The law was codified by him was adopted as the law of the...

The law was codified by him was adopted as the law of the great part of the Muslim world. The ‘Abbasids, the Saljuqs, the Ottomans, and the Mughuls accepted it and with millions of people still following it today. Abu Hanifa, like his forefathers, earned his living by trade. He dealt in a kind of cloth, called khazz , in Kufah.

Gradually, his business flourished until he had a factory where this cloth was manufactured.[^7] The business was not restricted to Kufah; his goods had a good market in far off places. The growing recognition of his integrity converted his firm into a bank where people deposited huge sums of money on trust.

These deposits ran to 50 million dirhams at the time of his death.[^8] Extensive experience of financial and commercial matters gave him a deep insight into various aspects of law such as seldom falls to the lot of a theoretical lawyer. Later on, when he set himself to the task of codifying the Law of Islam this personal experience proved of immense help to him.

A further testimony to his deep understanding and proficient handling of practical affairs is provided by the fact that when in 145/762 Mansur undertook the task of constructing the new city of Baghdad, he appointed Abu Hanifah to supervise the work and for four years it remained under his supervision.[^9] In his private life he was most pious, a man of known integrity. Once he sent out his partner in business to sell some merchandise.

A part of the goods to be sold were defective and he instructed his partner to let the buyer know the defect. The partner, however, forgot to do so, and returned after selling the whole without apprising the buyer of the defect. Abu Hanifah did not keep the money. He gave away the whole of it (and it amounted to 35,000 dirhams) to charity.[^10] His chroniclers have recorded occasions when ignorant people would come to his firm selling goods at lower rates than what they were worth.

Abu Hanifah would tell them that their wares were worth more than what they would put them at, and bought them at their actual rates.[^11] All his contemporaries speak highly of his honesty. The famous learned divine, ‘Abd Allah bin Mubarak[^12] said, “I have yet to see a more pious man than Abu Hanifah.