The word · History
أَبُو حَنِيفَة النُّعْمَان
Imam Abu Hanifah
The earliest of the four imams, a Kufan merchant whose school is the most widely followed today.
Also written · Abu Hanifa · Abu Hanifah · Imam Abu Hanifa · Numan ibn Thabit · Nu'man ibn Thabit · Imam e Azam · Al-Imam al-Azam · Ebu Hanife · Abu Haneefah · Imam Abu Hanifah Numan · Abu Hanifa an-Numan
The meaning
What Imam Abu Hanifah means in Islam
He was born around the year 80 and died in 150, in Baghdad. He is often counted among the Tabi'un on the basis that he may have seen the Companion Anas ibn Malik as a child, though scholars discuss this. He taught by argument in a circle rather than by dictation, and his students Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ash-Shaybani wrote the school down. He refused the post of chief judge and died in prison, and he is remembered as much for that refusal as for his law.
Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- HanafiThe school of Abu Hanifah, the most widely followed, known for careful reasoning and analogy.المَذْهَبُ الحَنَفِيّ
- Imam MalikThe imam of Madinah, who taught in the Prophet's mosque and wrote the Muwatta.مَالِكُ بْنُ أَنَس
- MadhhabA school of law: a settled method of deriving rulings, carried by generations of scholars.مَذْهَب
- Tabi'unThe second generation: Muslims who met Companions but never met the Prophet himself.التَّابِعُون
More from History
- Abu BakrThe Prophet's closest friend, his companion in the cave, and the first caliph.أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيق
- Battle of Mu'tahThe first clash with Byzantine forces, in year eight, where three appointed commanders fell in turn.مُؤْتَة
- HijrahThe Prophet's migration from Makkah to Madinah in 622, the start of the Muslim calendar.الهِجْرَة
- JahiliyyahThe age of ignorance in Arabia before Islam, and any conduct that still belongs to it.الجَاهِلِيَّة
- MakkahThe valley city holding the Ka'bah, where the Prophet was born and revelation began.مَكَّة
- Salman al-FarisiA Persian who searched through two religions for the truth and was enslaved before finding it.سَلْمَانُ الفَارِسِيّ