To highlight the life and contribution of Imam Abu Hanifa (RA), popularly known as Imam-e-Azam, in Islamic jurisprudence,
has been held at Dhaka,Bangladesh yesterday. The conference was attended by imams of major shrines and mosques of the area along with others.
Imam Abu Hanifa (RA) (699-767 CE / 80-148 AH) was the founder of the Sunni Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence who was born in Kufa, Iraq during the reign of the powerful Umayyad caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan. His father, Thabit bin Zuta, a trader from Kabul, part of Khorasan in Persia, (the capital of modern day Afghanistan),was 40 years old at the time of Abu Hanifa''s birth. His ancestry is generally accepted as being of non-Arab origin as suggested by the etymology of the names of his grandfather (Zuta) and great-grandfather (Mah).The historian, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, records a statement from Abu Hanifa''s grandson, Ismail bin Hammad, who gave Abu Hanifa''s lineage as Thabit bin Numan bin Marzban and claiming to be of Persian origin. The discrepancy in the names, as given by Ismail of Abu Hanifa''s grandfather and great-grandfather are thought to be due to Zuta''s adoption of a Muslim name (Numan) upon his acceptance of Islam and that Mah and Marzban were titles or official designations in Persia. Further differences of opinion exist on his ancestry.
Among the four established Sunni schools of legal thought in Islam, the Hanafi school is the oldest, Abu Hanifa was the first to systematically arrange and compile Islamic law.A unique feature of the school is the method in which the law was codified: Abu Hanifa would convene and preside over a board of jurists (consisting of about 40-50 of his own students) and each would give his own opinion on a particular legal issue, Abu Hanifa would then decide which is the opinion that is to be selected by corroborating it or sometimes would offer his own unique opinion. The Hanafi school also has the most followers among the four major Sunni schools.Today, the Hanafi school is predominant among the Sunnis of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China as well as in Iraq, Syria,Turkey, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia in the Balkans and the Caucasus.
The conference was staged by "Imam Azam and Aa'la Hazrath Research Council" and attended by the prominent religious scholars from across the country,including Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Abu Sufian Al- Abedi,Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Jashim Uddin Azhari ,Mufti Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan ,Mufti Mohammad Mukhtar Reza Masumi,Mawlana Mufti Mohammad Abul Hasan Omair Rajvi, Mawlana Shahidulla Bahadur, Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Saiful Islam Azhari and many others.
The conference was anchored by Muhammad Abdul Hakim,member the Council and Maulana Masum Baki Billah, Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of Dhaka and the welcome speech to the honorable guests was delivered by the Convener of the Council Mawlana Mufti Muhammad Abul Quashem Fazlul Haq.
