Kufa Mosque in Iraq
HAZRAT IMAM ABU HANIFA MALIK SAIF-UR-RAHMAN
Malik Saif-ur-Rahman Sahib, the author of the article given below, was a highly educated and established scholar of Islam, having studied and taught at famous Islamic institutes prior to accepting Islam Ahmadiyyat. He devoted his life to the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in Islam and served in many capacities. In 1947, he was appointed as Mufti-e-Silsila and later, also served as the principal of Jamia Ahmadiyya Rabwah for ten years. He is famous for his services to the Jamaat and notable works such as the compilation of Hadiqatus-Salihin and authoring Tarikh Afkar-e-Islami, which includes the article presented below
Hazrat Imam Abu Hanifa’srh full name was Numan bin Thabit bin Zuta, also known as Abu Hanifa. (There are disputes as to why he was known as Abu Hanifa. One narration suggests that as he lived a life of moderation and refrained from going to extremes, he was called Abu Hanifa. Some are of the view that as “hanifa” meant inkpot in Iraq and due to his services to fiqh, inkpots always surrounded him by his students, that is why he was known as Abu Hanifa.) He was born in 80 AH in Kufa and when he was around 70 years of age, he passed away in Baghdad in the year 150 AH.
His family belonged to an illustrious and religiously influential lineage of Kabul (Afghanistan), which consisted of Zoroastrian priests of Kabul. After the conquest of Kabul, Imam Abu Hanifa’s grandfather, Zuta settled with his family in Kufa or came there after being captured. He accepted Islam and made friendship with Banu Teem bin Tha‘libah. It is said that Zuta had immense reverence for Hazrat Alira. He once made a drink called faluda, which the people of Kabul were experts in, and offered it to Hazrat Alira. He had a son named Thabit and requested Hazrat Alira to pray for his
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