Recordings › Imam Abu Hanifa | Mufti Abu Layth · 10 Dec 2022 › Segment 3 of 12
Why was Abu Hanifa criticised so much in his own time?
malik ibn anas malik bin anas imam maalik imam malik ibn anas imaam prayer leader muftis halaal lawful haraam forbidden mubah mubaah koran quraan al-quran 'alim aalim ulama ulema ulamaaDressing well as a scholar, and the hostility and propaganda Abu Hanifa faced
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This segment13:05 to 17:01 · 3 min 56 sGeneral teaching
What this part covers
machinesummary, machine-writtenAbu Hanifa was accused in his lifetime of following desire and opinion over the Quran, partly by rivals such as Sufyan al-Thawri, though the imams generally stayed respectful of one another.
In more detail
Mufti Abu Layth explains why Abu Hanifa's fashion sense mattered: Imam Malik said a person of knowledge becomes a symbol to people, and so worked on his physique and ate a portion of meat daily for posture and stature, which affect how people feel in one's presence. He says that with notoriety came hate: Abu Hanifa was subjected to immense hostility and false propaganda claiming that his Islam was based on desires and opinion, that he put reason over the Quran, that he was a deviant and that everything was permissible according to him. He finds it striking that nobody would think this of him now, and says some of the hostility came from rivals such as Sufyan al-Thawri, a great imam who lived in the same town and often spoke against him, which Mufti says was not a good thing, whereas he has never read Abu Hanifa being venomous about others. He contrasts this with Imam Malik, whom everyone respected, and says that even when the imams criticised one another they remained respectful and dignified.
Position stated
Mufti Abu Layth says the hostility Sufyan al-Thawri often showed towards Abu Hanifa was not a good thing, and that he has never read Abu Hanifa being venomous about others.
“sophiana thori who's a great Imam but he often hated on Imam which wasn't really you know a good thing to be honest”
Category: historical claim
Kind: general teachingTranscript
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he you see he had this charm and I mentioned before he had this epic everybody even centuries after him they would cite his fashion sin and you may say well what's so special about fashion you know it's of the world but you have to remember how Imam Malik said he said that as a person of of knowledge you become a symbol to people and this is why Imam Malik often worked on his physique and they say he had a strong physique and he would eat every single day Imam Malik would eat a certain portion of
meat for his protein and when asked he said it's important because it helps with the posture and it helps with your physique and stature which then has an impact when people meet you and are in your presence so similarly these things were they did play a role and uh so for they say that in his day and age there was something about long sleeves that had become a new fashion and Imam of hanifa would often have these kind of things but I guess with notoriety you get as
well hate and he was Imam of hanifa was subjected to an immense amount of hate as well a lot of people hated on him there was a lot of false propaganda about him people said you know he his Islam is made up they said his Islam is just based on desires his Islam everything's Halal according to Abu hanifa you know he had they had this this kind of thing about him um that he uses his reason that he uses his opinions that he would speak of so this thing of Imam if you read the early
uh criticisms of the scholars that were all in his day and age and just after him that were hurling criticism it's full of all of this that they would say oh he's just you know he's just absorbed in fashion he's just he doesn't you know it's just all about opinion personal opinion he just uses reason over the Quran he he's a deviant everything is permitted according to him he doesn't declare things Haram he doesn't you know all this kind these were it's so interesting that when you read it it's like wow nobody would think that now because he's
he's this legendary Imam now but in his day and age he was given a you know he had a lot of love but he there was a lot of hate as well but something you know the thing about him is okay some of the hate came to him from maybe certain voices that were maybe Rivals and things like like sophiana thori who's a great Imam but he often hated on Imam which wasn't really you know a good thing to be honest but you know I guess things happen um and and they lived in the same town as
well so you the you know the Rivalry was quite bitter but as far as I'm away didn't really uh diss him to uh as in I'm sure he maybe joked about but I don't think he um I've not ever read Imam uh you know being venomous about others I've heard others being venomous about him similarly you see with Imam Malik now Imam Malik's a bit different because everybody respected Imam Malik you know he's he's this Imam Malik is one way even those who didn't disrespect him
Allah forced the love of Imam Malik in their hearts so they couldn't you know there was just this thing about Imam Ali he was on another but him and obviously see even when they criticize each other that um they um but they keep it reasonably they always respectful dignified Imam Malik Imam Malik also felt that you know his opinions weren't they missed the mark but he didn't disrespect him like he did say that you know he said he said I met a man who had great
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Cite this segment
Stable id, transcript version and tier are part of the citation. Every change to a transcript is logged.Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 2022-12-10-S03, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/3/ (accessed 1 November 2026)
- APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2022, December 10). Why was Abu Hanifa criticised so much in his own time? [Video, segment 2022-12-10-S03, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/3/
- Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2022. "Why was Abu Hanifa criticised so much in his own time?" Video, segment 2022-12-10-S03, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded December 10, 2022. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/3/
- BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2022-12-10-S03, author = {Mufti Abu Layth}, title = {{Why was Abu Hanifa criticised so much in his own time?}}, year = {2022}, month = {12}, date = {2022-12-10}, howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/3/}}, url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/3/}, organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive}, urldate = {2026-11-01}, note = {Segment 2022-12-10-S03, auto-transcribed, may contain errors} }
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