Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad

The Virtues
by al-Makki:
Al-Mansur sent him a gift of 10,000 dirhams and a slavegirl. ‘Abdu’l-Malik ibn Hamid, al-
Mansur’s wazir, was a noble and generous man. He told Abu Hanifa when he refused it, “I tell you by 
Allah, the Amir al-Mu’minin is looking for a way to get at you. If you do not accept, you will confirm 
his suspicions about you.” He refused and so ‘Abdu’l-Malik said, “As for the money, give it out in 
stipends. As for the slavegirl, accept her from me or make an excuse so that I can excuse you to the 
Amir al-Mu’minin.” Abu Hanifa said, “I am too weak for women. I am old and I do not consider it 
lawful to accept a slavegirl with whom I cannot have relations and I would not dare to sell a slavegirl 
which came from the property of the Amir al-Mu’mimin.” 
Similar incidents took place between Abu Hanifa and al-Mansur and so he kept him under surveillance. 
There were those in al-Mansur’s retinue who provoked him against Abu Hanifa and made him suspect his 
statements and 
fatwas
, but he continued to make statements and 
fatwas
which he believed to be true, 
unconcerned about whether people were pleased or angry as long as he was pleasing to Allah, complying to 
the Truth and it satisfied his own conscience. 
Al-Khatib reported that Abu Yusuf said, “Al-Mansur summoned Abu Hanifa. Ar-Rabi‘, the chamberlain of 
al-Mansur, who was hostile to Abu Hanifa, said, ‘Amir al-Mu’minin, Abu Hanifa contradicts your 
grandfather, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas. He stated that when someone swore an oath and then made an exception a 
day or two later, the exception was permitted. But Abu Hanifa says that the exception is not allowed unless it 
is simultaneous with the oath.’ Abu Hanifa said, ‘Amir al-Mu’minin, ar-Rabi‘ claims that you have no 
allegiance from your army.’ ‘How is that?’ he asked. He said, ‘They swear to you and then return to their 
homes and make an exception, and so their oaths are invalid.’ Al-Mansur laughed and said, ‘Rabi‘, do not 
start with Abu Hanifa!’ When he left, ar-Rabi‘ said, ‘You wanted to spill my blood!’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you 
wanted to spill mine, and I saved you and saved myself.’” 
Al-Khatib also said, “Abu’l-‘Abbas at-Tusi had a bad opinion of Abu Hanifa and Abu Hanifa was aware of 
it. Abu Hanifa went to al-Mansur at a time when there were a lot of people present. At-Tusi said, ‘Today I will 
finish with Abu Hanifa.’ So he came to him and said ‘Abu Hanifa, the Amir al-Mu’minin commands one of 
us to strike off the head of another man without knowing who it is. Is he permitted to do that?’ ‘Abu’l-
‘Abbas,’ the Imam replied, ‘does the Amir al-Mu’minin command what is right or falsehood?’ ‘What is right,’ 
he replied. Abu Hanifa said, ‘Carry out the right wherever it is and you will not be questioned about it.’ Then 
Abu Hanifa said to those near him, ‘This one wanted to bind me so I tied him up.’” 
It should be mentioned here that a position taken by Abu Hanifa may have provided al-Mansur with a 
means of harming him because Abu Hanifa would annul the judgements of the 
qadi
of Kufa when they were 
contrary to his opinion and declare that they were wrong at the time they were issued and to those who had 

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received a positive or negative judgement. That provoked the 
qadi
against him and he thought ill of him and 
was moved to complain about him to the amir.
According to 
The History of Baghdad
, Ibn Abi Layla, who was 
qadi 
in Kufa, examined the case of a 
madwoman who had said to a man, “Son of two fornicators!” He carried out the 
hadd
on her while she was 
standing in the mosque and she received two 
hadds
since she had slandered both the father and the mother. 
Abu Hanifa heard about that and stated, “He erred about her in six ways. He carried out the