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Continuing the Legacy (II): Imām Muḥammad
Imām Muḥammad was one of the eminent companions of the great Imām Abū Ḥanīfah. His full name was Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Ḥasan b. Farqad al-Shaybānī. His family was from a village near Damascus, but his father came to Iraq. Thus, he was born in Wāsiṭ, Iraq in 132 AH. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Kufa and grew up there, where his journey of knowledge began.
He learned from many scholars, including Misʿar b. Kidām, Mālik b. Mighwal, ʿUmar b. Dharr al-Hamdānī, Sufyān al-Thawrī, al-Awzāʿī, and Mālik b. Anas (may Allah have mercy on them all). He learned fiqh from Imām Abū Ḥanīfah. The following story is of how he became the student of Imām Abū Ḥanīfah:
At the age of 14, Imām Muḥammad went to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah to ask him a question. He appreciated the answer and later came back to ask him to teach him the Islamic sciences. Imām Abū Ḥanīfah told him to go and memorize the Qurʾān first. Seven days later, he came back and informed Imām Abū Ḥanīfah that he had completed memorization of the whole Qurʾān.
He spent a few years studying with him and would even go to the jailhouse to learn from him during his imprisonment at the end of his life. When he passed away, he continued studying with Imām Abū Yūsuf.
Imām Muḥammad had many students, including the likes of Imām al-Shāfiʿi, al-Qāsim b. Sallām…
