Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Birth Ahmad ibn Hanbal was born in November 780 CE. This was mentioned by his son Abdullah. Ibn Hanbal's family was originally from Basra, and belonged to the Arab Banu Dhuhl tribe. His father was an officer in the Abbasid army in Khorasan and later settled with his family in Baghdad. Historians differ about his place of birth. Some say he was said that he was born in Merv, located in Mary, Turkmenistan today, where his father and grandfather had also previously worked. While according to others he was born in Baghdad after his mother came pregnant with him from the city of Merv, where his father was. The latter opinion is the most accepted one. Upbringing Ibn Hanbal lost his father when he was a young child. His father died young at the age of thirty only. His mother raised him under the care of those who remained from his father's family. His father had left him a property in Baghdad in which he lived, and another which yielded him a small rental income sufficient for his living. The reports are conflicting about whether it was large or small. Ibn Kathir mentioned its amount, saying: "His income from his property was seventeen dirhams each month, which he spent on his family, and he was content with that, seeking the mercy of Allah, patiently and seeking reward." It is also narrated that a man asked Imam Ahmad about the property he was using on which he made a house on. He replied: "This is something I inherited from my father. If a man comes to me and confirms that this is his, I will get rid of it and give it to him". Marriage and children Ahmad ibn Hanbal did not marry until he reached the age of forty. It is said that this was because he was busy with seeking knowledge and because he traveled a lot and was away from his country for a long time. When he reached the age of forty and became closer to settling down than before, he thought about marriage. His first wife was "Abbasa bintul Fadl", an Arab girl from the suburbs of Baghdad, and she lived with Ahmad ibn Hanbal for thirty years(or twenty years according to some reports), and bore him their son "Salih", and hence her she was known by her title Umm Salih. Ibn Hanbal remarked about her: "In the 30 (or 20) years we were together, we never had a disagreement." After she died Ahmad married his second wife, "Ummu 'Abdillah Rayhana bintu 'Uma" known simply as "Rayhana", and she bore him one son, "Abdullah". She was known for having only one eye, and Ibn Hanbal married her because he was impressed by her religious commitment. Reports suggest that they were together for seven years. He also had a concubine named "Husn", who bore him a female girl "Zainab", then twins, "Al-Hasan" and "Al-Hussein", who died after their birth. Then she bore "Al-Hasan" and "Muhammad", and then she bored him "Saeed". Among his sons, Salih and Abdullah excelled in jurisprudence, while Saeed later became the judge of Kufa. Education and work Ibn Hanbal studied extensively in Baghdad, and later traveled to further his education. At the age of fourteen, he began to work as a scribe in Divan. He learnt the Qur'an from Yahya ibn Adam, and jurisprudence under the celebrated judge of Hanafi jurisprudence, Abu Yusuf, a student of Abu Hanifa. He learnt Quran from Yahya ibn Adam. After completing his studies with him, Ibn Hanbal began traveling throughout Arabia to collect narrations of Muhammad. Ibn al-Jawzi stated Ibn Hanbal had 414 traditionists from whom he narrated from. With this knowledge, he became a leading authority in the field, leaving behind an immense encyclopedia of narrations, al-Musnad. After several years of travel, he returned to Baghdad to study Islamic law under al-Shafi'i, with whom he formed a close bond with. Ibn Hanbal became a judge in his old age. Through his students, the Hanbali school of jurisprudence was established, which is now most dominant in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Unlike the other three schools—Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi'i—the Hanbali school remained largely Athari in its theology. In addition to his scholastic enterprises, Ibn Hanbal was a soldier in the war frontiers and performed pilgrimage five times in his life, twice on foot. Inquisition Ibn Hanbal is known to have been called before the Mihna of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, who wanted to assert his religious authority by pressuring scholars to adopt the Mu'tazili doctrine of the Quran being created, rather than uncreated. According to Sunni tradition, Ibn Hanbal was one of the foremost scholars in resisting the caliph's interference and his imposed doctrine. Ibn Hanbal's stance led to the Hanbali school establishing itself firmly as not only a school of jurisprudence, but theology as well. Because Ibn Hanbal refused to accept the Mu'tazili doctrine, he was imprisoned in Baghdad throughout the reign of al-Ma'mun. In an incident during the rule of al-Ma'mun's successor, al-Mu'tasim, Ibn Hanbal was flogged to unconsciousness; however, this caused great upheaval in Baghdad and forced al-Mu'tasim to release him. Ibn Hanbal died on Friday, 2 August 855, at the age of 74–75 in Baghdad. He was buried after the afternoon prayer. Historians relate his funeral was attended by 800,000 men and 60,000 women, and 20,000 Christians and Jews converted to Islam on that day. His grave is located in the premises of the Ahmad ibn Hanbal Mosque in al-Rusafa District. It is reported among the people of Baghdad that during the flood of the Tigris in 1937, the remains of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal were supposedly relocated to Arif Agha Mosque. However, later historians have doubted the story, stating that it to be erroneous. Will His son Salih read his will to him at his deathbed, which he confirmed. ==Appearance==

Ibn Hanbal is described as having a good-looking face and a brown complexion. Reports on his height vary, with some describing him as relatively tall while others describe him as of medium height. He used to trim his moustache and dye his beard with unripe non-reddish Henna. His beard is also described as having some black strands. He would wear average garments, reportedly costing around one Dinar. Oftentimes, he is described as wearing a Thawb, with an Ammama. He used to keep extremely clean and was meticulous about his personal Hygiene. ==Views and thought==

Ibn Hanbal's principal doctrine is what later came to be known as "traditionalist thought," which emphasized the acceptance of only the Quran and hadith as the foundations of orthodox belief. Censuring those who alleged that this was referring to the form of Adam, Ibn Hanbal asserted: "He who says that Allah created Adam according to the form of Adam, he is a Jahmi (disbeliever). Which form did Adam have before He created him?" The Quran One of Ibn Hanbal's most famous contributions to Sunni thought was the considerable role he played in bolstering the orthodox doctrine of the Quran being the "uncreated Word of God" (kalām Allāh g̲h̲ayr mak̲h̲lūḳ). in the case of scholars, although he did allow taqlid for laymen and the average Muslim community. His staunch condemnation of taqlid is reported in the treatise Fath al-Majid by Hanbali judge Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan (1782–1868). Comparing taqlid to polytheism (shirk), Ibn Hanbal states: "I am amazed at those people who know that a chain of narration is authentic, and yet, in spite of this, they follow the opinion of Sufyan, for God says, 'And let those who oppose the Messenger's commandment beware, lest some fitna should befall them, or a painful torment be inflicted on them.' Do you know what that fitna is? That fitna is shirk. Maybe the rejection of some of his words would cause one to doubt and deviate in his heart, and thereby be destroyed." It is important to understand that this statement was directed towards his students, who were capable of Ijtihad, and is not meant towards laymen. This statement is explained by Ibn Taymiyya: "Imam Ahmad deemed it unlawful for a scholar capable of ijtihad to make taqlid of them. He said: “Do not make taqlid of me, nor of Malik, al-Shafi‘i, or al-Thawri” … He instructed the lay people to seek fatwas from Ishaq, Abu ‘Ubayd, Abu Thawr, and Abu Mus‘ab. But he forbade the scholars from among his students – like Abu Dawud, ‘Uthman b. Sa‘id, Ibrahim al-Harbi, Abu Bakr al-Athram, Abu Zur‘ah, Abu Hatim al-Sijistani, Muslim and others – from making taqlid of any other scholar. He would say: “Stick to the basic principle by following the Book and the Sunnah.” This makes it evident that Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s prohibition of taqlid was intended solely for scholars (Ulama), and he harshly condemned those who rejected the layman’s duty to perform taqlid. Intercession It is narrated by Abū Bakr al-Marwazī in his Mansak that Ibn Hanbal preferred one to make tawassul or "intercession" through Muhammad in every supplication, with the wording: "O God! I am turning to Thee with Thy Prophet, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad! I am turning with you to my Lord for the fulfillment of my need." This report is repeated in many later Hanbali works, in the context of personal supplication as an issue of jurisprudence. Ibn Qudamah, for example, recommends it for the obtainment of need in his Wasiyya. In the same way, Ibn Taymiyyah cites the Hanbali fatwa on the desirability of Muhammad's intercession in every personal supplication in his Qāida fil-Tawassul wal-Wasiīla where he attributes it to "Imām Ahmad and a group of the pious ancestors" from the Mansak of al-Marwazī as his source. Mysticism As there exist historical sources indicating patently "mystical elements in his personal piety" and documented evidence of his amiable interactions with numerous early Sufi saints, including Maruf Karkhi, it is recognized that Ibn Hanbal's relationship with many of the Sufis was one of mutual respect and admiration. Qadi Abu Ya'la reports in his Tabaqat: "[Ibn Hanbal] used to greatly respect the Sūfīs and show them kindness and generosity. He was asked about them and was told that they sat in mosques constantly, to which he replied, 'Knowledge made them sit.'" Furthermore, it is in Ibn Hanbal's Musnad that we find most of the hadith reports concerning the abdal, forty major saints "whose number [according to Islamic mystical doctrine] would remain constant, one always being replaced by some other on his death" and whose key role in the traditional Sufi conception of the celestial hierarchy would be detailed by later mystics such as Hujwiri and Ibn Arabi. Of the same Sufi, Ibn Hanbal later asked rhetorically: "Is religious knowledge anything else than what Maruf has achieved?" and of his sending people with mystical questions to Bishr for guidance. It is also recorded that Ibn Hanbal said, with regard to the early Sufis, "I do not know of any people better than them." Moreover, there are accounts of Ibn Hanbal's son, Sālih, being exhorted by his father to go and study under the Sufis. According to one tradition, Sālih said: "My father would send for me whenever a self-denier or ascetic (zāhid aw mutaqashshif) visited him so I could look at him. He loved for me to become like this." and later Sufi chroniclers often designated the jurist as a saint in their hagiographies, praising him both for his legal work and for his appreciation of Sufi doctrine. Both non-Hanbali and Hanbali Sufi hagiographers such as Hujwiri and Ibn al-Jawzi, respectively, also alluded to Ibn Hanbal's own gifts as a miracle worker and of the blessedness of his grave. For example, Ibn Hanbal's own body was traditionally held to have been blessed with the miracle of incorruptibility, with Ibn al-Jawzi relating: "When the Prophet's descendant Abū Ja'far ibn Abī Mūsā was buried next to him, Ahmad ibn Hanbal's tomb was exposed. His corpse had not putrified and the shroud was still whole and undecayed." Although there is a perception that Ibn Hanbal or his school were somehow adverse to Sufism, scholars such as Eric Geoffrey have asserted that this opinion is more partial than objective, for there is no proof that the Hanbali school "[attacked] Sufism in itself any more than any other school," and it is evident that "during the first centuries some major Sufis [such as Ibn Ata Allah, Hallaj, and Abdullah Ansari] ... followed the Hanbalite school of law." In the same way, Ibn Hanbal also drunk from Muhammad's bowl (technically a "second-class" relic) to seek blessings from it, Ibn Hanbal later ordered that he be buried with Muhammad's hairs he possessed, "one on each eye and a third on his tongue." According to Twelver Shia writer Najm al-Din Tabasi, when asked by his son Abdullah about the legitimacy of touching and kissing Muhammad's grave in Medina, Ibn Hanbal is said to have approved of both these acts as being permissible according to sacred law. Jurisprudence According to Hanbali scholar Najm al-Din Tufi (d. 716 A.H/ 1316 C.E), Ahmad ibn Hanbal did not formulate a legal theory; since "his entire concern was with hadith and its collection". More than a century after Ahmad's death, Hanbali legalism would emerge as a distinct school; due to the efforts of jurists like Abu Bakr al-Athram (d. 261 A.H/ 874 C.E), Harb al-Kirmani (d. 280 A.H/ 893 C.E), 'Abd Allah ibn Ahmad (d. 290 A.H/903 C.E), Abu Bakr al-Khallal (d. 311 A.H/ 923 C.E) etc., who compiled Ahmad's various legal verdicts. Independent reasoning by muftis Ibn Hanbal also had a strict criterion for ijtihad or independent reasoning in matters of law by muftis and the ulema. One story narrates that Ibn Hanbal was asked by Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā al-Ḍarīr about "how many memorized ḥadīths are sufficient for someone to be a mufti [meaning a mujtahid jurist or one capable of issuing independently reasoned fatwas]." It is believed that he quoted this on account of the vast number of forged traditions of Muhammad. According to later notable scholars of the Hanbali school like Ibn Aqil and Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Hanbal "considered every madhhab correct and abhorred that a jurist insist people follow his even if he considered them wrong and even if the truth is one in any given matter." As such, when Ibn Hanbal's student Ishāq ibn Bahlūl al-Anbārī had "compiled a book on juridical differences ... which he had named The Core of Divergence (Lubāb al-Ikhtilāf)," Ibn Hanbal advised him to name the work The Book of Leeway (''Kitāb al-Sa'a'') instead. ==Works==

The following books are found in Ibn al-Nadim's Fihrist: • Usool as-Sunnah: "Foundations of the Prophetic Tradition (in Belief)" • as-Sunnah: "The Prophet Tradition (in Belief)" • ''Kitab al-`Ilal wa Ma'rifat al-Rijal'': "The Book of Narrations Containing Hidden Flaws and of Knowledge of the Men (of Hadeeth)" • Kitab al-Manasik: "The Book of the Rites of Hajj" • Kitab al-Zuhd: "The Book of Abstinence" • Kitab al-Iman: "The Book of Faith" • ''Kitab al-Masa'il'': "Issues in Fiqh" • Kitab al-Ashribah: "The Book of Drinks" • ''Kitab al-Fada'il Sahaba'': "Virtues of the Companions" • ''Kitab Tha'ah al-Rasul'': "The Book of Obedience to the Messenger" • Kitab Mansukh: "The Book of Abrogation" • ''Kitab al-Fara'id'': "The Book of Obligatory Duties" • ''Kitab al-Radd `ala al-Zanadiqa wa'l-Jahmiyya'': "Refutations of the Heretics and the Jahmites" • Tafsir: "Exegesis" • Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal ==Historical views==

Ibn Hanbal has been extensively praised for both his work in the field of prophetic tradition (hadith), jurisprudence, and his defense of orthodox Sunni theology. Jurisprudence There have some alleged views that his juristic views were not always accepted. Qur'anic exegete Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, who at one time had sought to study under Ibn Hanbal, later stated that he did not consider Ibn Hanbal a jurist and gave his views in the field no weight, describing him as an expert in prophetic tradition only. However, during this time Ibn Hanbal's school was still at its infancy and has not amassed a large following compared to the other schools, and the students had conflict with Al-Tabari's school. Consider how the ''Masa'il'' of Imam Ahmad, i.e. the first written compilation of Ibn Hanbal's question and answers, was written by Abu Bakr al-Khallal who lived around the same time as Al-Tabari, and the first written compilation of Ibn Hanbal's fiqh was Al-Khiraqi who also lived around that same time. The more systematic teaching of Ibn Hanbal's jurisprudence in education facilities only occurred after that point. Likewise, the Andalusian scholar Ibn 'Abd al-Barr did not include Ibn Hanbal or his views in his book The Hand-Picked Excellent Merits of the Three Great Jurisprudent Imâms about the main representatives of Sunni jurisprudence. However, Ibn 'Abd al-Barr has praised Ibn Hanbal's jurisprudence by saying "He is very powerful in the fiqh of the madhab of the ahl al-hadith and he is the Imam of the 'ulama of ahl al-hadith." However, the vast majority of other scholars do recognize Ibn Hanbal's prowess as a master jurist worthy of one, whose methodology became foundation for its own school of jurisprudence. Imam Shafi'i said, "Ahmad is an Imam in eight fields: he is an imam in hadith, jurisprudence, ''Al-Qur'an, Al-Lughah, Al-Sunnah, Al-Zuhd, Al-Warak, and Al-Faqr". Al-Dhahabi, one of the most major Islamic biographers, notes in his work Siyar A'lam Nubala,'' that Ibn Hanbal's status in jurisprudence is alike of Al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Malik ibn Anas, Al-Shafi'i, and Abu Yusuf. Muhammad Abu Zahra, a contemporary Hanafi scholar, wrote a book titled ''Ibn Hanbal: Hayatuhu wa `Asruhu Ara'uhu wa Fiqhuh. The book'' highlights the high praise accorded to Ibn Hanbal and his school of jurisprudence by numerous classical scholars. Hadith It is reported that Ibn Hanbal has reached the title of al Hafidh of Hadith according to Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi classification, as the title bestowment were approved by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani that Ibn Hanbal has memorized at least 750,000 hadith during his life, more than Muhammad al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj who each memorized 300,000 hadith, and Abu Dawud al-Sijistani who memorized 500,000 hadith. Abu Zur'ah mentions that Ibn Hanbal has memorized 1,000,000 hadith, 700,000 among them are related to jurisprudence. While according to the classification from Marfu' Hadith of Ibn Abbas which recorded by Al-Tabarani, Ibn Hanbal has reached the rank of ''Amir al-Mu'minin al-Hadith'', a rank that only reached by very few Hadith scholars in history such as Malik ibn Anas, Yahya ibn Ma'in, Hammad ibn Salamah, Ibn al-Mubarak, and Al-Suyuti. Ibn Hanbal's Musnad is not, however, ranked among the Kutub al-Sittah, the six big collections of hadith. == Legacy ==

, Saudi Arabia named after him. Ahmad Ibn Hanbal is described as "one of the most venerated" intellectual figures in Islamic history, During ninth century, he became a defining figure for Sunnism. People would assert as a badge of orthodoxy that their creed was same as Ahmad's. Tunisian-born scholar and journalist Abdelwahab Meddeb credits Ahmad ibn Hanbal with originating the belief that the Rashidun Caliphate was uniquely deserving of emulation—a century after the end of that dynasty. His school of thought, Hanbali school is dominant in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. During early 20th century, it became the official legal school in Saudi Arabia, although in recent decades, there has been a gradual shift in the Saudi judiciary, with judges also increasingly incorporating opinions from other Sunni schools of jurisprudence. ==In popular culture==

• Ahmad ibn Hanbal was largely depicted in Qatar TV's 2017 Ramadan drama serial "The Imam" starring Mahyar Khaddour in the lead role. ==See also==