Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān (d.150AH) Known as Imam Abu Hanifa (rah)
Abu Abdullah Mālik ibn Anas ibn Mālik (d.179AH) Known as Imam Malik (rah)
Before Imam Malik and Imam Abu-Hanifa’s encounter,
Imam Malik used to say, “Beware of the people of opinion.”
Abu-Hanifa’s school
was called the “school
of opinion.”
Before their meeting, there was a lot of talk and exchange of letters
but they only met during the rituals of the Hajj.
When
they finally met, they
chose to address three issues which were viewed differently by each
party. The first jurisprudential issue was about how to address
hypothetical questions; things
that had not taken place yet.
In Imam Malik’s juristic school of thought, we should not imagine situations and ask about things that have not happened, as this distracts people from already existing issues and lead to controversy.
Imam Malik brought his evidence from various ayahs and ahadith.
He stated the ayah where Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “They ask you concerning the new moons (Literally: crescents).” (TMQ, 2:189). Such questions are meaningless.
Allah
(SWT) replies in the ayah, that can be translated as, “Say,
“They are fixed times for mankind, and (for) the Pilgrimage.” (TMQ,
2:189)
His
other evidence was
that Omar
Ibnul-Khattab (RA)
cursed the one who asked about situations that have not happened and
used to say, “Do
not engage us with things that have not happened, keep people busy
with the truth instead.”
People
used to come to Imam
Malik and
ask him hypothetical questions and
he used to get angry and
tell them not
to ask about things that have not happened yet.
Those people were usually from Iraq where Imam
Abu-Hanifa was,
who supported this kind of questions.
As
for Imam
Abu-Hanifa, his
approach was based on inventing
situations that
have not happened. He invented 60,
000 such
situations.
In
their meeting Imam Malik disapproved Imam
Abu Hanifa’s view.
Iraq is
the capital of the Caliphate and everyday there are new
things being introduced and
they should be prepared, while in Madinah problems
are fixed and
limited.
Then,
he gave an example when he discussed with his students a
situation of a woman whose husband travelled and was absent for so
long that she thought he was dead and hence she married another man.
Suddenly, the man returned. What should be done then?
Imam
Malik wondered
why they would ask about things that have not happened,
but Abu-Hanifa said
that in Iraq, where
soldiers went on conquests, this might occur and they should be ready
for such situation. Imam
Malik was silent.
Imam
Abu-Hanifa reminded him
of what
The Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم) said
when a man came to him saying, “Imagine
if a man comes to take my money, what shall I do?”
The
Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
told him not to give it to him.
The
man asked again, “Imagine if he fights me?”
The
Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
urged him to fight him too.
The
man asked, “Imagine if he killed me?
The
Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
said that he would be a martyr.
The
man asked once more “Imagine if I killed him?”
The
Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
said that the
man killed would go to the hellfire.
Abu-Hanifa said that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was asked by about a hypothetical situation four times.
When Malik said that this was for a purpose, Abu-Hanifa replied, “In Iraq we do it for a purpose too.”
Then, Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad said, “Glory to Allah. By Allah, you are enriching Islam.”
Imam Malik kept people away from indulging in trivial issues and Imam Abu-Hanifa was questioning the future to protect people.
That was what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did.
He forbade asking
about things that are hypothetical and
replied to an important
situation that could happen in the future.
Both
Imams reached a conclusion of holding on to what they were doing, but
to then integrate both approaches for the benefit of Islam.
The
four principles previously mentioned certainly to this debate.
Their
difference of opinion resulted in an environment that enriched Islam.
The calm and honest dialogue helped in presenting the various
opinions and truths from all aspects. Meanwhile, the manner of
conversation between both men was civilized, polite and
outstanding.
The
issues they discussed were not petty. Nowadays some people leave the
obligatory issues related to the unity of the Muslims and dispute
over trivial matters. Both Imams differed on core issues, but there
was love and understanding between them.
The
second issue which the Imams disagreed on
was that of the
consensuses.
In
Islam, in
order to reach a solution for any question is look it up in the
Qur’an. If you did not find it, to look it up in ahadith, if not;
then apply the rule of the consensus of the scholars.
Imam Malik believed that the consensus should be that agreed by the people of Madinah only because the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) lived and died there and so did his nine wives who saw all his actions and witnessed all his deeds. They are about 10,000 companions.
A man came to Imam Malik and asked him about disputed matters.
The
Imam said, “Search
for the opinion of the people of Madinah. When you find it, be sure
that it is the truth.”
He said to another one, “You
can find knowledge in Madinah, as Qur’an was not revealed in
Euphrates (meaning
Iraq and Abu Hanifa’s school).”
Imam
Abu Hanifa was 13
years older than Imam
Malik, yet
he respected him.
He replied, “Malik, the conquests during the reign of Omar Ibnul-Khattab distributed the Companions (RA) all over the world. You say that in Madinah there are 10,000 companions. In the last battle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) there were about 120,000 companions, so where are the rest?
You cannot deny that Omar Ibnul-Khattab sent the companions particularly to teach people in different countries.”
He
started to numerate some companions such
as
Mo’az
Ibn-Jabal whom
the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
described to be the most knowledgeable and sent him to Yemen. Also,
he mentioned Abdullah
Ibn-Mas’od whose
way of reciting Qur’an was recommended by the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
for the people. He added the names of Abu-Dthar,
Zobair Ibnul-A’wam,
and Sa’ad
Ibn-Abu-Waqqas in Egypt, Hudthayfa
Ibnul-Yaman, Abdullah Ibn-Mas’od, and Ali
Ibn-Abu-Talib in Iraq, Abu-Ubayda
Ibnul-Jaraah, Bilal and Abul-Dardaa’ in Syria,
etc.
Then,
he narrated the hadith of the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
where he said that his companions are like the stars any
of which can guide people. Imam
Abu-Hanifa went
on to say that the brilliance of Omar
Ibnul-Khattab is what
led him to send the companions all over world and kept some in
Madinah to keep a balance.
Thus, Imam
Abu-Hanifa showed Imam
Malik that the
distribution of the companions was for the sake of the integration of
the ummah.
Al-Layth
Ibn-Sa’ad said,
“By
Allah, this also, is an integration of the ummah.”
When
you look from another angle you can see another aspect of the truth.
This is the virtue of difference; to help you see the truth from all
its aspects. If all people think alike, they will see only one side
of the truth, but Allah (SWT) whose name is the Truth wants you to
see all the sides.
The third issue tackled in the meeting was about the school of opinion and hadith.
Imam Abu-Hanifa expands the explanation of the ahadith to the extent that he concluded 100 lessons from one hadith.
Imam
Malik saw
that it as an exaggeration and overloading the hadith which the
Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
did not want.
Imam
Abu-Hanifa replied
that in Iraq, Greek,
Roman and Persian philosophies and sciences are invading them,
so he needs to keep people fixed on the path of the Prophet
(صلى
الله عليه وسلم).
That is why he was searching in ahadith to counter the new ideas. On the other hand in Madinah, there are none but the companions and their followers, so there is no need for expansion in elaborating ahadith.
Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad said, “This too is integration”
Both Imams complement one another in keeping Islam.
After the two Imams left the meeting,
Al-Layth Ibn-Sa’ad, an Egyptian Imam whose juristic school of thought was just as superior as the other four Imams but had no students to spread it, was keen on knowing the impression of both sides.
He went to Imam Malik and asked him.
Imam
Malik wiped
his sweat and said, “By
Allah, Abu-Hanifa made me sweat. By Allah, he is a true jurist. I’ve
never seen a man debating like that. By Allah, if he told you that
this iron rod is made out of gold, he would convince
you.”
Al-Layth went
to Imam
Abu-Hanifa who
said,
“I debated hundreds of men, but have never seen a man accept the
truth as fast as him.”
What
happened after that?
First, Imam Abu-Hanifa sent his son Hammaad to Madinah to learn the jurisprudential approach of Malik and his book ‘Al-Mu’ata’.
Then, Imam
Malik asked
for the
books of Abu-Hanifa to
benefit from them.
Meanwhile, Muhammad
Ibnul-Hassan, a
student of Abu-Hanifa’s,
held a session in Iraq to
present the approach of Malik.
Once, Imam Abu-Hanifa sent to Imam Malik consulting him on an issue before announcing his opinion to the public.
Abu-Hanifa did not agree about naming a sinful person a disbeliever.
Imam Malik agreed, so Abu Hanifa announced it.
This
did not arise from one meeting only, but there were numerous
correspondences which contributed more to their integration.
The
Abbassid Caliph Al-Mansour once
came to Imam
Malik offering
him to cancel all other jurisprudential approaches, making Malik’s
approach prevail, and also writing his book in gold and
keeping it inside the Ka’ba.
Imam
Malik who
once rejected all
other approaches and asserted on the opinion of
the people
of Madinah told
him not
to do so because the companions of the Prophet (صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
are spread all over the world. Those were Abu-Hanifa’s words from
their encounter.
---
Ahmad
ibn al-Khalil said that he
heard Ishaq ibn Ibrahim {Ibn
Rahawayh} say,
“When Imam Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan
ath-Thawri and al-Awza’i agree on a matter, it is Sunnah, even if
there is no text on it.” [Tadhkirah al-Huffaz, adh-Dhahabi]
"
Out of Imam Malik’s nine hundred teachers, three hundred were from
the Tabi'in and six hundred from the followers of the Tabi'in. {In my
= an-Nawawi's opinion}
the Imam’s
greatest teacher was Nafi.
[Tahdhebul' Asma]
`Abdur-Rahman
ibn Mahdi said:
" There is none more trustworthy in Hadith Nabawi on the face of
this earth than Imam Malik. "
Imam
Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:
" I was asked whose Hadith should be memorized by heart if from
anyone? I replied Malik ibn Anas.
Imam
Bukhari said:
" I was asked what is the most authentic chain of narrators. I
replied from Malik from Nafi`from Ibn `Umar {Allah be pleased with
him}.
Imam
an-Nasa'i said:
" After the Tabi`in the most understanding, reliable,
trustworthy, man in Hadith is Imam Malik. " {May Allah be
pleased with them all}.
---
(Edited by ADHM)
