Abd al-Rahman al-Awza'i

Apparently born in Baalbek (in modern-day Lebanon) in 707, but the biographer and historian Al-Dhahabi reports that al-Auza'i was originally from Sindh. Very little of al-Awzai's writings survive, but his style of Islamic jurisprudence (usul al-fiqh) is preserved in Abu Yusuf's book Al-radd ala siyar al-Awzai, in particular his reliance on the "living tradition," or the uninterrupted practice of Muslims handed down from preceding generations. For Awzai, this is the true Sunnah of Muhammad. Awzai's school flourished in Syria, the Maghreb, and Al Andalus but was eventually overcome and replaced by the Maliki school of Islamic law in the 9th century. He died in 774 and was buried near Beirut, Lebanon, where his tomb is still visited.[3]

It has been recorded by Sufyan ibn ʽUyaynah that Awza'i engaged in a debate with Abu Hanifa about the raising of the hands during Salah.[4] It is known in Arabic as Raf al-yadayn.

Awza'i and Abu Hanifa once met with each other whilst in a market in Makkah. It was here Awza'i questioned Abu Hanifa as to why he did not perform the raising of the hands during the prayer to which Abu Hanifa responded that there was no authentic Hadith to support this action. Awza'i then rebutted this by questioning Abu Hanifa as to why he believed that there was no authentic narration to prove the raising the hands, he then stated that he had an authentic narration which is also narrated similarly in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim which was: "Imam Zuhri told me, who was told by Salim, who was told by Ibn Umar that the Prophet Muhammed practiced the raising of the hands before and after the ruku.

Abu Hanifa then countered this hadith with a hadith of his own which is found similarly in Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah,[5] Musannaf of Abd al-Razzaq,[6] Sunan at-Tirmidhi and Sunan an-Nasa'i which was: "Hamad told me, who was told by Ibrahim, who was told by Ikrama, who was told by Aswad who was told by Abdullah ibn Masud that the Prophet Muhammed only practiced the raising of the hands at the beginning of performing his salat and not afterwards".

Due to the fact that the chain of narration of Awza'i consisted only of 3 individuals whereas the chain of narration of Abu Hanifa's hadith contained 5 individuals, Awza'i assumed an upper hand stating that due to his shorter Isnad, the hadith that he had presented was more reliable. Abu Hanifa repudiated this belief stating that the strength of a hadith must be measured through the reliability of the people in the chain of narration and their knowledge of the hadith sciences and not through the number of intermediaries in the sanad. Abu Hanifa then stated that in this regard, the authorities in his chain of narration were much greater than those in the chain of transmission of the hadith of Awza'i.[7]

In order to prove this point, Abu Hanifa said that the first two narrators in his chain were more knowledgable in hadith than the two first narrators in the chain of Awza'i. As a result, Abu Hanifa argued that his teacher, Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, was more learned in respect to hadith than Imam Zuhri, the teacher of Malik ibn Anas, Sufyan ibn ʽUyaynah,[8] Ma'mar ibn Rashid[9] and Ibn Ishaq.[10] He then declared that Ikrama, a man in the chain of transmission of Abu Hanifa, was a "great scholar" and the direct source of the hadith, Ibn Masud, who was a companion of the Prophet Muhammed,^: 115 was distinguished. After this, Awza'i became silent.

Theologically, he was known as a persecutor of the Qadaris, but also one of the main historical witnesses of them. He alleged that the Qadaris merely appropriated heretical doctrines from the Christians. Awzāʿī had met their founder Maʿbad.[11]

al-Awzai differed with all the other schools of fiqh in holding that apostates from Islam ought not to be executed unless their apostasy is part of a 'plot to take over the State', i.e. treason.[12]

• Judd, Steven C. (2019). 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Amr al-Awza'i. London: Oneworld Publications. ISBN 978-1786076854.

• Biodata at MuslimScholars.info