|
The Hanbali
school is the fourth orthodox school
of law within Sunni
Islam. It
derives its decrees from the Qur'an
and the Sunnah, which it places above
all forms of consensus, opinion or
inference. The school accepts as authoritative
an opi nion given by a Companion of
the Prophet, providing there is no
disagreement with anther Companion.
In the case of such disagreement,
the opinion of the Companion nearest
to that of the Qur'an or the Sunnah
will prevail.
The Hanbali school of law was established
by Ahmad b. Hanbal (d.855). He studied
law under different masters, including
Imam Shafi'i (the founder of his own
school). He is regarded as more learned
in the traditions than in jurisprudence.
His status also derives from his collection
and exposition of the hadiths. His
major contribution to Islamic scholarship
is a collection of fifty-thousand
traditions known as 'Musnadul-Imam
Hanbal'.
In spite of the importance of Hanbal's
work his school did not enjoy the
popularity of the three preceding
Sunni schools of law. Hanbal's followers
were regarded as reactionary and troublesome
on account of their reluctance to
give personal opinion on matters of
law, their rejection of analogy, their
fanatic intolerance of views other
than their own, and their exclusion
of opponents from power and judicial
office. Their unpopularity led to
periodic bouts of persecution against
them.
The later history of the school has been
characterised by fluctuations in their
fortunes. Hanbali scholars such as
Ibn Taymiyya (d.1328) and Ibn Qayyim
al-Jouzia (d.1350), did display more
tolerance to other views than their
predecessors and were instrumental
in making the teachings of Hanbali
more generally accessible.
From time to time Hanbaliyyah became
an active and numerically strong school
in certain areas under the jurisdiction
of the 'Abbassid Caliphate. But its
importance gradually declined under
the Ottoman Turks. The emergence of
the Wahabi
in the nineteenth century and its
challenge to Ottoman authority enabled
Hanbaliyyah to enjoy a period of revival.
Today the school is officially recognised
as authoritative in Saudi Arabia and
Persian Gulf states.
Hanbali is one of the four schools (Maddhabs)
of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni
Islam. It is considered to be the
most conservative of the four schools.
The school was started by the students
of Imam Ahmad, whose name was Ahmad
bin Hanbal (d. 855). Hanbali jurisprudence
is predominant among Muslims in the
Arabian Peninsula, although students
of Islam throughout the world study
and may choose to observe its conclusions
about Islamic practise. The Hanbali
school is followed by less than 5%
of the world's Muslim population.
It is presently the school of jurisprudence
used in modern day Saudi Arabia.
Although the Hanbali school was small,
it did manager to produce a number
of noted scholars these include: Ibn
al-Jawzi a prolific writer who wrote
commentories on the Qur'an and numerous
works on history and jurisprudence,
ibn Taymiyyah a controversial figure
due to his contentious theological
veiws nontheless was a prolific writer
and a noted scholar in a number of
fields such as jurisprudence, ibn
al-Qayyim the student of ibn Taymiyyah
who wrote a number of valuable works
on Islamic jurisprudence. Unlike his
teacher he was less harsh towards
Sufism and wrote a number of works
on Sufism that remain well read amongst
adherents to Sufi orders (Tarika)
ibn Qudaymah a jurist of the Hanbali
school, the Sufi Abudllah al-Ansari,
Abdul Qadir Jilani and ibn Rajb al-Hanbali
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was kept in prison
for 28 months, with a heavy chain
around his feet. He was publicly humiliated,
slapped and spat upon. Every evening
he used to be flogged. All this was
because of the controversy regarding
whether the Quran was `uncreated'.
The Shaf'i
school is considered the easiest school
and the Hanbali
is considered the hardest in terms
of social and personal rules.
Page
Last Updated:
Friday, November 25, 2005 22:10:05 -0500 |
