The Merchant-Scholar
Abu Hanifa ran a textile business in Kufa. His wealth gave him independence — he could study and teach without needing stipends from rulers. He used this independence to refuse political positions and to support his students directly. He gave cloth to those who needed it and refused to charge tuition for his teaching circles.
His student Abu Yusuf eventually became the first chief qadi (qadi al-qudat) of the Abbasid caliphate — helping codify much of the Hanafi school’s rulings across the empire.
The Hanafi Method: Ra’y and Qiyas
What distinguished Abu Hanifa’s legal method: his heavy reliance on ra’y (reasoned opinion) and qiyas (analogical deduction) compared to the strict hadith-first approach of contemporaries like Malik ibn Anas.
This was not, as critics sometimes suggested, a disregard for the Sunna — it was a different epistemological ordering: when the hadith was uncertain in transmission, reason applied to the Quran and clear Sunna principles took priority. When hadith was firm and mutawatir, he followed it strictly.
His famous saying on the method: “If someone comes with a new question, I consult the Book of Allah; if I do not find it there, the Sunna of the Prophet; if not there, the Companions’ consensus; if not there, I give my own ijtihad.”
Imprisonment and Death
When Caliph al-Mansur insisted Abu Hanifa accept the position of chief qadi, Abu Hanifa refused — saying he was not worthy. Al-Mansur interpreted this as political defiance. He was imprisoned, flogged daily to break his refusal, and died in prison at the age of 68. His funeral drew massive crowds.
See also: Sunna Al Nabawi, Fiqh Al Nikah, Fiqh Al Buyu, Fiqh Al Mawarith, Ilm Al Kalam, Quran Sciences