The ( Arabic ''' '''حنفي) school is the oldest of the four schools of thought ''( Madhhab s)'' or jurisprudence ( Fiqh ) within Sunni Islam . The Hanafi madhhab is named after its founder, Abu Hanifa An-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (Arabic: النعمان بن ثابت) (699 - 767).
Among the four established Sunni schools of legal thought in Islam, the Hanafi school is the oldest, but it is generally regarded as the most liberal and as the one which puts the most emphasis on human reason. The Hanafi school also has the most followers among the four major Sunni schools. (Both the Ottoman Empire and the Mughal Empire were Hanafi so the Hanafi school is still widespread in their former lands). The other three schools of thought are Shafi , Maliki , and Hanbali . Today, the Hanafi school is predominant among the Sunnis of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the most of the Indian Subcontinent, China, Southeast Asia, as well as in Iraq, Turkey, Albania, the Balkans and the Caucasus.
According to Abdalhaqq Bewley:
"The madhhab of Imam Abu Hanifa, may Allah cover him with mercy, was formulated in Iraq, a very different environment to that of Madina al-Munawwara where the deen had been laid down, and the number of Companions who had settled there had been too few to allow a complete picture of the Sunna to emerge. For this reason Hanafi methodology involved the logical process of examining the Book and all available knowledge of the Sunna and then finding an example in them analogous to the particular case under review so that Allah's deen could be properly applied in the new situation. It thus entails the use of reason in the examination of the Book and Sunna so as to extrapolate the judgements necessary for the implementation of Islam in a new environment. It represents in essence, therefore, within the strict compass of rigorous legal and inductive precepts, the adaptation of the living and powerful deen to a new situation in order to enable it take root and flourish in fresh soil. This made it an ideal legal tool for the central governance of widely varied populations which is why we find it in Turkey as the legacy of the Uthmaniyya Khilafa and in the sub-continent where it is inherited from the Moghul empire."
- Abu Hanifah held that "wine" (the fermented juice of dates or grapes) was absolutely prohibited. But he thought it was permissible to drink small non-intoxicating amounts of other alcoholic beverages (e.g. made from honey or grains). Later Hanafi scholars tend to rule that all alcoholic beverages are prohibited regardless of source.
- It is prohibited or disliked to eat some forms of non-fish seafood based on the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace): "Two types of dead meat and two types of blood have been made lawful for your consumption: fish and locust, liver and spleen". (Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Majah,)
- Except during Hajj every Salah needs to be made in its regular time. It is not valid to combine prayers, even when travelling.
- A sixth daily Witr prayer is ''wajib'' or "required".
- Abu Hanifah held that "the Quran" consists of the meaning of the text and so in the daily prayers it was permissible to recite "the Quran" in any language unconditionally. Later Hanafis only held that this was permissible if the person praying was unable to recite the Quran in Arabic.
- Bleeding can break one's Wudu .
Despite these differences, there is little or no animosity between the four schools of religious law within Sunni Islam . Instead there is a cross-pollination of ideas and debate that serves to refine each school's understanding of Islam.
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