Hanafi
Hanafi (
Arabic:
حنفى ) is one of the four schools of thought
(Madhabs) or jurisprudence (
Fiqh) within
Sunni Islam. Founded by
Abu Hanifa, An-Númān ibn Thābit (Arabic: النعمان بن ثابت) (699 - 765), it is considered to be the school most open to modern ideas. At the same time, it follows some of the strictest interpretations of Islamic law.
Its followers are sometimes known in English as
Hanafites or
Hanifites (cf
Malikite,
Shafiite,
Hanbalite for the other schools of thought). It is the largest of the four schools; it is followed by approximately 45% of Muslims world-wide. The other three schools of thought are
Shafi,
Maliki, and
Hanbali.
The most prominent propagators of Hanafi thought in history were probably the
Ottoman Empire and the
Mughal Empire, and as such the areas which they encompassed are predominantly Hanafite.
Today, the Hanafi school is predominant among:
*
Sunni Muslims in
South Asia:
Pakistan,
India,
Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, and the
Maldives.
*In the Middle East,
Lower (Northern) Egypt was where the influence of the Hanafi thought of the
Ottomans was strongest.
*
Iraq, and the
Levant (
Syria,
Lebanon and
Palestine) are mixed
Shafi/Hanafi.
*Regions of the Caucasus:
Ingushetia,
Chechnya and
Daghestan are almost entirely Hanafi.
*Other areas with sizeable Hanafi adherents include:
**
Muslim communities of the
Balkans:
***
Bosnia-Herzegovina***
Kosovo***
Albania***communities in
Bulgaria and
Romania.
**
Central Asian countries: (
Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan **
China,
Russia (
Tatarstan, and
Bashkortostan), and
Ukraine.
**Most
Tatars and
Turks are also Hanafi adherents.
**Sizable communities in
Abkhazia,
Ajaria, and other parts of
Georgia and Southern
Russia.
**Communities in
Western Africa, including
Mali and
Mauritania, are also Hanafites.
The
Constitution of Afghanistan allows Afghan judges to use Hanafi jurisprudence in situations where the Constitution lacks provisions.
The Hanafi school is considered to be the most liberal. For example, under Hanafi jurisprudence,
blasphemy is not punishable by the state, despite being considered a
civil crime by some other schools.
There is little or no animosity between the four schools of religious law within
Sunni Islam. Instead there is a cross-pollination of ideas and debate that serves to refine each school's understanding of Islam. It is not uncommon, or disallowed, for an individual to follow one school but take the point of view of another school for a certain issue (for example the Egyptian
Sheikh Shihab al-Din Qarafi was an
Imam in both the
Maliki and
Shafi schools).
Islamic jurisprudence
*
AskImam.org (Browse Q&A according to Hanafi fiqh)
*
SunniPath.com (also has answers according to
Shafi'i fiqh)
*
ShariahBoard.org (Browse Q&A according to Hanafi fiqh - For Urdu Speakers)
*
Online Urdu Audio on Various SubjectsHanafi community
*
sunniforum.com*
masud*
sunniport.com*
al-zawiya (
Yahoo! group)
*[
1]
*[
2] - Who are the Chechens? by Johanna Nichols, University of California, Berkeley.
