What do you say about many of the statements of the scholars that criticize Abu Hanifah, such as the statement of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) about him that he:
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The questioner : Shaykh ... What do you say, O Shaykh, about what is recorded in the biography of Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) in the book *Al-Sunnah* by Abdullah ibn Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), where ... there are many things that go beyond, I mean, such as the statement of Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), and the chain of narration is authentic because Abdullah narrates it from his father that he was asked to repent from disbelief twice, and many other things from ...?
The Shaykh : This is an ambiguous, absolute statement that does not specify the type of disbelief from which he was asked to repent. It may have been disbelief by the consensus of the Ummah, which is impossible for Abu Hanifah, or it may have been disbelief according to some scholars but not others. Therefore, for such an absolute text, it is not permissible to accuse Abu Hanifah of disbelief, which is equivalent to apostasy. We know, for example, that it was narrated from him in some reports that he used to say that the Qur'an is created. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. The creation of the Qur'an is indeed misguidance, and it is the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah and the doctrine of the Khawarij, but that does not mean that he is declared a disbeliever and expelled from the religion. If the chain of narration is authentic from an Imam regarding something that disparages a famous scholar and criticizes him, we do not disparage Imam Ahmad or attribute to him what the fanatical Hanafis say, that this is a case of a contemporary criticizing a contemporary. Rather, we say that we do not know the nature of this disbelief, as I mentioned earlier. Then, Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) ... in the context of the discussion of the critique of narrators, there is no room for anyone to be free from sectarian bias to reject all the statements of those who criticize him on the grounds that Abu Hanifah is an Imam among the Imams of the Muslims and one of the four followed Imams. There is no doubt that he is one of the Imams, but it is not necessary that every Imam possesses all the distinguishing qualities that set him apart from others. Abu Hanifah is distinguished in a way that no one disputes, for his jurisprudence, his understanding, and his derivation of legal rulings, even if he relied on opinion in some of that, and this is also one of the points taken against him.
The student: - Peace be upon you -
The Shaykh :- And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings -
But that does not mean that we declare him a disbeliever, which
The questioner : The question, first of all, is not about declaring Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) a disbeliever, that he is not ... nor about his precision and narration of hadith, but O Shaykh, those who refer to the biography of this Imam see that most of the Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) used to criticize him.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : And with authentic chains of narration from them, about many things, such as that they ... turned their faces away from him, as it is established from Sufyan al-Thawri that he was sitting in the Sacred Mosque, so Abu Hanifah came and he turned his back to him, and then when he spoke to him, he stood up and said, "We seek refuge in Allah from an Arabized Nabataean," and so on. And from Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak also, many statements were recorded from him, I mean, I mean, this question is about the position of the people of the Sunnah, I mean, regarding Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) in his jurisprudence and his methodology, and not in declaring him a disbeliever or his precision.
The Shaykh : I have answered you, I have answered you
The Shaykh : This is an ambiguous, absolute statement that does not specify the type of disbelief from which he was asked to repent. It may have been disbelief by the consensus of the Ummah, which is impossible for Abu Hanifah, or it may have been disbelief according to some scholars but not others. Therefore, for such an absolute text, it is not permissible to accuse Abu Hanifah of disbelief, which is equivalent to apostasy. We know, for example, that it was narrated from him in some reports that he used to say that the Qur'an is created. Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings. The creation of the Qur'an is indeed misguidance, and it is the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah and the doctrine of the Khawarij, but that does not mean that he is declared a disbeliever and expelled from the religion. If the chain of narration is authentic from an Imam regarding something that disparages a famous scholar and criticizes him, we do not disparage Imam Ahmad or attribute to him what the fanatical Hanafis say, that this is a case of a contemporary criticizing a contemporary. Rather, we say that we do not know the nature of this disbelief, as I mentioned earlier. Then, Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) ... in the context of the discussion of the critique of narrators, there is no room for anyone to be free from sectarian bias to reject all the statements of those who criticize him on the grounds that Abu Hanifah is an Imam among the Imams of the Muslims and one of the four followed Imams. There is no doubt that he is one of the Imams, but it is not necessary that every Imam possesses all the distinguishing qualities that set him apart from others. Abu Hanifah is distinguished in a way that no one disputes, for his jurisprudence, his understanding, and his derivation of legal rulings, even if he relied on opinion in some of that, and this is also one of the points taken against him.
The student: - Peace be upon you -
The Shaykh :- And upon you be peace, and Allah's mercy and blessings -
But that does not mean that we declare him a disbeliever, which
The questioner : The question, first of all, is not about declaring Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) a disbeliever, that he is not ... nor about his precision and narration of hadith, but O Shaykh, those who refer to the biography of this Imam see that most of the Salaf (may Allah have mercy on them) used to criticize him.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : And with authentic chains of narration from them, about many things, such as that they ... turned their faces away from him, as it is established from Sufyan al-Thawri that he was sitting in the Sacred Mosque, so Abu Hanifah came and he turned his back to him, and then when he spoke to him, he stood up and said, "We seek refuge in Allah from an Arabized Nabataean," and so on. And from Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak also, many statements were recorded from him, I mean, I mean, this question is about the position of the people of the Sunnah, I mean, regarding Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) in his jurisprudence and his methodology, and not in declaring him a disbeliever or his precision.
The Shaykh : I have answered you, I have answered you