A Simple Guide to ISLAM
Fiqh – Jurisprudence
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Kufa, and later on the Caliph Al-Mansur compelled him to accept
the office of judge (Head of the Judiciary) he refused. He was
even punished, whipped and imprisoned but he did not change
his decision.
After he was released he came to Makkah. After some time he
went back to Kufa during the rule of Abu Abbas as Saffah. He
died in Baghdad in 767.
Abu Hanifa being a merchant had travelled widely. These
extensive travels, contacts with great many people of different
culture and background, his exposure to varied influence helped
to nurture his mind further. Since Iraq was a central place the
society here was more advanced than other places. All this greatly
contributed to shaping the mind of Abu Hanifa and prepared him
for this great gigantic task of development of fiqh into a scientific
discipline.
Being a speculating jurist, Abu Hanifah brought about systematic
consistency in legal doctrine. His doctrines are more carefully
formulated and systematically consistent.
Before Abu Hanifah’s time, doctrines had been formulated mainly
in response to actual problems whereas he attempted to solve
problems that might arise in future. By the introduction of this
method the area of law was considerably enlarged.
His independence, his piety and his selflessness have made him a
symbol paragon of Muslim scholarship.
