The Perception of Abû Hanifah in Shiite Sources and the Accusations of Related to Abu Hanifa

Abstract

Abu Hanifah, even though, had a positive view of the Ahl al-Bayt, there is a strong opposition toAbu Hanifah in both the first period’s and the next period's Imamiyya sources. This contrast wouldresult in his damnation and described as nâsibî. The basic reason for the criticism of Abu Hanifah isthat, he opened the mind to the understanding and interpretation of religion. In the Shiite sources,rhetoric is given to Abu Hanifah in the form of “If Ali judges, I will also judge”. With this narration,they are accusing Abu Hanifah being arbitrary and this idea should be vigilantly distracted from theImams accepted as the only authority in understanding religion. Rationalization in religious thoughtis to break from being connected with narrations and not to recognize an authority except the reason.This represents a very serious break with the view of Shi'i, that it was built his ontology on Imams.For this reason, the Shi'i wants to avoid not only Abu Hanifah's thoughts, but also the thought ofevery thought which will result in acting independently of Imams. The fact that the Shiites stay awayfrom the Ijtihad and Qiyas is also a result of this view. In this paper, we will look at the grounds andreasons for the criticism of Abu Hanifah in Shiite Imamiyya sources and we will try to examine itsconsequences in the Shi'a thought. Our basic references will be al-Kutub al-Arbaa.

Özet

Ebû Hanîfe’nin Ehl-i Beyt’e olumlu bakış açısı olmasına rağmen gerek ilk dönem gerekse sonraki