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

Abu Yusuf
 
 
 
He is Ya‘qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Habib al-Ansari al-Kufi. He was an Arab and not a client. He was born in 
133 AH and died in 182. He grew up poor and in need and had to work to eat. Fervour for knowledge moved 
him to listen to scholars until Abu Hanifa noticed him and helped him financially. After that he devoted 

---

himself to knowledge entirely. He had been with Ibn Abi Layla before joining Abu Hanifa to whom he then 
devoted himself. It seems that after Abu Hanifa’s death, or while he was still alive, he also studied with 
hadith
scholars. 
He was 
qadi
under three khalifs: al-Mahdi, al-Hadi and then ar-Rashid. Coupled with the fact that he was 
one of the 
fuqaha’
of opinion, his appointment as 
qadi
was one of the reasons why some 
hadith
scholars have 
avoided his 
hadiths
. The Hanafi school benefited in several ways by the appointment of Abu Yusuf as 
qadi
since his selection gave the school influence. A 
qadi
deals with people’s problems and has to apply himself to 
solving them and thus the analogy and 
istihsan
he used was derived from everyday life not theoretical 
situations. Through his appointment, the Hanafi school was put on a firm footing. Abu Yusuf may have been 
the first of the 
fuqaha’
of opinion to base opinions on 
hadith
for he combined both disciplines. 
The books of Abu Yusuf
 
 
Abu Yusuf wrote many books containing his opinions and those of his shaykh. 
The Index
of Ibn an-Nadim 
mentions a number of them, most of which have not survived. There are also a number of books which Ibn an-
Nadim does not mention, one of which is the 
Kitab al-Athar
and books on differences with other 
fuqaha’
. 
His best known book is the 
Kitab al-Kharaj
, a treatise which Abu Yusuf wrote for ar-Rashid on the 
financial matters of the state. He clarified the sources of financial revenue for the state and the areas of 
taxation in great detail, basing himself on the Qur’an, transmission from the Prophet, and the 
fatwas
of the 
Companions. He quotes 
hadiths
and deduces their underlying intentions and the actions of the Companions. 
This book was entirely written by Abu Yusuf, but in it he mentioned his disagreement with Abu Hanifa 
regarding several questions. Is it reasonable to conclude that he agrees with Abu Hanifa when he does not 
mention that they disagree? This would seem to be the case. When he differs, he produces the method of 
reasoning involved in his reaching a separate conclusion. 
The 
Kitab al-Athar
is transmitted by him from Abu Hanifa and contains a number of 
fatwas
which Abu 
Hanifa selected or opposed from the positions prevalent in Kufa at that time. This book has several important 
scholarly implications for us: 
• Its ascription to Abu Hanifa shows a group of his transmissions and the type of 
hadiths
on which he 
relied in his deduction of rulings and 
fatwas
. 
• It makes it clear that Abu Hanifa accepted the 
fatwas
of the Companions and how he accepted and used 
mursal hadiths
. 
• It includes some of what he selected of the 
fatwas
of the 
Tabi
‘
un
among the 
fuqaha’
of Kufa and of Iraq 
in general. It, therefore, provides a legal collection which was known and studied in Iraq. 
Another significant book was 
The Disagreement of Abu Hanifa and Ibn Abi Layla
: It contains the 
questions on which there was disagreement between the two. AbuYusuf supports Abu Hanifa although both of 
them had been his teachers. As-Sarakhshi says about Abu Yusuf’s move: 
“Abu Yusuf used at first to go to Ibn Abi Layla and studied with him for nine years. Then he 
moved to the gathering of Abu Hanifa. It is said that the reason for Abu Yusuf’s move was that he 
attended a marriage contract and sweets were distributed. Abu Yusuf had some and Ibn Abi Layla 
disliked that and spoke harshly to him, saying, ‘Do you not know that this is not lawful?’ So Abu 
Yusuf went to Abu Hanifa and asked him about that and he said, ‘There is nothing wrong with it. We 
have heard that the Messenger of Allah was with his Companions at the marriage contract of an 
Ansari and dates were distributed and the Prophet began to pick them up and tell his Compan-ions, 
“Take”. We also heard that during the Farewell 
Hajj
when the Messenger of Allah sacrificed a 
hundred camels, he ordered that a piece of each camel be kept for him.’ When the disparity between 
them was clear, Abu Yusuf moved to Abu Hanifa.” 
We find this transmitted from ash-Shaybani. The book also shows how Abu Hanifa utilised analogy in 
Iraqi 
fiqh
. Abu Yusuf’s book illustrates the use of evidence and different aspects of analogy. It also shows the 

---

disagreement between the people of Madina and the people of Iraq. An example of that is the share a horse 
receives from the booty. 
Abu Hanifa said that a man with two horses only receives a share for one horse. Al-Awza‘i said that he 
receives the share for two horses and no further share and that this is what the people of knowledge say and 
the statement according to which scholars act. Abu Yusuf said, “Nothing about shares for two horses has 
reached us from the Prophet or any of his Companions except for one 
hadith
. We consider a single 
hadith
to 
be anomalous and do not take it as evidence. As for the statement that the Imams act by it and the people of 
knowledge follow it, this is like the statement of the people of the Hijaz, “And that is the past 
sunna
.” This is 
not an acceptable position to adopt. Who is the Imam who does this and who is the scholar who accepts it? 
We must look to see whether he is worthy to be transmitted from and certain about whether his position is 
based on knowledge or not. How can there be shares for two horses and not for three? How can there be a 
share for a horse tethered at camp which is not used in the fighting?”