Besides...

Besides, al-Shafi’i took from Malik, (and) then wrote the books of the people of Iraq, and followed the schools of the Ahl al-Hadith, and chose (them) for himself. As for Abu Hanifah, his special shaykh was Hammad b. Abi Sulayman; and Hammad learnt from Ibrahim; and Ibrahim learnt from ‘Alqamah; and Alqamah learned from Ibn Mas’ud. Abu Hanifah also took from ‘Ata and others. As for Imam Ahmad, he followed the school of the Ahl al-Hadith.

He took from Ibn ‘Uyaynah; and Ibn ‘Uyaynah took from ‘Amr b. Dinar, who took from Ibn ‘Abbas and Ibn ‘Umar. He (i.e. Ahmad) also took from Hisham b. Bashir; and Hisham took from the companions of al-Hasan (al-Basri) and Ibrahim al-Nakha’i. He (i.e. Ahmad) further took from ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Mahdi, Waki’ b. al-Jarrah and similar people. He (i.e. Ahmad) equally attended the assemblies of al-Shafi’i, and took from Abu Yusuf and adopted a statement for himself, and also Ishaq b.

Rahwayh, Abu ‘Ubayd and others like them. As for al-Awza’i and al-Layth, most of their fiqh was from the people of al-Madinah and their likes, and not from the people of Kufah.[^1] In simpler words, none of the Sunni schools of jurisprudence contains the teachings of ‘Ali, al-Hasan, al-Husayn and the other Imams from the offspring of the Prophet, ‘alaihim al-salam ajma’in. The Sunni Imams generally shunned their inputs and riwayat in al-fiqh. But, the Sunni boycott was not limited to al-fiqh.

Even in the reportage of tafasir and ahadith, the Ahl al-Sunnah boycott the . Ibn Taymiyyah confirms: وهذه كتب الحديث والتفسير مملوءة بالآثار عن الصحابة والتابعين والذي فيها عن علي قليل جدا These are books of hadith and tafsir, filled with reports from the Sahabah and Tabi’in.

What is recorded in them from ‘Ali is very little .[^2] He also submits: قال الرافضي أما المالكية فاخذوا علمهم عنه و عن أولاده و الجواب أن هنا كذب ظاهر فهذا موطأ مالك ليس فيه عنه و لا عن أحد أولاده إلا قليل جدا و جمهور ما فيه عن غيرهم فيه عن جعفر تسعة أحاديث و لم يرو مالك عن أحد من ذريته إلا عن جعفر و كذلك الأحاديث التي في الصحاح و السنن و المساند منها قليل عن ولده و جمهور ما فيها عن غيرهم The Rafidhi said: “As for the Malikis, they took their knowledge from him (i.e. ‘Ali) and from his (i.e.

‘Ali’s) offspring.” The answer is that there is an apparent lie here. This is Muwatta of Malik. What is recorded in it from him (i.e. ‘Ali) or any of his offspring is very little . Most of what is in it is from other than them.