Hidden Gems – Imām Abū Ja’far At-Tahāwī Al-Hanafī – by Shaykh Faheem
Name – Abū Ja’far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Salamah ibn Abd Al-Mālik ibn Salamah, Al-Azdi Al-Hajarī Al-Misrī At-Tahāwī Al-Hanafī[1]
أبو جعفر أحمد بن محمد بن سلامة بن سلمة بن عبد الملك ، الأزدي الحجري المصري الطحاوي الحنفي
Date of Birth / Date of Demise – 239AH (853CE) / 321AH (933CE)
Region – He hailed from a village in Upper Egypt[2] called ‘Taha’. Hence the appellation ‘Tahāwī’
Creed – Sunnī
Fiqh – Hanafī
Synopsis Intro – Imām Abū Ja’far At-Tahāwī t was an Egyptian scholar and is counted amongst the great Hanafī jurists of the past. His impact upon the Ummah is undeniable to any student of history. He penned many significant works in Fiqh and Hadīth that continue to benefit the global Muslim populace today irrespective of the creed or school of jurisprudence they adhere to. His immense scholarly works, such as Sharhu Ma’āni al-Āthār and Mushkil al-Āthar, are encyclopaedic in scope and are regarded as indispensable for training students of fiqh. In addition to this, his work on Aqīdah (creed) is taught globally as a yardstick of assessing the creed of the Ahlus Sunnah.
Teachers –
- Abū Ibrāhīm Ismā’īl bin Yahyā Al-Muzanī
- Yūnus bin Abdul A’lā
- Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Saʿīd ibn al-Haytham al-Aylī
- Miqdāam bin Dāūd Ar-Ru’aynī
And many others.
Students – He had many students, of which the most noteworthy mentions are;
- Imām Tabrānī. (he was famed for his hadith collections known as Al-Mu’jam that were written in three distinct ways)
- Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī al-Aṣbahānī – He is a famous ḥadīth scholar commonly known as Ibn al-Muqriʾ.
- Abdul Azīz bin Muhammad bin Al-Jawharī, the Qādhī of Upper Egypt.
Biographical Brief – The period in which Imām At-Tahāwī t lived was regarded as the zenith of hadith and fiqh sciences. The great imam was contemporaneous with the compilers of the six major books of hadith. He was approximately 27 years old when Imām Al-Bukhārī t passed away. He was 32 when Imām Muslim t passed away, 44 when Imām Ibn Mājah t passed away, 46 when Imām Abū Dāūd t passed away, 50 when Imām Tirmizhī t passed away, and 74 when Imām Nasāī passed away. He was also a contemporary of the two lanterns that lit the way in the field of creed, Imām Abūl Hassan Al-Ash’arī t and Imām Abū Mansūr Al-Māturīdī t.
Imām At-Tahāwī t hailed from the famous Azdī clan of Arabs and was of affluent descent. His father was a learned scholar and his mother was the sister of another reputable scholar of the Shāfa’ī school of jurisprudence, Imām Abū Ibrāhīm Ismā’īl bin Yahyā Al-Muzanī t. Imām At-Tahāwī’s t keen intellect was duly noted and his initial tutelage began with his uncle in the Shāfa’ī school of Fiqh, but after witnessing his esteemed uncle turn to the works of Imām Abū Hanīfah t on several occasssions, a curiosity and inquisition into the Hanafī school commenced.
After a few years in the company of his uncle, the Qādhi of Egypt Ahmad bin Abī Imrān visited their locale and Imām At-Tahāwī t latched onto him to seek knowledge. He later adopted the Hanafī school and rose to become one of its key protagonists in Egypt.
Ahmad Ash-Shurūtī once asked Imām At-Tahāwī t as to why he preferred the doctrine of Abū Hanīfah over his uncle’s teachings? The Imām replied, “Because I saw my uncle pore over the works of Abū Hanīfah.”[3].
He travelled to Ash-Shām[4] in 268 A.H. and met with the Hanafī jurist Qādhī Abū Hāzim from who he engaged with in further fiqh analysis.[5]
He later returned to Egypt and immersed himself in teaching and writing. He rose to become a Qādhī as well. Imām At-Tahāwī t penned many authoritative works that continues to benefit the Ummah and students in the fields of Fiqh and hadith analysis.
He passed away during the beginning of Zhul Qa’dah and was buried at Qarāfah where his grave was famously known.[6]
Mausoleum (Maqām) of Imām At-Tahāwī
Contributions – In addition to his renowned works, Imām At-Tahāwī was a trustworthy narrator whose memory was par-excellent.
A narration recorded in Al-Bukhārī and Muslim states,
Sayyidunā Abū Zharr t reports that Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Someone came to me from my Lord and gave me the news (or good tidings) that if any of my followers dies worshipping none (in any way) along with Allāh, he will enter Paradise.” I asked, “Even if he committed Zinā (adultery) and theft?” He replied, “Even if he committed adultery and theft.”[7]
Imām Azh-Zhahabī cites a different chain for the same narration with Imām At-Tahāwī t
قال أبو جعفر الطحاوي . حدثنا أبو أمية ، حدثنا عبد الله بن بكر ، وعبيد الله بن موسى ، قالا : حدثنا مهدي بن ميمون ، عن واصل الأحدب ، عن المعرور بن سويد ، عن أبي ذر قال : كنا مع رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- في مسير له ، فلما كان في بعض الليل تنحى فلبث طويلا ، ثم أتانا ، فقال : أتاني آت من ربي ، فأخبرني أنه من مات من أمتي لا يشرك بالله دخل الجنة . قال : قلت : وإن زنى وإن سرق ؟ قال : وإن زنى وإن سرق[8] .
Works – There are numerous works that were penned by this great Imām, though, we present merely three here for the benefit of the reader as they are renowned to the point that every researched scholar, and every enthusiastic student of the sciences of Fiqh, Hadīth and Creed will be familiar with.
- Al-Aqīdah At-Tahāwiyyah – العقيدة الطحاوية
A treatise written by Imām At-Tahāwī t as ‘Bayānu ‘ittiqādi Ahlis-Sunnah wal Jamā’ah ( بيان اعتقاد أهل السنة والجماعة ) is an exposition of Sunnī creed according to the school of Imām Abū Hanīfah t and his two companions, Imām Abū Yūsuf and Imām Muhammad t. Though concise, it is comprehensive in its meaning. The erudite Imām confirmed the creed of the Ahlus Sunnah on one hand, whilst refuting the deviant variants of belief on the other by elucidating the core doctrines of Sunnī Islām predicated upon the Qur’ān and Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. It is one of the most celebrated treatises of its kind having been translated into French, Malay, Russian, Turkish, Uzbek, Persian, Urdu, and of course it has been translated into English and commentated upon in both English and Arabic several times by various scholars. It is recommended as a text in creed by almost every Sunnī Islāmic seminary in the world today.
- Sharhu Mushkil al-Āthār – شرح مشكل الاثار
It is the most voluminous work that has reached us from the 3rd century. The book is a collection of hadīth related to legal judgments and a variety of divergent issues, classified by chapters of Fiqh. Imām at-Tahāwī analyzes and explains the evidence and supplies the contradictory arguments, discussing the weaknesses or defects of the transmission chains.
It is an encyclopedic reference that is still is extensively studied because of the number of sciences it contained within it, such as the science of hadīth and the criticism of the chain of narration, the apparent contradictions in the hadiths and the proofs, the legal judgments, the disagreements of the Fuqahā etc.
- Sharhu Ma’ānī al-Āthār – شرح معاني الأثار
This is a famous work by the Imam in which he rigorously studies numerous texts relating to each branch of Fiqh and the positions of the Imams of the mazh-habs with respect to those rulings. It is mainly highly regarded as a Hanafi book.
Imām At-Tahāwī was indeed an immense figure in Islāmic history, whose legacy of knowledge continues to illuminate us in the current era. He was indeed an invaluable gem whose efforts are sometimes unappreciated by Sunnī Muslims, though, without his foundational works in the various fields that he excelled, many would not be able to enter the area of disputation at all, particularly in matters of creed.
May Allāh ﷻ benefit us through his efforts! Āmīn
[1] Siyaru Al’āmin-Nubalā by Al-Hāfizh Shamsuddīn Azh-Zhahabī
[2] Upper Egypt (صعيد مصر) Ṣaʿīd Miṣr refers to the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend downriver between Nubia and Lower Egypt in the north
[3] Ibn Khallikān’s Biographical Dictionary. His full name Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ibrāhīm Abul-ʿAbbās S̲h̲amsud-Dīn al-Barmakī al-Irbilī ash-S̲h̲āfaʿī, ibn Khallikān was a 13th century Shafa’i Islamic scholar who compiled the celebrated biographical encyclopedia of Muslim scholars and important men in Muslim history titled Wafayāt al-Aʿyān wa-Anbā-u-Abnāʾ-iz-Zamān (‘Deaths of Eminent Men and History of the Sons of the Epoch’)
[4] Ash-Shām here refers to Syro-Palestine constituting Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Damascus.
[5] Siyaru Al’āmin-Nubalā by Al-Hāfizh Shamsuddīn Azh-Zhahabī, Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah by Al-Hāfizh Ibn Kathīr Dimashqī
[6] Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah by Al-Hāfizh Ibn Kathīr Dimashqī
[7] Al-Bukhārī, Hadīth 1237
[8] Siyaru Al’āmin-Nubalā by Al-Hāfizh Shamsuddīn Azh-Zhahabī, Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah by Al-Hāfizh Ibn Kathīr Dimashqī
