Imam Abu Hanifah had thousands of students.

Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhummad and Ibn

Mubarak were the most famous students of Imam Abu Hanifa. Imam Abu Hanifah 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 Hanifah’s 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 Fatwa’s on them. The Fiqh of
Imam Abu Hanifah is compatible and applicable to modern times.

28 of Imam Abu Hanifah’s students became judges in different towns, cities and provinces and 8
became Imams, capable of passing legal rulings according to the Qur’an and Sunnah.

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

1. Imam Zufar (Passed away 158 A.H.)

2. Imam Malik bin Mighwal (Passed away 159 A.H.)

3. Imam Dawood Taa’ee (Passed away 160 A.H.)

4. Imam Mandil bin Ali (Passed away 168 A.H.)

5. Imam Nadhar bin Abdul Kareem (Passed away 169 A.H.)

6. Imam Amr bin Maymoon (Passed away 171 A.H.)

7. Imam Hiban bin Ali (Passed away 173 A.H.)

8. Imam Abu Ismah (Passed away 173 A.H.)

9. Imam Zuhayr bin Mu’aawiyah (Passed away 173 A.H.)

10. Imam Qaasim bin Ma’n (Passed away 175 A.H.)

11. Imam Hammad bin Abi Hanifah (Passed away 176 A.H.)

12. Imam Hayyaaj bin Bistaam (Passed away 177 A.H.)

13. Imam Shareek bin Abdullah (Passed away 178 A.H.)

14. Imam Aafiyah bin Yazeed (Passed away 180 A.H.)

15. Imam Abdullah ibn Mubarak (Passed away 181 A.H.)

16. Imam Abu Yusuf (Passed way 182 A.H.)

17. Imam Muhammad bin Nuh (Passed away 182 A.H.)

18. Imam Hushaym bin Basheer Sulami (Passed away 183 A.H.)

19. Imam Abu Sa’eed Yahya bin Zakariyyah (Passed away 184 A.H.)

20. Imam Fudhayl bin Iyaadh (Passed away 187 A.H.)

21. Imam Asad bin Amr (Passed away 188 A.H.)

22. Imam Muhammad bin Hasan as Shaybani (Passed away 189 A.H.)

23. Imam Ali bin Mis’ar (Passed away 189 A.H.)

24. Imam Yusuf bin Khalid (Passed away 189 A.H.)

25. Imam Abdullah bin Idrees (Passed away 192 A.H.)

26. Imam Fadhl bin Moosa (Passed away 192 A.H.)

27. Imam Ali bin Tibyaan (Passed away 192 A.H.)

28. Imam Hafs bin Ghiyaath (Passed away 194 A.H.)

29. Imam Wakee bin Jarrah (Passed away 197 A.H.)

30. Imam Hisham bin Yusuf (Passed away 197 A.H.)

31. Imam Yahya bin Sa’eed al Qattan (Passed away 198 A.H.)

32. Imam Shu’ayb bin Ishaq (Passed away 198 A.H.)

33. Imam Abu Mutee Balkhi (Passed away 199 A.H.)

34. Imam Abu Hafs bin Abdur Rahmaan (Passed away 199 A.H.)

35. Imam Khalid bin Sulayman (Passed away 199 A.H.)

36. Imam Abdul Hameed (Passed away 203 A.H.)

37. Imam Hasan bin Ziyaad (Passed away 204 A.H.)

38. Imam Abu Aasim Nabeel (Passed away 212 A.H.)

39. Imam Makki bin Ibraheem (Passed away 215 A.H.)

40. Imam Hammad bin Daleel (Passed away 215 A.H.)

The pillars of this committe were Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Zufar, Imam Dawood Taa’ee, Imam
Yusuf bin Khaalid, Imam Yahya bin Zakariyyah, Imam Muhammed, Imam Abdullah ibn Mubarak
and Imam Abu Hanifah himself.

With regard to this committee, Imam Wakee who was the teacher of Imam Shafi’i said:

“How could there have remained any errors in this work of Imam Abu Hanifah when he had with
him experts of Hadith, experts of Tafseer, experts of Fiqh, 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”

May Allah have mercy on them all

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

“Shaykayn” said which means Imam Hanifa and Imam Yusuf said.

“Sahibayn” said which means Imam Yusuf and Imam Muhammad said.

“Tarafayn” said which means Imam Hanifa and Imam Muhammad said.

The Work Conducted By His Students

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 Hanifa’s 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 Fatwa’s on them.

It is for this reason why the permissibility of test tubes babies was announced approximately
800 years ago. The Fiqh of Imam Abu Hanifa is compatible and applicable to modern times.

Imam Abu Hanifa believed that no one should interfere with the decisions of a sane and mature
person. It is for this reason why he is the only Imam who believes that a mature and sane
woman can get married without the permission of her parents.

28 of Imam Abu Hanifa’s students became judges in different towns, cities and provinces and 8
became Imams, capable of passing legal rulings according to the Qur’an and Sunnah.

He told his students that they should…

1. Not ask questions when he is walking

2. Not ask questions when other people in the gathering are talking

3. Not ask questions when he is standing.

Code Of Conduct Of His Students

One of his students named Tobah Bin Saad had some questions that he wanted to ask Imam Abu
Hanifa. So he went to his home and waited until he came out and walked behind him with his
note book and wrote down all the answers to the questions.

The next day he went to visit Imam Abu Hanifa in his study circle and found that he was
discussing the same questions that he had asked him yesterday, but was giving completely
different answers to what he had been told.

When Tobah Bin Saan asked Imam Abu Hanifa the reason he was giving different answers to
what he had been told, Imam Abu Hanifa told him “I had told you not to ask me questions when
I am walking”.

Imam Abu Hanifa used to tell his students to keep their appearance and mannerism respectable.
He used to say “If you are walking down the street and someone calls you from behind don’t
turn around, have dignity”.

He gave his students a code of conduct on how they should behave in court. He told them that
their purpose was to serve people and NOT rule them. They should not behave like dictators and
should serve with justice. He told them to resign from a post if they felt things were not in their
control. He advised them against working for the sake of salary and greed and told them to keep
their doors open day and night.

In one incident Imam Yusuf returned home late one night and was getting ready to retire to bed.
A messenger of the Caliph knocked on his door and told Imam Yusuf that the Caliph needed him.
Imam Yusuf told the messenger that it was late and told him to make up some excuse.

The messenger told Imam Yusuf that he was unable to do so. Imam Yusuf had a bath, changed
his clothes, applied some perfume and left to meet the Caliph. The Caliph apologised for
disturbing the Imam late at night and told him that he had a problem that needed to be
resolved.

The Imam told him that not only he but his family had also been disturbed, but the Imam was
more then willing to resolve the Caliphs problem. The Caliph informed him that he wanted a
man to either give him or sell him a slave girl.
But the man had sworn an oath that if he gives her as a gift or sells her then his wife is divorced.
The Imam had a solution, he told the man to give half of her as a gift and sell half of her that
way his oath will not be broken.

Imam Abu Hanifa informed his students to offer their five daily obligatory prayers in the Mosque
and after every prayer they should make an announcement to the people urging them to come
to their court if they needed justice. After Isha prayer this announcement should be repeated
three times.

Imam Ibn Mubarak fell in love with a slave girl; he spent an entire night talking to her. He was so
infatuated by her that when he heard the Fajr adhan he assumed that it was the Adhan for Isha.
He later realised that he was wasting his time with someone who’d be of no benefit to him in
the hereafter.

Imam Ibn Mubarak told his followers that he learned a lot from his slave. If anyone ever asked
him who was his teacher he would reply; ‘My slave’. He told them that when he purchased his
slave and brought him home he asked him his name. His slave told him ‘I do not have a name
you can call me whatever you wish’.

The Imam asked him “What would you like to eat?” the slave replied ‘I do not have any
particular desire, so give me whatever you feel like giving me’. He then asked him “Don’t you
have any desires of your own?” The slave replied “I do not have any desires of my own – I only
desire whatever you desire”. On hearing this reply the Imam cried and said “I wish I was the
slave of my Lord in the same way”.

Once someone told Imam Ibn Mubarak that his slave steals the shrouds of the dead and sells
them for money. The Imam became upset, because he had a contact with his slave, he had told
him to give him one dinar every day for a year and then he will be free. One night the Imam
followed the slave into the graveyard and watched him remove the earth on a grave and get
into it, the Imam became convinced that he was stealing the shrouds of the dead.

However, much to the astonishment of the Imam, the slave spent the night in worship of Allah
(swt) telling Him (swt) that during the day he is busy serving his master which is why he is
unable to serve Him (swt), he begged Allah (swt) to make him his Friend and pleaded for
forgiveness.

The Imam watched from a distance and wept all night. At Fajr time the slave left for the Mosque
and read his Fajr in Jamaat. The Imam watched him pray to Allah (swt) and saw him raise his
hands towards the heaven telling Allah (swt) that because he was busy in His (swt) service all
night long he was unable to work and earn money for his master and asked Him (swt) to give
him one Dinar.

Miraculously one Dinar fell into his open hands. The Imam then revealed himself and told his
slave that he was now free, however the slave looked up towards the heavens said “Ya Allah you
has exposed me” and died instantly.

Another student of Imam Abu Hanifa used to drink alcohol and was fond of music. Once he
heard a singer say “What is the face that had not gone to dust? And what is the eye that had not
shed a tear?” these lyrics inspired him to repent and change his ways. He became a great Wali
(friend) of Allah (swt). He inherited 20 dinars from his father which took him 20 years to spend.

Imam Yusuf was from a poor background. His father took him to Imam Abu Hanifa’s circles.
However, his father became convinced that the wealth of Imam Abu Hanifa would have a
negative psychological effect on his son so he stopped taking him to Imam Abu Hanifa. However,
since Imam Yusuf had become attached to Imam Abu Hanifa he started to go his circles again.
Imam Abu Hanifa asked Imam Yusuf the reason behind his long absence, Imam Yusuf explained
to Imam Hanifa the reason. From then on Imam Abu Hanifa used to give Imam Yusuf 100 dinars
monthly.
In another narration, Imam Yusuf’s mother used to take her son to an oil producing factory
every morning so that he could work and bring home some money. However, Imam Yusuf used
to run to Imam Abu Hanifa’s circles. Imam Yusuf’s mother complained to Imam Abu Hanifa and
told him to advise her son to work. Imam Abu Hanifa told her that her son had a bright future;
he could see him eating Halwa (a rich desert) in the future.

Imam Yusuf’s mother became angry and asked him how he could make fun out of their poverty.
Imam Abu Hanifa took Imam Yusuf under his guardianship and trained him to become a well
renowned judge. Once the Caliph came to visit Imam Yusuf and brought with up a specially
prepared dish that he did not normally make; it was a Halwa and Imam Yusuf smiled when the
Caliphs servants uncovered the dish.

Once Haroon Rashid and Zubaida had an argument and in a fit of anger Haroon had told his wife
that if she does not leave his kingdom by the evening she would be divorced. He later regretted
his actions; his kingdom was very large, it consisted of two oceans and three continents, it was
impossible for Zubaida to leave his kingdom by the evening. They summoned Imam Yusuf and
asked for his advice, Imam Yusuf told Haroon that his wife should spend the night in the
Mosque, for that was not the Kingdom of Haroon but was the kingdom of Allah (swt).

Imam Muhammad was 18 years old when Imam Abu Hanifa passed away. He was not allowed to
join the circle of Imam Abu Hanifa as he had not memorized the Qur’an. So he went away and
returned two years later after memorizing the entire Qur’an. His father had left him 30,000
dinars and he spent 15,000 dinars on Arabic poetry and grammar and 15,000 on Hadith and fiqh.
He was a great Imam and also a judge, he spent 3 years learning 700 hadiths at the door of
Imam Malik’s house.

Prepared by Shaykh Muhammad Ramadhan al Qadri (Minhaj Youth Training Co-ordinator).

Summarised By Alveena Salim