Recordings › Imam Abu Hanifa | Mufti Abu Layth · 10 Dec 2022 › Segment 6 of 12
How did the Hanafi school develop from Abu Hanifa's teaching?
wudhu wudoo wuzu ablution al-wudu wudhoo madhab mazhab school of law madhahib mazahib madhaahib imaam imams prayer leader hanafite hanafiyyah muftis haraam forbidden kutub al-sittah kutub as-sittah sihah sittah sihah sitta 'alim aalimThe students and the six books of the madhhab, and how the school lost Abu Hanifa's spirit
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This segment24:52 to 28:48 · 3 min 56 sGeneral teaching
What this part covers
machinesummary, machine-writtenAbu Hanifa's students, above all Imam Muhammad, turned his spirit into an institution through the six books of the zahir al-riwaya, and Mufti Abu Layth feels the madhhab later lost that spirit and became focused on the letter of the law.
In more detail
Mufti Abu Layth names Abu Hanifa's main students: Abu Yusuf, Imam Muhammad, who studied with him for perhaps only two years yet transmitted the main books and is the real voice of the Hanafi madhhab, and Zufar, a senior student placed third, whose ranking he says is another discussion. He says that with Abu Hanifa the school was a spirit rather than a structured institution, and that the institution begins with Muhammad and Abu Yusuf. He describes Muhammad's six mother texts, the zahir al-riwaya, containing perhaps over a hundred thousand issues, later summarised by a scholar whose name he does not recall and expanded in al-Mabsut [?]. He says he has always felt there is a difference between the imam and his madhhab: over the centuries it lost his spirit, became radically institutionalised and focused on the letter of the law, with most things declared haram, which Sherman Jackson calls the crypto-Shafi'isation of the madhhab, opposite to Abu Hanifa's reluctance to declare things haram and his concern to create ease.
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Position stated
Mufti Abu Layth says the Hanafi madhhab, over the generations, lost the spirit Abu Hanifa brought, became radically institutionalised and focused on the letter of the law, declaring most things haram, contrary to his concern to create ease.
“I feel that his method kind of along the way as the generations went by they lost our spirit and and the more centuries that went by became radically kind of institutionalized”
Category: historical claim
Kind: general teachingTranscript
machine24:52 to 28:48 · click a time to seek · dotted terms open the glossary
you'd call it like um like the project manager he was the chief project manager of when they were constructing Baghdad for four years he was supervising the project I mean he was these weren't just your any you know these were very not intelligent uh accomplished individuals they were huge and remember by this time he is Imam Abu hanifa he's not just any just not manipulative and he has many students many countless students he notably you have uh Abu Yusuf also known by his
name but he's known as Abu Yusuf his main one of his main students Imam Muhammad who actually just studied with Imam of hanifa for only I think maybe two years if that but but the but he transmits the books in the meth Hub the main books from the Imam which are known as there are six books they are all written by Imam Muhammad he's the real voice of the hanafi method that tries you know that starts setting the institution into motion as in because
time it's more a spirit it's not the letter it's not structured it's not an institution after him the institution begins really with the likes of Imam Muhammad Imam Abu Yusuf you do have also people like zofar zofor is actually a senior student uh of imambo hanifa but delegated to the third position we're really in many ways he you know it's that's another discussion should he be number one or how should he be but I think has some interesting points on that but then he had many
other students as well there's um these are the main students but the books get documented really by Muhammad he has this top collection known as the zahiruriat the apparent transmission that's what it's called and they are his his major book The Asal or the mobs then you have his ear that these six texts are the mother texts of the meth Hab of the Transmissions from Imam um
I believe that they are over a hundred thousand issues in them hundred thousand must say these then get summarized by um what's his name by um in his book which is then expanded on by uh in his mob suit so that's how these Transmissions get um transmitted but that's the method you see that I always feel there's a difference between Imam and his mother um that's a different discussion you
know for another day you know we have an opinion on that maybe people agree with it maybe they don't I feel that his method kind of along the way as the generations went by they lost our spirit and and the more centuries that went by became radically kind of institutionalized and and you know as Dr Sherman Jackson says in his um from the states he has this term that there's the crypto shafization of the medherb so they become kind of crypto shafes where they apparently Hannah fees but they switch because the
spirit of the method changes it becomes all about the letter of the law it's all about things become most things become Haram most things are very and I suppose they've got their justifications they're saying that's the reason but it but it's very opposite to the spirit that Imam Abu hanifa brought you know he he brought this trying to make welcome everyone and never say things are uh you know very reluctant to say things are Haram very trying to create ease you know oh you're struggling with this well why don't you pray in Farsi or you're doing this why don't you just do it like that you know that to the extent that they said well oh if a person was
struggling to make wudu he couldn't find water he's about see in that day and age people you know you might be in a place you can't find what you see water in the past it's it's it's interesting because today water is just on tap so it's everywhere but in in the past it's not I mean obviously people had water but sometimes when people were traveling and doing things they may take certain fermented drinks because it was less likely to have bacteria in it and it's actually more healthy so this is why for example this is why the Roman soldiers or you know they would drink
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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-S06, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/6/ (accessed 1 November 2026)
- APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2022, December 10). How did the Hanafi school develop from Abu Hanifa's teaching? [Video, segment 2022-12-10-S06, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/6/
- Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2022. "How did the Hanafi school develop from Abu Hanifa's teaching?" Video, segment 2022-12-10-S06, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded December 10, 2022. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/6/
- BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2022-12-10-S06, author = {Mufti Abu Layth}, title = {{How did the Hanafi school develop from Abu Hanifa's teaching?}}, year = {2022}, month = {12}, date = {2022-12-10}, howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/6/}}, url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/s-vm6mgbll8/s/6/}, organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive}, urldate = {2026-11-01}, note = {Segment 2022-12-10-S06, auto-transcribed, may contain errors} }
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