Written by: Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri Hafizahullah
Question: How many narrations are transmitted from Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah?
Answer: Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah was not a muhaddith (hadith scholar), very few narrations are transmitted from him, and among the narrations transmitted from him, there is also discourse.
Allama Abdul Hayy Lakhnawi Hanafi Rahimahullah (1304 AH) writes:
من ثم قلت روايات الإمام أبي حنيفة بالنسبة إلى غيره من المحدثين، وهذا يبني عن شدة ورعه، وغاية احتياطه، وقد خبط جمع من علماء زماننا، فعدوه من معايبه.
For this reason, the narrations of Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah are fewer compared to other muhaddithin. This is due to Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah’s strict piety and extreme caution. Many scholars of our time have counted this, without proper understanding, among the faults of Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah.
Reference: (Zafar al-Amani: p.525)
❀ The narrations of Imam Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah are few, but the reason given for their scarcity being due to piety and caution is not correct; in reality, he was not a muhaddith and hadith was not his pursuit. On the other hand, he was also severely criticized by the muhaddithin.
Imam Ibn Hibban Rahimahullah says:
لم يكن الحديث صناعته حدث بمائة وثلاثين حديثا مسانيد ما له حديث في الدنيا غيره أخطأ منها في مائة وعشرين حديثا إما أن يكون أقلب إسناده أو غير متنه من حيث لا يعلم فلما غلب خطؤه على صوابه استحق ترك الاحتجاج به في الأخبار ومن جهة أخرى لا يجوز الاحتجاج به
Hadith was not the specialty of Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him. He narrated one hundred and thirty authentic hadiths in total; besides these, no other hadith of his exists in the world. Among these, in one hundred and twenty hadiths, Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on him, made mistakes, either unknowingly reversing the chain of narration or altering the text. When his errors outweighed his accuracy, it was deemed appropriate that his narrations should not be taken as evidence; in other words, it is not permissible to use his narrations as proof.
Reference: (Kitab al-Majruhin: 63/3)
