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Ibrahim al-Nakha'i
Abu Imran ibn Yazid (Arabic: إبراهيم بن يزيد, romanized: Abū ʿImrān ibn Yazīd; c. 666–714), commonly known as Ibrahim al-Nakha'i (Arabic: إبراهيم النخعي, romanized: Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī), was an early Kufan jurist of the tabi'in. A pioneer of the use of ra'y and qiyas, al-Nakha'i influenced later Kufan jurists through his student Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, including Abu Hanifa. BiographyIbrahim al-Nakha'i was born in Kufa in c. 666, although there is some dispute on the exact year. He was of the Nakha, a branch of the Madhhaj tribe which had migrated to Kufa from Yemen following the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia, hence the nisba al-Nakha'i. His family was known for scholarly activity; his father was a hadith transmitter, his maternal uncle was Alqama ibn Qays and Aswad ibn Yazid was his maternal cousin.[1] Al-Nakha'i was affiliated with the students of Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, a companion of Muhammad, which included his uncle Alqama who became his principal mentor of fiqh.[2] He began travelling to the Hejaz from a young age,[2] and in his youth performed the Hajj with Alqama and Aswad ibn Yazid, during which he attended a gathering of Aisha.[1] While he met the companions of Muhammad, some of whom still lived in Kufa at the time of his death,[2] he is not believed to have directly narrated hadith from them, and the isnad of those where he appears to do so are considered to be mursal.[1] Despite the tumult of the Second Fitna, al-Nakha'i continued teaching in Kufa. Mukhtar al-Thaqafi offered him an official post, which he declined. He had a strained relationship with the Umayyad authorities, openly criticising al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf and supporting the revolt of Ibn al-Ash'ath, which at times forced him into hiding.[1] Al-Hajjaj is said to have ordered the arrest of al-Nakha'i, who evaded apprehension. Upon hearing of al-Hajjaj's death, al-Nakha'i prostrated in thankfulness.[3] Teaching in the Great Mosque of Kufa, al-Nakha'i accepted Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman into his halaqa (study circle), who became his foremost student. Upon al-Nakha'i's death in 738, Hammad would become the leader of his halaqa.[4] JurisprudenceThe fiqh of al-Nakha'i is characterised by the use of ra'y (independent reasoning), and as a result he is considered as one of the progenitors of the ahl al-ra'y.[1] He developed and popularised the use of qiyas (analogical reasoning), which represented a systematic application of ra'y.[5] Both prophetic hadith and athar from Muhammad's companions were considered by al-Nakha'i to be authoritative;[6] the views of Ibn Mas'ud in particular formed the basis of his legal thought.[1] Al-Nakha'i was among the first Kufan jurists who was interested in the summative body of Islamic law rather than specific parts.[7] Through qiyas, al-Nakha'i attempted to "deduce general propositions from the authoritative sources and then apply them to all relevant cases".[5] Zafar Ishaq Ansari has argued that al-Nakha'i was motivated by a "conscious search for greater coherence and consistency" in the law, underpinned by a "notion that that the teachings of the Prophet were embodiments of general principles, rather than arbitrary fiats."[5] However, due to the absence of an established legal tradition, al-Nakha'i fiqh was less technically developed and systematically consistent than that of the later Kufan jurists.[8] The origins of the Kufan jurists' tradition of formulating and answering hypothetical legal questions can be seen in the thought of al-Nakha'i. Some of the hypothesised scenarios were impossible, although he entertained these less frequently than later Kufans.[9] LegacyAl-Nakha'i greatly influenced later Kufan and Hanafi jurists, primarily through Hammad.[10] Hammad's primary student, Abu Hanifa, often adduced al-Nakha'i as an authority but did not always agree with his views.[11] Quotations of al-Nakha'i and narrations in whose isnad he is present feature prominently in the two separate works named al-Athar authored respectively by Abu Hanifa's disciples Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani.[12] Al-Shafi'i describes al-Nakha'i and al-Sha'bi as the principal authorities of the Kufans.[12] Ahmad ibn Hanbal negatively contrasts al-Nakha'i with Hasan al-Basri and Ata ibn Abi Rabah,[12] but references al-Nakha'i 336 times in his musnad.[13] ReferencesCitations
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