Abu Hanifa

Born in Kufa around 699 to a family of Persian origin, Abu Hanifa was a silk merchant who became the foremost jurist of Iraq, teaching a circle of students who systematized his method. He held no office; tradition holds he refused a judgeship and was imprisoned for the refusal, dying in Baghdad in 767.

He is remembered for refusing to serve the Umayyad and then Abbasid states as a judge, and tradition holds he was imprisoned, and possibly died in confinement, for that refusal — unwilling to lend his authority to rulers he distrusted.

Abu Hanifa emphasized reasoned analogy (qiyas), juristic preference (istihsan), and considered opinion (ra'y) where the texts were silent, building a flexible and systematic jurisprudence known for its developed use of reason within the bounds of scripture.

A jurist and merchant, Abu Hanifa took no part in war; his conflicts were with the political authorities who sought to bind him to the state and with rival juristic tendencies. Tradition holds he sympathized with certain Alid revolts against Umayyad and Abbasid rule.

His reliance on reasoning drew criticism from traditionists who favored hadith over opinion, and the debate over his method marks the early formation of Sunni law. As a revered founder, the details of his biography and imprisonment are transmitted variously in the later sources.

The Hanafi school he inspired became the most widespread in the Muslim world — the official school of the Ottoman and Mughal empires and dominant across South and Central Asia and Turkey. He is honored as al-Imam al-A'zam, "the Greatest Imam," and his shrine in Baghdad remains a landmark.