Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān

It is related that Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī said to Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān: “When you see Abū Ḥanīfa, convey my greetings to him.” He then praised him. It is also related that al-Kalbī, the Qurʾan commentator, said: “I found Abū Ḥanīfa’s description in some books: he is filled with knowledge and wisdom as a pomegranate is filled with seeds.”

The teacher Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ḥafṣ said: In Kufa, Abū Ḥanīfa continually pursued theological disputation and argued with people until he excelled in it. One day they discussed īlāʾ, the oath of abstention from marital intercourse. He asked a companion: “What is īlāʾ?” He answered: “I do not know.” Abū Ḥanīfa said to himself: “Woe to you! You pursue disputation, while this belongs to the obligations we must know.” He then attended Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān and reached a level of jurisprudence none other had reached.

Al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad said: I arrived in Kufa ten days after Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān’s death. I saw learned people visiting Abū Ḥanīfa. When asked ten questions, he hesitated over nine. I performed pilgrimage; on returning, I saw him asked ten questions without hesitating over one.

Before studying jurisprudence, Abū Ḥanīfa had a study circle in theology. A woman asked him a question of jurisprudence that he could not answer. He left that circle and went to Ḥammād ibn Abī Sulaymān to study jurisprudence. Ḥammād told him, “Learn three questions each day.” Abū Ḥanīfa did so and became a jurist.