Imam Abu Hanifah commonly referred to as Imam-Azam, Occupies a commanding position in the history of Muslim Jurisprudence. Those who follow the school of Islamic Law associated with his name outnumber adherents of other schools. In view of the importance of the study, it has been translated in to English by M. Hadi Hussain author of several books in English and Urdu.
My series of eminent Muslims’ biographies, launched with the publication of Al-Mamun, was originally conceived on a grand scale. I proposed to select my heroes, not only from ruling dynasties, but also from the world of learning. The task proved too gigantic for me and I had to reduce its size by confining myself to rulers and, further, by leaving out some of the presenting some great men of learning, time permitting ; for , as the Arabic saying goes, the sword and the pen are twins.
After the publication of Al-Mamun I started writing Al-Faruq; but after I had written a considerable part of it I had to come to a halt. Uncomprehending critics attributed all kinds of motives to me, although the reason was nothing more than this that a number of books, which it was necessary for me to consult and which, were being published in Europe, had not yet become available. Rather than sit Idle while waiting for those books I thought of writing on some other famous ruler, but was inhibited by the uneasy feeling of having an unfinished book on my hands, besides being haunted by my original idea of including men of learning among my heroes.
Ultimately, the latter idea prevailed so that, turning away from ruling dynasties, I explored the world of learning for someone to write about. The sciences and arts to choose my hero from were Figh (jurisprudence), Hadith (tradition), Adab (literature), Mantiq (logic), philosophy and mathematics. For certain reasons I decided to make my choice its founder and greatest and formulation have held sway over the entire Muslim world for nearly twelve centuries. They were on the statute books of many part of the Muslim world. His biographies have been written in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and several European languages, and it seemed to me deplorable that none had been written in Urdu, by and large the language of his followers.
No other Muslim has as many biographies written of him as Abu Hanifah has, which shows how high he ranks among the celebrities of Islam. Research and writing on personalities were developed in Islam to a degree unparalleled anywhere else. The subject was divided into several branches, entitled tarajim, tabaqat, qurun, wafayat, a’yan and sinin, and innumerable books were written in each branch; but biography, properly so called, did not make much progress. There are very few great men-scholars, poets, judges or philosophers—who have been fortunate enough to have had regular biographies written of them. Abu Hanifah is not only one of the fortunate few, but the most fortunate of them, with Shafi’i as a close second; and many of his numerous biographers were themselves men fit to be the subject of full-blooded biographies.
Unfortunately, these books are not available in our country. However, I possess a copy each of the ‘Uqud al-Juman and al- Khairat al-Hisan, and have also read the Qala’ id al-‘Iqyan. The Khairat al-hisan, because of being a work of Ibn Hajar Makki, is more famous than the other two; but it is not a regular work in its own right, being, as the author admits in his preface, only a summary of the ‘Uqud al-Juman. The Qala’id al-Iqyan also, as is clear from its preface, is mostly derived from Sumari’s work. The ‘Uqud al-Juman, a detailed and exhaustive work, which is my main source, is a work by Abu’l- Mahasin Muhammad b. Yusuf b ‘Ali al-Damashqi al-Salihi, a visitor to the Khanqah al-Barquqiyah. Abu’s Mahasin is a disciple of Jalal al-Din Suyuti and a well-known muhaddith. The book, as mentioned by the author at its conclusion, was completed in Rabi’al-Thani 939. In the preface the author states that of the many books containing accounts of Abu Hanifah that he had read he found Muwaffiq b. Ahmad Khwarazmi’s the best and most comprehensive. In the book’s concluding passages he mentions that with the material he had found in many books he had consulted he could have written he had found in many books he had consulted he could have written two thick volumes.
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