Hanbali school was the fourth and the last school of Sunni sect. Mohammad. Hanbali school was founded by Ahmad bin Hanbal (A.H. 164-241). He was a disciple of Imam Shafei and strong supporter of Hadis. The followers of Hanbali school found in Syria, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
After the death of the Prophet in 632, his followers subsequently built an empire that would stretch from Central Asia to Spain less than a century after his death. But a debate over succession split the community, with some arguing that leadership should be awarded to qualified individuals and others insisting that the only legitimate ruler must come through Mohammed’s bloodline. At the time of the death of the Prophet, there was a quarrel between the two groups for imamate (the temporal leadership of the religion). One group advocated the principle of the election in choosing the Imam. This group is known as “Sunni”. The adherents to the Sunni doctrine are called Sunni. While, the other group opposed the principle of the election in choosing the Imam and proclaimed that Ali is the successor of the ‘Prophet’. They firmly believe that imamat must be devolved upon the successors of the prophet, i.e. (i) Ali, the son in law; and (ii) Fatima, the daughter of Prophet. This group is known as “Shia”. Thus, there are two main schools of Muslim Law: a) Sunni school and b) Shia school. There are four sub-schools in Muslim Law. Viz: Hanafi school, Maliki school, Shafei school, and Hanbali school.
Hanbali School of Muslim Law:
Ibn Hanbal was born at Bagdad on Rabi 1-164 A.H. He Studied under different masters and made extensive travels to learn Hadith and Fiqh. In his early age he studied Fiqh under Imam Abu Yousuf and heard Hadith from Hisham and Sufyam ibn Aina and other traditionalists. His inclination of mind was towards the study of Hadith, therefore he made a very extensive study of Hadith and went to Mecca and Yemen etc. to hear Hadith from the traditionalists of those centers. After he had returned home, he took lessons from Imam Shafi in fiqh. The frame of his learning, piety and Justice gathered a host of disciples and admires around him. In fact, he was more a traditionalist than a jurist. He died at Baghdad on the 12th of Rabi 241 A.H. His pupils included Ismail al-Bukhari and Muslim ibn Daub.
He opposed the method of Ijthihad (personal reasoning) explained by Imam Shaffie. And instead, he formed a theory of tracing root (usool) of Sunnah or Hadis to get the answer. He collected about 80,000 Ahadis and codified them in his Book ‘Musnath’. Imam ibn Hanabal was more traditionalists than a jurist and made use of this source (traditions) extensively. His interpretation of Hadith was literal and unbending. He leaned so much on Hadith that it is said that he accepted weak Hadith and did not adhere to the strict principle of scrutinizing the transmission of Hadith. Imam Hanabal’s collection of traditions known as Musnad Ahmed, which contains nearly thirty thousand Hadiths, does not apply strict rules of criticism. From the very nature of exertion of Hadith it is evident that he made very little reasoning, as he was dependent almost entirely on Hadith, the result was that he admitted even the weakest Hadith. Other important texts of this school are Taat-ur-Rasul and Kitab-ul-Alai.
Main Features of Hanbali School:
The main features of Hanbali school are as follows:
- Imam Hanbal was undoubtedly a more popular traditionalist than a Jurist. But he has made a remarkable contribution towards the development of Islamic Jurisprudence.
- Imam Hanbal made extensive use of the Hadith. He tried to follow as it is with very little reasoning. Moreover, he accepted even the weakest Hadith in its original form. Imam Hanbal adopted the interpretation of Hadith.
- The adherents of Hanbali School recognize five main sources: (a) The Quran; (b) The Sunnah; (c) The Ijma of the companions of Prophet, if there is nothing to contradict them, and sayings of some of the companions when these are consistent with the Quran and the Sunnah; (d) ‘Zaief’ and ‘Mursal’ traditions (traditions having a weak chair of transmission and lacking in the name of some of the transmitters); and (e) Qiyas whenever it is necessary.
- Hanbalis based their Qiyas on Qur’an, Hadith, Ijma or Qiyas itself and they accept the validity of Qiyas generally in matters which are the rights of man and are determined by the application of our senses and reason.
- Imam Hanbal also favours the law of juristic equity as the source of law.
- Imam Hanbal’s method of formulating legal doctrines was of Ashab-e-Hadith.
Conclusion:
Hanbali school was the fourth and the last school of Sunni sect. Mohammad. Hanbali school was founded by Ahmad bin Hanbal (A.H. 164-241). Imam Hanbal opposed the method of Ijthihad (personal reasoning) explained by Imam Shafei. And instead, he formed a theory of tracing root (usool) of Sunnah or Hadis to get the answer.