Advice of Scholars - HANAFÎ MADHHAB AND IMÂM-I A’ZÂM (PART 2)

Abû Mansûr recorded the knowledge of kalâm that came from Imâm-i a’zam in books. Struggling against those who had deviated from the right way, he strengthened the belief of the Ahl as-sunnat. He spread it everywhere.

Everyday Imâm-i a’zam Abû Hanîfa ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ performed morning prayer in the mosque and then answered his students till noon. Before midday, he performed Qaylûla sitting. It is written in Shir’a-tul-Islam, in Ibnî Âbidîn, in its chapter about bay’i fâsid, and in Mawâhib-i ladunniyya, in its chapter about dream interpretation, that it is sunnat to perform Qaylûla, that is, to sleep for a while as the sun approaches noon.

After the early afternoon prayer he taught knowledge to his disciples until the night prayer. After the night prayer he went home and rested for a while. Then he went to the mosque and worshipped until the morning prayer. This fact has been communicated by Mis’ar bin Kadâm-i Kûfî, one of the Salaf-i sâlihîn, and by many other noble people.

He traded and earned his living by means of the halâl. Sending goods to other places, he bought his disciples’ needs with his earnings. He spent much for his own home, and gave as much as he spent for his home to the poor as alms. Every Friday he distributed twenty gold coins to the poor for the souls of his parents. He would not stretch his legs towards his master and teacher Hammâd’s house. However, there was a distance of seven streets between them.

Once he heard that one of his partners had sold a great amount of goods incompatibly with the Sharî’at; he distributed all ninety thousand aqcha earned from this merchandise, thus accepting not even a penny of it.

The villages of Kûfa city had been raided by brigands, who had driven away the sheep. Thinking that these stolen sheep might have been slaughtered and sold to the people, he did not buy or eat mutton for seven years from then on, for he had learned that a sheep lived at most seven years. He avoided the harâm very much and observed the Sharî’at in everything he did.

For forty years Imâm-i a’zam performed the morning prayers with the ablution which he performed for the night prayers, [that is, he did not sleep after the night prayers]. This fact is written with documents in Mavdû’âtul’ulûm, in Durr-ul-mukhtâr, in the preface of Ibnî Âbîdîn, and in Mizân-ul-kubrâ.