Download Hanbali Islam

Hanbali Islam
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was kept in prison for 28 months, with a heavy chain
around his feet. He was publicly humiliated, slapped and spat upon. Every evening
he used to be flogged. All this was because of the controversy regarding whether
the Quran was `uncreated'
The Shaf'i school is considered the easiest school and the Hanbali is considered the
hardest in terms of social and personal rules.
The government of Saudi Arabia vigorously enforces its prohibition against all forms
of public religious expression other than that of those who follow the government’s
interpretation and presentation of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. This is despite
the fact that there are large communities of non-Muslims and Muslims from a
variety of doctrinal schools of Islam residing in Saudi Arabia. Under the Hanbali
interpretation of Shari’a law, judges may discount the testimony of people who are
not practicing Muslims or who do not have the correct faith. Legal sources report
that testimony by Shi’a is often ignored in Saudi courts of law or is deemed to have
less weight than testimony by Sunnis. The explanation of Saudi officials is that their
Hanbali school of Islam religiously mandates that they deny other religions the right
to function openly on the Arabian Peninsula - a right that is clearly protected in
international law.
Maliki Islam
Maliki is one of the four schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam, named
for Malik ibn Anas (ca. 710-95), a leading jurist from Medina. This school recorded
the Medina consensus of opinion, and uses hadith (tradition) as a guide. The Maleki
is predominant in north, central and west Africa and Egypt. Following the tradition
of Imam Malik, this school appeals to "common utility...the idea of the common
good."
Malik did not record the fundamental principles on which he based his school and
on whose basis he derived his judgements and to which he limited himself in the
derivation of his rulings. In that respect he resembled his contemporary, Abu Hanifa,
but not his student, ash-Shafi'i, who did record the principles he used in derivation
and defined them precisely, specifying the motives which moved him to consider
them and their position in deduction. Malik only transmitted from people in whose
mursal and balaghat hadith he had absolute confidence. That is why his great
concern was with the choice of transmitter. When he had confidence in the
character, intelligence and knowledge of the transmitter he dispensed with the
chain of narration. Malik clearly stated that he took the practice of the people of
Madina as a source. He never wore shoes whilst in Medinatul Munawwarah
[Medina]. He never sat on a horse or used the toilets in this blessed city. He always
went out of the city to relieve himself.
Maliki is practiced in North Africa and parts of West Africa. It is the second-largest of
the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims. Arabia, North and
West Africa, Upper Egypt and the Sudan is the location. The colonial legal system
influenced development of Morocco’s legal system while shari’a courts continued to
apply Maliki fiqh to matters of family law. Also local tribunals applying customary
law. Following independence in 1956, a Code of Personal Status (al-Mudawwana)
was issued, based on dominant Maliki doctrine,
Shafi`i Islam
The Shaf'i school is predominant in east Africa, Indonesia and southeast Asia. Al
Shafii’s (d. 855) thought influenced Indonesia, Southern Arabia, Lower Egypt, parts
of Syria, Palestine, Eastern Africa, India and South Africa. The school remains
predominant in Southern Arabia, Bahrain, the Malay Archipelago, East Africa and
several parts of Central Asia. Shafi'i is practiced in Indonesia, Malaysia and
the Philippines. It is followed by approximately 15% of Muslims world-wide.
The Shaf'i school is considered the easiest school and the Hanbali is considered the
hardest in terms of social and personal rules. Hanafi took Shafi as his rival and vice
versa. Tradition, the consensus of the Muslim community and reasoning by analogy
are characteristics of this school.
Most Kurds in Iraq follow the Shafii school of Sunni Islam. A minority of Kurds,
concentrated in parts of the Kifri and Klar areas of Kirkuk, follow the Hanafi school.
The Shafi'iyyah school of Islamic law was named after Muhammad ibn Idris alShafi'i [Shaf'i, Shaafi`ee] (767-819). The school of Imam Abu Abd Allah Muhammad
Shafii of the Quraysh tribe of the Prophet, brought up in Mecca. He later taught in
both Baghdad and Cairo and followed a somewhat eclectic legal path, laying down
the rules for analogy that were later adopted by other legal schools. He was a
descendant of the Prophet's uncle, Abu Talib, and came to Egypt in the 9th century.
Saladin who founded the first madrasa, dedicated to the Shafi'i rite near the tomb of
its founder, Imam al-Shafi'i. Al-Shafi`i was known for his peculiar strength in Arabic
language, poetry, and philology. Imam Shafi`i was called devil and imprisoned.
Prayers were said for his death. He was taken in captivity from Yemen to Baghdad,
in a condition of humiliation and degradation.
Then at the time of Al-Shafi'i, the Prophet's ahadith were gathered from different
countries, and the disagreements among the scholars increased until Al-Shafi'i
wrote his famous book, Al-Risalah, which is considered the foundation of Islamic
jurisprudence. The Shafi'i tradition is particularly accessible to English speaking
Muslims due to the availability of high quality translations of the Reliance of
the Traveler.
Deobandi Islam
The northern Indian Deobandi school argues that the reason Islamic societies have
fallen behind the West in all spheres of endeavor is because they have been seduced
by the amoral and material accoutrements of Westernization, and have deviated
from the original pristine teachings of the Prophet.
Deoband is a town a hundred miles north of Delhi where a madrasa (religious
school) was established there in 1867. The so-called 'Deobandi Tradition' itself is
much
older
than
the
eponymous
Dar-Ul-Ulum
at
Deoband.
The
Deoband madrasa brought together Muslims who were hostile to British rule and
committed to a literal and austere interpretation of Islam.
For the last 200 years, Sunnis often have looked to the example of the Deoband
madrassa (religious school) near Delhi, India. The Deoband school has long sought
to purify Islam by discarding supposedly un-Islamic accretions to the faith and
reemphasizing the models established in the Koran and the customary practices of
the Prophet Mohammed. Additionally, Deobandi scholars often have opposed what
they perceive as Western influences.
Just as Sikhs originated from Hinduism, but are not Hindus, and Protestants came
from Roman Catholicism, but are not Catholics, similarly, the Deobandi sect
originated in the Sunni community, but are not strictly Sunnis. The tack of Darul
Uloom Deoband is in accordance with the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah, Hanafiate
practical method (Mazhab) and the disposition (Mashrab) of its holy founders,
Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Qasim Nanautavi (Allah's mercy be on him!) and Hazrat
Maulana Rasheed Ahmed Gangohi (may his secret be sanctified).
The Deobandi interpretation holds that a Muslim's first loyalty is to his religion and
only then to the country of which he is a citizen or a resident; secondly, that Muslims
recognise only the religious frontiers of their Ummah and not the national frontiers;
thirdly,that they have a sacred right and obligation to go to any country to wage
jihad to protect the Muslims of that country.
The Deobandi interpretation of Islamic teachings is widely practiced in Pakistan.
The Deobandi movement in Sunni Islam, was founded in response to British colonial
rule in India and later hardened in Pakistan into bitter opposition to what its
members views as the country's neo-colonial elite. The Islamic Deobandi militants
share the Taliban's restrictive view of women, and regard Pakistan's minority Shiia
as non-Muslim. They seek a pure leader, or amir, to recreate Pakistani society
according to the egalitarian model of Islam's early days under the Prophet
Mohammed. President Musharraf himself, is a Deobandi, actually born in the city
in India, where the school took it's name.
During the first half of April 2000, the Government of Pakistan permitted a 3-day
conference organized by the Deobandi Muslim political party Jamiat-Ulema-Islami
(JUI). Several speakers at the conference made anti-Western political declarations.
Deobandi and Barelvi sects struggled, sometimes violently, for control over local
mosques in Lahore neighborhoods.
The fundamentalist Deoband Dar-ul-Uloom brand of Islam inspired the Taliban
movement and had widespread appeal for Muslim fundamentalists. Most of the
Taliban leadership attended Deobandi-influenced seminaries in Pakistan. The
Taliban was propped up initially by the civil government of Benazir Bhutto, then in
coalition with the Deobandi Jama'at-ulema Islam (JUI) led by Maulana Fazlur
Rehman [who by 2003 was the elected opposition leader at the Center in Islamabad
and whose protégé is now the chief Minister in the NWFP]. Traditionally, Sunni
Islam of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence was the dominant religion of Afganistan.
The Taliban also adhered to the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, making it the
dominant religion in the country for most of 2001. For the last 200 years, Sunnis
often have looked to the example of the Deoband madrassah (religious school) near
Delhi, India. Most of the Taliban leadership attended Deobandi-influenced
seminaries in Pakistan. The Deoband school has long sought to purify Islam by
discarding supposedly un-Islamic accretions to the faith and reemphasizing the
models established in the Koran and the customary practices of the Prophet
Mohammed. Additionally, Deobandi scholars often have opposed what they perceive
as Western influences. Much of the population adheres to Deobandi-influenced
Hanafi Sunnism, but a sizable minority adheres to a more mystical version of
Sunnism generally known as Sufism. Sufism centers on orders or brotherhoods that
follow charismatic religious leaders.
Although the majority of the Islamic population (Sunni) in Afghanistan and Pakistan,
belong to the Hanafi sect, the theologians who have pushed Pakistan towards
Islamic Radicalism for decades, as well as the ones who were the founders of the
Taliban, espoused Wahabi rhetoric and ideals. This sect took its inspiration from
Saudi Hanbali theologians who immigrated there in the 18th century, to help their
Indian Muslim brothers with Hanbali theological inspiration against the British
colonialists. Propelled by oil-generated wealth, the Wahhabi worldview increasingly
co-opted
the
Deobandi
movement
in
South
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-deobandi.htm
Asia.
Barelvi Islam
Deobandis and Barelvis are the two major groups of Muslims in the Subcontinent
apart from the Shia. Barelvi Hanafis deem Deobandis to be kaafir. Those hostile to
the Barelvis deprecated them as the shrine-worshipping, the grave-worshiping,
ignorant Barelvis. Much smaller sects in Pakistan include the Ahl-e-Hadees and Ahle-Tashee. The non-Pakhtun population of Pakistan is predominantly Barelvi. The
stronghold of Barelvism remains Punjab, the largest province of Pakistan. By one
estimate, in Pakistan, the Shias are 18%, ismailis 2%, Ahmediyas 2%, Barelvis 50%,
Deobandis 20%, Ahle Hadith 4%, and other minorities 4%. The Ahle-e-Hadith is a
small group of Sunni Muslims in India who do not consider themselves bound by
any particular school of law and rely directly on the Prophet’s Sunnah. By another
estimate some 15 per cent of Pakistan's Sunni Muslims would consider themselves
Deobandi, and some 60 per cent, are in the Barelvi tradition based mostly in the
province of Punjab. But some 64 per cent of the total seminaries are run by
Deobandis, 25 per cent by the Barelvis, six percent by the Ahle Hadith and three
percent by various Shiite organisations.
The Muslim League was founded by the Aga Khan, leader of the Ismaili Sevener
Shiites. And Jinnah was an Ismaili. The barelvis and shias and ismailis and
Ahmediyas joined the Pakistan movement, while the deobandis opposed the
formation of Pakistan, since they wanted to islamise all of India. But the Deobandis
in Pakistan owed their allegiance to Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Usmani, who
organized the Deobandi ulema who were in favour of Pakistan into the Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam. The so-called "nationalist Muslims" who opposed Partition, such as
Maulana Azad and Maulana Maudoodi, were Sunnis.
The differences between these sects can be difficult to understand. For the Barelvis,
(who are mostly from the Pakistan province of Punjab) the holy Prophet is a
superhuman figure whose presence is all around us at all times; he is hazir, present;
he is not bashar, material or flesh, but nur, light. The Deobandis, who also revere the
Prophet, argue he was the insan-i-kamil, the perfect person, but still only a man, a
mortal. Barelvis emphasise a love of Muhammad, a semi-divine figure with unique
foreknowledge. The Deobandis reject this idea of Muhammad, emphasising Islam as
a personal rather than a social religion.
The Barelvis follow many Sufi practices, including use of music (Qawwali) and
intercession by their teacher. A key difference between Barelvi and Deobandi that
Barelvi's believe in intercession between humans and Divine Grace. This consists of
the intervention of an ascending, linked and unbroken chain of holy
personages, pirs, reaching ultimately to Prophet Mohammad, who intercede on their
behalf with Allah. It is a more superstitious - but also a more tolerant - tradition
of Indian Islam. Their critics claim that Barelvis are guilty of committing innovation
(Bid’at) and therefore, they are deviated from the true path - the path ofSunnah.
The Pakistan Movement got support from the Barelvis (Low Church). It had faced
opposition from the NationalIndian Congress which was supported by the Deobandi
seminaries (High Church). However, after the establishment of Pakistan as an
Islamic state in 1949, Barelvi Low Church was too mixed up with mysticism to be a
source of Islamic law. Ironically, Pakistan moved away from the 'spiritual pluralism'
of the Barelvis, who had supported Pakistan, and relied on the more puritanical
Deobandis who had opposed it.
Unlike the Deobandis, the Barelvis see the Prophet Mohammad as more than a man,
a part of the divine light of Allah. This doctrine gives rise to a form of Islam that
provides a space for holy men and esoteric practices and graves appear to be often
more ornate than those found within Deobandi communities. The Wahhabi (Arabia),
Deobandi (Pakistan and India) and Jamaat-I-Islami all are anti-sufi, and against the
over devotion to Muhammad, whereas the Barelvis emphasize Muhammad's
uniqueness. Indeed, nearly 85% of South Asia’s Sunni Muslims are said to follow the
Barelvi school, closer to Sufism. The remaining 15% of Sunnis follow the Deobandi
school, more closely related to the conservative practice of Islam. Most Shiites in the
subcontinent also tend to be influenced by the Sufis. Pakistan’s Muslims, like other
Muslims in the region, tend to follow a school of Islam which is less conservative,
and hence the support for strongly and overtly religious parties has been minimal.
The Barelvis believe the Prophet is a human being made from flesh and blood
[bashar] and a noor [light] at the same time. This is like the example of when
Gabriel, who is also noor [light], used to appear to the Prophet in the form of a man,
flesh and blood. He is infallible and perfect and free from all imperfections and
sinless (as are all Prophets). He is human but not like other humans. Allah has given
him the ability to see the whole of Creation in detail while he is in his blessed grave
as if he was looking at it in the palm of his hand. This is called being "nazir"
("witnessing"). Allah has given him the ability to go physically and spiritually to
anywhere in the Created Universes he pleases whenever he pleases (peace be upon
him) and to be in more than one place at the same time. This is what is meant by
"hazir" (present). This is not the same as believing that he (peace be upon him) is
present
everywhere
all
the
time!
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-barelvi.htm
Hanafi Islam
Within the Sunni Muslim tradition, Hanafi is one of four “schools of law” and
considered the oldest and most liberal school of law. Hanafi is one of the four
schools of thought (madhabs / Maddhab) of religious jurisprudence (fiqh) within
Sunni Islam. Named for its founder, the Hanafi school of Imam Abu Hanifa, it is the
major school of Iraqi Sunni Arabs. It makes considerable use of reason or opinion in
legal decisions. Sunni Hanafi creed is essentially non-hierarchial and decentralized,
which has made it difficult for 20th century rulers to incorporate its religious
leaders into strong centralized state systems.
The Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence was founded by Abu Hanifa, born in
Kufa, Iraq about A.D.700. He was one of the earliest Muslim scholar-interpreters to
seek new ways of applying Islamic tenets to everyday life. In his lifetime Abu Hanifa
was disgraced, called ignorant, inventor of new beliefs, hypocrite and kafir. He was
imprisoned and poisoned. He died in 150 A.H. [circa 767-768 C.E.]. Abu Hanifa's
interpretation of Muslim law was extremely tolerant of differences within Muslim
communities. He also separated belief from practice, elevating belief over practice.
Hanafi took Shafi as his rival and vice versa.
Most of the Hanafi school follows al-Maturidi in doctrine. Muhammad ibn
Muhammad ibn Mahmud Abu Mansur al-Samarqandi al-Maturidi al-Hanafi (d. 333)
of Maturid in Samarqand, Shaykh al-Islam, was one of the two foremost Imams of
the mutakallimûn of Ahl al-Sunna. He was known in his time as the Imam of
Guidance (Imâm al-Hudâ). The majority of the Taliban are Maturidis.
Broad-minded without being lax, this school appeals to reason (personal judgment)
and a quest for the better. It is generally tolerant and the largest movement within
Islam. The Hanafi school is known for its liberal religious orientation that elevates
belief over practice and is tolerant of differences within Muslim communities.
A sectarian dispute in the United States was transformed into a mass hostage taking
by Hanafi Muslims in Washington, DC in 1977. The Hanafi Movement in the United
States was founded by Hamas Abdul Khaalis in 1968. Khaalis, formerly Ernest 2X
McGee, had been the Nation of Islam's first National Secretary and a friend of
Malcolm X. He had converted to orthodox Islam and founded the Hanafi Movement
with money donated by Kareem Abdul-Jabar. On 09 March 1977, Khaalis and about
a dozen of his followers armed with shotguns and machetes seized control of seized
the District Building [city hall], the B'nai B'rith building, and the Islamic Center, in
the District of Columbia. Khaalis said they were seeking revenge for the murders of
Khaalis' family members by Black Muslims in 1973. They held 134 hostages for
more than 39 hours, they shot Washington DC city councilman Marion Barry in the
chest, and they shot a radio reporter dead. The standoff ended and the hostages
were freed after ambassadors from three Islamic nations joined the negotiations.
The Hanafis were convicted and sentenced to long terms in prison.
Hanafi scholars refuse to control a human religious or spiritual destiny, and refuse
to give that right to any human institution. Among the Hudud crimes, those crimes
against God, blasphemy is not listed by the Hanafis. Hanafis concluded that
blasphemy could not be punished by the state. The state should not be involved in
deciding God-human relationships. Rather, the state should be concerned only with
the violation of human rights within the jurisdiction of the human affairs and human
relationships.
Notwithstanding their common heritage from Imam Abu Hanifah, the scholars
belonging to the Hanafi madhhab are divided in the Barelvi and the Deobandi
school, and these two schools have different attitude toward Wahhabism.
The Sunni Hanafi school is dominant in the Arab Middle East, India, Pakistan and
Afghanistan. The followers of Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 767) are found in Pakistan, India,
Afghanistan, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, China, North Africa, Egypt, and in the Malay
Archipelago. The school is followed by the majority of the Muslim population of
Turkey, Albania, the Balkans, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, India and
Iraq. Most of the Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school. Ethnic Kazakhs,
who constitute approximately one half of the national population, historically are
Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi School. Ethnic Uzbeks, Uyghurs, and Tatars, comprising
less than 10 percent of the population, also largely are Sunni Hanafi. Other Islamic
groups, which account for less than 1 percent of the population of Kazakhstan,
include Shafit Sunni (traditionally practiced by Chechens), Shiite, Sufi, and Akhmadi.
Sunni are found throughout Afghanistan. An estimated 84% of Afghanistan's
population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school of jurisprudence; the remainder is
predominantly Shi'a, mainly Hazara. In March 2003 Ayatollah Mohammad Asef
Mohseni, leader of the predominantly Shia Harakat-e Islami-yi Afghanistan,
proposed that, along with the Sunni Hanafi school of jurisprudence, the Shia Ja'fari
school of jurisprudence be included in the new constitution as an official sect.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islam-hanafi.htm
Sunni Islam
There was only one madh-hab (school of fiqh) during the time of the Righly-guided
Caliphs. With the emergence of the Umayyad rule, the situation changed. The
Umayyad caliphs did not have the same religious authority as the previous ones.
After the Umayyad (661-750 CE) came the Abbasids. In comparison to the
Umayyads, they were more supportive of Islamic law. The crystallization of four
major Sunni madhahib of Islamic fiqh came about by the third century of Hijrah;
before this there were about twenty different madhahib.
In the Sunni world there are now Four Orthodox Schools (Schools of Fiqh) of
thought [the Four Madhahib]: the Shafi’i, Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali. With regard to
legal matters, these four orthodox schools give different weight in legal opinions to
prescriptions in the Quran, the hadith or sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, the
consensus of legal scholars, analogy (to similar situations at the time of the
Prophet), and reason or opinion. Towards the end of the first century of Islam, Imam
Abu Hanifa in Kufa and Imam Malik in Madina founded mazahib (schools) or religiolegal thought, named after them as the Hanafi and the Maliki schools. In the
following century, the two other great schools were founded -- the Shafei school of
Imam Idris al-Shafei in Egypt and the Hanbali school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in
Baghdad. The differences between the four famous Jurists Imaam Abu Hanifa,
Shaaf'ee, Maaliki and Hanbaliy stem from their differences on principles. The basic
principle according to Imaam Maaliki is to prefer Amal-e-Madinah, that is the
practices of the people of Madina Munawwarah. However, that principle is not
adopted by Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
The fanatical loyalty to a particular madh-hab among Muslims is decreasing. Now
Hanafi, Shafi`i, Maliki and Hanbali and even Ja`fari followers pray together and work
together. Most scholars hold that it is not required of the Muslim to follow a certain
Fiqh School because nothing can be made required of Muslims except that made by
Allah and His Prophet. When in need of Fatwa, Muslims could consult with any
scholar regardless of his Madh-hab. A common Muslim is said to have no Madh-hab.
Sunni Islam does not possess clerical hierarchies and centralized institutions. The
absence of a hierarchy has been a source of strength that has permitted the faith to
adapt to local conditions. However, it also has been a weakness that makes it
difficult for Sunni Muslims to achieve any significant degree of solidarity. Despite
some very minor disputes there are many Sub-Groups in the four groups like
Kharjiites, Wahabis, Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahle-Sunnat Wal Jamat, Ahle Hadith, Ghurba
Ahle Hadits, Sunnis of Green Turban, Sunnis of Brown Turbans etc. etc. They declare
each other wrong and seldom offer prayer behind each other.
Among Sunni Muslims, effective power and the ability to maintain order are
sufficient for legitimate authority, in stark contrast to the more uncompromising
Shia views of government as the sole province of religious leaders. For Sunnis, even
a bad Muslim ruler is preferable to chaos and anarchy, and the
Sunni religioustradition contains only a limited right to rebel. However, if a ruler
commands something that is contrary to God’s law, the subject’s duty of obedience
lapses.
Originally political, the differences between Sunni and Shia interpretations rapidly
took on theological andmetaphysical overtones. In principle a Sunni approaches God
directly; there is no clerical hierarchy. Some duly appointed religious figures,
however, exert considerable social and political power. Imams usually are men of
importance in their communities but they need not have any formal training; among
the beduins, for example, any tribal member may lead communal prayers.
Committees of socially prominent worshipers usually run the major mosque-owned
land and gifts. In many Arab countries, the administration of waqfs (religious
endowments) has come under the influence of the state. Qadis (judges) and imams
are appointed by the government.
(Source)
Hanbali Islam
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was kept in prison for 28 months, with a heavy chain around
his feet. He was publicly humiliated, slapped and spat upon. Every evening he used to be
flogged. All this was because of the controversy regarding whether the Quran was
`uncreated'
The Shaf'i school is considered the easiest school and the Hanbali is considered the
hardest in terms of social and personal rules.
The government of Saudi Arabia vigorously enforces its prohibition against all forms of
public religious expression other than that of those who follow the government’s
interpretation and presentation of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. This is despite the
fact that there are large communities of non-Muslims and Muslims from a variety of
doctrinal schools of Islam residing in Saudi Arabia. Under the Hanbali interpretation of
Shari’a law, judges may discount the testimony of people who are not practicing Muslims
or who do not have the correct faith. Legal sources report that testimony by Shi’a is often
ignored in Saudi courts of law or is deemed to have less weight than testimony by Sunnis.
The explanation of Saudi officials is that their Hanbali school of Islam religiously
mandates that they deny other religions the right to function openly on the Arabian
Peninsula - a right that is clearly protected in international law.