Introduction to the Hanbali Madhab

[justabro]

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The Spread of the Hanbali Madhhab

The roots of the Hanbali Madhhab naturally lie in Baghdad, the home of Imam Ahmad, then it spread to other lands, but not as much as the other major madhhabs.

Ahmad Taymur relates that ibn Farhun stated in al-Dibaj, "As for the madhhab of Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, it emerged in Baghdad and its surrounding areas, then it spread in many of the lands of al-Sham, but it has become weak now," meaning: in the 8th Century Hijri. [Taymur Pasha, al-Madhahib wa Intisharuha, p. 81]

Ibn Khaldun states, "As for Ahmad b. Hanbali, his followers (muqallids) are few... Most of them are found in al-Sham and 'Iraq in Baghdad and its surrounding areas. They are the most prolific of people in respect to preserving the Sunnah and narration of Hadith." [Al-Muqaddima, p. 448]

Al-Suyuti states, "They are very few in number in Egypt. I have not heard of their presence there except in the 7th Century and afterwards. This is because Imam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with him, lived in the 3rd Century, and his madhhab only spread outside 'Iraq in the 4th Century. It is in this century that the Ubaydis came to power in Egypt, and they eliminated all those present there of the Imams of the other three madhhabs by killing, exile, and displacement. They established the madhhab of Rafd and the Shi'ah,and they were not eliminated from there until the last part of the 6th Century. That is when the Imams from the other madhhabs returned to Egypt, and the first Hanbali Imam I know of to take up residence in Ebypt was al-Hafiz 'Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi the author of 'Umdat [al-Ahkam]." [Cf.,al-Madhahib wa Intisharuha, p. 82]

It then spread further at the time of al-Qadi 'Abdullah b. Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Malik al-Hajjawi who became the Hanbali Qadi al-Qudah of Egypt in the year 738 AH. Al-Maqdisi states that the Hanbali Madhhab was present in the 4th Century in Basra, in the provinces of al-Daylam [modern Gilan] and al-Rahab, in Suways in the province of Khuzestan, and in Baghdad the dominant groups were the Hanbalis and the Shi'ah. [Ibid., p. 83]

The followers of the Hanbali Madhhab amongst laymen have been few throughout history to the extent that they did not constitute the majority of dwellers of any region through most of history except in Najd and then later in much of the Arabian Peninsula as a result of the movement of Imam Muhammad b. 'Abd al-Wahhab, may Allah have mercy on him.

Ahmad Taymur states, " We have not heard of their predominance in any territory except the lands of Najd at this time, and in Baghdad in the 4th Century." [Ibid., p. 83]

The Hanbali Madhhab also had a considerable historical presence in al-Sham. Majd al-Din al-'Ulaymi, in his al-Manhaj al-Ahmad, lists the most famous Hanbali scholars of Palestine from the 6th Century until the 9th Century.


Reasons for the Madhhab's Lack of Prevalence in Comparison to Other Madhhabs

There are a number of reasons for the Madhhab's lack of prevalence, amongst them:

* The Hanbali Madhhab was established later and the other three m madhhabs were already more established in many lands. In Iraq, the madhhab of Abu Hanifah was predominant, in Egypt the Shafi'i and Maliki madhhabs, and in al-Maghrib and al-Andalus the Maliki madhhab.

* There were few Hanbali Qadis, and Qadis were instrumental in promoting their respective madhhabs. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad b. al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on them, were instrumental in promoting the madhhab of Abu Hanifah. After this initial period of Hanafi domination of the judiciary in 'Abbasid lands, the Shafi'i Madhhab played a prominent role in the judiciary as well. As for the Maliki madhhab, Asad b. al-Furat was instrumental in promoting it in al-Maghrib. In al-Andalus, the Umayyad state also worked to promote the Maliki madhhab. The Hanbali madhhab did not receive such preference except in the Arabian Peninsula in recent times.

* The Hanbali Madhhab has spread considerably in the modern age as Saudi universities and scholars (amongst others) have done considerable work in editing and publishing important Hanbali works and teaching the Hanbali madhhab. Because of this new wave of writing about and teaching the Hanbali madhhab, the present era can be considered a period of its revival.

**Based on Sh. 'Abd al-Malik b. Duhaysh's al-Manhaj al-Fiqhi al-'Amm Li 'Ulama al-Hanabila wa Mustalahatihim Fi Mu'allafatihim, pp. 63-65. Sh. al-Duhaysh himself has played a hand in publishing many Hanbali works.**

[justabro]

There's more to come in sha Allah, but in the meantime, for those who read Arabic, I wanted to share this link on the multiplicity of Riwayat in the Madhhab:

لماذا تتعدد الروايات عن الامام احمد فى المسألة الواحدة ؟ - الصفحة 2 - ملتقى المذاهب الفقهية، والدراسات العلمية

Someone has posted up a series of three research papers some shaykh has written on the causes for so many 'riwayat' in the madhhab. (One is only a summary)

I'm going ahead and attaching them here.

[Abu_Abdallah]

Jazakallah for these posts brother!

[Pluma]

I don't know if I am in the right thread but :

what does the Hanaabila mean when they say, in their books "wifaaqan" after quoting an opinion in the madhhab?

[justabro]

I don't know if I am in the right thread but :

what does the Hanaabila mean when they say, in their books "wifaaqan" after quoting an opinion in the madhhab?

ibn al-Muflih uses the term in al-Furoo' as an indication that this view is in concurrence with the other three madhhabs.

[Abu Salih Almadani]

Great thread, Jakallahukhaira brother.

[Jawharah]

Great topic!

[Pluma]

I have found Al-Munawwar fî râjiH al-Muharrar. Small book of 400 pages (a bit longer than a standard mukhtaSar). Really interesting book to begin with. Clear, straight to the point, gives a lot of interesting information.

[Al-Majhool]

Assalaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.

Brother Ibn Faarooq who used to record/publish Hanbalee fiqh lessons at www.ibnfarooq.com (gone) now got his new website at www.hanabilah.com,

I also found a short introduction to the Hanbalee madhhab at The Hanbali Madhab « Ihya Al-Hanaabilah

The Hanbali Madhab

After the death of Imam Ahmad, his students traveled across the Muslim world along with the responsa (Masa’il) of Ahmad concerning theology, jurisprudence and traditions. From the foremost of his students are: his two sons, Salih and Abdullah, Hanbal ibn Ishaq, al-Marrudhi, al-Kawsaj, Ibn Hani, Abu Dawud (compiler of Sunan Abu Dawud), al-Athram, Abu Zur’ah al-Razi, Abu Hatim al-Razi, ‘Abdul-Wahhab al-Warraq, al-Tirmidhi and many others.

However, it was not until al-Khallal traveled the Muslim world, collecting the responsa of Imam Ahmad from his students scattered across the Khilafa, that the Madhab of Imam Ahmad was compiled in an organised form. This vast compilation became known as al-Jami’, which is still used in the 8^th Islamic century by Ibn Taymiyah and his contemporary Hanbali jurists.

This collection was then summarized into a short treatise on the Fiqh of Imam Ahmad by the Baghdadi-Hanbali jurist al-Khiraqi, which became known as Mukhtasar al-Khiraqi. This treatise was the first Fiqh manual ever written in the Madhab, and its first ever commentary was also written by its very author, thus, making al-Khiraqi the first author of a Fiqh manual in the Madhab, the first one to write a commentary on a manual, and indeed the first Hanbali to comment on his own manual.

The summarized treatise on Fiqh by al-Khiraqi proved to be the most important contribution to Hanbali Fiqh, with over 300 commentaries, according to Yusuf b. ‘Abd al-Hadi, which even today remains an excellent introductory manual to the Hanbali school of jurisprudence. The famous commentaries to al-Mukhtasri include, but are not restricted to: a commentary by Ibn Hamid, then al-Qadhi Abu Ya’la, then Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi, whose commentary, famously known as al-Mughni, is considered to be a timeless masterpiece.

The Hanbali Usool al-Fiqh can be understood through a basic list of the 5 main sources it uses:

1. Al-Nass which includes the Qur’an and accounts from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that are rigorously- or well- authenticated (respectively: sahih, hasn)
2. A fatwa from one of the Companions when the other Companions (Allah be well pleased with them one and all) are not known to differ with it
3. When there is a difference of opinion between the Companions (Allah be well pleased with them one and all), then whichever one is closest to the Qur’an and sunna; if it was not clear which opinion was closest, then he would mention that there is a difference of opinion without being convinced [of the superiority of any particular one]
4. Hadiths that are mursal, where one of the tabi`in (someone who met at least one of the Companions (Allah be well pleased with them)) ascribes a hadith to the Prophet without mentioning the narrator(s) between himself and the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace); Hadiths which are weakly authenticated (da`if) when there is nothing to refute it, however there is disagreement concerning the meaning of “dha`if” here
5. Analogical reasoning (qiyas)

But as Imam Muhammad Abu Zahrah points out in his book concerning Imam Ahmad, the picture is a just bit more complicated than that. As a minimum, we can add the following to the list:

1. Al-Istishab: which is projecting a known ruling into the past or present
2. Al-Masalih Al-Mursala:which is looking at the public interest
3. Al-Thar`i: which is giving something the ruling of that which is leads to

[Al-Majhool]

Assalaamu 'alaykum, Brother justabro, could you please tell me if the following websites are a reliable Hanbalee resource?

http://www.alhanabila.com/vb
http://www.rwaq.net/

Baarak Allaahu feek.