Biographies of the four imams
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
As salamo alaikum
dear brother,
Could you please give me the summarized Biography of the following four Imams :
1. Abu Hanifa No`man Bin Sabit
2. Malik Bin Anas
3. Muhammad bin Idris Ash Shafie (Imam Shafie)
4. Ahmad Bin Hamble.
Jazak Allah Khair
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Biographies of the
four imams
In the name of Allah,
We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah
Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the
seal of His Messengers.
Summarized biography of Imam Abu Hanifah.
Numān ibn Thābit ibn Zuṭā ibn Marzubān
popularly known as Abu Ḥanifah (699 765 CE
/ 80 148 AH) is credited with founding the Hanafi School
of Islamic Jurisprudence.
Abu
Hanifa belong the generation of the Tabiun,
the generation after the noble companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws). He
reportedly saw the noble companion and attendant to the Prophet (saws), Hadrat Anas ibn
Malik (r.a.) and transmitted hadiths from
him.
Abu
Hanifa was born 67 years after the death of the Prophet
Mohamed (saws) in the city of Kufa in Iraq during the reign of the Abdul Malik bin Marwan. His
father, Thabit bin Zuta, a trader from Kabul, part of Khorasan
in Persia
(the capital of modern day Afghanistan), was 40 years old at the time of
Abu Hanifa's birth.
His
ancestry is generally accepted as being of non-Arab origin (Persian) as
suggested by the etymology of then names of his grandfather (Zuta) and
great-grandfather (Mah).
Abu
Hanifa grew up in a period of oppression during the caliphates
of Abdul Malik bin Marwan and his son Al-Walid I.
The governorship of
Following
the deaths of Hajjaj in 95 AH and Walid in 96 AH, justice and good
administration began to make a comeback with the caliphates of Sulaiman bin Abdul Malik and thereafter Umar bin Abdul Aziz. Umar encouraged education
to such an extent that every home became a learning institution.
On
the advice of As-Shabi, a renowned scholar of the times, Abu Hanifa embarked on
a prolific quest for knowledge that would in due course have a profound impact
on the history of Islam. He spent a great deal of time
in the tutelage of Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, a great jurist of Kufah. Abu Hanifa
was also one of the distinguished students of Imam Ja'far
al-Sadiq (the Prophets (saws) great grandson).
It
is recorded that in the year 763, Al-Mansur,
the Abbasid monarch offered Abu Hanifa the post of
Chief Judge of the State, but he declined to accept the offer, choosing to
remain independent. In his reply to the
offer of the monarch Al-Mansur, Abu Hanifa refused the post by saying that he
did not regard himself worthy of the position of being appointed Chief Judge of
the State. Al-Mansur, who had his agenda for offering the post to Abu Hanifa,
lost his temper and accused Abu Hanifa of lying.
"If
I am lying," Abu Hanifa said, "then my statement is doubly correct.
How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a Chief Qadi (Judge)?"
Incensed
by this reply, the ruler had Abu Hanifa arrested, locked in prison and severely
tortured. Even in prison it is reported that the indomitable jurist continued
to teach those who were permitted to come to him.
His
student Abu Yusuf
was subsequently appointed Chief Judge of the State by the monarch.
In
767, Abu Hanifa died in prison. It was reported that so many people attended
his funeral that the funeral service was repeated six times for more than
50,000 people who had amassed before he was actually buried.
Summarized biography of Imam Malik.
Mālik ibn Anas ibn Malik ibn 'Āmr
al-Asbahi popularly known as Imam Malik is
credited with founding the Maliki School of Islamic Jurisprudence. Imam Shafei, who was one of
Imam Malik's students for nine years and a scholarly giant in his own right is
reported to have stated, "when scholars are mentioned, Malik is like the
star amongst them."
Malik
was born the son of Anas ibn Malik and Aaliyah bint Shurayk al-Azdiyya in Medina in the
year 711. His family was originally from the al-Asbahi tribe of Yemen, but his great
grandfather Abu 'Amir relocated the family to
Living
in
The
high reputation of Imam Malik as a scholar and teacher attracted people from
all regions of the then Islamic Empire. Among the notables who benefited from
Imam Maliks learning were caliphs like Al-Mansur, Medhi, Harun Rasheed and
Mamun; jurist like Imam Shafi, Sufian Suri and Qazi Muhammad Yusuf; scholars
like Ibn Shahab Zahri, Yahya bin Saeed Ansari, Ibrahim bin Adham, Zunnun Misri
and Muhammad bin Fazil bin Abbas. According to reliable historical sources, the
number of his students who acquired eminence as scholars in their lives was
more than 1,300.
Imam
Malik left behind him more than a dozen works including his most famous and
widely used: Al-Muwatta.
Imam
Malik continued to serve the noble cause of education for 62 years. He died on
11th Rabiul Awwal 179 A.H, at the age of 86 or 89 in Medina in 795
and is buried in the
Summarized biography of Imam As-Shafei.
Abu Abdullāh Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shafei
popularly known as Imam Shafei was reported born in the year 767 and is
credited with founding the Shafei School of Islamic Jurispurdence.
As-Shafi'i
belonged to the Qurayshi
clan Banu Muttalib which was
the sister clan of the Banu Hashim to which Prophet
(saws) and the Abbasid
caliphs
belonged. Although it is reported that
Imam Shafei had connections in the highest social circles, he grew up in abject
poverty.
As-Shafei
was born in Gaza
and moved to Makkah
when he was about two years old. He subsequently moved to Madinah
to teach others of the message of Islam and be taught by Imam Malik.
In addition to living in Makkah and Madinah, the Imam reportedly aslo lived a
portion of his life in
Among
his teachers were Imam Malik ibn Anas and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, whom he
studied under in Madinah
and Baghdad.
Imam
Shafei died at the age of 54 on the 30th of Rajab in 204 AH (820 AD).
He was buried in al-Fustat, Egypt.
Summarized biography of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu Abd Allah
al-Shaybani popularly known as Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal is considered the founder of the Hanbali School of Islamic
Jurisprudence.
The
actual place of birth of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal is disputed by the historians. While
the majority of historians claim that he was born in
It
is reported that the eminent scholar Imam Shafei said: I left
During
the reign of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mutasim Imam Ahmad faced the wrath of the
great fitnah or trial of the timesie. the fitnah of Mutazila. The caliph and his court tried to force and
coerce the Imam to publicly espouse the position that the Holy Quran was the
creation of Allah, but Imam Ahmad unflinchingly stood his ground and refused to
renounce his belief that the Glorious Quran is the Word of Allah Subhanah. For taking this stand, the Imam was imprisoned
and severely tortured for twenty-eight long months by the then caliph
Al-Mutasim, but the Imam steadfastly stood his ground.
When
Ahmad died in 241/855 in
Whatever written of
Truth and benefit is only due to Allahs Assistance and Guidance, and whatever
of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows
Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan