Imam Abu Hanifah

`Abu Hanifah', Nu'man ibn Thabit was born in the city of Kufa (modern day Iraq) in the year 80 A.H (689 A.D)

Imam Abu Hanifah acquired knowledge from over four thousand people.

When Imam Abu Hanifah derived a matter from the Qur'an and Hadith, he would not give the answer to the inquirer unless all of them [his students] confirmed it. One thousand of Abu Hanifah's disciples attended all his classes when he taught in the Mosque of Kufa City. Forty of them were mujtahids. When he would find an answer for a matter, he would suggest to his students who would study it together, and when they reached an agreement of it being consistent with the Qur'an and Hadith, and with the words of the Sahabah (ra), he would be delighted and say, "Al-hamdu li'llah wallahu Akbar," and all those who were present would repeat his words. Then he would tell them to write it down.

He performed the Fajr prayer with the ablution made for the Isha prayers for forty years (due to him praying the whole night through)

The principal occupation of Imam Abu Hanifa was business. He carried on a flourishing trade of textile goods. His success in commercial enterprises was largely due to his absolute honesty in business transactions. He was so much trusted by all that even non-Muslims deposited their wealth with him. He did not believe in excessive profits and never tolerated to earn money through illegal and questionable means.

• Once he sent a few pieces of cotton goods to one Hafs Bin Abdur Rahman with a word that some of the pieces were defective of which the customer should be apprised. Hafs forgot to do so and disposed of all the pieces. This deeply shocked the Imam who by way of atonement gave away the entire sum amounting to 30 thousand dirhams in charity.
• Once a woman brought to him a piece of Haz (costly cloth) for disposal. She demanded hundred dirhams as its price. She was wonder-struck with his honesty when he paid her five hundred dirhams for the piece.
• The prices of commodities kept in his shop were fixed. Once in his absence, some of his pupils unknowingly sold certain articles at relatively higher prices. When he learned about it on return, he resented it very much, saying they had cheated the customer. Meanwhile the customer who was an inhabitant of Medina, had left Kufa. It is stated that the Imam himself undertook a journey to Medina and paid him the balance.