Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ

It is recounted that, in the time of Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ al-Kabīr, a dispute arose between the followers of Abū Ḥanīfa and those of al-Shāfiʿī, God have mercy upon them. Al-Shāfiʿī’s followers spoke against Abū Ḥanīfa. Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: “Count al-Shāfiʿī’s teachers: how many are there?” They counted eighty. Then they counted Abū Ḥanīfa’s teachers among the scholars and Successors and reached four thousand. Abū ʿAbd Allāh said: “This is among the least of Abū Ḥanīfa’s merits.” He then named some of the teachers from whom Abū Ḥanīfa had heard.

Concerning ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ: Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ mentioned this in the book he composed on Abū Ḥanīfa’s merits. That book was read to the jurist and hadith master Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Manṣūr al-Bukhārī, God have mercy upon them, in the year four hundred and fifty-one. He said: Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Aḥmad al-Sarakhsī informed us: the imam Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Saʿd related to us: Abū Sahl Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sahl ibn Ḥafṣ al-ʿIjlī informed us: Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥafṣ al-ʿIjlī informed us: my father, the teacher Abū Ḥafṣ al-Kabīr, informed us: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥimmānī informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa related to us, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī: He prayed in one thick shirt, without a waistcloth or mantle, although he had garments beside him that he could have taken if he wished.

He said: Through this same chain, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: Asad ibn ʿAmr al-Bajalī informed us, from Abū Ḥanīfa, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, who said: Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh led us in prayer in a thick shirt, wearing nothing else. He said: I think he meant to show us that there is no harm in praying in a single garment.

He said: Through this same chain, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: my father informed us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa related to us, from ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, said: “Whoever deliberately lies about me, let him take his seat in the Fire.”

He said: I asked about this verse: “And in part of the night, pray with it as an additional act for you; perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station” [Qurʾan 17:79]. He said: The praised station is the station of intercession. God punishes some believers for their sins, then brings them out through Muḥammad’s intercession, God bless him and grant him peace. They are brought to a river called al-Ḥayawān and washed in it, a washing [described here by the obscure expression al-thaghārīr]. Then they enter Paradise and are called “the people of Hell.” They appeal to God Most High, and that name is removed from them.

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: my father informed us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa said: Abū al-Zubayr Muḥammad ibn Muslim related to us, from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace. Surāqa ibn Mālik ibn Juʿshum asked him: “Messenger of God, tell us about this religion of ours: in what setting do we act? In something over which the pens have already passed and the decrees have been fixed, or in something whose actions we begin anew?” He said: “In something over which the pens have passed and the decrees have been fixed.” He asked: “Then why act, Messenger of God?” He answered: “Act, for every person who acts is enabled. Whoever belongs to Paradise is enabled to do the deeds of its people; whoever belongs to the Fire is enabled to do the deeds of its people.” Then he recited: “As for one who gives and is mindful, and affirms the best, We shall ease him toward ease. But as for one who is miserly and considers himself self-sufficient, and denies the best, We shall ease him toward hardship” [Qurʾan 92:5–10].

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ, God have mercy upon them: my father informed us: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa informed us, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufayʿ, from Muṣʿab ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, from his father, from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace: “There is no soul whose entry, exit and encounters God has not already written.” A man of the Anṣār asked: “Then why act, Messenger of God?” He answered: “Whoever belongs to Paradise is enabled to do its deeds, and whoever belongs to the Fire is enabled to do its deeds.” The Anṣārī said: “Now action has become established.”

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ, God have mercy upon them: Muḥammad ibn Muzāḥim informed us: Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa related to us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, who said: “God’s Messenger’s prayer at night, between the night prayer and dawn, comprised thirteen units.”

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ, God have mercy upon them: Abū Wahb informed us: Zufar informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa informed us, from al-Zuhrī: Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān, God be pleased with them, said: “The blood money of a man of the protected non-Muslim communities equals that of a free Muslim.”

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ, God have mercy upon them: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd informed us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak and Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ informed us, from Abū Ḥanīfa, from Qays ibn Muslim, from Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, from the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace: “God has not sent down an illness without sending down a remedy with it, except old age. Take cows’ milk, for they graze on every kind of tree.”

Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ, God have mercy upon them: my father informed us: Muḥammad informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa informed us, from Muḥammad al-Munkadir, from ʿUthmān ibn Muḥammad, from Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, who said: We were discussing whether someone in pilgrimage consecration could eat game meat while the Prophet, God bless him and grant him peace, was asleep. Our voices rose and he awoke. “What are you disputing?” he asked. We said: Game meat eaten by someone in consecration. He ordered us to eat it.

Muḥammad said: We adopt this position: if someone outside consecration slaughters game, someone in consecration may eat it, even if it was slaughtered for him. This is Abū Ḥanīfa’s position. Muḥammad said: I consider that, in this hadith, they disputed jurisprudence until their voices rose and the Prophet awoke; he did not reproach them for it.

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ, God have mercy upon them: Muḥammad ibn Muzāḥim informed us: Zufar informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa informed us: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr informed us, from ʿArfaja, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: God’s Messenger, God bless him and grant him peace, said: “No prayer after the dawn prayer until the sun rises, nor after the afternoon prayer until the sun sets. These two days are not to be fasted: the Feast of Sacrifice and the Feast of Breaking the Fast. Journeys are undertaken only to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque, the Farthest Mosque and this mosque of mine.”

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: my father informed us: Muḥammad informed us: Abū Ḥanīfa informed us: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥabība related to us: I heard Abū al-Dardāʾ, a Companion of God’s Messenger, say: While I was [with] God’s Messenger, he said: “Abū al-Dardāʾ, whoever bears witness that there is no god but God and that I am God’s Messenger, Paradise becomes due to him.” I asked: “Even if he commits adultery and steals?” He said nothing to me. Then, after walking a while, he said: “Whoever bears witness that there is no god but God and that I am God’s Messenger, Paradise becomes due to him.” I asked: “Even if he commits adultery and steals?” He answered: “Even if he commits adultery and steals, despite Abū al-Dardāʾ’s displeasure.”

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: ʿAlī ibn Yūnus mentioned: Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī related to us: I left Basra and came to Kufa when I heard Abū Ḥanīfa’s name. I entered a mosque in Kufa, thinking it his mosque, but it was al-Aʿmash’s, with his companions inside. I sat with them and posed questions. Al-Aʿmash was absent then; when he entered, we rose for him. His companions said: “This man from Basra poses questions to us.” Al-Aʿmash took my hand and said: “Leave this mosque and go to Abū Ḥanīfa’s mosque: he knows the answers to these questions.”

Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī then said: We sat with al-Battī and thought ourselves jurists. When I sat with Abū Ḥanīfa, it was as though a covering had been removed from my face.

He said: Through this same chain, from the teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir ibn Zurāra mentioned: I heard ʿAlī ibn Mushir say: Al-Aʿmash performed pilgrimage, and a group from Kufa accompanied him on his departure. I was among them. When he came alongside al-Ḥīra, he asked: “Is ʿAlī ibn Mushir among you?” He knew me from my attendance upon Abū Ḥanīfa. I said yes. He said: “Return to Abū Ḥanīfa so that he writes the pilgrimage rites for me, then catch up with me at al-Qādisiyya.” I returned and asked him, and he dictated them to me.

He said: The teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Naḍr said: Abū Ḥanīfa completed the Qurʾan sixty times in Ramadan, once during the day and once during the night.

He said: The teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: Ibn Hubayra governed Kufa under the Umayyads. When turmoil arose in Iraq, he assembled its jurists, including Ibn Abī Laylā, Ibn Shubruma, Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind and others, and assigned each a part of his administration. He summoned Abū Ḥanīfa, wanting him to hold the seal: no document or treasury payment would pass except through him. Abū Ḥanīfa refused. Ibn Hubayra swore to give him seven lashes every week unless he accepted. The jurists said: “We implore you by God not to destroy yourself. We are your brothers and all dislike this, but found no escape.” Abū Ḥanīfa answered: “If he wanted me merely to count the doors of Wāsiṭ’s mosque, I would not participate. How then when he wants a document about a man’s blood, ordering his execution, for me to seal? By God, I shall never participate.” Ibn Abī Laylā said: “Leave your companion: he is right and the others mistaken.” The police chief imprisoned him for two weeks without beating him, then gave him fourteen lashes. Ibn Hubayra said: “Is there no adviser for this prisoner? If he asks for time, I will grant it so he can consider.” Told this, Abū Ḥanīfa said: “Let me consult my brothers and consider.” Ibn Hubayra released him. He mounted his animals and fled to Mecca in the year one hundred and thirty, remaining there until the caliphate passed to the Abbasids.

The teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: In Kufa, Abū Ḥanīfa continually pursued theological disputation and argued with people until he excelled in it. One day they discussed īlāʾ, the oath of abstention from marital intercourse. He asked a companion: “What is īlāʾ?” He answered: “I do not know.” Abū Ḥanīfa said to himself: “Woe to you! You pursue disputation, while this belongs to the obligations we must know.” He then attended Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān and reached a level of jurisprudence none other had reached.

The teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa said: A follower of Ghaylān arrived in Kufa from Syria. We debated him but could not refute him. Abū Ḥanīfa’s companions gathered and visited him. He said: “I have abandoned theological disputation.” We said: “This man will depart victorious if you do not debate him.” We persisted until he said: “Bring us together after Friday prayer in the house of ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth al-Qurashī.” People gathered until the roofs and courtyard were full; a carpet was laid in the middle, and the two sat. Abū Ḥanīfa said: “Ask what you wish.” The follower asked: “Tell me what God willed for Pharaoh.” He answered: “Disbelief.” “What did Satan will for Pharaoh?” “Disbelief.” “What did Pharaoh will for himself?” “Disbelief.” “What did Moses will for Pharaoh?” “Faith.” The follower said: “Moses’ will then opposed God’s will, while Satan’s and Pharaoh’s agreed with it.” Abū Ḥanīfa answered: “God willed that Satan should will disbelief for Pharaoh, that Pharaoh should will disbelief for himself, and that Moses should will faith for him. All of this is through God’s will.” The follower said: “You are right, and my position is refuted. May God reward you well for Islam and its people. Can I repent?” He answered: “Your repentance is to return to your land and turn them back from the error into which you led them.” Ḥammād said: He did this in Syria.

The teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: Some detractors and envious people claim that ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak abandoned Abū Ḥanīfa’s views, questions and transmission. Abū ʿAbd Allāh said: I heard a man in Mecca say this, and told al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ, one of Ibn al-Mubārak’s companions. He answered: “They lie about ʿAbd Allāh. Three days before his death, I heard him transmit from Abū Ḥanīfa and mention his legal questions. Do not believe anyone who tells you otherwise: he is a liar.” Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Rabīʿ then said: We entered upon Abū Ḥanīfa with Ibn al-Mubārak. Musāwir the poet was there, reciting additional verses in praise of Abū Ḥanīfa:

“The imam of the Muslims, Abū Ḥanīfa, adorned the lands and those within them. He did not measure matters by desire, but with mindfulness and fear, using noble reports transmitted with chains from the distinguished people of earlier times. He clarified difficult cases for creation, cases that had been left unresolved.”

Then Abū Ḥanīfa gave this poet a thousand dirhams. ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak answered the poet:

“I understood your words and answered them with praise of Abū Ḥanīfa. Abū Ḥanīfa was righteous, mindful and devoted to worship, unlike a carcass. He transmitted his reports and answered through them, like eagles flying from a lofty height. He had no equal in Iraq, the two eastern regions or Kufa.”

Shaykh Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: Yaḥyā ibn al-Naḍr said: “They did not doubt that he had been given poison and died.” Another version says he was forced to drink a draught of sawīq and died from it. It is also related that the Commander of the Faithful appointed him judge of al-Ruṣāfa, but he refused. He was flogged, became ill and died six days later.

Another version says that Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh rose in Basra claiming the caliphate. Al-Manṣūr heard that al-Aʿmash and Abū Ḥanīfa had written to him. He forged two letters in Ibrāhīm's name, addressed to them. When a letter was brought to Abū Ḥanīfa, he took it and kissed it. Abū Jaʿfar consequently suspected him and gave him poison. His face turned green and he died. Another version says Abū Jaʿfar imprisoned him and gave him ten lashes every day, and he died in prison.

Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmāra washed him. His funeral bier was carried from prison, and a great crowd gathered and prayed over him at the gate of al-Khayzurān. Prayers were offered over him after burial for more than ten days. His son Ḥammād was the last to pray over him.

They differed over his age. Muqātil al-Samarqandī said: “Abū Ḥanīfa died in the year 150, aged seventy-two.” Abū Nuʿaym said the same. Others said he was seventy.