Farid Ahmed

From: Pickering, Rachael [Rachael.Pickering@det.nsw.edu.au]

Sent: Monday, 2 March 2009 8:44 AM
Subject: A Reminder - Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal

IMAM AHMAD IBN HANBAL

Birth and Origin
Born in Rabi Awwal AH 164 (November 780 CE), Imam Ahmad belongs a noble house of Bani Shayban
in Baghdad. His father passed away before his birth. His mother took care of him and brought him up in the
most proper manner.
His mother was keen that he learns the different disciplines of knowledge prevalent at that time. She was
keen that he learns the different disciplines of knowledge prevalent at that time. So, he memorized the
Noble Quran and applied himself enthusiastically to the knowledge of Hadith. He would get up at dawn to
be the first student to attend the knowledge circle of his sheikh.
During his teens, he joined the circle of Abu Yusuf, a disciple of Imam Abu Hanifah and the first person to
hold the post of Chief Judge. His circle was unspeakably splendid. It attracted seekers of knowledge,
scholars, as well as judges of different classes and ranks. Imam Ahmad attended this circle for four years.
He recorded in writing all what he learned there, which formed a great amount of papers. He also used to
attend the circle of Imam Hasheem ibn Basheer As-Solamy, the grand scholar of Hadith in Baghdad.
Moreover, whenever he heard that a knowledgeable scholar came to Baghdad, he would seek to acquire
knowledge from him. In this regard, he learned from the great scholars Naeem ibn Hammad, Abdul-
Rahman ibn Mahdi, and Umayr ibn Abdullah ibn Khaled.

A Knowledge-Seeker
Seekers of knowledge at the time were known for their journeys in the pursuit of religious knowledge,
especially Hadith. Regardless of the high cost and distance of this kind of journeys, seekers of knowledge
would travel throughout the MuslimWorld where the eminent jurists and scholars of Hadith live to acquire
knowledge.
Imam Ahmad commenced his blessed journey in the pursuit of Hadith in AH 186 (802 CE) at the age of 22.
He went to Basra, Koufa, Ar-Riqqa, Yemen, and Al-Hijaz (i.e., Makkah and Madinah) where he met a
number of prominent and great scholars and jurists of the Ummah, such as Yahya ibn Said Al-Qattan, Abu
Dawud At-Tayalisi, Waki ibn Al-Jarraah, Abu Muawiyah Ad-Darir, Sufyan ibn Uyainah, and Ash-
Shafei.
He dedicated himself to studying at the hands of Ash-Shafei for a period of time, during which he learned
fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and its principles. He was such a devout seeker of knowledge that Imam Ash-
Shafei said about him that there was no one in Baghdad that was more knowledgeable in religion and
skillful in memorizing hadiths than Imam Ahmad.
His great passion for seeking Hadith made him bear every difficulty willingly. Despite his great knowledge
and high status among eminent scholars, he proceeded to seek knowledge from others. Though his sheikhs
and colleagues attested to the ample knowledge he possessed, he did not feel embarrassed at all to sit among
students to receive knowledge from others. Seeing Imam Ahmad holding the inkwell by means of which he
would write what he learned, a contemporary of him commented, O father of Abdullah, [You sit among
students] despite the high level of knowledge you have reached. You are the imam of Muslims [in
knowledge]! The reply of Imam Ahmad came thus: With the inkwell [I stay] till I go Ahmad held the
opinion that the basic rule is that transactions among people are, in principle, permissible unless proved
otherwise by a legal proof.

1
His Trial
Imam Ahmad faced a serious trial that he bore steadfastly. He refused to make any concessions in the
process.
The trial began when Caliph Al-Mamoun declared in AH 218 (833 CE) his call to consider the Quran a
creature like all creatures. Many jurists were forced under torture to agree. But Ahmad and Muhammad ibn
Noah refused to succumb. As a consequence, they were fettered and sent to Baghdad to stand before Caliph
Al-Mamoun. While they were on their way to him, the caliph passed away, so they were returned to
Baghdad fettered.
On the way back to Baghdad, Muhammad ibn Noah died. But before his death, he advised his companion,
Imam Ahmad, saying, You are a man that people take as a role model. They are now waiting to see how
you will act [in this trial]. So, be mindful of Almighty Allah and remain steadfast for His sake.
Imam Ahmad acted upon his companions advice and stood up for his beliefs. He was imprisoned for more
than two years. Then he was carried to Caliph Al-Mutasim, who followed in the footsteps of his late
brother, Al-Mamoun.
The carrot-and-stick approach was used with Imam Ahmad in the presence of the caliph and his gathering in
an attempt to gain a single word from him in support of their allegation about the Quran being a creature.
They would ask him, What do you say about the Quran? Is it a creature? And his only reply was It is
Allahs word.
With the persistent attempts by the caliph to win him over, the imam would get more determined. When
despair seized them, they hang him from the heels. They would whip him without the least prick of
conscience that they were whipping an innocent and guiltless individual, let alone that he was a pious
scholar whom people take as a role model. They showed no mercy in lashing his infirm body with turns of
their harsh whips. He fainted as a result of the flogging and was released and returned home.

During the era of Caliph Al-Wathiq (AH

227232 [841847 CE]), Imam Ahmad was forbidden to address people in a gathering. He was allowed to
go out only for prayer.
Circumstances changed, however, when Al-Mutawakkil assumed the Caliphate. He banned the opinion
saying that the Quran is a creature and restored to Imam Ahmad his esteem and status. Upon that, Imam
Ahmad resumed his teaching circles in the mosque.

His Death
After a life full of great achievements, Imam Ahmad passed away in Rabi Thani 12, AH 241 (August 30,
855 CE) at the age of 77. He was buried in Baghdad. Ahmad Tammam to the grave.

A Teacher
It is worth noting that Imam Ahmad took the seat of teaching and issuing fatwa in Baghdad in AH 204 (819
CE), which was the same year Imam Ash-Shafei died. Imam Ahmad was thus a great successor to an
eminent predecessor.
He used to have two knowledge-imparting circles: a special one at his home for his keen students and a
general one in the mosque following the Asr Prayer for ordinary people and knowledge-seekers in general.
Imam Ahmad would deal heartily with his students and would describe their inkwells with which they
recorded what he imparted to them of hadiths as the lambs of Islam. Furthermore, he was so honest and
meticulous in reporting hadiths that he never reported a hadith unless it was from a written source, though
he was highly noted for his sharp memory. It is also worth mentioning that Imam Ahmad memorized about
million narrations from the Companions and Tabin (first generation after Prophet Muhammad). A number
of keen students who studied at Imam Ahmads circles for a good and long time spread his knowledge and
jurisprudence everywhere. Most eminent among them was Abu Bakr Al-Maruzy, who was close to the
imam and most liked by him on account of his knowledge, superior morality, truthfulness, and integrity.
2
Imam Ahmad said about him, Whatever he [Al-Maruzy] reports me as saying is truly said by me. Also,
among the students of Imam Ahmad were Abu Bakr Al-Athram, Ishaq ibn Mansur At-Tamimi, Ibrahim ibn
Ishaq Al-Harbi, Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, and Baqi ibn Makhlad.

His School of Thought

Imam Ahmad did not record his juristic fatwas, nor did he compile a book on jurisprudence or assign such a
job to any of his students. He disliked that any of his fatwas be written. This remained the case until Abu
Bakr Al-Khallal, a student of Al-Maruzy undertook the responsibility of compiling the Hanbali fiqh.
Al-Khallal traveled to various places in search of the juristic opinions and fatwas issued by Imam Ahmad.
He gathered such a huge number of fatwas that he compiled a book of about 20 volumes entitled Al-Jami
Al-Kabir.
He later held a circle in Al-Mahdi mosque in Baghdad to teach this book to his students. Out of this
knowledge-imparting circle, the written jurisprudence of the Hanbali school of thought spread after it was
no more than scattered narrations. Afterwards, Abu Al-Qasim Al-Khiraqi summarized the book compiled
by Al-Khallal in a book entitled Mukhtasar Al-Khiraqi (Al-Khiraqis Compendium). This book found favor
with people and captured the attention of the Hanbali jurists, who wrote more than 300 books wherein
explaining Al-Khiraqis book and commenting on it. The best and most well-known book among those 300
was Al-Mughni written by Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdesi.
It is worth noting that the Hanbali school was the most flexible school of thought with regard to freedom of
transaction and the conditions thereby the contracting parties shall be required to abide. Imam Ahmad held
the opinion that the basic rule is that transactions among people are, in principle, permissible unless proved
otherwise by a legal proof.

His Trial
Imam Ahmad faced a serious trial that he bore steadfastly. He refused to make any concessions in the
process.
The trial began when Caliph Al-Mamoun declared in AH 218 (833 CE) his call to consider the Quran a
creature like all creatures. Many jurists were forced under torture to agree. But Ahmad and Muhammad ibn
Noah refused to succumb. As a consequence, they were fettered and sent to Baghdad to stand before Caliph
Al-Mamoun. While they were on their way to him, the caliph passed away, so they were returned to
Baghdad fettered.
On the way back to Baghdad, Muhammad ibn Noah died. But before his death, he advised his companion,
Imam Ahmad, saying, You are a man that people take as a role model. They are now waiting to see how
you will act [in this trial]. So, be mindful of Almighty Allah and remain steadfast for His sake.
Imam Ahmad acted upon his companions advice and stood up for his beliefs. He was imprisoned for more
than two years. Then he was carried to Caliph Al-Mutasim, who followed in the footsteps of his late
brother, Al-Mamoun.
The carrot-and-stick approach was used with Imam Ahmad in the presence of the caliph and his gathering in
an attempt to gain a single word from him in support of their allegation about the Quran being a creature.
They would ask him, What do you say about the Quran? Is it a creature? And his only reply was It is
Allahs word.
With the persistent attempts by the caliph to win him over, the imam would get more determined. When
despair seized them, they hang him from the heels. They would whip him without the least prick of
conscience that they were whipping an innocent and guiltless individual, let alone that he was a pious
scholar whom people take as a role model. They showed no mercy in lashing his infirm body with turns of
their harsh whips. He fainted as a result of the flogging and was released and returned home.

During the era of Caliph Al-Wathiq (AH227232 [841847 CE]), Imam Ahmad was forbidden to address
people in a gathering. He was allowed to go out only for prayer. Circumstances changed, however, when
Al-Mutawakkil assumed the Caliphate. He banned the opinion saying that the Quran is a creature and
3
restored to Imam Ahmad his esteem and status. Upon that, Imam Ahmad resumed his teaching circles in
the mosque.

His Death
After a life full of great achievements, Imam Ahmad passed away in Rabi Thani 12, AH 241 (August 30,
855 CE) at the age of 77. He was buried in Baghdad.

(http://lightofguidance.com/alfirdaus%20-%20october.PDF)

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