr. Hussain al-Sattar, The True Greatness of Imam Abu Hanifa}

The Greatest Imam – Imam Abu Hanifa Respect for his teachers

 

ADAB 1 

Imam Abu Yusuf (who spent 29 years studying under Imam Abu Hanifa) said,

 “I make dua for Imam Abu Hanifa even before I make dua for my parents because I heard Imam Abu Hanifa saying that he makes dua for his teacher, Hammad even before he makes dua for his parents.”

{Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p156} 

ADAB 2  

Imam Muhammad Ibn Hasan al-Shaybani narrates that his teacher, Imam Abu Hanifa said,  

“From the time my teacher, Hammad, passed away, I have constantly made dua of forgiveness for him and my parents. I also make dua of forgiveness for my other teachers and student as well.” {Imam Abu Hanifa by Imam Shami p268} 

 

ADAB 3

 Imam Abu Hanifa would sit teaching his student in the lesson and would stand in the middle of the lesson sometimes, and then sit back down and then stand back up. He would often do this whilst teaching.

 The student asked him about this and he said, 

  “Indeed, the son of my teacher  plays with the children in the street and he sometimes comes at the door of the Masjid, so when I see him, I stand up for him in respect and love for my teacher.” 

{The Teacher and the Student by Imam al-Zarnuji}  

Knowledge

The Prophet (s) said,

“Seek knowledge even as far as China.”

{Bayhaqi, al-Suyuti, & al-Iraqi who declared it Hasan (good)}

  

Imam Ali (ra) said,

 

“I am the slave of the person who has taught me one letter. Out of honor in teaching just one letter it’s necessary to give him 1000 dirhams. He is your father in your religion.”

{The Teacher and the Student by Imam al-Zarnuji}

 

The Prophet (s) said,

 “Knowledge is a treasure, its keys are questions. Continue to ask about knowledge because by asking one question four persons are rewarded – (1) the questioner, (2) the learned, (3) the listener (4) and those who love them.”

{Abu Naeem}

A person came to Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (ra) and said. “I have attained so much knowledge for so many years.” Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (ra) said, “Oh my nephew! My donkey has carried my books for 4 years but it does not mean he learnt anything. The key to knowledge is wisdom and understanding.”

{Related by P.C Hafiz} 

 “The Orphan is not he who has lost his father, an orphan is he who lacks knowledge and manners.”

{Sheikh Shawqi,  Bringing up Children in Islam, p239}

Sharafuddin Maneri (ra) said,

 

“Knowledge is the fountainhead of all happiness, just as ignorance is the starting point of all wretchedness. Salvation comes from knowledge, destruction from ignorance.”

{Maktubat-i Sadi}