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Map of Muslim world, Hanafi (in green) is predominant in Turkey, North Middle East, Central Asia and Indian subcontinent

The Hanafi (Arabic الحنفي) school is one of the four schools of law (Madhhabs) or jurisprudence (Fiqh) within Sunni Islam. (The other three schools of thought are Shafi'i, Maliki, and Hanbali.) The Hanafi madhhab is named after Abu Hanifa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (Arabic: أبو حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت‎) (699 - 767CE /89 - 157AH), and his legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani.

[edit] Overview

Among the four established Sunni schools of legal thought in Islam, the Hanafi school is the oldest. It has a reputation for putting greater emphasis on the role of reason and being slightly more liberal than the other three schools. The Hanafi school also has the most followers among the four major Sunni schools. (Both the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire were Hanafi so the Hanafi school is still widespread in their former lands). Today, the Hanafi school is predominant among the Sunnis of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China as well as in Iraq, Mauritius, Syria, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia in the Balkans and the Caucasus as well as the area of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It is also followed in large numbers in other parts of Muslim world.

[edit] Sources and methodology

The sources from which the law is derived, in order of importance and preference are: the Qur'an, the authentic narrations of the Prophet (Hadith), Consensus (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas), qiyas only being applied if direct material cannot be found in the Qur'an or Hadith. As the fourth Caliph, 'Ali, had transferred the Islamic capital to Kufa and the fact that many of the companions of the Prophet had settled there, the Hanafi School had based many of its rulings on Prophetic narrations (Hadith) transmitted by companions residing in Iraq, thus it came to be known as the Kufan or Iraqi school in earlier times. Hence 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud formed much of the base of the school, as well as other personalities from the household of the Prophet with whom Abu Hanifa had studied such as Muhammad al-Baqir, Ja'far al-Sadiq, and Zayd ibn 'Ali. Many jurists and Hadith transmitters had lived in Kufa including one of Abu Hanifa's main teachers, Hammad ibn Sulayman.

According to Abdalhaqq Bewley:

"Hanafi methodology involved the logical process of examining the Book and all available knowledge of the Sunna and then finding an example in them analogous to the particular case under review so that Allah's deen could be properly applied in the new situation. It thus entails the use of reason in the examination of the Book and Sunna so as to extrapolate the judgments necessary for the implementation of Islam in a new environment. It represents in essence, therefore, within the strict compass of rigorous legal and inductive precepts, the adaptation of the living and powerful deen to a new situation in order to enable it take root and flourish in fresh soil. This made it an ideal legal tool for the central governance of widely varied populations which is why we find it in Turkey as the legacy of the Uthmaniyya Khilafa and in the sub-continent where it is inherited from the Moghul empire."

[edit] Some distinctive opinions of Abu Hanifa and the Hanafi School

• It is prohibited or disliked to eat some forms of non-fish seafood based on the hadith of the prophet Muhammad: "Two types of dead meat and two types of blood have been made lawful for your consumption [without being slaughtered]: fish and locust, liver and spleen". (Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Majah,).
• Except for at Hajj, every salah (5-times daily prayer) needs to be made in its regular time. (Some non-Hanafi scholars allow a person who is travelling to adjust certain prayer times for convenience).
• The beginning of the time for asr prayer (and the end of the time for zhur prayer) is later than in the other schools (roughly when shadows are twice the length of their objects).
• A 6th daily prayer called witr is wajib/required (But not at the same level of obligation as the 5-daily prayers).
• Abu Hanifa held that "wine" (the fermented juice of dates or grapes) was absolutely prohibited. But he thought it was permissible to drink small non-intoxicating amounts of other alcoholic beverages (e.g. made from honey or grains). Later Hanafi scholars tend to rule that all alcoholic beverages are prohibited regardless of source.
• Bleeding can break one's wudu
• Merely touching a member of the opposite sex does not break one's wudu.
• Abu Hanifa and the Maturidis say that "Faith neither increases nor decreases" and that "Actions are not a part of faith".^{[citation needed]} (i.e. roughly, a sinful Muslim is still a Muslim as long as they don't assert that their bad behavior is permitted in Islam)

All four schools are respected and in fact the differences between the schools are considered a blessing. There are cross-pollination of ideas and debates between the four schools in respect to each school's understanding of Islam. All four schools are respected as valid legal schools of Sunni Islam that have arrived through their analysis of the Qur'an and Sunnah.

[edit] Notable differences in Prayer from other Math'habs

• Takbir - In the First Takbir, Hanafis raise their Hands Parallel to their Ear Lobes.^[1]
• Al-Qayyam - Position of Folding of the hands during Al-Qayyam (Standing) is Below the Navel for Men and on the Chest for Women.^[1]
• Ruku' - Hanafis do not raise their hands before going to Ruku'.^[2]
• Tashahhud - Hanafis raise the Index Finger of their Right Hand when Reciting the Shahadah and Lower it after Recitation.^[2]
• Tasleem - Though not considered obligatory by the Maddhab, Tasleem includes Two Salaams, One to the Right and One to the Left.^[3]
• Salat-ul-Witr - Hanafi's pray Three Rak'ats consecutively and the Tasleem is Proclaimed after the Last One of them.^[4]
• Dua'Qunoot is recited before Ruku' during Witr.

[edit] Notable Hanafis

• Abu Hanifah
• Abu Yusuf
• Muhammad al-Shaybani
• Ahmed Raza Khan
• Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tahawi
• Ashraf Ali Thanvi
• al-Marghinani
• al-Maydani
• Abu Mansur Al Maturidi
• Ali Hujwiri
• Ibn Abidin
• Ahmed Rida Khan
• Ahmad Sirhindi
• Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari
• Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi
• Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi
• Farid al-Din Attar
• Shah Waliullah
• Muhammad Zakariya al-Kandahlawi
• Muhammad al-Yaqoubi
• Qasim Nanotwi
• Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi
• Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Tahir
• Shaykh Nazim al-Qubrusi
• Ilyas Attar Qadri
• Shibli Nomani
• Ibn Abi al-Izz
• Maulvi Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui
• Zameer Ikraam Sattaur
• Al-Zaila'i - the author of Nasb al-Rayah, the examination of the hadith contained in al-Hidayah
• Al-'Aini - the author of Umdah al-Qari an explanation to Sahih Bukhari
• Mubarak Ali Gilani
• Abdul Razzaq al-Halabi
• Ibn Abi al-Izz
• Al-Kawthari
• Syed Abdullah Shah Naqshbandi
• al-Husayni
• Pir Meher Ali Shah
• Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
• Muhammad Taqi Usmani
• Huseyin Hilmi Isik
• Daswandi Khan I - (also called Mian Noor in old adages)the caliphates of the postmughal era during 1680-1880

[edit] Hanafi groups and movements

• Barelwi
• Maturidi
• Deobandi
• Tablighi Jamaat
• Sunni Bohra

[edit] External links

• Hizmet Books Hanafi books in English (free online)
• Zia-ul-Ummat website
• Shariah Board (Hanafi) Audio Fatawa in many languages (free online)
• Sahih al Islam Over 2,000 Collection of Islamic Information
• Online Urdu Audio on Various Subjects
• Islami Education

[edit] References