School of law
Hanafi
Traced to Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 767). Known for structured legal reasoning, wide use of analogy and juristic preference, and careful attention to general principles.
Mainly followed in: South Asia, Turkey, Central Asia, the Balkans, Egypt and the Levant.
History
The Hanafi school grew around Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man ibn Thabit (d. 767), a cloth merchant and teacher in Kufa, Iraq. Kufa was a busy city with many cultures and new situations, and much of the school's character comes from that setting: careful legal reasoning applied to questions the earlier generations had never faced.
Abu Hanifa taught by circle and debate rather than by dictating a book. His senior students — above all Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani — wrote the school down and, as judges under the Abbasids, spread it through the courts of the empire.
Later the Ottomans and the Mughals adopted it as their official school, which is why it remains the most widely followed school of law in the world today.
Lineage of teaching
Knowledge in Islam is passed from teacher to student. This is the broad chain behind the school, oldest first.
- 1The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
- 2Companions of Kufa, notably Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
- 3Alqama ibn Qays and Ibrahim al-Nakha'i
- 4Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman
- 5Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 767)
- 6Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani
- 7Later masters: al-Quduri, al-Marghinani (Hidaya), Ibn Abidin
Ten practices you would notice today
Everyday positions a follower of this school would recognise. Other schools hold different views on these points, and all remain within Islam.
- 1Hands folded below the navel while standing in prayer (women fold on the chest).
- 2'Ameen' is said quietly, not aloud, behind the imam.
- 3Hands are raised only at the opening takbir of the prayer.
- 4The person praying behind an imam does not recite al-Fatiha themselves; the imam's recitation suffices.
- 5Witr is three units prayed together with a supplication (qunut) before bowing in the last unit.
- 6Touching a person of the opposite gender does not break wudu; a small amount of flowing blood does.
- 7Prayers are kept at their own times; combining is not the normal practice even when travelling.
- 8Twenty units of tarawih in congregation through Ramadan.
- 9A moon sighting anywhere in the Muslim world can start Ramadan.
- 10Zakat is due on gold, silver, cash, business stock and debts owed to you, after a lunar year at the nisab.
Practices kept today that the Prophet ﷺ did himself
Points where this school’s everyday practice matches something directly narrated from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Every school holds to the Sunnah as it understood it — these are examples, not a claim that others depart from it.
Praying witr as an odd number of units at the end of the night, with qunut supplication.
The Prophet ص never left witr, at home or on a journey.
Praying tarawih in congregation through Ramadan.
The Prophet ص led night prayer in Ramadan for several nights, then stopped only out of fear it would be made obligatory.
Beginning the fast only on a confirmed sighting of the new moon.
“Fast when you see it and break your fast when you see it.”
Sources & further reading
The works this school’s positions are drawn from, plus accessible introductions.
Al-Mabsut
al-Sarakhsi (d. 1090)
The great reference work of Hanafi law, explaining the school's reasoning at length.
Al-Hidaya
al-Marghinani (d. 1197)
The classical teaching text of the school; translated into English by Imran Nyazee.
Mukhtasar al-Quduri
al-Quduri (d. 1037)
The short primer students begin with; available in English.
Radd al-Muhtar
Ibn Abidin (d. 1836)
The late authoritative commentary used for present-day Hanafi rulings.
A reminder
This page is a summary for orientation, not a fatwa. Differences between schools are differences of scholarship, not of faith — learn the details from a qualified, trustworthy teacher in your own community.