Introduction to
The Hanbali School
The book of purification
The book of prayer
Importance of Prayer & Ruling of its Abandonment
Facing the Qiblah & Intention in the Prayer
Etiquettes of Walking to Prayer and its Description
Description of Prayer Continued
Description of Prayer Continued
Description of Prayer Continued
Pillars and Mandatory Acts of Prayer
Two Prostrations of Forgetfulness
Supererogatory (Voluntary) Prayers
Supererogatory (Voluntary) Prayers Continued
Times of Prohibition of (Supererogatory) Prayer
Congregational Prayers & Latecomers
Jumu'ah (Congregational Friday) Prayer
The Book of Funerals
The Book of Fasting
The Hanbali School
About the Ḥanbali Madh-hab
Imam Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ash-Shaybâni (may Allah bestow mercy upon him) was the last of the imams who founded the four most authoritative schools of law (madh-habs) in Islam. Imam Aḥmad was born in Baghdad in the month of Rabee‘ I, 164 AH/ 780 CE. His father died when he was only three years old, so he grew up under the care of his mother. He died on Friday, 12 Rabee‘ I, 241 AH/ 855 CE. 6
Imam Aḥmad had an esteemed status amongst the scholars of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamâ‘ah, who represent mainstream Islam. 7
Imam ash-Shâfi‘i (d. 204 AH/ 820 CE), a teacher of Imam Aḥmad, said, “I departed from Iraq leaving behind no man better, more pious, or more learned than Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” 8
The Ḥanbali School thrived first in Iraq, then in ash-Shâm (the Levant), and to a lesser extent, thereafter, in Egypt. From the middle of the tenth century AH, the madh-hab started to gain a
5. The four Imams who founded the four most authoritative Sunni schools of law were Abu Ḥaneefah (d. 148 AH/ 767 CE), Mâlik (d. 179 AH/ 795 CE), ash-Shâfi‘i (d. 204 AH/ 820 CE), and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241 AH/ 855 CE).
6. Ibn Katheer, al-Bidâyah wan-Nihâyah.
7. The term Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamâ‘ah refers to the ‘people of the Sunnah and the main community’, known as Sunnis, the orthodox majority of Muslims.
8. at-Tabreezi (d. 741 AH/ 1341 CE), al-Ikmâl fee Asmâ’ ar-Rijâl.
strong presence in Najd and subsequently the entire Arabian Peninsula.
The Sources of Proofs Imam Aḥmad Relied on 9
The First Two Sources That Imam Aḥmad Relied Upon
When making a ruling, Imam Aḥmad relied first on the two texts of divine revelation, the Qur’an and Sunnah. When a relevant text was found, Imam Aḥmad would give it precedence over anything else, be it qiyâs, the actions of the people of Madinah, or any other authority. He would also give preference to a clear text (hadith) traceable to the Prophet (SA) over any statement or position of any Companion, regardless of his or her status.
The Third Source
After these two main sources, he acted upon ijmâ’ (consensus), particularly that of the Companions (RAHUM). When he found an opinion by a Companion that was not known to be opposed or refuted by another Companion, Imam Aḥmad considered it to be the only acceptable view. Still, he would state only that he knew of no opposition to that view; he would not call it a ‘consensus’ because he was very conservative in making that claim. When the Companions differed, he adopted from their views the one he felt to be closest to the Qur’an and Sunnah, but he would limit himself to their views. He would even give precedence to an authentic report from a Companion over a weak hadith. If he could not discern which of their views was the strongest, he would mention them all, without choosing one. This is one of the reasons why the Ḥanbali madh-hab had variant positions regarding many matters.
9. The information given about the principles of the Ḥanbali madh-hab is mostly from Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH/ 1350 CE), I‘lâm al-Muwaqqi‘een.
The Fourth Source
Another notable approach of the Ḥanbali madh-hab is acting upon weak and mursal hadiths if there was nothing more authentic to judge by. However, it must be noted that the weak hadiths 10 which Aḥmad accepted were not necessarily matrook (rejected). Some of the scholars, including Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (d. 728 AH/ 1328 CE, may Allah bestow mercy on him), went as far as saying that these were all ḥasan (reliable) 11 hadith(s). 12 Before the time of Imam at-Tirmidhi (d. 279 AH/ 892 CE), hadiths were either graded sound (ṣaḥeeḥ) or weak, and the weak included acceptable and matrook (rejected) hadiths. The category of ḥasan, as we know it, was introduced by Imam at-Tirmidhi and later adopted by the scholars of Hadith.
The Fifth Source
Finally, when Imam Aḥmad could find no text, Companion’s opinion, weak or mursal report to use for a certain ruling, he resorted to the fifth principle: qiyâs. He only used it when necessary, and he reported this approach from ash-Shâfi‘i, as narrated by al-Khallâl in his compendium al-Jâmi‘. 13
These are the five main sources of proof in the madh-hab, as listed by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah bestow mercy upon him) in I‘lâm al-Muwaqqi‘een. However, Imam Ibn Taymiyah and
10. A mursal hadith is one in which the one who narrated it from the Prophet (SA) is a tâbi‘i (a successor; one who knew or met any of the Companions and transmitted hadiths from them) and not a Companion.
11. A ḥasan (reliable) hadith is that which fulfills the conditions of a ṣaḥeeḥ (sound) hadith, except that its narrator(s) may be slightly less reliable than those of a sound chain.
12. Ibn Taymiyah, Minhâj as-Sunnat an-Nabawiyah.
13. Abu Bakr al-Khallâl (d. 311 AH/ 923 CE) was a student of some of Aḥmad’s direct students. His collection of Aḥmad’s rulings helped to document and preserve the Ḥanbali madh-hab.
others maintained that the Imam’s fiqh was also based, after these five principles, on istiṣḥâb (presumption of continuity), al-maṣâliḥ al-mursalah (consideration of public interest), and sadd adh-dharâ’i‘ (blocking the means [to evil]). 14
Compiling the Madh-hab of Imam Aḥmad
Imam Aḥmad avoided recording his juristic opinions because he feared they would be taken blindly by some Muslims in place of the ever more important revealed texts, the Qur’an and Sunnah. He invested his entire life in collecting the Sunnah and the views of the Companions, and he did not author a single book on fiqh, apart from a few treatises. Most of the Imam’s disciples acted upon his wish not to record all his positions in one book. However, they did record some of his views and responses to questions in books named Masâ’il al-Imâm Aḥmad [The Answers of Imam Aḥmad]. Of those, al-Marroudhi; al-Athram; Abu Ṭâlib; al-Maymooni; Ibrâheem al-Ḥarbi; Ḥarb al-Karmâni; the Imam’s two sons, ‘Abdullâh and Ṣâliḥ; and his cousin Ḥanbal are called al-Jamâ‘ah (the Group) by some of the later Ḥanbali scholars. Abu Dâwood, the famous compiler of the Hadith collection as-Sunan, also narrated from him a number of juristic matters, which came to be called Masâ’il al-Imâm Aḥmad by Abu Dâwood. Bukhari and Muslim, the famous compilers of the soundest Hadith collections, were also among the Imam’s students; however, they narrated only hadiths from him (and not juristic opinions).
After that came Aḥmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hâroon, better known as Abu Bakr al-Khallâl (d. 311 AH/ 923 CE). He dedicated himself to collecting the positions and heritage of Imam Aḥmad. He journeyed through what is today Syria, Iraq, and Iran to interview the Imam’s companions and document what they narrated to him
14. Ibn Taymiyah, al-Musawwadah fee Uṣool al-Fiqh.
from the Imam. He compiled the book al-Jâmi‘, which exceeds twenty volumes, and it is regarded as the primary source of the Ḥanbali madh-hab.
Later, Abul-Qâsim ‘Umar ibn Abi ‘Ali al-Ḥusayn al-Khiraqi (d. 324 AH/ 935 CE) wrote a concise book on the madh-hab of Aḥmad, titled Mukhtaṣar al-Khiraqi. This book was the more popular of two abridgements of al-Jâmi‘, the second being an abridgement by al-Khallâl’s student Abu Bakr ibn ‘Abdul-‘Azeez (d. 363 AH/ 973 CE), known as Ghulâm al-Khallâl (al-Khallâl’s boy).
Mukhtaṣar al-Khiraqi became so popular with the Ḥanbalis that they wrote three hundred different explanations for it. The most notable of these is the great compendium of comparative fiqh (with a Ḥanbali leaning, of course) named al-Mughni, by Imam Ibn Qudâmah, the author of this text, al-‘Umdah.
Some Terms Used in Ḥanbali Fiqh
· Riwâyah (report): refers to the positions traced to Imam Aḥmad himself.
· Wajh (view): refers to the variant positions of the main Ḥanbali scholars.
. Qawl (position; literally: statement): refers to positions deduced from the speech of the Imam but not explicitly stated by him (takhreej). It may also refer to any of the previous meanings when the reporter is unsure.
If you wish to learn more about the Ḥanbali school of fiqh (madh-hab), refer to al-Madkhal ilâ Madh-hab al-Imâm Aḥmad by Ibn Badrân.
About the Author, Ibn Qudâmah
Abu Muhammad, Abdullah ibn Ahmad ibn Qud â mah al-Maqdisi
(d. 620 AH/ 1223 CE)
Imam Ibn Qudâmah was the most distinguished author of Ḥanbali fiqh and the most verifying scholar of the madh-hab. Among many others, he learned under ‘Abdul-Qâdir al-Geelâni (d. 561 AH) and Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH). ‘Abdul-Qâdir al-Geelâni learned under Abul-Khaṭṭâb (d. 510 AH) and Ibn ‘Aqeel (d. 513 AH), who both leaned under Abu Ya‘lâ (d. 458 AH), who learned under Ibn Ḥâmid (d. 403 AH), who learned under Ghulâm al-Khallâl (d. 363 AH), who learned under al-Khallâl (d. 311 AH), who learned under Abu Bakr al-Marroudhi and other disciples of Imam Aḥmad. One of the main students of Imam Ibn Qudâmah was his nephew Ibn Abi ‘Umar al-Maqdisi (d. 682 AH), who was one of the main shaykhs of Imam Taqi ad-Deen Aḥmad ibn Taymiyah (d. 728 AH).
Whenever Imam Ibn Qudâmah and Imam Majd ud-Deen ‘Abdus-Salâm ibn Taymiyah (d. 653 AH; the grandfather of Taqi ad-Deen ibn Taymiyah) agreed on a matter, the later Ḥanbalis accepted their agreement as most indicative of the correct position in the madh-hab. He wrote four books on the fiqh of the Ḥanbali madh-hab; they are listed here from the shortest to the longest:
. ‘Umdat al-Fiqh: a matn (manual) for beginners, in which he mentions only one position/opinion for each issue. (This is the manual being explained in this book.)
. Al-Muqni‘: for the second-level student; he mentions more than one position/opinion and indicates his preferred one.
· Al-Kâfi fee Fiqh al-Imâm al-Mubajjal Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal: for the third level; he mentions one or two positions, but unlike in the two books mentioned previously, he also cites the proofs/evidence.
· Al-Mughni fee Fiqh al-Imâm Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ash-Shaybâni: considered by many to be the greatest compendium of fiqh written in Islam; he mentions the positions both within and outside the madh-hab, citing the various textual and rational proofs.