Hanbali school

The Hanbali school or Hanbalism (

Shafi'i schools.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Like the other Sunni schools, it primarily derives

Muhammad's companions.^[1] In cases where there is no clear answer in the sacred texts of Islam, the Hanbali school does not accept juristic discretion or customs of a community as sound bases to derive Islamic law on their own—methods that the Hanafi and Maliki schools accept.^[4]

It is found primarily in the countries of

Jordanian bedouins.^[5]^[8]

With the rise of the 18th-century conservative

Wahhabi movement, the Hanbali school experienced a great reformation.^[9] Historically being considered the smallest school, the movement's founder, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, collaborated with the House of Saud to greatly aid the school's propagation around the world according to their interpretation of its teachings.^[9] However, the historian Michael Cook argues Ahmad's own beliefs actually played "no real part in the establishment of the central doctrines of Wahhabism",^[10] and in spite of their shared tradition, "the older Hanbalite authorities had doctrinal concerns very different from those of the Wahhabis".^[10] Other scholars maintain Ahmad was "the distant progenitor of Wahhabism" and also inspired the similar Salafi movement.^[11]

One who ascribes to the Hanbali school is called a Hanbali, Hanbalite or Hanbalist (

Arabic: ٱلْحَنْبَلِيّ, romanized

: al-ḥanbalī, pl. ٱلْحَنْبَلِيَّة, al-ḥanbaliyya or ٱلْحَنَابِلَة, al-ḥanābila).

History

Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq from the Bayt (Household) of Muhammad, whether directly or indirectly.^[17]

Like Al-Shafi'i and

Sahaba) and weaker hadiths. Imam Hanbal himself compiled Al-Musnad, a text with over 30,000 saying, actions and customs of Muhammad.^[1]

Ibn Hanbal never composed an actual systematic legal theory on his own, and was against setting up juristic superstructures. He devoted himself to the task of collection and

Mongol siege of Baghdad. The book was only preserved in a summarized form by the Hanbali jurist al-Khiraqi, who had access to written copies of al-Khallal's book before the siege.^[23]

Relations with the

Ar-Radi publicly condemning the school in its entirety and ending its official patronage by state religious bodies.^[27]

According to

Sunni madhahib (schools of law), and many prominent medieval Sufis, such as Abdul Qadir Gilani, were Hanbali jurists and mystics at the same time.^[28]

At some point between the 10th and 12th centuries, the Hanbali scholars began adopting the term “Salafi". The influential 13th century Hanbali theologian

Ibn Taymiyya advocated Salafi thought as a theological endeavour and his efforts would create a lasting impact on the subsequent followers of the Hanbali school.^[29]

Now most of the followers of this religion are present in different countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman.^[30]^[31]^[32]

Principles

Sources of law

Like all other schools of Sunni Islam, the Hanbali school holds that the two primary sources of Islamic law are the

Sahabah), then individual opinion of Muhammad's companions, followed in order of preference by weaker hadiths, and in rare cases qiyas (analogy).^[1] The Hanbali school, unlike Hanafi and Maliki schools, rejected that a source of Islamic law can be a jurist's personal discretionary opinion or consensus of later generation Muslims on matters that serve the interest of Islam and community. Hanbalis hold that this is impossible and leads to abuse.^[18] The Hanbali school also rejects taqlid (blind adherence to scholarly opinions) and encourages the practice of Ijtihad (independent reasoning) through the study of Quran and Hadith.^[33]

Ibn Hanbal rejected the possibility of religiously binding consensus (Ijma), as it was impossible to verify once later generations of Muslims spread throughout the world,

Shafi'ite

jurists on the subject.

Ibn Hanbal's strict standards of acceptance regarding the sources of Islamic law were probably due to his suspicion regarding the field of Usul al-Fiqh, which he equated with speculative theology (kalam).[38] While demanding strict application of Qur'an and Hadith, Hanbali Fiqh is nonetheless flexible in areas not covered by Scriptures. In issues where the Qur'an and the Hadiths were ambiguous or vague; the Hanbali Fuqaha (jurists) engaged in Ijtihad to derive rulings. Additionally, the Hanbali madh'hab accepted the Islamic principle of Maslaha ('public interest') in solving the novel issues.^[39] In the modern era, Hanbalites have branched out and even delved into matters regarding the upholding (Istislah) of public interest (Maslaha) and even juristic preference (Istihsan), anathema to the earlier Hanbalites as valid methods of determining religious law.

Theology

Ibn Hanbal taught that the Qur'an is uncreated due to Muslim belief that it is the word of

Athari in theology^[41]

and it was primarily Hanbali scholars who codified the Athari school of thought.

Distinct rulings

Purity (tahara)

Ablution (wudu')

Saying "

with the name of God

" (bi-smi llāh) is necessary, but waived if one forgets or is ignorant.

It is obligatory and a pillar (rukn) to wash the mouth and nose, and is not waived.

It is obligatory and a pillar to wipe the entire head, including the ears, and is not waived. Wiping the neck is not recommended.

It is recommended to lengthen the whiteness that will appear on the Day of Judgement by washing to the top of the arms and shins.
Impurities, such as blood, pus, and vomit, nullify ablution if they come out the body in large amounts, but not small amounts. If they come out the front or back private parts, it nullifies it regardless of the amount. Also, urine and stool nullify it regardless of the amount and where it came out from.
Light sleep when standing or sitting does not nullify ablution.
Touching someone of the opposite sex with any part of the body nullifies ablution if done with lust (shahwah). The hair, teeth, and nails are not included.
Touching the front or back private part with the hand nullifies ablution. The testicles are not included.
Wind passing from the woman's front private part nullifies ablution.
Eating camel meat nullifies ablution, whether raw or cooked. All other parts, such as its fat, liver, or pancreas, do not.
Washing the dead nullifies ablution.
Apostasy nullifies ablution.

Impurities (najasa)

A minimum of three wipes is obligatory to cleanse the impurity after relieving oneself, and any less will not suffice. If there is still impurity after that, more wipes must be used until the effect is achieved. Microscopic amounts are excused.
Washing the hands three times is obligatory after awakening from a night's sleep. Naps during the day are not included.
Impurities must be washed seven times with water to be rendered pure. Nothing can cleanse impurities except purifying (ṭahūr) water.
Transforming one substance into another does not render it pure, even if it changes its chemical properties, except alcohol (khamr).
If an impurity falls into pure (ṭāhir) water less than two qullahs in volume, all of it is rendered impure (najis). If it is more than two qullahs, it remains pure. If the liquid the impurity falls into is other than water, it will be rendered impure regardless of the amount.
Semen (madī) is pure.
Blood, pus, vomit, pre-ejaculate fluid (madhī), and white discharge after urinating (wadī) are impure. However, a small amount of blood and pus is excused.
Cat hair and saliva are pure.
All seafood is generally pure and permissible.
Pigs, dogs, donkeys, predators larger than a cat, birds with talons, and all animals derived from them are all impure and impermissible.
Leather from unslaughtered animals is impure, even if tanned.
Rennet from unslaughtered animals is impure and impermissible.
Vinegar made with human intervention is impure and impermissible, but pure and permissible if formed naturally.

Prayer (salah)

Standing (qiyam)

It is recommended to grasp (qabd) the hands below the navel, as stated in Kashshaf al-Qina' by
Ibrahim an-Nakha'i, and other scholars among the predecessors
(salaf).

Other views on where to place them do exist in the school, due to conflicting narrations from Ahmad:

Above the navel and below the chest [42]
On the navel
A choice wherever to place them
Letting them hang free (ṣadl)
Grasping them in obligatory prayers, but letting them hang free in voluntary prayers

Reciting another
al-Fatihah
is recommended and not obligatory.
It is recommended to look at the place of prostration when standing and throughout the entire prayer, except the testimony.

Bowing (ruku')

It is recommended to raise the hands (rafʿ al-yadayn) when going into bowing and rising from it.^[42]
It is obligatory to recite the remembrance, "Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great" (subḥāba rabbiya l-ʿaẓīm), once, and recommended to do so three or more times.
When standing after bowing, it is obligatory to recite the remembrance, "Our Lord, to you is all praise" (rabbanā laka l-ḥamd). One has a choice whether to grasp the hands like before or not.^[43]

Prostration (sujud)

The fingers should be closed together and facing the
direction of prayer
(qiblah), including the thumb, and the tips should be align with the top of the shoulders.
It is obligatory to recite the remembrance, "Glory be to my Lord, the Most High" (subḥāba rabbiya l-aʿlā), once, and recommended to do so three or more times.

Sitting (jalsa)

It is obligatory to recite the supplication, "Lord, forgive me" (rabbi ghfir lī) once, and recommended to do so three or more times.

Testimony of faith (tashahhud)

The little and ring fingers of the right hand should be folded in, a circle should be made with the middle finger and thumb, and the index finger should be pointed when saying the name of God (Allāh).^[42]^[44]^[45]
It is recommended to look at the finger.
It is permissible to raise the hands when rising.
Peace and salutations upon Muhammad and extra supplications are only done in the sitting of the final testimony.
It is recommended to sit in the outstretched (at-tawarruk) position in the sitting of the final testimony when the prayer has more than one.

Greeting of peace (taslim)

Two are obligatory and pillars which are not waived. The exact wording must be used: "All peace be on you and the mercy of God" (as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatu llāh). It is not permissible to omit a single letter, not even the definite article al-, or to replace alaykum with alayk.^[46]

Voluntary prayers

Odd prayer (salah al-witr)

It is recommended to pray two cycles (rakʿatayn) consecutively, and then separately. It is recommended to recite the special supplication (qunūt) after bowing, while raising the hands.^[46] However, other ways to perform it are permissible.
After reciting the special supplication, it is recommended to raise the hands when going into prostration.

Congregational prayer

In the absence of a valid excuse, it is obligatory for adult men to pray in congregation rather than individually.^[47]

Other

Most Hanbali scholars consider admission in a court of law to be indivisible, that is, a plaintiff may not accept some parts of a defendant's testimony while rejecting other parts. This position is also held by the Zahiri school, though opposed by the Hanafi and Maliki schools.^[48]

Reception

The Hanbali school is now accepted as the fourth of the mainstream Sunni schools of law. It has traditionally enjoyed a smaller following than the other schools. In the earlier period, Sunni jurisprudence was based on four other schools:

bid'ah (innovations) on the part of the earlier established schools.^[50]

Historically, the school's legitimacy was not always accepted. Muslim exegete

Jariri school of law, was noted for ignoring the Hanbali school entirely when weighing the views of jurists; this was due to his view that the founder, Ibn Hanbal, was merely a scholar of Hadith (prophetic traditions) and was not a Faqih (jurist) at all.^[51] The Hanbalites, led by Al-Barbahari, reacted by stoning Tabari's home several times, inciting riots so violent that Abbasid authorities had to subdue them by force.^[52] Upon Tabari's death, the Hanbalites formed a violent mob large enough that Abbasid officials buried him in secret, in an attempt to prevent further riots.^[24] Similarly, the Andalusian Malikite Jurist and theologian Ibn 'Abd al-Barr made a point to exclude Ibn Hanbal's views from the books on Sunni Muslim jurisprudence.^[53]

Eventually, the

Malikis agreed on important matters and recognized each other's systems as equally valid; this was not the case with the Hanbalites, who were recognized as legitimate by the older three schools but refused to return the favor.^[50]

Differences with other Sunni schools

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