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Advice of Scholars - IMÂM-I A’ZAM ABÛ HANÎFA (PART 2)

He was the first to divide the knowledge of fiqh into branches; he gathered the sections of information belonging to each branch, and wrote the books Farâid and Shurût. There are innumerable books describing his extensive knowledge in fiqh, his miraculous power in qiyâs, and his dumbfounding superiority in zuhd, taqwâ, mildness and piety. He had very many disciples, some of whom became mujtahids.

He died in 150 A. H. , when he was seventy years old. Because he would not accept the presidency of the Supreme Court of Appeal offered by Abû Ja’far Mansûr, he was sent to jail. There he was whipped. He was whipped ten times more for each following day. He became a martyr when the number of whippings became a hundred. Abû Sa’d-i Hârazmî, one of the viziers of the Seljuki Emperor Sultan Melikshah, had a wonderful tomb built over Hadrat Abû Hanîfa’s grave. Later on, this tomb was restored and embellished various times by Ottoman Sultâns.

The Hanafî Madhhab spread everywhere during time of the Ottoman Empire. It was almost the official Madhhab of the State. Today, more than half of the Muslim population over the world and the majority of the Ahl as-sunnat worship according to the principles of the Hanafî Madhhab.”

This concludes some of the writings of Shamsaddîn Sâmî Bey in his Qâmûs-ul a’lâm.