The Shaykh’s remarks on the repentance of Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him).

The Shaykh : ... Can you specify for us the type of disbelief for which Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) was declared a disbeliever and from which he was asked to repent? They have no way of knowing this except what they narrated from his student Abu Yusuf, who spent months, perhaps six months, holding the Mu'tazilah view regarding the Qur'an. It is possible, and I say this with reservation, that this narration, meaning via his student Abu Yusuf, is authentic. In that circumstance that befell Abu Hanifah, this obsession, which is the doubt regarding whether the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is an attribute of His attributes, and that it is with letters and sound as the people of the Sunnah hold, and not as the Asha'irah and Maturidiyyah hold, who speak of "psychological speech" which they call psychological speech, it is possible that at that time, due to the strength of the people of hadith and the people of the Sunnah in that era, they were able to bring him and speak to him and warn him that one who says the speech of Allah is created, like al-Maturidi, is a disbeliever and should be asked to repent, because they had the power and authority, and that he would not be killed if he persisted in this. It is possible that this disbelief, which is summarized here or stated generally in the correct sense, is a type of this which was the subject of disagreement between the people of the Sunnah on one hand, and the Mu'tazilah, Maturidiyyah, and Asha'irah on the other hand. And so, we undoubtedly take something from such a narration, meaning something is attributed to Abu Hanifah, but what is that thing? We cannot take it from this summarized word because it is not explained. I think my answer is clear in this. Naturally, we do not defend Abu Hanifah, because I see that he is not from the people of hadith, meaning in jurisprudence; it is sufficient that he is known as the Imam of the People of Opinion. But at the same time, I do not want to be harsh with the man or to deny his status and virtue in jurisprudence. But this also does not lead us to be biased toward him or enthusiastic about him, and to criticize any narration that contains a criticism of him, even if it were from al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmad, and so on, as the biased Hanafites of this time do, such as Abu Ghuddah and his like. But in reality, we try to be polite in accordance with the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): So, for example, I do not show bias toward Abu Hanifah, and I am the one who, if I have the right to boast, and there is no boasting in Islam, I am the one who spread among the people and raised the alarm of the biased ones that Abu Hanifah is weak in hadith. The Islamic world was unaware of this. Of course, I did not bring anything from myself; it is written, but who reads this written material, especially regarding Abu Hanifah, the Greatest Imam? So, I was, by the grace of Allah, the first to publicize the position of the scholars of hadith regarding Imam Abu Hanifah in narrating hadith; he is weak in hadith. So the biased ones raised a commotion. Why? Because they do not critique with intellect, thought, awareness, and religion, but rather with pre-Islamic age of ignorance bias. So this phrase undoubtedly contains a criticism of Abu Hanifah, but it is not permissible for us to declare him a disbeliever. What is the reason for the declaration of disbelief? The reason for the declaration of disbelief is unknown, knowing that the disagreement in the severe matters is between the scholars of hadith on one hand, led by Ibn Taymiyyah in his era, and the Mu'tazilah, Asha'irah, and others on the other hand. The scholars of hadith themselves do not say so-and-so is a disbeliever, even from those they know have deviated from the path of the Sunnah. And so, Imam al-Bukhari narrates from some of the Mu'tazilah and narrates from some of the Khawarij, and we do that; hadith is used as evidence with their hadith. If these people were disbelievers because of their deviation in creed from the line of the Sunnah, they would not have narrated these hadiths from them or agreed with them. When it is said that such-and-such is disbelief or so-and-so is a disbeliever, they mean warning against what he fell into, and they do not mean ruling that he is an apostate from his religion. May they be far from that. Now, what about others?