Ahmad ibn Hanbal

[5] Having studied jurisprudence and hadith under many teachers during his youth,[12] Ibn Hanbal became famous in his later life for the crucial role he played in the Mihna instituted by the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun toward the end of his reign, in which the ruler gave official state support to the Mu'tazili doctrine of the Quran being created, a view that contradicted the orthodox position of the Quran being the eternal, uncreated word of God.

[5] Living in poverty throughout his lifetime working as a baker, and suffering physical persecution under the caliphs for his unflinching adherence to the traditional doctrine, Ibn Hanbal's fortitude in this particular event only bolstered his "resounding reputation"[5] in the annals of Sunni history.

Ibn Hanbal later came to be venerated as an exemplary figure in all traditional schools of Sunni thought,[5] both by the exoteric scholars and ascetic Sufis, with the latter often designating him as a saint in their hagiographies.

However, it has been argued by certain scholars that Ibn Hanbal's own beliefs actually played "no real part in the establishment of the central doctrines of Wahhabism,"[16] as there is evidence, according to the same authors, "the older Hanbali authorities had doctrinal concerns very different from those of the Wahhabis,"[16] due to medieval Hanbali literature being rich in references to saints, grave visitation, miracles, and relics.

[17] In this connection, scholars have cited Ibn Hanbal's own support for the use of relics as one of several important points on which the theologian's positions diverged from those adhering to Wahhabism.

[18] Other scholars maintain he was "the distant progenitor of Wahhabism", who also immensely inspired the similar conservative reform movement of Salafism.

[34] In addition to his scholastic enterprises, Ibn Hanbal was a soldier in the war frontiers and performed pilgrimage five times in his life, twice on foot.

[35] Ibn Hanbal is known to have been called before the Mihna of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun, who wanted to assert his religious authority by pressuring scholars to adopt the Mu'tazili doctrine of the Quran being created, rather than uncreated.

[35][dead link‍] After al-Mu'tasim's death, al-Wathiq became caliph and continued his predecessors' policies of enforcing the Mu'tazili doctrine and, in this pursuit, banished Ibn Hanbal from Baghdad.

It was only after al-Wathiq's death and the ascent of his brother al-Mutawakkil, who was much more tolerating of the traditional Sunni beliefs, that Ibn Hanbal was welcomed back to Baghdad.

[citation needed] His appearance according to Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' is: Ibn Dharih al-'Ukbari said: "I requested to see Ahmad bin Hanbal.

[38] He died due to being severely ill. His son Salih describes his illness as:[44] "On the first day of the month of Rabi' al-Awwal in the year two hundred and forty-one, my father had a fever on Wednesday night.

[41][42][43] Ibn Hanbal's principal doctrine is what later came to be known as "traditionalist thought," which emphasized the acceptance of only the Quran and hadith as the foundations of orthodox belief.

As for those attributes called "ambiguous" (mutas̲h̲ābih), such as those which spoke of God's hand, face, throne, and omnipresence, vision by the believers on the day of resurrection, etc.

This mediating principle allowed the traditionalists to deny ta'wil (figurative interpretations) of the apparently anthropomorphic texts while concomitantly affirming the doctrine of the "incorporeal, transcendent deity".

Although he argued for literalist meanings of the Qur'anic and prophetic statements about God, Ibn Hanbal was not a fideist and was willing to engage in hermeneutical exercises.

The rise of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and the Ashab al-Hadith, whose cause he championed, during the Mihna; would mark the stage for the empowerment and centering of corporealist ideas in the Sunnite orthodoxy.

[50] His staunch condemnation of taqlid is reported in the treatise Fath al-Majid by Hanbali judge Abd al-Rahman ibn Hasan (1782–1868).

Comparing taqlid to polytheism (shirk), Ibn Hanbal states: "I am amazed at those people who know that a chain of narration is authentic, and yet, in spite of this, they follow the opinion of Sufyan, for God says, 'And let those who oppose the Messenger's commandment beware, lest some fitna should befall them, or a painful torment be inflicted on them.'

"[51]It is narrated by Abū Bakr al-Marwazī in his Mansak that Ibn Hanbal preferred one to make tawassul or "intercession" through Muhammad in every supplication, with the wording: "O God!

[54] In the same way, Ibn Taymiyyah cites the Hanbali fatwa on the desirability of Muhammad's intercession in every personal supplication in his Qāida fil-Tawassul wal-Wasiīla where he attributes it to "Imām Ahmad and a group of the pious ancestors" from the Mansak of al-Marwazī as his source.

Qadi Abu Ya'la reports in his Tabaqat: "[Ibn Hanbal] used to greatly respect the Sūfīs and show them kindness and generosity.

'"[58] Furthermore, it is in Ibn Hanbal's Musnad that we find most of the hadith reports concerning the abdal, forty major saints "whose number [according to Islamic mystical doctrine] would remain constant, one always being replaced by some other on his death" and whose key role in the traditional Sufi conception of the celestial hierarchy would be detailed by later mystics such as Hujwiri and Ibn Arabi.

[68] As has been noted by scholars, it is evident that Ibn Hanbal "believed in the power of relics,"[13] and supported the seeking of blessing through them in religious veneration.

"[13] Sufi scholar Gibril Haddad reports from al-Dhahabi that Ibn Hanbal "used to seek blessings from the relics of the Prophet.

"[71] When asked by his son Abdullah about the legitimacy of touching and kissing Muhammad's grave in Medina, Ibn Hanbal is said to have approved of both these acts as being permissible according to sacred law.

[72][73] According to Hanbali scholar Najm al-Din Tufi (d. 716 A.H/ 1316 C.E), Ahmad ibn Hanbal did not formulate a legal theory; since "his entire concern was with hadith and its collection".

"[75] As a result, it has been argued that Ibn Hanbal disapproved of independent reasoning by those muftis who were not absolute masters in law and jurisprudence.

[6] One of the creeds attributed to Ibn Hanbal opens with: "Praise be to God, who in every age and interval between prophets (fatra) elevated learned men possessing excellent qualities, who call upon him who goes astray (to return) to the right way.

"[85] Be that as it may, the vast majority of other scholars do recognize Ibn Hanbal's prowess as a master jurist worthy of one whose methodology became foundation for its own school of jurisprudence.