The four imaams offered a great service in the field of fiqh and their heritage is great value to the ummah. The fourth of them:
Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal
He is Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hanbal al-Shaybaaanee from the tribe of Rabee'ah al-Adnaaniyyah. He was born in 164H and died in 241H. From this most well-known teachers:
- Al-Qaadee Abu Yusuf (d. 182H)
- Hushaym bin Basheer Abee Haazim al-Waasitee (d. 183H)
- Sufyaan bin Uyainah (d. 198H)
- Abd al-Razzaaq bin Hammaam (d. 211H)
- Al-Waleed bin Muslim
- Abd al-Rahmaan bin Mahraan
- Yahyaa al-Qattaan
From his most well-known students:
- Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Haani al-Athram (d. 260H)
- Saalih, his eldest son (d. 266H)
- Abu Bakr Ahmad bin Muhammd bin Haani al-Baghdaadee (d. 273H)
- Abd al-Malik bin Abd al-Hameed bin Mahraan al-Maymoonee (d. 273H)
- Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hajjaaj al-Marwazi (d. 275H)
- Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 290H)
The foundations of his madhhab:
- The Noble Qur'an
- The Prophetic Sunnah
- The fataawaa of the Companions
- Choosing from the fataawaa of the Companions where they differed
- Making use of the mursal and da'eef hadeeth (with conditions and restrictions)
- Use of analogy (qiyaas) but out of necessity.
Spread of his madhhab:
- Concentrated in Najd specifically and more generally in Saudi Arabia
- Palestine
- Shaam (Syria, Jordan)
- Iraq
Most famous books of the madhhab:
- Al-Mughnee of Ibn Qudaaamah (d. 620H)
- al-Iqnaa' of al-Hajaawee (d. 968H)
Refer to (الملخصات الفقهية الميسرة) "Simple, Summarized Fiqh Principles" (Imaad Ali Jumu'ah, 1434H, Dar al-Nafaa'is).
Usool
