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?”
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