# What did Abu Hanifa say about Imam Malik?

*Abu Hanifa on the young Malik, and how the Hanafi madhhab became restrictive*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/12/
- Date: 2022-12-10 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Imam Abu Hanifa | Mufti Abu Layth (1:08:15–1:10:42)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Vm6mgbLl8&t=4095s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/

**Topics:** The Hanafi school and Imam Abu Hanifa; Imam Malik; Schools of law and following them

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Abu Hanifa called the younger Imam Malik a blonde, blue-eyed lad. Mufti Abu Layth closes that the Hanafi madhhab became restrictive in recent centuries while schools such as the Maliki kept their freedoms.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Hanafi madhhab became very restrictive and controlling, especially in the last two or three centuries, whereas other schools such as the Maliki kept their freedoms.

**Evidence, his words at 1:09:37:** “the mother did become quite regimental of especially in the latter centuries you know the last maybe two through 200 300 years whereas some of the other meth have still kept their freedoms” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-Vm6mgbLl8&t=4177s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth relates that when Abu Hanifa returned to Iraq and was asked about Imam Malik, at least twelve or thirteen years his junior, he said he had seen the blonde-haired, blue-eyed lad, explaining that blond hair and blue eyes were then an oddity in the Middle East with no special appeal. He closes by saying the imams left a legacy for whoever chooses to learn, but that the Hanafi madhhab became very restrictive and controlling, especially in the last two or three hundred years, while scholars such as one whose name is garbled [?] held that the matter of taqlid was still open and that one does not have to follow blindly. He says some of the other madhhabs, such as the Maliki, kept their freedoms, and ends with a prayer that the legacy inspires people to learn.

## Sources and names cited

- Abu Hanifa
- Imam Malik
- taqlid
- Hanafi school
- Maliki school

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:08:15–1:10:42)

[1:07:40] said that look you misunderstood me I wasn't trying to misrepresent him I was just trying to help him in getting in the car and I wasn't trying to con someone I was just trying to you know he's a great he's a good person and he had a great heart and he would make a great husband and you shouldn't have just been turned down for money that's all but that story was true but it was a fascinating read I tell you that so guys that was this Legend of an Imam who really just left us so much to think about they say you know when he was asked about Imam Malik what do you think of

[1:08:19] him after he met him he went back to Iraq they said what do you think of Imam Malik he says yeah he says blonde he was blonde with blue eyes so he says yes I saw the the blonde-haired blue-eyed boy lad called him a lad like a young lad because he's younger Imam Malik's like at least 12 13 years younger than him he says I saw that here on young blue-eyed blonde-haired lad and then back then blonde hair and blue eye was was a bit

[1:08:59] odd because most you know most obviously in the Middle East and that they're not really going to be blonde haired so my Malik was and so it was a bit odd so people always saw it as a like an oddness oddity about it like today I suppose you know maybe with glamor and Hollywood it's got more of a thing to it but back then people didn't really you had no appeal factor to it so yeah that was his uh comment he said yeah he said I met that boy that lad but yeah but there was a great yeah they were you know they had this they left a legacy Allah and they must have live on and you know

[1:09:37] they it is something to whichever my type of person chooses but to really learn and it doesn't I suppose the thing about the hanafi mother is is it became very restrictive and controlling some people didn't like you get uh you know like Scholars like shrombul Ali and other people who believed that takleid was still open and you know you don't have to blindly follow but the mother did become quite regimental of especially in the latter centuries you know the last maybe two through 200 300 years whereas some of the other meth have still kept their freedoms I mean

[1:10:16] some people became regimental but others it wasn't all like the Maliki madib still kept it's kind of freedoms and stuff as well so but may Allah bless this Legacy and really Inspire us to to learn guys I wanted to share that with you I hope it was uh you know of some of some significance

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment s-Vm6mgbLl8/s/12. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/12/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.