I had made a passing reference to the ‘schools of thought’ in Islam or Madhhab stating that all four schools of thought stem from the work and narration of the As-hab Al Suffa. This is the natural progression of the Islamic knowledge and wisdom emanating from the source, ie Allah Almighty to his last Messenger Prophet Muhammad, and flowing through the As-hab Al Suffa to the schools of thought and all the way to the modern age.
As mentioned by me in an earlier piece in Back to Basics, the intellectual fountain is always flowing with vigor and verve in Islam through the network of religious schools which keep churning out new breeds of scholars. The best example I can give is the AAOIFI Shariah Board with a good blend of youth and experience who are successfully heading the Islamic finance movement.
From the As-hab Al Suffa to the schools of thought is a journey filled with academic excellence and exuberance. The first of the four Imams (leaders) was Imam Abu Hanifa who was born in Kufa, Iraq in 80 Hijri or 699 AD, ie 67 years after the passing of Prophet Muhammad. Also known as Imam e Azam (the great leader), he was fortunate to have met with some of the companions of Prophet Muhammad who were still alive when he visited Mecca and Medina, notably Anas Ibn Malik, and got from them the most valuable guidance. He frequently visited the two sacred places in pursuit of knowledge but continued to live in Kufa.
Imam Abu Hanifa belonged to a rich family, trading in the finest silk and other fabrics. He also became part of the family business but got inclined to seek religious knowledge upon persuasion by a scholar from Kufa. He first learned theology and poetry followed by the Hadith and finally excelled in Islamic jurisprudence for which he is known until today.
Unfortunately, Imam Abu Hanifa died in 767 AD in prison as a result of severe torture since he refused to accept the ruler’s offer to be the chief judge as he wanted to remain independent. The tragic end of a great scholar but the very knowledge he laboriously gained gave him the courage to say no to the whims of the ruler.
Imam Abu Hanifa’s legacy is a few books written by himself, the most famous being ‘Al Fiqh Al Akbar’ or the great jurisprudence. His students then carried his work forward and converted his sermons into books. Some of his sayings found in the books are highly profound, for example, “Knowledge without deeds is like a body without a soul” and “If the (Islamic) scholars are not Allah’s friends, then Allah has no friends in the world”.
Next in line was Imam Malik who was born in Medina in 93 Hijri (711AD). He was also known as Imam Darul Hijrah and was fortunate to have access to about a thousand scholars found at the time in Medina, so he did not have to travel like Imam Abu Hanifa. Imam Malik was very sharp and at the tender age of 17, he had gained enough knowledge to be able to start issuing Fatwas (religious edicts) pursuant to being endorsed by many scholars as to his knowledge and wisdom.
Imam Abu Hanifa met Imam Malik during one of his visits to Medina and greatly appreciated his knowledge. Imam Malik was the first to gather 1,720 authentic Hadiths in the shape of a proper book by the name ‘Al-Muwatta’ meaning ‘the approved one’.
Imam Malik was so scrupulous in his work that while composing Al-Muwatta over a period of four decades, he started off with 10,000 prophetic narrations until he reduced them to fewer than 2,000. His work greatly benefited Imam Bukhari from Bukhara (now Uzbekistan) in compiling the collection of thousands of authentic Hadiths after over a hundred years from Imam Malik.
Imam Bukhari’s work ‘Sahih Bukhari’ is found in every Muslim household for day-to-day guidance based on the traditions and sayings of Prophet Muhammad. Imam Bukhari said that the most authentic chain of transmission of the Hadith is called Silsalat Al Zahabi (golden chain), which has only three links — from the Holy Prophet to Ibn Omar to Nafi to Malik. Such was the care exhibited by Imam Malik in collecting the Hadiths for the benefit of the generations to come until the last day of humanity.
Imam Malik followed the tradition of Imam Abu Hanifa for being brave without caring about the consequences and defending and protecting Shariah. The governor of Medina got him publicly flogged for issuing a Fatwa against the then-ruler of the Islamic world. However, instead of appreciating the governor, the Abbasid ruler Mansoor dismissed the governor and personally apologized to Imam Malik. He also sent 3,000 dinars — a fortune in that time and offered Imam Malik to migrate to Baghdad but the Imam refused the money and offer as he loved Medina and did not want to leave it.
Imam Malik passed away at the age of 86 in 179 Hijri and his funeral prayer was led by the governor of Medina. Imam Malik loved Medina to the extent that he only went once to Mecca for Hajj and chose to remain there until his death.
The purpose of this educative series and the article is not to hurt any religious or commercial sentiments either consciously or even unwittingly.
Sohail Zubairi is an Islamic finance specialist, AAOIFI-certified Shariah advisor and auditor as well as CIAE-certified Islamic arbitrator and expert. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Next week: Discussion on SDG 4 shall continue.