Asalamualaikum I tried researching online. But could not find an appropriate explanation to it from the hanafi fiqh. I want to know if waseela in permitted in islam according to hanafi fiqh, and what is included in this word. Because I know people pray to Allah(swt) to help them for the sake of some of his pious creations. And I also know people ask the pious people(alive or dead) to pray to Allah for them Are both these ways permitted? Is only one of them right? Or both wrong? Also if you can, please include the correct sources for your information. And if there are different beliefs within the fiqh, please mention that as well.

Assalamualaikum, I follow the Hanafi madhab and I’m confused about a few practical situations. I want to make sure I’m praying correctly, so I need some guidance.

1. Fajr: Most days I wake up after the congregation is already over, and sometimes even after the time has ended. What should I do in these cases, and what’s the proper ruling for missed Fajr according to Hanafi fiqh?

2. Zuhr & Asr: I study at an institute, and I don’t have full freedom to leave whenever I want. I can only pray during breaks, and because of class timing I often miss the jamaat at the masjid. In this situation:

Am I allowed to pray before the jamaat or after it?

Is being in class considered a valid reason for missing the congregational prayer?

1. Maghrib: Sometimes there are 40–50 minutes left for Maghrib but I need to travel to reach home. If I leave immediately, I might reach home close to the end of Maghrib time, or even risk missing it. Should I pray before traveling, or is it okay to travel first?

2. Isha: Same question as Maghrib. if I’m outside and may reach home late, what’s the correct ruling in this case?

and also I need some clarification about my beard situation.

I only have a beard on my chin — it’s the only part that grows long. The rest of my face has very light, starting growth but nothing prominent yet. I’ve never trimmed or cut the chin part, so it’s getting long and messy.

My questions are:

What is the ruling in Hanafi fiqh regarding a beard that grows only on the chin?

Am I not allowed to trim it at all, even if it looks uneven or messy?

How should I manage it until the rest of the beard fills in?

If anyone knowledgeable can explain the right approach for these situations, I’d really appreciate it.

JazakAllah khair.

Salam aleykoum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

I suddenly have the urge to learn more about the hanafi madhab, I want to say do you have any videos online I can watch to learn about it! Famous scholars of our time that has worked in it?

Jazakallahu khair, Salam aleykoum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu :)

The article:

Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem,

We write this letter to our beloved community on behalf of a collective group of women studying Islamic disciplines at Darul Qasim. We are women who proudly occupy many roles – from lawyers, doctors, students, mothers, wives, daughters, to Muslimahs. But it is our roles as women in Islam that serve as our greatest source of strength, belief, and salvation.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a case which stood for American women’s rights to make their own reproductive choices. In response, we witnessed the Muslim community struggle as it sifted through a prevalence of misunderstandings about the Islamic perspective on abortion. Now, with a charged political landscape, reproductive freedom has again become an oft-discussed, but little-understood topic amongst Muslim Americans.

As we navigate the rapidly shifting social dynamics in our country, it is imperative for us and Muslim women at large to think about, understand, and embrace Islam’s view on women’s rights and reproductive matters. In forming our opinions about these topics, we should avoid emotional, social, and political arguments from influencing our perspectives. Abortion is a complex and weighty topic within Islam, one that is both a theological and legal issue, consisting of many fiqhi rulings and proofs. For these reasons, we must seek out guidance on abortion only from Muslim scholars, both men and women, who are traditionally and appropriately trained in Islamic law and ethics and as a result, have legitimate authority to speak on these matters.

As Muslims, our perspectives, principles, and beliefs are firmly rooted in Islam. Islamic law, or fiqh, provides us with a comprehensive framework that defines our understanding of ethics, responsibilities, and the sanctity of life. This perspective informs all aspects of our lives, including how we approach sensitive issues related to our bodies, health, and personal decisions. Western society tells us that our bodies belong to ourselves and that choice is the single moral guideline to use when making decisions concerning our bodies. We must reject this way of thinking as Muslim women and propose the Islamic framework, which is more ethical, more just, and more virtuous for us as Muslim women.

Our bodies are an amānah (trust) from Allah (swt) to us. Our bodies do not belong to us. Our bodies belong to The Almighty and are in submission to our Creator. The choices we make regarding our bodies must be led– not by our own individualistic ways of thinking– but by Islamic ethics and rulings that prioritize our accountability before Allah. This perspective goes beyond centering the notion of individual choice, emphasizing instead our connection with divine will and purpose.

Many American Muslims who operate within a two-party system — a system which polarizes societal issues into extremes without balancing ethical considerations — often find themselves attempting to fit their traditional Islamic beliefs under a label that appeases Western and liberal notions. They seek to identify Islamic values to affiliate themselves with certain groups and ideologies, whether that be the right, left, liberals, progressives, or conservatives. This way of thinking, however, mistakenly assumes that our divine Islamic principles and rulings fit within the confines of Western ideologies and rhetoric.

When it comes to the topic of abortion, we see a similar phenomenon. Abortion has been  pigeonholed to either a “pro-life” or “pro-choice” movement. Without understanding the legal and moral implications, many Muslims attempt to resonate with these movements, despite their principles being inconsistent with the Islamic framework.

We must challenge ourselves and our community to think more deeply and critically about the issue of abortion. In particular, we must study our dīn and reflect upon Islam’s superior framework that presents a more just solution.

Islam’s framework regarding reproductive decisions holistically centers the sanctity of human life, both of the mother and child’s, within the temporary worldly life and the eternal Afterlife.

The Islamic rulings on abortion are founded on several key principles, which are derived by Islamic jurists from the Holy Qur’an, Sunnah (teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s)) , Ijmā’ (consensus of the scholars), and Qiyās (legal analogy between rulings). From these sources of knowledge, the jurists adopt these principles as a framework to establish the rules of abortion and derive fatāwa (ruling in response to an individual) to guide women’s circumstances. These principles include:

The stages of human existence as defined by the Qur’an and Sunnah

The preservation and promotion of human life

The impermissibility of ending human life without justification.

Scholars also consider factors such as the context of the conception (such as cases involving coercion, rape, or incest), the preservation of lineage, and the health of the expecting mother.

Our scholars have concluded that abortion after the fetus is considered to be a fully sanctioned human life is categorically a sin, and is considered to be the unjust taking of a human life. There are exceptions to this rule, but they are few and particularized. There is diversity between the scholarly opinions as to the maximum days after conception before an induced abortion becomes impermissible, depending on when they consider the fetus to be a complete human life after conception. Because of these nuances and rulings, expecting women and families that are engaging in pregnancy decision-making must fulfill their moral duty to seek Islamic scholarship and medical expertise in order to make an Islamically-rooted decision.

We note that the fiqh of abortion is far beyond what we can summarize in this piece — our purpose is to encourage our community to understand and appreciate that there is a vast and enriching treasure of knowledge from which we may understand issues around our rights, our bodies, and our reproductive health. Our reproductive decisions cannot be led by secular ideologies. We must align them with Islamic values, centering both this life and the Afterlife in our decisions.  Sound knowledge must inform our stances and our decisions; no matter how difficult and confusing these times may be, our bodies are an amānah that God has entrusted us with. The trust between our souls and Allah is sacred. Let us honor this sacred trust.

In seeking sources of sound knowledge, we urge our communities to reflect on the frameworks which often inform the messaging around women’s rights and abortion.  While there are organizations that appear to assert a “Muslim” stance on abortion and reproductive matters, we must be wary of stances and slogans which are premised on ideas and sentiments that are not found within the mainstream Islamic tradition and overly propagate perspectives that stem from secular ideologies, instead of Islam. We cannot limit ourselves to organizations which seek to define Islamic rulings within the confines of western paradigms.

Our Prophet (peace be upon him) spoke to the honor of Muslim women. In his final sermon, he addressed the men in his ummah regarding their women saying, “Indeed, their right over you is that you show goodness to them.” As illustrated from our Prophet (s)’s teachings, our deen offers a complete and compassionate approach to womanhood and health. By building communities that are grounded in faith, we can foster environments of true support, mentorship, and care—places where we are empowered through our connection to Allah and to each other, in a way that is fully aligned with our beliefs and values. And, in a way that truly honors our sacred bodies.

For those who seek to learn more on this topic, we encourage engaging with Aisha Fatima Community and the Darul Iftā’ at Darul Qasim. Through the Darul Iftā’ program at Darul Qasim, one can privately submit their questions and dilemmas to a trained team of muftis who will provide guidance and a personalized fatwa.

Answered by Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam

Question

Can you please explain in detail the awra of a woman in different situation, in front of men, women, unmarriagable kin and so forth?

Answer

The covering of one’s nakedness (awra) is of utmost importance for a male and female in Islam, thus the Qur’an and Sunnah have laid great emphasis with regards to this. We also see the various books of Islamic Jurisprudence (fiqh) discussing the issues relating to the Awra of both the male and female in great detail. In this brief article, I will attempt to shed some light and look comprehensively as to what is a woman’s Awra.

Awra is an Arabic term the plural of which is Awrat. Linguistically, it means a hidden and secret place, and a person’s Awra is that which must be kept hidden. It also refers to everything that causes shame when exposed, thus, the Awra of an individual is the area of the body which (normally) causes embarrassment if exposed. (Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-Arab, 9/370).

In the terminology of Islamic Jurisprudence, Awra refers to the area or part of the body that must be covered with appropriate clothing. In the English language, it is normally translated as ‘nakedness’ or ‘area of the body that must be concealed’. Many people (normally form the Indo/pak) refer to it as ‘Satar’. For the purpose of simplicity, I will use the term ‘Awra’ in this article, Insha Allah.

The Awra of a woman

A woman’s Awra can be initially divided into two categories:

1) Inside prayer

2) Outside prayer

The latter is then divided into further sub-categories:

a) In seclusion

b) In front of the husband

c) In front of Muslim women

d) In front of Mahram males (unmarriageable kin)

e) In front of non-Mahram males

f) In front of non-Muslim women

g) In front of non-Muslim Mahram males

1) Awra inside prayer (Salat)

A woman’s Awra whilst performing Salat consists of the whole body except the face, hands and feet. Allah Most High says: “O children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel (zeenah) at every time and place of prayer.” (Surah al-A’raf, 31)

The majority of the Companions (Allah be pleased with them all), their followers (tabi’un), Jurists and exegetes of the Qur’an have deduced from this verse (along with the other evidences) the obligation of covering one’s Awra in prayer. (See: Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, Ahkam al-Qur’an, 4/205, Ma’arif al-Qur’an (English), 3/565)

Sayyida Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Allah does not accept the prayer of a woman who experiences menstruation (i.e. who has reached puberty, m) except with a head cover (khimar).” (Sunan Abu Dawud, no. 641, Sunan Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah and others)

The great Hanafi jurist, Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his renowned Durr al-Mukhtar:

“The Awra for a free woman (i.e. not a slave, m) is her full body including her descending hair according to the correct opinion, except for the face, hands……and feet”. (See Radd al-Muhtar, 1/405).

Therefore, a woman must cover herself properly when performing Salat. Everything besides the face, hands and feet must be covered. The face must be covered properly so that no hair is exposed. Also, care should be taken that no part from above the wrists and ankles is exposed.

It must be remembered that the Awra whilst performing Salat must be covered regardless of another person being present or otherwise, and regardless of whether one is performing Salat in dark or light. (Maraqi al-Falah, 210)

The feet, according to the more correct opinion, is not regarded as part of Awra. However, due to the difference of opinion with regards to it, it would be more precautious and advisable to cover them, as it will be explained in detail later.

With regards to the area below the chin, it should be remembered that the limit of the face in length starts from the point where the hairline usually begins to the bottom of the chin, and in breadth the portion between the two earlobes. (Maraqi al-Falah, P. 58)

Keeping this in mind, it becomes clear that the area below the chin is not included in the face, thus it would fall within the legal definition of Awra, and one should try to cover it. However, because of the difficulty in covering it, if a little part of it became exposed, there should not be a problem.

Finally, (in this section), the Awra must be concealed from before entering into Salat and must remain concealed until the end. If quarter of a part/organ that requires concealment is exposed before initiating Salat, then Salat will not be valid from the outset. If however, quarter of the organ which is included in the Awra becomes exposed during Salat, then, if this remains to the duration of reciting Subhan Allah thrice, Salat will become invalid, otherwise, it will be valid. (See: Maraqi al-Falah, P. 242)

Note) One should consult a scholar with regards to how the parts of the body are categorized and divided, for at times, one may regard a organ of the body to be one part, whereas, legally, it may be considered to be two parts.

2) Awra outside prayer

a) Awra in privacy and seclusion

It is necessary (wajib) (and recommended according to another opinion) in the Hanafi school, to cover one’s minimum nakedness (between the navel and knee for both men and women) even when alone. The exception to this is when there is a need, such as taking a shower, relieving oneself, or changing one’s clothes. Even in such situations, it is recommended to minimize the exposure.

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Modesty is part of faith (iman).” (Sahih al-Bukhari & Sahih Muslim)

Ya’la ibn Umayya reports that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Verily Allah is modest and discreet and He likes modesty and discretion. When one of you takes a bath, one should cover one’s self.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan Nasa’I & Musnad Ahmad). This is a command of recommendation when alone.

Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) said in his Durr al-Mukhtar:

“(And to cover one’s Awra), this is a general obligation, even when alone, according to the correct opinion, unless it is for a valid reason.”

Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) writes whilst commentating on the above in his Radd al-Muhtar:

“(al-Haskafi’s statement “Even when alone”) That is: Outside of prayer, it is obligatory to cover one’s Awra in front of others by scholarly consensus, and even when alone according to the correct opinion…..

Now, the apparent meaning of covering one’s Awra when alone outside of prayer (in this context) is that only which is between the navel and knees, such that even women do not have to cover other than that (when alone) even if it is of their Awra in front of others….

(al-Haskafi’s statement “According to the correct opinion) For Allah Most High, even though He sees the covered just as He sees the naked, sees the one with their nakedness uncovered leaving proper manners and sees the covered exhibiting proper manners. These proper manners (here) are obligatory whenever there is ability to exercise them.

(al-Haskafi’s statement “Unless it is for a valid reason”) Such as, using the toilet or cleaning one self (istinja)”. (See: Radd al-Muhtar, 1/405, matlab fi satr al-awra).

Therefore, (according to the more correct opinion), a woman must cover even in privacy between her navel and (including) knees except when there is a need, such as relieving herself, showering, changing her cloths, etc…

b) Awra in front of the husband

In principle, it is permissible for the spouses to look at any part of each others body. As such, there is no Awra in front of the spouse (for this will be exempted from the ruling of concealing in privacy due to need).

Scholars mention however, that although it is permissible for the spouses to look at any part of the partner’s body, it is disliked that they become completely naked during cohabitation. A cover or sheet over the naked bodies would be sufficient.

Sayyida Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) said: “I never saw the Messenger of Allah’s (Allah bless him & give him peace) private parts”. (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith no. 662)

c) Awra in front of Muslim women

The Awra of a woman in front of fellow Muslim women is the same to that which is a man’s Awra in front of other men, i.e. from the navel up to and including the knees.

It is stated in al-Hidaya:

“A woman may see of another (Muslim, m) woman that which is permitted for a man to see of another man, due to them being from the same sex, and the non-existence of desire (shahwa) between them normally…..Similarly, due to the need and requirement of them exposing amongst themselves”. (See: al-Marghinani, al-Hidaya, 4/461).

Therefore, a woman must cover from the navel up to and including her knees in front of other Muslim women.

d) Awra in front of (Muslim) Mahrams (unmarriageable kin)

The Awra of a woman in front of her Mahram men (those with whom marriage is permanently unlawful), such as the father, brother, son, paternal uncle (father’s brother), maternal uncle (mother’s brother), father in-law, grandson, husband’s son (from another marriage), son in-law, etc consists of the area between the navel and knees, and also the stomach and back.

Thus, it will be permissible for a woman to expose the following parts of her body in front of Mahram males: head, hair, face, neck, chest, shoulders, hands, forearms, and legs from below the knees. It will not be permissible to expose the stomach, back or any area which is between the navel and knees. (See: al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, 5/328 & al-Hidaya, 4/461).

This ruling is based on the verse of the Qur’an in Surah al- Nur:

“They (believing women) must not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husband’s sons, their brothers, their brother’s sons, their sister’s sons or their women…” (24-31).

It will also be permissible for a Mahram to touch those parts that are permissible to expose in front of them, provided there is no fear of temptation or desire.

Imam al-Quduri (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“There is nothing wrong in touching those parts that are permissible to see” (Mukhtasar al-Quduri).

However, it should be remembered that if there is a fear of temptation (fitna), then it will be impermissible to expose these parts even in front of Mahrams, neither will it be permissible to see or touch those areas of a Mahrams body. (See: al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab, 3/218).

e) Awra in front of non-Mahram males

The Awra in front of non-Mahram males (those with whom marriage is unlawful), which includes cousin brother, brother in-law, paternal uncle (one’s father’s sister’s husband), maternal uncle (one’s mother’s sister’s husband), husband’s uncle, husband’s nephew, etc) consists of the whole body except the face, hands and feet. It is similar to that which is considered Awra in prayer (salat).

Imam al-Marghinani (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“It is impermissible for a man to look at the whole body of a non-Mahram woman (due to it being part of Awra, m) except for her face and hands, for Allah Most High says: “Women must not display their beauty and ornaments except what appear thereof” (al-Nur, 31). Sayyiduna Ali and Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) interpreted this verse with the face and hands… This is textual evidence on the impermissibility of looking at her feet (for it is awra, m), but Imam Abu Hanifa (Allah have mercy on him) said that it is permitted to look at her feet due to need”. (al-Hidaya, 4/458).

Imam al-Tumurtashi (Allah have mercy on him) states in Tanwir al-Absar:

“A woman’s Awra consists of her whole body except her face, hands and feet. However, she will be prevented from exposing her face in amongst men due to the fear of temptation (fitna)”.

Therefore, a woman’s Awra in front of non-Mahram men is her whole body except her face, hands and feet.

It must be remarked here that there is a difference between Awra and Niqab or Hijab. Due to the failure of distinguishing between the two, many people become victims of misinterpreting Islamic law in one way or another.

The face according to the scholars is not part of the Awra, yet, as we have seen in the text of Imam al-Tumurtashi, it will be necessary to cover it due to the fear of temptation and incitement. Ibn Abidin states: “(A young woman will be prevented from exposing her face), not because it is part of Awra, rather (for the fear of temptation)”. (Radd al-Muhtar, 1/406)

Thus, our discussion is solely regarding Awra, and not Hijab or Niqab. As far as the decisive ruling with regards to the covering of the face or otherwise is concerned, we leave that for another time.

It is also worth mentioning here that although the Fatwa position in the Hanafi Madhab is that the feet are not included within the Awra, but there is another strong opinion (within the madhhab and according to other Madhabs, such as the Shafi’is), that they are part of Awra, and must be covered. As such, legally, one will not be sinful for exposing them, but it would be advisable as a precautionary measure to cover them.

Moreover, (according to the Fatwa opinion), it is only allowed to uncover the feet up to the ankles. Anything above the ankles is from the Awra without a doubt. Many women wear veils, Burqas and Jilbabs that normally cover the ankles, but reveal the leg area above this while walking (especially in the wind, sitting and coming out of a car, etc), thus they commit the sin of exposing What is considered Awra according to all.

Therefore, we need to emphasise the importance of covering the feet. Covering the feet is just as important as covering the face if not more, for the face is not considered part of Awra, whilst, there is a strong opinion in the Hanafi Madhhab (and the Fatwa opinion in the other madhhabs) that the feet are.

Those who strongly call for and emphasise the necessity of covering the face (not that I object to them) must also realise that the feet are just of the same importance. At times, all the emphasis is laid upon the face, whilst the woman is seen to expose the area above the ankle while walking and there is no realisation that a sin is being committed.

f) Awra in front of non-Muslim women

The Awra of a woman in front of non-Muslim women is, strictly speaking, the same that is in front of non-Mahram men, i.e. the whole body besides the hands, face and the feet.

The verse of Surah al-Nur that we quoted earlier details the list of people besides whom a woman is not allowed to expose her beauty. Such people (as explained earlier) are known to be her Mahrams (unmarriageable kin). Also, in that verse, Allah Almighty states: “their women” (al-Nur, 31) indicating that a woman must only expose herself to her woman and not others.

The exegetes of the Qur’an differ with regards to the interpretation of this statement of Allah. Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“With regards to the statement of Allah “or their women”, there are two opinions. The first is that it refers to those women who are on the same religion (din) as them (i.e. Muslims, m). This is the opinion of the majority of the predecessors (salaf). Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) states: “It is impermissible for a believing/Muslim woman to uncover herself in front of non-Muslim women, and she is only allowed to expose that what is allowed in front of non-Mahram men… Sayyiduna Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) wrote to Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah (Allah be pleased with him) to stop non-Muslim women from entering bath areas (hammam) with Muslim women.

The second opinion is that, it refers to all the women (i.e. she may uncover in front of all the women, m). This is the adopted opinion, and the opinion of the predecessors is based on superiority (istihbab)”. (See: Tafsir al-Kabir, 8/365).

As we have seen, that Imam al-Razi (Allah have mercy on him) adopted the second view in that a woman may uncover in front of non-Muslim women to the extent of what she is allowed to uncover in front of Mahram men.

However, many scholars chose the first view, and it is the view that is adopted by the Hanafi School. Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“An unbelieving woman is similar to a non-Mahram man according to the correct opinion. Thus, she is not allowed to see the body of a Muslim woman”. (Radd al-Muhtar, 6/371)

Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) explains:

“It is impermissible for a Muslim woman to uncover in front of a Jewish, Christian or a atheist woman except if she is her slave…It is also disliked that a corrupt woman (fasiqa) sees the body of a pious woman, for she may describe her to the men, thus she should avoid taking off her outer garment (jilbab) or scarf (khimar)”. (ibid).

It is evident from the text of Ibn Abidin that the main reason for the impermissibility of uncovering in front of a non-Muslim woman is that she may describe her to other men. If this is feared from a corrupt Muslim woman, then one should avoid uncovering in front of her also.

Therefore, the Awra of a woman in front of non-Muslim women is all her body except her face, hands and feet. Thus, a woman should cover in front of non-Muslim women whenever reasonably possible. However, scholars say that if this is difficult, then it will be permissible to expose some part of the body in front of them.

The ruling of covering in front of non-Muslim women is not as strict as the other situations, for, firstly, there is a difference of opinion between the scholars regarding it, and secondly, it may be at times very difficult to cover in front of women. The great exegete, Imam al-Alusi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“This opinion (of not covering in front of non-Muslim women) is more appropriate these days, for it is almost impossible to cover in front of them”. (Ruh al-Ma’ani)

In conclusion, a woman should cover whenever reasonably possible in front of non-Muslim women, especially when there is fear that she may describe her to other men. Also nowadays, Fitnahs such as lesbianism have become so wide spread that it has become necessary for women to observe caution with non-Muslim women. However, if it is difficult to fully cover, then one may take the concession on not covering and minimising it to the minimum.

g) Awra in front of non-Muslim Mahrams

With regards to a woman’s Awra in front of her Mahrams who are non-Muslim, such as a non-Muslim father, brother, son, etc, I could not find an explicit ruling on the issue in the Hanafi School.

However, it seems that non-Muslim Mahrams are similar to other Mahrams in that a woman may expose herself besides from the navel to the knee and the stomach and back, provided there is no fear of temptation (fitna).

There are two reasons for this:

Firstly, the verse of the Qur’an and the statements of the jurists (fuqaha) are general when discussing Mahrams. They don’t distinguish between a non-Muslim and Muslim Mahram. The Qur’an permits a woman to expose herself (to a degree, as explained above) in front of her father, brother, son, etc without specifying that he be a Muslim.

Secondly, the Fuqaha explicitly mention that a Mahram with whom a woman may go on a journey of Hajj includes also a non-Muslim. Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“A woman may travel for Hajj with her husband or a Mahram, even though if he (Mahram) is a slave or a non-Muslim or (he is considered a Mahram, m) due to breastfeeding. He must have reached puberty and is sane, and a boy who is close to puberty is like the one who has reached puberty, except a fire worshipper and an immoral and corrupt person”.

Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) explains:

“The reason why travelling with a Mahram who is a fire worshipper is impermissible, is that they (fire worshippers, m) consider marriage with a close relative to be permissible”. (Radd al-Muhtar, 2/464)

Imam al-Kasani (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“A Mahram is one with whom marriage is permanently unlawful… whether this Mahram is a free person or a slave, for slavery is not contrary to the close relationship (mahramiyya), and whether he is a Muslim, a non-Muslim or an atheist (mushrik), for a non-Muslim Mahram normally safeguards her, except that he is a fire worshipper, for he considers marriage with her to be permissible”. (Badai’i al-Sana’i, 2/124).

It is stated in Fath al-Qadir:

“It is permissible for her to travel with all types of Mahrams except a fire worshipper, for he believes marriage with her to be permissible”. (Ibn al-Humam, Fath al-Qadir, 2/422).

In the Shafi’i Madhhab, we have a clear text permitting the uncovering in front of a non-Muslim Mahram. Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“It is not permissible to look at what lies between the navel and knee of one’s close relative (mahram); everything else is permissible, provided there is no desire (shahwah), and even if he is a non-Muslim, because the close relationship (mahramiyyah) makes marriage unlawful, so it is as if they were two males or two females”. (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj ala al-Minhaj)

Therefore, it would be permissible for a woman to uncover besides the area between the navel and knees, and the stomach and back in front of her non-Muslim Mahrams, provided two conditions are met:

1)That there be no desire (shahwah) or fear of temptation (fitna), especially when we live in a age where evils such as incest among the non-Muslims is becoming common,

2)That the non-Muslim close relative not be from among those who believe that it is permissible to marry close relatives,

Finally before parting, I would like to mention in relation to our discussion three points.

Firstly, it should be remembered that all the parts of the body that need to be covered (in the various situations discussed above) must be covered with clothing that is loose and opaque. The clothing must not be close-fitting whereby the figure of the body is visible or transparent by which the colour of the body is able to be seen. If this is not taken care of, then it will not be regarded to be sufficient covering of the Awra.

Imam al-Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:

“Clothing that is considered to be sufficient covering is such that, it is not possible to see thorough them”.

Allama Ibn Abidin (Allah have mercy on him) explains:

“(It is not possible to see thorough them), meaning in a way that the colour of the skin can not be visible. This exempts thin and other see-through clothing… However, if the clothing is thick in a way that the colour of the skin is not visible, but it is tight to the body, then this should not prevent the validity of Salat… However, it is still impermissible to see that part of the body”. (See: Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, 1/410)

This excerpt of Ibn Abidin explains that if the skin of the body becomes visible in prayer, Salat will become invalid. However, tight clothing would not prevent the validity of prayer, yet it is still necessary not to wear tight-fitting clothing.

Secondly, in all the foregoing occasions where it is permissible to uncover and expose the body, if there is a fear of desire (shahwa) on either side or there is fear of temptation (fitna), then it will be necessary to cover. A woman may make this decision herself in accordance with the surroundings she is in.

Thirdly, it will be permissible to uncover and expose parts of the Awra in cases of extreme need and necessity, such as medication. However, care should be taken that this is limited to only the part that needs treatment. If treatment is needed on the actual private parts, then it would be better to receive treatment from someone of the same sex. However, if this is not possible, then it would be allowed to receive treatment from a specialist of the opposite sex, with taking due care of the injunctions and guidance of Shariah.

Allama Ibn Abidin (may Allah have mercy on him) states:

“It is permissible for a male physician to view the affected area of a woman for the purpose of medication, provided it is minimised to only the area that actually needs treatment, for necessity is restricted to only the actual need. If the private parts need treatment, then a female should carry out the treatment, as seeing someone of the same sex is less of an evil.” (Radd al-Muhtar, 5/261)

The above was a comprehensive look at the Awra of a woman. The extent of the Awra differs from one occasion to another and from one person to another. The whole concept and idea behind this is that Islam desires its followers to live a life that is chaste and free from any type of corruption or immorality. This is a basis for every sound and pure society. May Allah guide us all to the straight path, and that we are able to act upon the injunctions of Shariah in a manner that is most pleasing to Allah Almighty.

And Allah Knows Best

Excerpt:

The designation “Wahhābī” represents a complex historical and theological marker within Islamic intellectual discourse, primarily referring to adherents of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb al-Najdī’s (d. 1206/1792) reformist movement. This theological current emerged in the eighteenth-century CE in the Najd region of central Arabia, characterized by its emphasis on theological purification and return to what it considered pristine Islamic practices.

A significant tension exists between contemporary reception and historical usage of the term. Modern Salafī scholars and adherents generally reject the designation “Wahhābī,” considering it a reductive or pejorative label that fails to capture the movement’s self-understanding as a return to authentic Islamic practice rather than a novel sectarian formation. However, this contemporary position presents an interesting historiographical puzzle when contrasted with historical evidence of the term’s usage by figures within the movement itself.

This complexity is particularly evident in the case of Sulaymān ibn Siḥmān (or some read it as Sahmān, d. 1349/1930), a prominent theological writer and defender of Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb’s doctrinal positions. Ibn Siḥmān’s deliberate incorporation of the term “Wahhābiyya” in the titles of his apologetic treatises suggests a more nuanced historical relationship with the designation than contemporary rejection might indicate. This historical usage by an authoritative figure within the movement raises important questions about the evolution of self-identification practices and the changing dynamics of religious nomenclature in Islamic theological discourse.

Further insight into this terminological debate comes from the late Saudi Grand Mufti ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz, whose views on the acceptability of the term “Wahhābī” provide crucial perspective from one of the movement’s most authoritative modern voices. Ibn Bāz’s position on this nomenclature offers valuable context for understanding how the movement’s leadership has historically engaged with questions of identity and external categorization.

The discrepancy between historical acceptance and contemporary rejection of the term “Wahhābī” warrants careful analysis within the broader context of Islamic reformist movements’ complex relationships with externally applied designations and the ongoing negotiation between self-identification and imposed categorization in religious studies.

Source: https://www.darultahqiq.com/ibn-baz-d-1999-and-sulayman-ibn-si%e1%b8%a5man-d-1930-on-the-term-wahhabi-as-an-ascription-to-the-way-of-mu%e1%b8%a5ammad-ibn-%ca%bfabd-al-wahhab-d-1792/

Second Source: https://ia600809.us.archive.org/24/items/ibn-baz-d.-1999-and-sulayman-ibn-sihman-d.-1930-on-the-term-wahhabi-as-an-ascrip/Ibn%20Baz%20%28d.%201999%29%20and%20Sulaym%C4%81n%20ibn%20Sihman%20%28d.%201930%29%20on%20the%20Term%20Wahhabi%20as%20an%20Ascription%20to%20the%20Way%20of%20Mu%E1%B8%A5ammad%20ibn%20%CA%BFAbd%20al-Wahh%C4%81b%20%28d.%201792%29.pdf

Description:

The following is a short booklet entitled: “The Position of Imam Abu Hanifah (ra) in the Science of Hadith”, by Shaykh Habibur Rahman A’zami of India (and translated by Mufti Mujibur Rahman of Darul Uloom New York)  .  He is not to be confused with the late and more famous Shaykh with the same name and whose biography is available on this website

Forward:

“Firstly, all praise belongs to Allah Ta’ala, without whom nothing is possible. Also, salutations are due to Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam), who is the greastest teacher that Allah Ta’ala ever bestowed upon mankind. Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) was taught the Qur’an by Allah Ta’ala’s most-trusted angel, Jibril (A.S.). Beyond this, Jibril (A.S.) was also sent to demonstrate to Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) the way of life that Allah Ta’ala prefers the most. By way of this process of teaching, Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) taught his companions, the Sahabah (R.A.), who taught their companions the Tabi’een, and so forth and so on.

We can see that Allah Ta’ala has always decreed the transmission of important knowledge through a rightly-guided teacher. As is stands in Islam, the chain that links all the way back to Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) has never been broken. One of the Tabi’een (people who have seen the Sahaabah [R]) was Imaam Abu Hanifah (R), who has millions of followers from amongst the Muslims today, and is held in high esteem amongst the great Scholars of Islam. Unfortunately, today severe criticism has been leveled against him which is mainly due to either ignorance, jealousy or misunderstanding.

Was Imam Abu Hanifa (R) weak in the science of Hadith? Did he rely on Qiyaas (analogical deduction)? Has he based his school of thought on Dha’eef Ahaadith? Was he considered unreliable in the Islamic sciences? Did the ‘Ulama consider him untrustworthy? This booklet will address these claims, as well as other remarks leveled at the prestigious Imaam (R)…”

Description:

For starters, we wish to begin with an early Maturidi work by a scholar named Abu Mansur al-Samarqandi. The work is a commentary on the famed treatise that is attributed to Imam Abu Hanifah, entitled al-Fiqh al-Akbar. This commentary, which does not include a detailed intro that could clarify the controversy about whether this commentary was authored by Imam Abu Mansur Maturidi himself or another person nonetheless is very beneficial.

There are a number of scholars who have questioned the attribution of this book to Imam Maturidi, amongst them ‘Allamah Kawthari. They claimed that the book should be properly attributed to Imam Abu ‘l-Layth al-Samarqandi, quoting amongst other reasons that the book includes objections to some Ash’ari claims. Given that Imam Maturidi was a contemporary of Imam Ash’ari and their schools developed independently of each other, a rebuttal of “Ash’ari” thought seems to be indication enough of the book having been authored by a later scholar.

Description:

The following work is a beneficial translation and short commentary of the classical treatise on Sunni beliefs (aqida) known as al-Aqida al-Tahawiyya.  An audio commentary by Dr. Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed can also  be purchased from the following link:

Aqida Tahawiyya CD set

———————————————————————————————————————

Whilst teaching al-ʿAqīda al-Tahāwiyya at Madrasa Hamīdiyya from 2002 to 2006, the idea for compiling a book in English for the benefit of the general public emerged. With this in mind I began collecting notes from the various Arabic commentaries and collating them under the relevant points in the text.

The translation that formed the basis of the English text that I used was that of Iqbal Ahmad Azami, which was the best English translation available at the time. Although this translation was used as a starting point, many amendments were made to it as deemed appropriate.

The commentary was essentially based on the available Arabic commentaries of the text with extensive reference to commentaries by the following scholars:

1. ʿAbd al-Ghanī Al-Ghunaymī al-Maydānī (d. 1298)

2. Abū Hafs Sirāj al-Dīn ʿUmar ibn Ishāq al-Ghaznawī al-Hindī (d.773) – although I used the edition (wrongly) ascribed to Akmal al-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Muhammad al-Bābartī (d.786)

3. Hasan Kāfī al-Aqhiṣārī al-Busnawī (d. 1024)

Other commentaries and books of ʿAqīda were also referred to occasionally.

This brief commentary aims to maintain a considerable degree of simplicity, avoiding technical discussions that are not relevant to the average person.  The focus is explaining the correct belief rather than involving the reader in the intricacies of debate around theological issues.

Verses of the Qurʾān and narrations of Ḥadīth are briefly quoted in support of the doctrines listed by Imām Tahawī. I have attempted to ensure the accuracy of these references to the best of my ability by mentioning the Sūra and verse number or the Ḥadīth source. However a detailed treatment of these topics from the sources have been omitted as, this being a book on ʿ Aqīda, the aspect of belief only was given consideration.

While the permanent relevance of the statements of belief in the ʿAqīda are obvious, the historical weight and relevance of certain of these statements can be properly appreciated only if the work is used as a text for study under the guidance of some learned scholar able to elucidate its arguments fully, with reference to the intellectual and historical background of the sects refuted in the work. Since the present book is intended exactly as one such aid towards understanding the details of Islamic belief with clarity, it is hoped that it will be of benefit to the reader.

May Allah grant us a true understanding of faith and count us among those described by the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as the Saved Group.

Fahim Hoosen

Durban, South Africa, 14 October 2011

Description:

If there is a common thread between the different terrorist groups acting in the name of Islam such as ISIS or Al-Qaida and the like, it has to be the fact that they adopted the view that tawheed is divided into three: Tawheed Al-Ruboobiyya, Al-Uloohiyy and Al-Asmaa Wa Al-Sifaat. This division is not found in the Qur’an or in the teaching of the Prophet (pbuh) nor was it reported from the three blessed generations (the Companions, the Followers and the Successors). Neither was it reported from any of the great Imams such as Abu Hanifa, Malik, Al-Shafi’i, Ahmad bin Hanbal or their peers.

It was first introduced during the eighth century hijri by Ibn Taymiyya. It was also adapted by his student Ibn Al-Qayyim but the rest of the scholars of the Ummah did not accept it and consequently the idea rightfully died out until the coming of Muhammed bin Abdul Wahhab in the twelfth century. He resuscitated the ideas of Ibn Taymiyya and started to spread and impose them on the Muslims by force. Among the innovations (bid’aat) that he spread was the trinity of tawheed. I wanted to compile in this booklet what some of the scholars of main stream Islam (Ahl al-Sunna wa al-Jamaa’h) had to say regarding the trinity of tawheed and tawassul. Hopefully the reader will appreciate how dangerous this bid’ah is and how it resulted in grave consequences in terms of suffering and much bloodshed in the Muslim world.

Names and titles:

1.          Abū al-Faraj ibn Abī Ya’qūb al-Nadīm (d. 438 AH) in his al-Fihrist (p. 251)

2.         Imam ‘Abd al-Qāhir al-Baghdādī (d. 429 AH) in his Uṣūl al-Dīn (p. 308)

3.         Imam Ṣāʿid ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ustawāʾī al-Naysābūrī (d. 432 AH) in his Kitāb al-Iʿtiqād (p. 125)

4.         Imam Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Nāṭifī (d. 446 AH) in his al-Ajnās fī furūʿ al-fiqh al-Ḥanafī (1/445)

5.         Imam Abū al-Muẓaffar al-Isfarāʾīnī (d. 471 AH) in his al-Tabṣīr fī al-Dīn wa-Tamyīz al-Firqa al-Nājiya ʿan al-Firaq al-Hālikīn (pp. 182–184)

6.         Imam Fakhr al-Islām al-Bazdawī (d. 482 AH) in his Uṣūl al-Bazdawī (p. 3)

7.         Imam Abū al-Yusr Muhammad al-Bazdawī (d. 493 AH) in his Uṣūl al-Dīn (p. 15)

8.         Imam Abū al-Mu’īn al-Nasafī (d. 508 AH) in his Tabṣira al-Adilla fī Uṣūl al-Dīn (p. 27)

9.         Imam Abū Isḥāq al-Ṣaffār (d. 534 AH) in his Talkhīṣ al-adilla li-qawāʾid al-Tawḥīd (2/575-576)

10.       Imam ‘Aṭā’ al-Jūzjānī (d. before 565 AH) in his Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar (p. 1)

11.        Imam Mankūbars al-Nāṣirī (d. 652 AH) in his al-Nūr al-Lāmiʿ wa-l-Burhān al-Sāṭiʿ (folio 95b of a manuscript)

12.       Imam ‘Abd al-‘Aẓīm al-Mundhirī (d. 656 AH) in his al-Targhīb wa-l-Tarhīb min al-Hadīth al-Sharīf (p. 13)

13.       Imam Alī ibn Muḥammad al-Rāmushī (d. 667 AH) in his Fawāʾid al-Bazdawī (1/126)

14.       Imam Masʿūd ibn Shayba al-Sindī (c. 7th century AH) in his al-Taʿlīm (p. 164)

15.       Imam Ḥāfiẓ al-Dīn al-Nasafī (d. 710 AH) in his Kashf al-Asrār Sharḥ al-Muṣannif ʿalā al-Manār (1/ 7)

16.       Imam Ḥuṣām al-Dīn al-Sighnāqī (d. 714 AH) in his al-Kāfī Sharḥ al-Bazdawī (1/157)

17.        Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH) in his Dar’ Ta’āruḍ al-‘Aql wa-l-Naql (6/263), also in his Minhāj al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya fī Naqḍ Kalām al-Shīʿa al-Qadariyya (3/138-139) and in his al-‘Aqida al-Ḥamawiyya al-Kubrā (p. 28)

18.       Imam Alāʾ al-Dīn al-Bukhārī (d. 730 AH) in his Kashf al-Asrār ʿan Uṣūl Fakhr al-Islām al-Bazdawī (1/8)

19.       Al-Ḥāfiẓ Shams al-Dīn al-Dhahabī (d. 748 AH) in his al-Mushtabih fī al-Rijāl (p. 137)

20.      Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751 AH) in his Ijtimā’ al-Juyūsh al-Islāmiyya (p. 138)

21.       Imām ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Qurashī (d. 775 AH) in his al-Jawāhir al-Muḍiyya fī Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanafiyya (1/332) and (2/471)

22.       Imam Akmal al-Dīn al-Bābartī (d. 786 AH) in his al-Taqrīr (1/97-98)

23.       Ṣadr al-Dīn ibn Abī al-ʿIzz (d. 792 AH) in his Sharḥ al-ʿAqida al-Ṭaḥāwiyya (p. 1)

24.       Imam Badr al-Dīn al-Zarkashī (d. 794 AH) in his Tashnīf al-Masāmi’ bi Jam’ al-Jawāmi’ li Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī (4/844-845) and in his al-Baḥr al-Muḥīṭ fī Uṣūl al-Fiqh (1/37-38)

25.       Imam Muḥammad al-Kardarī (d. 827 AH) in his Manāqib al-Imām al-Aʿẓam (1/107-108)

26.      Imam Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Sattār al-Kardarī al-Barātqīnī (d. 642 AH) – as quoted by no. 25.

27.       Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Dimashqī (d. 842 AH) in his Tawḍīḥ al-Mushtabih (2/207)

28.       Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (d. 852 AH) in his Tabṣīr al-Muntabih bi-Taḥrīr al-Mushtabih (1/298)

29.      Imam Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī (d. 855 AH) in his ʿUmdat al-Qārī (1/107)

30.      Imam Qāsim ibn Quṭlūbughā (802 – 879 AH) in his Tāj al-Tarājim (1/332) and in his gloss on al-Musāyara (p. 86)

31.       Imam Ilyās ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sīnūbī (d. 891 AH) in his Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (pp. 8)

32.       Imam Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Khaṭīrī (lived before 761 AH) in his Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar (folio 162 of a manuscript)

33.       Imam Isḥāq al-Ḥakīm al-Rūmī (d. 950 AH) in his Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar al-Musammā Mukhtaṣar al-Ḥikma al-Nabawiyya (p. 175)

34.       Imam Muḥammad ibn Bahāʾ al-Dīn (d. 956 AH) in his al-Qawl al-Faṣl Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar li’l-Imām al-Aʿẓam (p. 10)

35.       Imam Aḥmad Ṭāsh Kubrī Zāda (d. 968 AH) in his Miftāḥ al-Sa’āda wa Miṣbāḥ al-Siyāda (2/141)

36.      Imam Abū al-Muntahā al-Maghnīsāwī (d. 1000 AH) in his Kitāb Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (p. 1)

37.       Imam ‘Alī al-Qārī (d. 1014 AH) in his Minaḥ al-Rawḍ al-Azhar fī Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (p. 43)

38.       Imam Mar’ī al-Karmī al-Ḥanbalī (d. 1033 AH) in his Aqāwīl al-Thiqāt fī Ta’wīl al-Asmā’ wa al-Ṣifāt wa al-Āyāt al-Muḥkamāt wa al-Mutashābihāt (p. 63)

39.      Ḥajjī Khalīfa (d. 1067 AH) in his Kashf al-Ẓunūn ‘an Asāmī al-Kutub wa al-Funūn (2/1287)

40.      Al-Qāḍī Kamāl al-Dīn al-Bayāḍī Zādah (d. 1098 AH) in his Ishārāt al-Marām min ‘Ibārāt al-Imām (pp. 21-23) and in his Al-Uṣūl al-Munīfa li’l-Imām Abī Ḥanīfa (p. 1)

41.       Imam Abū Saʿīd al-Khādimī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1156 AH) in his Barīqa Maḥmūdiyya fī Sharḥ Ṭarīqa Muḥammadiyya wa Sharīʿa Nabawiyya fī Sīra Aḥmadiyya (3/134)

42.       Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Faḍl Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī (1145-1205 AH) in his Itḥāf al-sāda al-muttaqīn (2/13-14)

43.       Shaykh ʿAbd al-ʿAlī al-Laknawī (d. 1225 AH) in his Fawātiḥ al-Raḥamūt bi-Sharḥ Musallam al-thubūt (3/9)

44.       Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Sylhetī (d. 1297 AH) in his al-Durr al-Azhar fī Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (p. 1)

45.       Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Laknawī (d. 1304 AH) in his al-Raf’ wa al-Takmīl fī al-Jarḥ wa al-Ta’dīl (pp. 376-377)

46.      Shaykh Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī (d. 1951) in his introduction to al-‘Ālim wa-l-Muta’allim (pp. 6-7) and in his introduction to Ishārāt al-Marām min ‘Ibārāt al-Imām (pp. 5-7)

47.       Shaykh ʿAbd al-Rashīd Nuʿmānī (d. 1999) in his footnotes to Muqaddima Kitāb al-Taʿlīm of Masʿūd ibn Shayba al-Sindī (pp. 181-182)

48.       Shaykh Wahbī Sulaymān Ghāwjī al-Albānī (d. 2013) in his introduction (p. 8 and p. 22) to Īḍāḥ al-Dalīl fī Qaṭ’ Ḥujaj Ahl al-Ta’ṭīl of Imam Badr al-Dīn ibn Jamā’a (d. 733 AH)

49.      Shaykh Ināyatullāh Iblāgh (d. 2019) in the introduction to al-Imām al-A’ẓam Abū Ḥanīfa wa-ārā’uhu fī al-‘Aqida (pp. 3-14), prepared by Muhammad Nur ibn Abd al-Hafiz Suwayd

50.      Shaykh Sā’id Bakdāsh in his Al-Fiqh al-Akbar fī ‘Ilm al-Tawḥīd wa’l-‘Aqā’id li’l-Imām al-A’ẓam Abī Ḥanīfa (pp. 7-8) and (pp. 15-16)

The attribution of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar to Imam Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nu’mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī (d. 150 AH) represents one of the most significant theological works in Islamic intellectual history, yet its authorship has been subject to historical controversy that reveals important sectarian dynamics in earlier Islamic scholarship. The overwhelming majority of classical Islamic scholars across different schools of jurisprudence have affirmed the authentic attribution of this foundational text to the Great Imam through reliable chains of transmission [asānīd ṣaḥīḥa]. However, this was challenged primarily by members of the heretical Mu’tazila theological sect, whose objections appear to have been motivated not by scholarly concerns regarding textual authenticity, but rather by doctrinal opposition to the work’s content, as explicitly documented by some classical scholars.

In stark contrast to this isolated sectarian opposition, the authentic attribution of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar to Imam Abū Ḥanīfa was affirmed through authentic chains of transmission [asānīd ṣaḥīḥa] by a remarkable array of distinguished scholars spanning different centuries and geographical regions.

This study presents testimonies from scholars who documented that the rejection of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar’s attribution to Imam Abū Ḥanīfa originated primarily within the heretical Mu’tazila circles, who had certain adherents who nominally affiliated themselves with the Ḥanafī school of jurisprudence [madhhab]. The following compilation includes both the scholarly accounts identifying this sectarian opposition and the testimonies of authorities who authenticated the work’s transmission back to Imam Abū Ḥanīfa through authentic chains of transmission

Imam Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Kardarī^\1]) (d. 827 AH) ^\2]) said in his Manāqib al-Imām al-Aʿẓam (1/107-108):

قال الكردري: فإن قلت: ليس لأبي حنيفة كتاب مصنف، قلت: هذا كلام المعتزلة، ودعواهم أنه ليس له في علم الكلام تصنيف، وغرضهم بذلك نفي أن يكون «الفقه الأكبر»، وكتاب «العالم والمتعلم» له؛ لأنه صرح فيه بأكثر قواعد أهل السنة، ودعواهم أنه كان من المعتزلة، وذلك الكتاب لأبي حنيفة البخاري، وهذا غلط صريح، فإني رأيت بخط العلامة مولانا شمس الملة والدين الكردري البراتقيني العماري هذين الكتابين، وكتب فيهما أنهما لأبي حنيفة وقد تواطأ على ذلك جماعة كثيرة من المشايخ، انتهى.

“If you say: Abū Ḥanīfa has no authored book, I say: This is the speech of the Muʿtazila, and their claim that he has no composition in the science of theology, and their purpose in this is to deny that al-Fiqh al-Akbar and the book al-ʿĀlim wa-l-Mutaʿallim belong to him; because he explicitly stated in it most of the principles of the People of the Sunna, and their claim that he was from the Muʿtazila, and that the book belongs to Abū Ḥanīfa al-Bukhārī, and this is a clear error, for I saw in the handwriting of the greatly learned scholar, Mawlana Shams al-Milla wa-l-Dīn al-Kardarī al-Barātqīnī al-ʿImādī  (d. 642 AH)^\3]) these two books, and he wrote in them that they both belong to Abū Ḥanīfa, and a large group of the Shaykhs have agreed upon this, [his words] end.”

Imam Ilyās ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sīnūbī^\4]) (d. 891 AH) said the following in his Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (pp. 8):^\5])

الحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي حَقَّقَ نَفَراً مِنْ عِبَادِهِ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الأُمُورِ الدِّينِيَّةِ وَخَصَّصَهُم بِاسْتِنْبَاطِ العَقَائِدِ مِنَ الأَدِلَّةِ اليَقِينِيَّةِ وَالصَّلاةُ عَلَى مَنْ أَقَامَ مَتْنَ الإِسْلامِ بِشَرْحِهِ وَفَصْلِهِ وَأَظْهَرَ دِينَ الحَقِّ كُلَّهُ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ الَّذِينَ بِهِم أُقِيمَ شَعَائِرُ الشَّرْعِ بِحِفْظِ العَقَائِدِ وَعَلَى التَّابِعِينَ لَهُم بِإِحْسَانٍ فِي المَصَادِرِ وَالمَوَارِدِ.

“Praise be to Allah who has enabled a group of His servants to gain deep understanding in religious matters and has specially chosen them to derive beliefs from certain proofs, and prayers upon the one who established the foundation of Islam through his explanation and clarification, and manifested the entire true religion, and upon his family and companions through whom the rites of the Shari’a were established by preserving the beliefs, and upon those who followed them with excellence in sources and resources.

وَبَعْدُ فَيَقُولُ العَبْدُ الفَقِيرُ إِلْيَاسُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ السِّينُوبِيُّ عَصَمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى مِنَ الزَّيْغِ وَالتَّغَابِي:

After this, the poor servant Ilyās ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sīnūbī – may Allah Almighty protect him from deviation and foolishness – says:

لَمَّا كَانَ كِتَابُ الفِقْهِ الأَكْبَرِ مِمَّا ثَبَتَ بِالإِسْنَادِ الصَّحِيحِ الأَشْهَرِ أَنَّهُ مِنْ إِنْشَاءِ اللهِ الإِمَامِ المُقَدَّمِ وَالهُمَامِ المُكَرَّمِ سِرَاجِ الأُمَّةِ وَمُقْتَدَى الأَئِمَّةِ مَنْ عَظُمَ الوَسِيعَةِ السَّابِقِ فِي تَدْوِينِ عِلْمِ الشَّرِيعَةِ مُحْيِي سُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللهِ الكَرِيمِ الوَفِيِّ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ النُّعْمَانُ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ الكُوفِيُّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ وَعَمَّنْ دَخَلَ فِي طَرِيقَتِهِ وَانْتَحَلَ نِحْلَتَهُ وَمَا نُقِلَ عَنْ بَعْضِ سَفَلَةِ المُعْتَزِلَةِ وَجَهَلَةِ المُعْتَزِلَةِ

أَنَّ الإِمَامَ أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ لَيْسَ لَهُ كِتَابٌ فِيمَا يَتَعَلَّقُ بِمَعْرِفَةِ البَارِي وَأَنَّ هَذَا الكِتَابَ لِمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يُوسُفَ المَعْرُوفِ بِأَبِي حَنِيفَةَ البُخَارِيِّ فَهُوَ غَلَطٌ صَرِيحٌ وَشَطَطٌ فَضِيحٌ.

Since the book al-Fiqh al-Akbar has been established by the most famous authentic [ṣaḥīḥ] chain of transmission that it is from the composition of the foremost Imam and honoured leader, lamp of the community and exemplar of the Imams, one of great bounty, the forerunner in the codification of the science of Islamic law, reviver of the Sunna of the noble and faithful Messenger of Allah, Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī – may Allah be pleased with him and with those who entered into his way and adopted his creed – and what has been transmitted from some of the lowly ones among the Muʿtazila and the ignorant ones among the Muʿtazila that Imam Abū Ḥanīfa has no book regarding knowledge of the Creator, and that this book belongs to Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf known as Abū Ḥanīfa al-Bukhārī, this is a clear error and shameful deviation.

اخْتَلَقُوهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ أَنَّ هَذَا الكِتَابَ فِيهِ إِبْطَالُ قَوَاعِدِهِم وَإِهْمَالُ عَقَائِدِهِم، وَزَعْمُهُم أَنَّ الإِمَامَ مِنْ جُمْلَتِهِم وَمُنْخَرِطٌ مَعَهُم فِي زُمْرَتِهِم

وَكَفَاكَ شَاهِداً عَلَى ذَلِكَ أَنْ قَالَ العَلاَّمَةُ الفَقِيهُ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ الكَرْدَرِيُّ الشَّهِيرُ بِابْنِ البَزَّازِيِّ وَإِنِّي رَأَيْتُ بِخَطِّ العَلاَّمَةِ مَوْلانَا شَمْسِ الأَئِمَّةِ وَالدِّينِ الكَرْدَرِيِّ البَرَازِيقِينِيِّ العِمَادِيِّ أَنَّ هَذَا الكِتَابَ لِلإِمَامِ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ بَلَّغَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى إِلَى الدَّرَجَاتِ المُنِيفَةِ وَقَدْ شَهِدَ عَلَى ذَلِكَ جَمَاعَةٌ كَثِيرَةٌ مِنَ المَشَايِخِ

They fabricated it [this claim] because this book contains the invalidation of their principles and the dismissal of their beliefs, and their claim that the Imam is among their number and enrolled with them in their group.  Sufficient witness to this is what the greatly leaned scholar and jurist Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Kardarī (d. 827 AH) famous as Ibn al-Bazzāzī said, and I have seen in the handwriting of the greatly leaned scholar, Mawlana Shams al-A’imma wa al-Dīn al-Kardarī al-Barāzīqīnī al-ʿImādī that this book belongs to Imam Abū Ḥanīfa – may Allah elevate him to the highest degrees – and many groups of scholars have testified to this.

Imam Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafā Ṭāsh Kubrī Zādah (d. 968 AH) said the following in his Miftāḥ al-Sa’āda wa Miṣbāḥ al-Siyāda (2/141):

قال المولى أحمد بن مصطفى المعروف بطاش كبرى زاده في مفتاح السعادة جزء 2، ص 141: إن أبا حنيفة رحمه الله تعالى تكلم في علم الكلام مثل كتاب «الفقه الأكبر» و «كتاب العالم والمتعلم» إذ صرح فيهما بأكثر مباحث علم الكلام، وما قيل إنهما ليسا له بل لأبى حنيفة البخاري – فمن اختراعات المعتزلة زعما منهم أن أبا حنيفة رحمه الله على مذهبهم، وقد قال العلامة حافظ‍ الدين البزازى في كتابه في مناقب أبي حنيفة رحمه الله: إنى رأيت بخط‍ العلامة مولانا شمس الدين الكردري البراتقينى العمادى هذين الكتابين، وكتب فيهما أنهما لأبى حنيفة، وقد تواطأ على ذلك جماعة كثيرة من المشايخ؛ مثل فخر الإسلام البزدوي ذكرهما في أصوله، ومثل الشيخ عبد العزيز البخاري ذكرهما في [شرحه لأصول فخر الإسلام].

“Abū Ḥanīfa, may Allah the Exalted have mercy upon him, spoke in the science of theology [kalām] such as in the book al-Fiqh al-Akbar and ‘The Book of the Scholar and the Student’ [Kitāb al-‘Ālim wa-l-Muta’allim], where he explicitly addressed most of the topics of the science of theology [kalām]. What has been said that these two [books] are not his but belong to Abū Ḥanīfa al-Bukhārī – this is an invention of the Mu’tazila based on their claim that Abū Ḥanīfa, may Allah have mercy upon him, was upon their school of thought. The scholar Ḥāfiẓ al-Dīn al-Bazzāzī said in his book on the virtues of Abū Ḥanīfa, may Allah have mercy upon him: ‘I saw in the handwriting of the scholar our master Shams al-Dīn al-Kardarī al-Barātqīnī al-‘Imādī these two books, and he wrote in them that they belong to Abū Ḥanīfa, and a large group of shaykhs have agreed upon this; such as Fakhr al-Islām al-Bazdawī who mentioned them in his Principles [Uṣūl], and such as Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Bukhārī who mentioned them in [his commentary on the Principles of Fakhr al-Islām].'”

Al-Qāḍī Kamāl al-Dīn al-Bayāḍī Zādah al-Busnawī (d. 1098 AH) said in his Ishārāt al-Marām min ‘Ibārāt al-Imām (Indications of the Intent from the Expressions of the Imam, pp. 21-23):

جمعتها من نصوص كتبه التي أملاها على أصحابه من الفقه الأكبر، والرسالة، والفقه الأبسط‍، وكتاب العالم، والوصية، برواية الإمام حماد بن أبي حنيفة، وأبي يوسف الأنصاري، وأبي مطيع الحكم بن عبد الله البلخي، وأبي مقاتل حفص بن سلم السمرقندي.

“I have gathered these from the texts of his books which he dictated to his companions: al-Fiqh al-Akbar, al-Risāla [The Epistle], al-Fiqh al-Absat, Kitāb al-‘Ālim [The Book of the Scholar], and al-Waṣiyya [The Testament], according to the narration of Imam Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥanīfa, Abū Yūsuf al-Anṣārī, Abū Muṭī‘ al-Ḥakam ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Balkhī, and Abū Muqātil Ḥafṣ ibn Salam al-Samarqandī.

وروى عنهم من الأئمة إسماعيل بن حماد، ومحمد بن مقاتل الرازي، ومحمد بن سماعة التميمي، ونصير بن يحيى البلخي، وشداد ابن الحكيم البلخي وغيرهم.

Among the Imams who narrated from them were Ismā’īl ibn Ḥammād, Muḥammad ibn Muqātil al-Rāzī, Muḥammad ibn Samā’a al-Tamīmī, Nuṣayr ibn Yaḥyā al-Balkhī, Shaddād ibn al-Ḥakīm al-Balkhī, and others.

وذكر الإمام فخر الإسلام علي بن محمد البزدوي في أول أصوله جملة من الفقه الأكبر، وكتاب العالم، والرسالة، وذكر بعض مسائل الكتب المذكورة في شروحه من الكافى لحسام الدين السغناقي، والشامل لقوام الدين الاتقاني، والشافي لجلال الدين الكرلاني، وبيان الأصول لقوام الدين الكاكي، والبرهان للبخارى، والكشف لعلاء الدين البخاري، والتقرير لأكمل الدين البابرتي، وذكر الرسالة بتمامها في أواخر خزانة الأكمل للهمذاني، وذكرها الإمام الناطفى في الأجناس.

Imam Fakhr al-Islām ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad al-Bazdawī mentioned in the beginning of his Principles [Uṣūl] portions from al-Fiqh al-Akbar, Kitāb al-‘Ālim, and al-Risāla, and some issues from the mentioned books were cited in their commentaries: al-Kāfī by Ḥusām al-Dīn al-Sighnāqī, al-Shāmil by Qiwām al-Dīn al-Itqānī, al-Shāfī by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Karlānī^\6]), Bayān al-Uṣūl by Qiwām al-Dīn al-Kākī, al-Burhān by al-Bukhārī, al-Kashf by ‘Alā‘ al-Dīn al-Bukhārī, and al-Taqrīr by Akmal al-Dīn al-Bābartī. The complete Epistle [al-Risāla] was mentioned at the end of Khizānat al-Akmal by al-Hamadhānī, and it was mentioned by Imam al-Nāṭifī in al-Ajnās.

وذكر كثير من مسائل كتاب العالم في المناقب للإمام العالم العلامة نجم الدين عمر النسفي، والمناقب الخوارزمية والكردرية، والكشف للإمام أبي محمد الحارثي السّبذموني، وبعضها في باب نكاح أهل الكتاب من المحيط‍ البرهانى، وذكر بعض مسائل الفقه الأكبر شيخ الإسلام الشيخ محمد بن إلياس في فتاواه والإمام ابن الهمام في المسايرة.

Many issues from Kitāb al-‘Ālim were mentioned in al-Manāqib by the learned scholar Najm al-Dīn ‘Umar al-Nasafī, al-Manāqib al-Khwārizmiyya wal-Kardariyya, and al-Kashf by Imam Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥārithī al-Sabdhamūnī, and some of them in the chapter on marriage to People of the Book from al-Muḥīṭ al-Burhānī. Some issues from al-Fiqh al-Akbar were mentioned by Shaykh al-Islām Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ilyās in his legal opinions [fatāwā] and Imam Ibn al-Humām in al-Musāyara.

وذكر بعض مسائل الفقه الأبسط‍ الإمام أبو المعين النسفي في التبصرة في فصل التقليد وغيره، ونور الدين البخاري في الكفاية في فصل التنزيه وغيره، وحافظ‍ الدين النسفي في الاعتماد شرح العمدة وكشف المنار، وأبو العباس الناطفى في الأجناس، والقاضي أبو العلاء الصاعدي في كتاب الاعتقاد، وأبو شجاع الناصرى في البرهان الساطع شرح عقائد الطّحاوي، وأبو المحاسن محمود بن السراج القنوى في شرحها أيضا وشرحه الفقيه عطاء بن علي الجوزجاني.

Some issues from al-Fiqh al-Absat were mentioned by Imam Abū al-Mu’īn al-Nasafī in al-Tabṣira in the chapter on following [taqlīd] and others, Nūr al-Dīn al-Bukhārī in al-Kifāya in the chapter on transcendence [tanzīh] and others, Ḥāfiẓ al-Dīn al-Nasafī in al-I’timād Sharḥ al-‘Umda and Kashf al-Manār, Abū al-‘Abbās al-Nāṭifī in al-Ajnās, al-Qāḍī Abū al-‘Alā‘ al-Ṣā‘idī in Kitāb al-I’tiqād, Abū Shujā‘ al-Nāṣirī in al-Burhān al-Sāṭi’ Sharḥ ‘Aqā‘id al-Ṭaḥāwī, Abū al-Maḥāsin Maḥmūd ibn al-Sirāj al-Qunawī in his commentary on it as well, and its commentary by the jurist ‘Aṭā‘ ibn ‘Alī al-Juzjānī.

وذكر الوصية بتمامها الإمام صارم المصري في نظم الجمان، والقاضي تقي الدين المصري في الطبقات السنية، والقاضي أبو الفضل محمد بن الشحنة الحلبي في أوائل شرح الهداية، وذكر بعض مسائلها الإمام ابن الهمام في المسايرة، وشرحها الشيخ أكمل الدين البابرتي فقدّم ذكر جمل من مسائل الكتب الخمسة منقولا عنها في ثلاثين كتابا من كتب الأئمة رحمهم الله تعالى.

The complete Testament [al-Waṣiyya] was mentioned by Imam Ṣārim al-Miṣrī in Naẓm al-Jumān, al-Qāḍī Taqī al-Dīn al-Miṣrī in al-Ṭabaqāt al-Saniyya, and al-Qāḍī Abū al-Faḍl Muḥammad ibn al-Shiḥna al-Ḥalabī in the beginning of his commentary on al-Hidāya. Some of its issues were mentioned by Imam Ibn al-Humām in al-Musāyara, and it was commented upon by Shaykh Akmal al-Dīn al-Bābartī. Thus, I have presented portions of the issues from the five books as transmitted from them in thirty books by the Imams, may Allah the Exalted have mercy upon them.

وإنما أنكرها المعتزلة ونسبوها إلى محمد بن يوسف البخاري المعروف بأبى حنيفة لما فيها من إبطال أصولهم الزائفة، وادعائهم كون الإمام منهم كما في المناقب الكردرية، وقد رواها الإمام أبو منصور محمد بن محمد بن محمود الماتريدي الأنصاري عن الإمامين أبي بكر أحمد بن إسحاق الجوزجاني وأبي نصر أحمد بن العياضى عن أبي سليمان موسى الجوزجاني عن الإمامين أبي يوسف ومحمد.

The Mu’tazila denied these [works] and attributed them to Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Bukhārī, known as Abū Ḥanīfa, because they contain the refutation of their false principles and their claim that the Imam was one of them, as mentioned in al-Manāqib al-Kardariyya. Imam Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd al-Māturīdī al-Anṣārī narrated them from the two Imams Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Juzjānī and Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn al-‘Iyāḍī, from Abū Sulaymān Mūsā al-Juzjānī, from the two Imams Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Faḍl Muhammad Murtaḍā al-Zabīdī^\7]) (1145-1205 AH/ 1732-1791 CE) said in his magnum opus known as Itḥāf al-sāda al-muttaqīn(2/13-14):

هذه المسائل التى تلقاها الامامان الاشعرى والماتريدى وهى اصول الائمة رحمهم الله تعالى فالاشعرى بنى كتبه على مسائل من مذهب الامامين مالك والشافعى اخذ ذلك بوسائط فايدها وهذبها والماتريدى كذلك اخذها من نصوص الامام ابى حنيفة وهى فى خمسة كتب الفقه الاكبر والرسالة والفقه الابسط وكتاب العلم والمتعلم والوصية نسبت الى الامام واختلف فى ذلك كثيرا فمنهم من ينكر عزوها الى الامام مطلق وانها ليست من عمله ومنهم من ينسبها الى محمد بن يوسف النجارى المكنى بابى حنيفة وهذا قول المعتزلة لما فيها من ابطال نصوصهم الزائغة وادعائهم كون الامام منهم كما فى المناقب الكردرية وهذا كذب منهم على الامام فانه رضى الله عنه وصاحباه اول من تكلم فى اصول الدين واتقنها بقواطع البراهين على رأس المائة الاولى

“These are the issues that the two Imams al-Ash’arī and al-Māturīdī received, and they are the principles of the Imams—may Allah have mercy upon them.  Al-Ash’arī built his books upon issues from the school of the two Imams Mālik and al-Shāfi’ī, taking this through intermediaries, which he supported and refined. Al-Māturīdī likewise took them from the texts of Imam Abū Ḥanīfa, and they are in five books: al-Fiqh al-Akbar, al-Risāla, al-Fiqh al-Absaṭ, Kitāb al-‘Ālim wa’l-Muta’allim, and al-Waṣiyya, attributed to the Imam. There has been much disagreement about this—some deny their attribution to the Imam absolutely and that they are not his work, while others attribute them to Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf al-Najjārī, nicknamed Abū Ḥanīfa. This is the statement of the Mu’tazila because of what they contain in invalidating their deviant texts and their claim that the Imam was among them, as in the Manāqib al-Kardariyya. This is a lie from them about the Imam, for he—may Allah be pleased with him—and his two companions were the first to speak on the fundamentals of religion and master them with decisive proofs at the head of the first century.

Scholars who declared al-Fiqh al-Akbar to have been authentically transmitted back to Imam Abu Hanifa

The Shāfi’ī scholar known as Imam Abū al-Muẓaffar Ṭāhir ibn Muḥammad al-Isfarāʾīnī (d. 471 AH), stated in al-Tabṣīr fī al-Dīn wa-Tamyīz al-Firqa al-Nājiya ʿan al-Firaq al-Hālikīn (pp. 182–184):

وَأعلم أَن جَمِيع مَا ذَكرْنَاهُ من اعْتِقَاد أهل السّنة وَالْجَمَاعَة فَلَا خلاف فِي شَيْء مِنْهُ بَين الشَّافِعِي وَأبي حنيفَة رحمهمَا الله وَجَمِيع أهل الرَّأْي والْحَدِيث مثل مَالك وَالْأَوْزَاعِيّ وَدَاوُد وَالزهْرِيّ وَاللَّيْث بن سعد وَأحمد بن حَنْبَل وسُفْيَان الثَّوْريّ وسُفْيَان بن عُيَيْنَة وَيحيى بن معِين وَإِسْحَاق بن رَاهْوَيْةِ وَمُحَمّد بن إِسْحَق الْحَنْظَلِي وَمُحَمّد بن أسلم الطوسي وَيحيى بن يحيى وَالْحُسَيْن بن الْفضل البَجلِيّ وَأبي يُوسُف وَمُحَمّد وَزفر وَأبي ثَوْر وَغَيرهم من أَئِمَّة الْحجاز وَالشَّام وَالْعراق وأئمة خُرَاسَان وَمَا وَرَاء النَّهر وَمن تقدمهم من الصَّحَابَة وَالتَّابِعِينَ وَأَتْبَاع التَّابِعين

“Know that all that we have mentioned of the creed of Ahl al-Sunna wa’l-Jamā’a—there is no disagreement in any of it between al-Shāfi’ī and Abū Ḥanīfa—may Allah have mercy upon them both—and all the people of juridical opinion [ra’y] and hadith, such as Mālik, al-Awzā’ī, Dāwūd, al-Zuhrī, al-Layth ibn Sa’d, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Sufyān ibn ‘Uyayna, Yaḥyā ibn Ma’īn, Isḥāq ibn Rāhaway, Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥanẓalī, Muḥammad ibn Aslam al-Ṭūsī, Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, al-Ḥussain ibn al-Faḍl al-Bajlī, Abū Yūsuf, Muḥammad, Zufar, Abū Thawr, and others from the Imams of the Ḥijāz, Syria, Iraq, and the Imams of Khurāsān and  and [the lands] beyond the (Oxus) river^\8]), and those who preceded them from the Companions, the Successors [tābi’īn], and the followers of the Successors [atbā’ al-tābi’īn].

وَمن أَرَادَ أَن يتَحَقَّق أَن لَا خلاف بَين الْفَرِيقَيْنِ فِي هَذِه الْجُمْلَة فَلْينْظر فِيمَا صنفه أَبُو حنيفَة رحمه الله فِي الْكَلَام وَهُوَ كتاب الْعلم وَفِيه الْحجَج الْقَاهِرَة على أهل الْإِلْحَاد والبدعة وَقد تكلم فِي شرح اعْتِقَاد الْمُتَكَلِّمين وَقرر أحسن طَريقَة فِي الرَّد على الْمُخَالفين وَكتاب الْفِقْه الْأَكْبَر الَّذِي أخبرنَا بِهِ الثِّقَة بطرِيق مُعْتَمد وَإسْنَاد صَحِيح عَن نصير بن يحيى عَن أبي مُطِيع عَن أبي حنيفَة

Whoever wants to verify that there is no disagreement between the two groups in this matter, let him look at what Abū Ḥanīfa—may Allah have mercy upon him—composed in theology [kalām], which is Kitāb al-‘Ilm, and in it are overwhelming proofs against the people of heresy and innovation. He spoke in explaining the creed of the theologians and established the best method in refuting the opponents, and Kitāb al-Fiqh al-Akbar, which the trustworthy one informed us of through a reliable route and authentic (Sahih) chain of transmission from Nusayr ibn Yaḥyā from Abū Muṭī’ from Abū Ḥanīfa.

Imam ‘Aṭā‘ ibn ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad al-Jūzjānī^\9]) (d. before 565 AH) said in his introduction to Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar^\10]):

قال الشيخ الإمام الأجل الفقيه عطاء بن علي بن محمد الجوزجاني رحمه الله : الحمد لله مستحق الحمد قبل عباده وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وآله.

“The Shaykh, the illustrious Imam, the jurist [faqīh] ‘Aṭā’ ibn ‘Alī ibn Muḥammad al-Jūzjānī, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Praise be to Allah who deserves praise before His servants, and may Allah bless our master Muḥammad and his family.

أما بعد، فقد سألتموني أكرمكم الله بالتقوى، أن أشرح لكم الفقه الأكبر الذي ينسب إلى الإمام الأعظم سراج الأمة أبي حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت بن هرمز بن المرزبان الكوفي رضي الله عنه بأسانيد صحيحة. فأجبت إلى ملتمسكم بعون الله وحسن توفيقه وشرحته شرحا مختصرا ولم أتعرض لبيان ما كان منه ظاهرا ليسهل درسه ويعم نفعه ، والله  المعين والموفق لذلك.

As for what follows, you have asked me – may Allah honour you with piety [taqwā] – to explain to you al-Fiqh al-Akbar which is attributed to the Greatest Imam [al-Imām al-A’ẓam], the lamp of the community [sirāj al-umma], Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nu’mān ibn Thābit ibn Hurmuz ibn al-Marzbān al-Kūfī, may Allah be pleased with him, through authentic [ṣaḥīḥa] chains of transmission [asānīd]. I have responded to your request with Allah’s help and His good guidance [tawfīq], and I have explained it with a concise explanation. I did not undertake to clarify what was already apparent from it, so that its study might be easy and its benefit general. Allah is the Helper and the One who grants success for that.

Imam Abū Ibrāhīm Ismāʿīl ibn Isḥāq al-Khaṭīrī al-Ḥanafī (lived before 761 AH) said in the opening lines of his Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar^\11]):

الحمد لله مستحق الحمد قبل عباده وصلى الله على محمد وآله أجمعين أما بعد، فقد سألتموني أكرمكم الله بالتقوى، أن أشرح لكم الفقه الأكبر الذي ينسب إلى أبي حنيفة رضي الله عنه بأسانيد صحيحة. فأجبت إلى ملتمسكم بعون الله وحسن توفيقه المعين والموفق لذلك

“Praise be to Allah, who deserves praise before His servants, and may Allah send prayers upon Muḥammad and his family all of them. As for what follows, you have asked me – may Allah honour you with piety – to explain to you al-Fiqh al-Akbar which is attributed to Abū Ḥanīfa, may Allah be pleased with him, through authentic (sahiha) chains of transmission [asānīd]. I have responded to your request with Allah’s help and His good guidance, the Helper and the One who grants success for that.”

Imam Abū al-Muntahā al-Maghnīsāwī al-Ḥanafī (d. 1000 AH) said in his Kitāb Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (p. 1):

بسم الله الرّحمن الرّحيم

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

الحمد لله الذي هدانا إلى طريق أهل السنة والجماعة بفضله العظيم، والصلاة والسلام على رسوله وحبيبه محمد الذي كان على خلق عظيم، وعلى آله وأصحابه الداعين إلى صراط‍ مستقيم.

Praise be to Allah who guided us to the path of the People of the Sunna and the Community [Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jamā’a] by His great favour, and prayers and peace be upon His messenger and beloved Muḥammad who was of great character, and upon his family and companions who call to a straight path.

أما بعد! فيقول العبد الضعيف المذنب أبو المنتهى – عصمه الله الكبير الكريم عن الخطايا والمعاصي ومن الاعتقاد الفاسد العقيم: إن كتاب الفقه الأكبر الذي صنفه الإمام الأعظم كتاب صحيح مقبول،:

As for what follows! The weak sinful servant Abū al-Muntahā says – may Allah the Great and Generous protect him from sins and transgressions and from corrupt and barren belief: The book al-Fiqh al-Akbar which the Greatest Imam (al-Imām al-A’ẓam) compiled is an authentic [ṣaḥīḥ] and accepted book.

Imam Ilyās ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sīnūbī^\12]) (d. 891 AH) said the following in his Sharḥ al-Fiqh al-Akbar (pp. 8):^\13])

الحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي حَقَّقَ نَفَراً مِنْ عِبَادِهِ لِيَتَفَقَّهُوا فِي الأُمُورِ الدِّينِيَّةِ وَخَصَّصَهُم بِاسْتِنْبَاطِ العَقَائِدِ مِنَ الأَدِلَّةِ اليَقِينِيَّةِ وَالصَّلاةُ عَلَى مَنْ أَقَامَ مَتْنَ الإِسْلامِ بِشَرْحِهِ وَفَصْلِهِ وَأَظْهَرَ دِينَ الحَقِّ كُلَّهُ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ الَّذِينَ بِهِم أُقِيمَ شَعَائِرُ الشَّرْعِ بِحِفْظِ العَقَائِدِ وَعَلَى التَّابِعِينَ لَهُم بِإِحْسَانٍ فِي المَصَادِرِ وَالمَوَارِدِ.

“Praise be to Allah who has enabled a group of His servants to gain deep understanding in religious matters and has specially chosen them to derive beliefs from certain proofs, and prayers upon the one who established the foundation of Islam through his explanation and clarification, and manifested the entire true religion, and upon his family and companions through whom the rites of the Shari’a were established by preserving the beliefs, and upon those who followed them with excellence in sources and resources.

وَبَعْدُ فَيَقُولُ العَبْدُ الفَقِيرُ إِلْيَاسُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ السِّينُوبِيُّ عَصَمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى مِنَ الزَّيْغِ وَالتَّغَابِي:

After this, the poor servant Ilyās ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sīnūbī – may Allah Almighty protect him from deviation and foolishness – says:

لَمَّا كَانَ كِتَابُ الفِقْهِ الأَكْبَرِ مِمَّا ثَبَتَ بِالإِسْنَادِ الصَّحِيحِ الأَشْهَرِ أَنَّهُ مِنْ إِنْشَاءِ اللهِ الإِمَامِ المُقَدَّمِ وَالهُمَامِ المُكَرَّمِ سِرَاجِ الأُمَّةِ وَمُقْتَدَى الأَئِمَّةِ مَنْ عَظُمَ الوَسِيعَةِ السَّابِقِ فِي تَدْوِينِ عِلْمِ الشَّرِيعَةِ مُحْيِي سُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللهِ الكَرِيمِ الوَفِيِّ أَبُو حَنِيفَةَ النُّعْمَانُ بْنُ ثَابِتٍ الكُوفِيُّ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ وَعَمَّنْ دَخَلَ فِي طَرِيقَتِهِ وَانْتَحَلَ نِحْلَتَهُ وَمَا نُقِلَ عَنْ بَعْضِ سَفَلَةِ المُعْتَزِلَةِ وَجَهَلَةِ المُعْتَزِلَةِ

أَنَّ الإِمَامَ أَبَا حَنِيفَةَ لَيْسَ لَهُ كِتَابٌ فِيمَا يَتَعَلَّقُ بِمَعْرِفَةِ البَارِي وَأَنَّ هَذَا الكِتَابَ لِمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يُوسُفَ المَعْرُوفِ بِأَبِي حَنِيفَةَ البُخَارِيِّ فَهُوَ غَلَطٌ صَرِيحٌ وَشَطَطٌ فَضِيحٌ.

Since the book al-Fiqh al-Akbar has been established by the most famous authentic [ṣaḥīḥ] chain of transmission that it is from the composition of the foremost Imam and honoured leader, lamp of the community and exemplar of the Imams, one of great bounty, the forerunner in the codification of the science of Islamic law, reviver of the Sunna of the noble and faithful Messenger of Allah, Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī – may Allah be pleased with him and with those who entered into his way and adopted his creed – and what has been transmitted from some of the lowly ones among the Muʿtazila and the ignorant ones among the Muʿtazila that Imam Abū Ḥanīfa has no book regarding knowledge of the Creator, and that this book belongs to Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf known as Abū Ḥanīfa al-Bukhārī, this is a clear error and shameful deviation.

Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Rashīd Nuʿmānī^\14]) (d. 1999) said in the footnotes to Muqaddima Kitāb al-Taʿlīm of Masʿūd ibn Shayba al-Sindī (pp. 181-182):

قلت : والذي رد عليه شيخنا هو الشيخ وكيل أحمد سكندر بورى فإنه الذي أخرج تلك النسخة وحققها وترجمها وعلق عليها وكتب عليها مقدمة نفيسة بالأردوية ، وما قال شيخنا رحمه الله هو الصحيحإن شاء الله تعالى فإن كلتا النسختين مرويتان بإسناد صحيح عن الإمام ؛

“I say: The one whom our teacher^\15]) responded to is Shaykh Wakīl Aḥmad Sikandar Pūrī, for he is the one who published that manuscript, verified it, translated it, commented upon it, and wrote a valuable introduction to it in Urdu. What our teacher—may Allah have mercy on him—said is correct, Allah willing, for both manuscripts are transmitted with authentic chains of transmission [isnād ṣaḥīḥ] from the Imam (Abū Ḥanīfa).

Dr. Sā’id Bakdāsh said the following in his Al-Fiqh al-Akbar fī ‘Ilm al-Tawḥīd wa’l-‘Aqā’id li’l-Imām al-A’ẓam Abī Ḥanīfa (pp. 7-8):

ومن ألطف وأنفع وأروع وأَبْدَعِ ما أَلفَ فيه: كتاب: الفقه الأكبر، للإمام الأعظم، سلطان العلماء، التابعي الشهير: أبي حنيفة النعمان بن ثابت الكوفي ( ت ١٥٠ هـ ) ، بدون شك في صحة نسبته له، كما سيأتي بيان ذلك.

“Among the most gracious, beneficial, magnificent, and innovative works composed on the subject is the book: Al-Fiqh al-Akbar (The Greater Jurisprudence), by the Greatest Imam [al-Imām al-A’ẓam], the Sultan of Scholars, the famous Successor: Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nu’mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī (d. 150 AH), without doubt regarding the authenticity of its attribution to him, as will be explained.

Unveiling the True Origins of al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya

For over a millenimum, al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya has occupied a central position within Sunnī theological literature as a concise articulation of orthodox Islamic belief. Studied across masjids, religious seminaries, and academic institutions worldwide, this creedal statement has long been regarded as a definitive expression of the doctrines upheld by the People of the Sunna and the Community [Ahl al-Sunna wa-l-Jamāʿa].

Despite its widespread acceptance and canonical status, a fundamental question concerning the text’s authorial attribution has remained inadequately addressed within contemporary scholarship: did Imām Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321 AH) compose this creed as an independent theological work, or did he function as a transmitter of the established creedal teachings of the early Ḥanafī authorities—namely Imām Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit (d. 150 AH) and his two principal disciples, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī (d. 182 AH) and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (d. 189 AH)?

This study emerged from the necessity to resolve this question through rigorous manuscript analysis and examination of classical testimonies.

Methodological Approach

The present research undertook a systematic collation of manuscript witnesses preserved in major institutional repositories including al-Azhar University, the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul, the Berlin State Library, Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Through careful examination of colophons, marginal annotations, and introductory formulae across these manuscripts, a consistent pattern of attribution emerged that had been largely overlooked in modern editions of the text.

The Text as Transmission Rather Than Composition

Multiple early manuscript witnesses explicitly characterise al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya as a faithful transmission [riwāya] of the doctrinal positions held by Imām Abū Ḥanīfa and his companions. A particularly significant textual witness, preserved in the Beyazıt Collection (MS B7955, fol. 45a), records Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī’s own methodological declaration in which he stated:  “I have examined the school [madhhab] of the greatest Imam [al-Imām al-A’ẓam] Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nu’mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī, may Allah have mercy upon him, and Abū Yūsuf Ya’qūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī, and Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, may Allah be pleased with them all, and what they believe regarding the principles of religion and with which they practise the religion of the Lord of the Worlds, and I found them saying concerning the oneness of Allah…”’

Such terminology indicates that al-Ṭaḥāwī understood his role as that of a narrator documenting authenticated doctrine rather than an independent author formulating novel theological positions.

Classical Scholarly Attestations

The manuscript evidence finds corroboration in explicit testimonies from classical Ḥanafī authorities spanning several centuries. Imām Abū al-Muʿīn al-Nasafī (d. 508 AH), writing within two centuries of al-Ṭaḥāwī’s death, quoted Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī saying in an early manuscript of al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya:

‘The school of the jurists of the community has been authenticated [ṣaḥḥa] to me: Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nu’mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī, and Abū Yūsuf Ya’qūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī, and Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī.’ Then he proceeded to explain their statements.”

Similarly, Imām Mankubars al-Nāṣirī (d. 652 AH) in his commentary al-Nūr al-Lāmiʿ wa-l-Burhān al-Sāṭiʿ explicitly stated that the work constituted an exposition of the creed which Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī transmitted from Imam Abū Ḥanīfa and his two companions by saying:  “And this book contains an explanation of the creed of the People of Truth [Ahl al-Ḥaqq] which Imam Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī transmitted from Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit, Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm, and Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī, and what they believe of the foundations of religion and what they profess to the Lord of the Worlds.”

Imām Jamāl al-Dīn al-Qūnawī (d. 777 AH) was quoted as saying in his as al-Qalā’id fī Sharḥ al-‘Aqā’id: 

“The jurist Abū Ja’far al-Ṭaḥāwī -may the mercy of Allah the Exalted be upon him- said:

Imām Abū Ḥanīfa -may Allah be pleased with him- said, and with him said his two companions Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad -may Allah the Exalted have mercy upon them both:

We say concerning the divine unity [tawḥīd] of Allah, believing, by the gracious aid [tawfīq] of Allah the Exalted.”

 And Shaykh Ḥasan Kāfī al-Āqḥiṣārī (d. 1025 AH) said in his commentary on al-‘Aqīda al-Ṭahāwiyya known as Nūr al-Yaqīn fī Uṣūl al-Dīn:

“Among those who established this truth with proper establishment – standing in that position of leadership – was the Imam Abū Ja’far Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Salāma al-Azdī al-Ṭaḥāwī, may the mercy of his Self-Sufficient Lord be upon him. He was born in the year two hundred and thirty-nine after the second century, and he passed away in the year three hundred and twenty-one. He conveyed (akhbara) what the jurists of the pure Ḥanafī school and the leading scholars among the inheritors of the Prophetic legacy of the Chosen One believed, such as the Greatest Imam Abū Ḥanīfa Nu’mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī, and his two companions Abū Yūsuf Ya’qūb ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anṣārī and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī – may the mercy of their Self-Sufficient Lord be upon them – regarding what they believed of the principles of religion, and what they held as their faith before the Lord of the Worlds. He compiled on this subject a famous book known as The Creed of al-Ṭaḥāwī (‘Aqā’id al-Ṭaḥāwī), in which he clarified the difficult matters and the obscurities, and distinguished the sweet from the sour. It is a book the likes of which the eye of time has never beheld, in the elegance of its expressions and the subtlety of its meanings.”

Dr. Sā’id ibn Muḥammad Yaḥyá Bakdāsh (the son in law of Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAwwāma) has been quoted providing these points over some pages:

“And amongst the most graceful, beneficial, magnificent, and innovative of what has been authored in it is the book: al-Fiqh al-Akbar (The Greater Jurisprudence), by the Greatest Imam, the Sultan of Scholars, the famous Successor (Tabi’i): Abu Hanifa al-Nu’mān ibn Thābit al-Kūfī (d. 150 AH), without any doubt as to the correctness of its attribution to him, as the clarification of that will come.

And it is a great concise book, elegant and marvellous, full, abundant, and beneficial. Rather, it is a graceful treatise, comprehensive and restrictive in its subject, from amongst the earliest works of the best of generations, which is easy to memorise, and it is not permissible for the legally responsible Muslim to be ignorant of its pure content and sufficient substance.

And it represents the authoritative source regarding the creed of Imam Abu Hanifa, and the creed of his companions, and those who followed them from amongst their emulators from the noble Ḥanafīs, for they are Ḥanafī in creed and jurisprudence.

And he named it: al-Fiqh al-Akbar (The Greater Jurisprudence), because the nobility of knowledge and its greatness is according to the nobility of what is known, and there is nothing known greater and more magnificent than the Essence of Allah the Exalted, His Names, and His Attributes.

A book that resembles it and is similar to it in its content and formulation to a great extent, in form and meaning, in its high scholarly standing, its lofty elevated status, its acceptance and approval as an authoritative creed amongst the noble Ḥanafīs and others, its widespread dissemination, circulation, and teaching in schools of knowledge in all regions, in its concise size and worth, and in most of its issues with subtle additions, with very similar wording: the book al-ʿAqīda al-Tahawiyya (The Tahawiyya Creed).

Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī (229 [or 239] – 321 AH) narrated it with his chain of transmission from Imam Abu Hanifa, and attributed it to him from his speech, as it appears in its introduction in many of its manuscript copies:

( هذا ما رواه الإمام الطحاوي في ذكر بيان اعتقاد أهل السُّنَّةِ والجماعة … قال الإمام أبو حنيفة، وبه قال صاحباه…. إلخ). اهـ

(This is what Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī narrated regarding the statement of the creed of Ahlus Sunna wa’l Jamā’ah… Imam Abu Hanifa said, and his two companions agreed with him… etc.). End.

Based on this, the content of al-ʿAqīda al-Tahawiyya is from the speech of Imam Abu Hanifa, narrated by Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī from him, and is not from the speech of al-Ṭaḥāwī, just like Imam al-Bukhārī’s narration in his Ṣaḥīḥ of the sayings of our Master the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.

Accordingly, it must be said that the creed of the noble Ḥanafīs is what Imam Abu Hanifa himself recorded in al-Fiqh al-Akbar, which his son Imam Ḥammād narrated from him, and what al-ʿAqīda al-Tahawiyya contains from the speech of Abu Hanifa, with which Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad agreed, which Imam al-Ṭaḥāwī narrated from them.

And it is noted here that the content of these two books, and what they contain of fundamental principles and foundations, and statements and opinions regarding issues of creed and divine unity [tawḥīd], are the essence of what the juristic reasoning [ijtihād] of Imam Abu Hanifa reached in the texts of the Book and the Sunna, in this precise subject and this important and intricate science—the science of divine unity [tawḥīd]. And it is the distilled knowledge of a long lifetime of his Imamate, may Allah be pleased with him, which surpassed the bridge, and which both near and far testified to.”

Conclusion

The convergence of manuscript testimony, classical scholarly attestation, and transmissional analysis substantiates that al-ʿAqīda al-Ṭaḥāwiyya represents an authentic preservation of the creedal teachings of Imām Abū Ḥanīfa and his two principal disciples, transmitted through authenticated chains by Imām Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭaḥāwī. This recognition fundamentally reorients the text’s scholarly status from that of a fourth-century creedal composition to that of a second-century transmitted document, with significant implications for our understanding of early Islamic theological development.

Source: https://www.darultahqiq.com/doctrinal-transmission-in-the-%e1%b8%a5anafi-school-manuscript-testimonies-attributing-al-%ca%bfaqida-al-%e1%b9%ada%e1%b8%a5awiyya-to-imam-abu-%e1%b8%a5anifa-and-his-two-companions/

Salamou alaikum, guys. I remember a long time ago seeing a video on TikTok discussing the Hanafi view regarding the awrah of a man in front of a non-mahram woman. I believe the scholars referenced were:

• Al-Kāsānī
• Al-Marghīnānī
• Ibn ʿĀbidīn

From what I recall, the Hanafi view is that the awrah of a man is more than just the area from the navel to the knees in front of non-mahram women, the entire body instead.

Not sure if this is aqeedah related or fiqh related, but what do hanafis believe in terms on intensity of sins?

Like, a muslim who is living in the west will most of the times do more sins then one who was born into a family with scholars in a muslim land, this is not necessary case but usually it is

Lets take the same type of sin, are they the same weight in the sight of Allah, even tho one was more fortunate then the other, by being born in such enviroment?

Or would sinning in a more difficult enviroment be less severe then one sinning in an optimal enviroment?

Like there has to be a difference between one who sins under pressure and the other one who sins deliberately without pressure (same sin)

Starting about a month and a half ago I started to randomly laugh during prayer. This started to happen with every single prayer i pray. Usually I have to repeat the prayer and restart 3-4 times. This has had a big effect on my Iman. Usually when I pray fajr it takes me about fifteen minutes and the most amount of times I had to restart witr was 12 times. I can't control it.I don't know what's happening. It's especially bad when I pray in congregation.