Shaikh Abd ul-Qadir al-Jilani Called Abu Hanifah "Great Imam"

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعدى

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Prayers of blessings and peace upon the one after whom there is no prophet

One of the arguments by the bigoted Ghair Muqallidin (non-conformists) so-called “Ahl ul-Hadith” against the Sunni Hanafis is that Shaikh Abd ul-Qadir al-Jilani رحمة الله عليه listed the Hanafis as one of the astray seventy two sects, from the category of the Murji’ah.

However, in more authentic manuscripts of the book al-Ghunyah of Shaikh Abd ul-Qadir al-Jilani رحمة الله عليه the sect called Ghassaniyyah, of Ghassan al-Kufi, is listed in place of the Hanafiyyah (v.1, p.185)

This makes more sense as elsewhere in the Ghunyah he has praised Imam Abi Hanifah رحمة الله عليه and even referred to him as “the Great Imam”

وهو مذهب الإمام الأعظم أبى ‌حنيفة النعمان -رحمه الله تعالى

(v.2, p.85)