Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān (; –767), commonly known by his kunya Abū Ḥanīfa (), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Muslims, was a Sunni Muslim theologian and jurist who became the eponymous founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni jurisprudence, which has remained the most widely practised school of law in the Sunni tradition. The school of thought predominates in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Iran (until the 16th century), Turkey, the Balkans, Russia, Circassia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Muslims in India, and some parts of the Arab world. He is also widely called al-Imām al-Aʿẓam ("The Greatest Imam") and Sirāj al-Aʾimma ("The Lamp of the Imams") by Sunni Muslims.
Born to a Muslim family in Kufa, Abu Hanifa is known to have travelled to the Hejaz region of Arabia in his youth, where he studied in Mecca and Medina. As his career as a theologian and jurist progressed, Abu Hanifa became known for favouring the use of reason in his legal rulings (faqīh dhū raʾy) and even in his theology. Abu Hanifa's school of theology would later develop into the Maturidi school of Sunni theology.
Life
Family background
Abu Hanifa was born in Kufa in 80 AH, 77 AH, 70 AH, or 61 AH, during the period of the Umayyad Caliphate. Many historians choose the latest date of birth, 80 AH. But Mohammad Zahid Al-Kawthari, adjunct to the office of the last Shaykh Al-Islam of the Ottoman Empire, wrote that 70 AH as the date of his birth is supported by two considerations. Firstly, Mohammad Ibn Makhlad Al-Attar considered the narration of Abu Hanifa’s son, Hammad, from Imam Malik Ibn Anas to be an example of an older man's narration rather than a younger man. Secondly, Abu Hanifa was concerned with who should succeed Ibrahim Al-Nakhai after his death in 96 AH. Abu Hanifa's concern about the succession would only have arisen if Abu Hanifa was older than 19, since it is considered that Abu Hanifa only took his religious studies seriously after he was about 19. If Abu Hanifa was born in 80 AH, Abu Hanifa would have been 16 at the time of Al-Nakhai's death.
Abu Hanifa is thought to be of Persian ancestry, although several scholars consider him to be of Jat origin from Sindh region instead. His grandfather, Zūtā, may have been captured by Muslim troops in Kabul and sold as a slave in Kufa. There, he may have been purchased and freed by an Arab tribesman of the Taymallah, a branch of the Banu Bakr. Zūtā and his progeny thereafter would have become clients (mawali) of the Taymallah, hence the sporadic references to Abu Hanifa as 'al-Taymi'. According to Abu Hanifa's grandson Ismail, however, his lineage went back to free Persians who had never been held as slaves. He called Abu Hanifa's great-grandfather "al-Marzuban", which is an arabicised form of the Sasanian military office of marzban, held by governors of the frontier provinces of the Sasanian realm.
Early life and scholarship
There is scant biographical information about Abu Hanifa. It is generally known that he worked a producer and seller of "khazz", a type of silk clothing material. He attended lectures on jurisprudence conducted by the Kufan scholar Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman (d. 737). He also possibly learnt jurisprudence (fiqh) from the Meccan scholar Ata ibn Abi Rabah (d. ) while on Hajj.
When Hammad died, Abu Hanifa succeeded him as the principal authority on Islamic law in Kufa and the chief representative of the Kufan school of jurisprudence. Abu Hanifa gradually gained influence as an authority on legal questions, founding a moderate rationalist school of Islamic jurisprudence that was named after him.
Adulthood and death
In 763, al-Mansur, the Abbasid caliph offered Abu Hanifa the post of qadi al-qudat (chief judge of the state), but he declined the offer, choosing to remain independent. His student Abu Yusuf was later appointed to the post by Caliph Harun al-Rashid.
In his reply to al-Mansur, Abu Hanifa said that he was not fit for the post. Al-Mansur, who had his own ideas and reasons for offering the post, lost his temper and accused Abu Hanifa of lying.
"If I am lying," Abu Hanifa responded, "then my statement is doubly correct. How can you appoint a liar to the exalted post of a Qadi (Chief Judge)?"
Incensed by this reply, al-Mansur had Abu Hanifa arrested, locked in prison and tortured. It was said that once in prison he was never fed nor cared for. Even in prison, the jurist continued to teach those who were permitted to visit him.