Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal Abu `Abd Allah al-Shaybani (Arabic: احمد بن محمد بن حنبل ابو عبد الله الشيباني) (ca. 20 Rabi'ul Awwal 164 - 241 H/ ca. 780 – 855 AD), or in short Imam Ahmad or Ahmad ibn Hanbal, was born in Baghdad, Iraq, although some argued that he was born in Marwa, Turkmenistan and then taken to Baghdad when he's still in breastfeeding. He is a noted collector of hadith (i.e. narrations from Muhammad). He wrote a hadith collection, Musnad Ahmad, which has 9,000 unique, or unrepeated hadith.

=Early life=

Imam Ahmad's father and grandfather died when he was born, thus he was raised by his mother alone. His father, Muhammad bin Hanbal, was an Abbasids army officer who died in a war, and his grandfather, Hambal bin Hilal, was a regional ruler in Sarkhas, during the Caliphate of Ummayids.

=Thrist of Knowledge=

At the age of 14, Imam Ahmad has memorized the Qur-an and stopped learning Islam under Hanafi sect to travel around the world. Every time he heard there are prominent scholars in a place, he was willing to travel long distances and long time just to gain knowledge from them. Love of science that makes him willing rather not get married at a young age. He married after age 40.

First he visited Kuffah when he's 19. Then, he traveled to Basrah four times, i.e. when he's 22, 26, 30, and 36 years old. He also visited Makkah when he's 23 to meet Imam Shafi'i. Later he visited there again when he's 32, then he lived there when he's 33 and meet Abdurrazzaq, and finally he left Makkah when he's 35. Next, he went to Yemen on foot and wrote narrations of Muhammad's tradition he collected from Abdurrazzaq. He also traveled to Ar Riqqah to find Fayyad ibn Muhammad ibn Sinan, to Ibadan to visit Abu Ar Rabi and compile narrations of Muhammad's tradition from him, to Tharsus, and to Wasith. Finally, he traveled to Egypt to visit Imam Shafi'i but he couldn't make it as he's out of money on his way.

=His Works=

Among his works are a collosal hadith encyclopedia named Al Musnad a.k.a. Musnad Ahmad. Abul Faraj ibn al Jawzi, a scholar from Hanbali sect, claimed that Al Musnad contains hadith (narrations related to Muhammad) that are fabricated by interpolation (i.e. the narrator jumbling up information, mixing texts and authoritative chains). However, it is agreed that the hadith that are suspected to be fabricated are not new hadiths that are creations of a dubious narrator's imagination.

Despite that, he also wrote a book of biographical evaluations towards hadith narrators (Naqid). He's also said to be the sole author of Tafsir (The Exegesis, which never exists, according to Adh Dhahabi), Al Nasikh Wal Mansukh (The Science of Abrogation), and a distinct modes of the recitation Qur-an (i.e. Qira’at), and he disliked the recitation of Hamza (Muhammad's Companion) due to its exaggerated elongation of vowels.

Imam Ahmad also wrote Az Zuhd (the Book of Asceticism). Here's the complete list of his works:


 * 1) Al Musnad
 * 2) Al 'Ilal Wa Ma‘rifatur Rijal: The Book of Narrations Containing Hidden Flaws and of Biographical Evaluation
 * 3) An Nasikh Wal Mansukh: The Abrogation and The Abrogated
 * 4) Az Zuhd: The Book of Ascetiscm
 * 5) Al Asyribah: The Book of Drinks
 * 6) Al Masa'il: The Issues in Islamic jurisprudence
 * 7) Al Iman: The Book of Faith
 * 8) Al Fadla`il Sahabah: The Virtues of the Companions
 * 9) Al Fara`idl: The Book of Obligatory Duties
 * 10) Al Manasik: The Book of the Rites of Pilgrimage
 * 11) Tha'atur Rasul: The Book of Obedience to the Messenger
 * 12) Al Muqaddam Wal Mu'akhkhar: The Beginning and the End
 * 13) Jawwabaatul Qur-an: The Answer of the Qur-an
 * 14) Hadith Syu'bah
 * 15) Nafyut Tashbih
 * 16) Al Imamah: The Leadership
 * 17) Kitabul Fitan: The Trial
 * 18) Kitabu Fadla`ili Ahlil Bait
 * 19) Musnad Ahlil Bait
 * 20) Al Asmaa' Wal Kunaa
 * 21) Kitabut Tarikh
 * 22) At Tafsir: The Exegesis
 * 23) Ar Risalah Fis Salah: The Message in the Prayer
 * 24) Ar Radd 'Alal Zanadiqa Wal Jahmiyyah: Refutations of the Heretics and the Jahmites

=Hanbali Sect=

Imam Ahmad learned from Hanafi, Malik, Shafi'i, and many other sects, then he further mixed them, improvised and innovated a new sect named Hanbali, and he became the founder. There are basically five rules in Hanbali sect:

RULE #1: The Quran and the traditions of Muhammad is the main reference to Islamic laws. RULE #2: When no evidence was found in Rule #1, verdicts issued by the Companions were resorted to, since the Companions witnessed the revelation of the Quran, and its implementation by Muhammad. Hence, the Companions ought to have a better understanding than the latter generations. Even if there are two camps over an issue, two different narrations would similarly be documented. RULE #3: When the Companions differed, he preferred the opinion supported by the Rule #1. RULE #4: If Rule #3 doesn't work, we resort to Mursal hadith (narration about Muhammad with a missing link between Tabi'in and Muhammad) and a Daif Hadith. However, the type of weak Hadith that we use is Hasan Li Gairihi (‘fair’ Hadith due to other evidences), not the type that is deemed very weak and thus unsuitable as an evidence for Islamic law. This was due to the fact that, during his time, the Hadith was only categorised into ‘sound’ (Sahih) and ‘weak’ (Da’if). It was only after Ahmad, that al-Tirmidhi innovated a third category of ‘fair’ (Hasan). RULE #5: Only after having exhausted the aforementioned sources would we employ analogical deduction (Qiyas) due to necessity, and with utmost care.

His doctrine can be summarized as follows: Imam Ahmad’s doctrine could be summarised as follows:

1) Believe in the description of Allah in the Quran or said by Muhammad, and affirm them at their face value (Dhahir), and negate any resemblance between the Creator and the creation.

2) Reject Ta’til and Ta’wil which was heavily employed by the Jahmites, Mu’tazilites and Kullabites (later to be known as the Ash’arites).

3) Allah Speaks with letters and sound, for he believed every word and letter of the Quran to be the word of Allah, contrary to the Kullabites, who, in their opposition to the Mu’tazilites, affirmed eternal Speech for Allah, yet still agreed with them in that they believed that the Quran, which is composed of letters, was created.

4) Allah "literally" Hears and Sees; that He has two Hands with which He created Adam; that Allah has a Face.

5) Allah "literally" Rose over the Throne after Creating the heavens and the Earth in six days.

6) Allah is High above and distinct from His creation

7) Allah is all Knowing, All Wise, All Power and All Able, and that Allah has His own Will, He Does what He likes out of His Wisdom. Whatever Allah has Written and Decreed upon His creation, must come to pass. Nothing leaves His knowledge, or happens without His Permission or Will.

8) Allah becomes Pleased when obeyed and Displeased when disobeyed.

9) The Jahmiyah and the Rafidha who curse the Companions are disbelievers.

10) The sinners amongst the Muslims are under the threat of Allah's punishment. He may Punish them or Forgive them (contrary to the Khawarij). A Muslim isn't a disbeliever on account of his sins, and we can't exclude actions from Iman unlike the Murjia. Those who declare their belief in the five pillars of Islam, yet refuse to perform them are disbelievers.

11) He believed in the miracles that occurred at the hands of the Awliya (pious Muslims) as a favour from Allah.

12) He believed that Abu Bakr is the best of the Companions, followed by Umar, then the six companions chosen by the latter as Ashab al-Shura (members of Shura council): Uthman, Ali, al-Zubair, Talha, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awf and Sa’d b. Abi Waqqas; followed by the fighters of Badr from the Emigrants (Muhajirin) and then the Helpers (Ansar).

13) He prohibited discussions on the differences between the Companions or dislike of any of them; for the honour of Companionship with Muhammad is sufficient a virtue to rank them higher than the entire Muslim until the end of time.

=Biographical Evaluation=

Comments about him from several people:
 * 1) Qutaibah: the best of people in our times is Ibn al-Mubarak, then this young man (Ahmad ibn Hambal), and if you see someone loves Ahmad, then know that he is a follower of Muhammad's tradition. Had he lived within the period Ats Tsauri, al Auza'i and Al-Layt, Ahmad undoubtedly will be more precedence than them. One asked Qutaibah "Is Ahmad a Tabi'in? Then he answered; He's even a Great Tabi'in. If it were not for Ath Thauri, piousness will be gone, and if it were not for Ahmed, the religion will die --> while we know that Ahmad isn't a Tabi'in.
 * 2) Ash Shafi'i: I saw a young man in Baghdad, when he said "He has narrated to us..." then people all said: "He's right". Then I was asked "who is he?" I "Ahmad ibn Hambal".
 * 3) Ali ibn Al Madini: verily Allah glorified this religion through Abu Bakr during the apostacy trial, and through Ahmad ibn Hambal during the trial when it's said that the Qur-an is a creature.
 * 4) Abu 'Ubaydah said "The science's back to The Four", then he mentioned Ahmad bin Hanbal, and he said "He is the most Jurist among them".
 * 5) An Nufaili Abu Ja'far: He's a religious figure.
 * 6) Ibn Ma'in: I've never seen someone who narrated the hadith for the sake of Allah but three persons; Ya'la ibn' Ubayd, Al Qa'nabi, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
 * 7) Ibrahim: People of knowledge in his time are Sa'id ibn Al Musayyab, Sufyan Ath Thaur, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
 * 8) Ibn Abi Hatim: I asked my father about Ali ibn Al Madini and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, who is the most Hafiz (good in memory) between them, and he replied, "Both are almost the same in Hafiz, but Ahmad is the most Jurist.

=His Death=