A sign of ignorance of these so called shaiks concerning hadith and its history is their claim that, Imam Abu Hanifah (رضي الله عنه) did not know much hadith since Kufa was very far from Madinah, the city of revelation and hadith.
The following will show that this claim of theirs is the farthest thing from the truth.
Kufa was a city founded by the order of the greatest faqeeh this ummah ever produced. It was no other than Umar ibn Khattab (رضي الله عنه) who ordered Abu Musa al-Ash’ari (رضي الله عنه) to build Kufa, which he did in the year 18 AH. [Mu’jamul Buldaan 4/491]
The great Imam of Jarh and Ta’deel, Hafiz Abul Hasan E’jli said in his “Thiqaat” [2/448]
“1500 Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) resided in Kufa.”
The great tabee’, muhaddith and jurist, Ibrahim ibn Yazeed an-Nakhae’ in explaining the ranks of these Sahabah said:
“300 Sahabah from those who took the pledge of allegiance under the tree, 80 Sahabah from the battle of Badr stayed in Kufa (رضي الله عنهم).” [Tabaqaat Ibn Sa’ad 8/132]
Luminaries like: Ali ibn Abi Talib, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqaas, Saeed ibn Zaid, Abdullah ibn Masood, Ammar ibn Yaasir, Khabbab ibn Arat, Huzaifah ibn Yaman, Abu Musa al-Asha’ri, Salman al-Farsi, Baraa ibn A’azib, Mughirah ibn Shu’bah and others. May Allah be pleased with them. [ibid 8/134-143]
If anyone of these fountains of hadith knowledge was to reside in any of the metropolitan cities we have around the world it would be filled with ilm, hadith and amal. They were the true flag bearers of the Sunnah.
The second Kalifah, Umar ibn Khattab (رضي الله عنه) remarked concerning Kufa:
“It is the head of Islam and its treasure. It is the sword of Allah and His spear which He places as He wishes. By Allah, Allah will use its people as a means of help for the East and West of the World in the same manner as He has used Hijaz.” [ibid 8/128-129]
It was the same Umar ibn Khattab (رضي الله عنه) who had sent Abdullal ibn Masood and Ammar ibn Yasir (رضي الله عنهما) to Kufa as its teacher and leader. He said, “They are from the noble and superior sahabah, from the companions of Badr. Learn from them and follow them. I am giving you all preference of Ibn Masood over myself.” [ibid 8/130]
This last statement of Umar (رضي الله عنه) shows that even he use to refer to Ibn Masood (رضي الله عنه) in matters of ilm, hadith and fiqh. [Fiqh Ahlil Iraq p. 29] And why not? Ibn Masood was the one in charge of the Messenger’s (صلى الله عليه وسلم) siwak and pilow. [Bukhari # 6278] The following hadith will show the frequency in which the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used the miswak. From it we can derive the regular interaction Ibn Masood had with him. The Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Jibraeel never came to me but ordered me to use the siwak. Surely I feared of scrubbing out the front of my mouth (due to brushing so often).” [Ahmed 5/263, Ibn Majah # 289] Due to his young age he used to enter the house of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) often, so much so that some companions who had recently arrived in Madinah thought he was a family member of the Rasool (صلى الله عليه وسلم). [Bukhari # 3763, Muslim # 2460] Therefore a person with such close and regular contact with the greatest teacher on earth will surely acquire an ocean of ilm.
The following ahadith and aathaar will shed light on the deep and extensive knowledge that Ibn Masood (رضي الله عنه) was endowed with in all the sciences of Islam including Qirat, Tafsir, Hadith and Fiqh.
The Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
“Take the Quran from four: Ibn Masood, Saalim, Ubai ibn Ka’ab, and Muaz ibn Jabal.” [Bukhari #3760 and Muslim #2464]
The Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
“I do not know how long I have with you all, so follow those after me.” He indicated towards Abu Bakr and Umar. “And seek guidance in the actions of Ammar, And believe every hadith Ibn Masood teaches you.” [Tirmithi #3799] In another narration it is stated: “And follow the ways of Ammar and take guidance in the advice of Ibn Umm Abd.” [Ahmed 5/399]
The Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
“I am happy with whatever Ibn Umm Abd (Ibn Masood) is pleased with for the ummah.” [Hakim in Mustadrak]
Huzaifah ibnul Yamaan (رضي الله عنه) the secret bearer of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
“The closest person to the Rasool (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in characteristics, methods and ways was Ibn Umm Abd (Ibn Masood)” [Bukhari #6097] In other words, he was an embodiment of the Sunnah.
Umar (رضي الله عنه) said on more than one occasion concerning Ibn Masood (رضي الله عنه), “A vessel filled with ilm and fiqh.”
Ali (رضي الله عنه) said concerning Ibn Masood (رضي الله عنه):
“He has recited the Quran, made its halal halal and its haram haram. He is a faqeeh in the Deen and a scholar of the Sunnah.” [Hakim in Mustadrak, Mukhtasar Tareekh Ibn Asaakir 14/61]
At the time of his death Muaz ibn Jabal, the Sahabi who knew halal and haram the best, advised:
“Take ilm (knowledge) from four: Abu Dardaa, Salman, Ibn Masood and Abdullah ibn Salaam.” [Timithi #3804]
Masrooq, the adopted child of Aishah (رضي الله عنها), and student of many giant Sahabah the likes of Umar, Ali, Ibn Masood, Muaz and others (رضي الله عنهم), said:
“I studied and surveyed the knowledge of the Sahabah, and I realized that it winds up at six of them: Umar, Ali, Ibn Mas’ood, Muaz, Abu Dardaa and Zaid ibn Thabit. Then I surveyed the six and concluded that it ends up with Ali and Ibn Masood.” [Mukhtasar Tareekh Ibn Asaakir 14/62]
Masrooq (رحمه الله) also said:
“I have sat with many companions of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and found them to be vessels of water (ilm). Some would quenched the thirst of one person, some of two people and others the thirst of ten. There were those who would quenched the thirst of the whole world if they would come to them. Ibn Masood was from this last group.” [ibid]
Ibn Masood resided and illuminated Kufa for the most part of the khilafah of Umar and Uthman (رضي الله عنهم). [Zahabi in Mizanul E’tidal 1/270]
When Ali (رضي الله عنه) migrated to Kufa and saw its many jurist, he remarked:
“May Allah have mercy on Ibn Masood. He has filled this city with ilm.” [Tabaqat ibn Sa’d 6/76]
He also said:
“The students of Ibn Masood are the lights of this city (Kufa).” [Tabaqat ibn Sa’d 8/132]
Then Ali (رضي الله عنه), the cousin and son-in-law of the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), the fourth rightly guided khalifah and second vessel of knowledge of all the Sahabah, migrated to Kufa and made it the capital of the Islamic Empire.
Obviously, a great scholar the caliber of Ali (رضي الله عنه) would impart his extensive knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah to the people of Kufa. Ibn Taimiyah expresses this fact in the following words:
“The knowledge of Ali and his fiqh (deep understanding of the Quran and Sunnah) manifested in Kufa while he was residing there at the time of his khilafah.” [Mihajus Sunnah by Ibn Taimiyah 7/510]
Take a deep breath and try to imagine the beacon of ilm of the Quran and Sunnah that Kufa became in the lives of the Sahabah and their successors. Subahaanallah.
These so called shaikhs that are cutting the ummah off from the 4 great Imam of the Quran and Sunnah and forcing people into blindly following their interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah say that Abu Hanifah (رضي الله عنه) did not know hadith because its knowledge reached Kufa after the six scholars of hadith. Allah forbid. This is nothing but one of their many lies and deceptions.
The reality is the total opposite. The six scholars of Hadith became scholars of hadith by studying hadith in Kufa.
Let us simply take the word of the leader of hadith scholars, Imam Bukhari (رحمه الله). He says concerning the cities where he studied hadith:
“I entered Shaam, Misr and Jazeera twice. I entered Basrah four times. I stayed in Hijaaz for six years. But I cannot count how many times I entered Kufa and Baghdad with the muhadditheen.” [Hadyus Saari Muqaddimah Fathil Baari by Hafiz Ibn Hajr Asqalani p. 479]
Allamah Zahabi after mentioning how knowledge came to Kufa from the Sahabah and spread, said, “Ilm remained available in Kufa in abundance until the time of Ibn Uqdah.” [Imam Ibn Majah aur Ilm Hadith by Muhaddith Abdur Rasheed Nu’mani p. 44]
Hafiz Ibn Uqdah died in 332 AH. Ibn Masood died in 32 AH. Imam Abu Hanifah lived from 80 AH (or 61 AH) until 150 AH. [Khairatul Hisaan by Ibn Hajr Makki Haitami p. 39 & 126]
One of the greatest Tabee’, Muhammad ibn Sireen, who died in 110 AH said:
“I came to Kufa from Jamaajim and saw 4000 students studying hadith.” [Muhaddith Faasil # 428, Tahzeebul Kamal 25/353]
May Allah connect us to the Salaf and may He help us to follow in their footsteps. May He protect us from arrogance and a sense of superiority over them. Ameen.
