Ikhtilaf Abi Hanifa wa Ibn Abi Layla
- Author died
- 182 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat al-Wafāʾ
Ikhtilaf Abi Hanifa wa Ibn Abi Layla (The Disagreement of Abu Hanifa and Ibn Abi Layla) is an early work of comparative Islamic jurisprudence (ikhtilaf) by the Hanafi jurist and chief judge Abu Yusuf al-Qadi (d. 182 AH / 798 CE) . The book records and analyzes the points of legal divergence between Abu Yusuf's two main teachers in Kufa: the jurist Abu Hanifa (d. 150 AH) and the judge Ibn Abi Layla (d. 148 AH) .
Background and Composition
Abu Yusuf initially studied jurisprudence under the judge of Kufa, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, before joining the circle of Abu Hanifa . According to Shams al-A'imma al-Sarakhsi, Abu Yusuf recognized the disparities between the legal reasoning of the two masters—either directly through legal inquiries or following debates with his contemporary Zufar ibn al-Hudhayl—and subsequently sought to compile the specific legal questions in which his two teachers differed .
The text was transmitted from Abu Yusuf by his student Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Shaybani, who added some material he had received from other authorities; as al-Sarakhsi notes, the core compilation (asl al-tasnif) belongs to Abu Yusuf, while its redaction (al-ta'lif) was carried out by al-Shaybani .
Method and Content
The work systematically covers individual cases across various branches of substantive law (furu'), such as commercial transactions, liability of craftsmen, and disputed property . For each legal question, the text presents the position and reasoning of Abu Hanifa alongside the counter-ruling of Ibn Abi Layla . Abu Yusuf then evaluates both arguments, in most instances adopting Abu Hanifa's position, while occasionally articulating an independent judgment or qualifying the conditions of liability and evidence . It serves as one of the primary historical sources preserving the legal opinions and judicial practice of Ibn Abi Layla .
Transmission and Reception
The book became an essential reference for early inter-school and intra-school legal discourse:
- Al-Shafi'i's Commentary: Al-Shafi'i (d. 204 AH) closely examined the treatise, incorporating it into his legal corpus with an extensive chapter-by-chapter critique and commentary preserved in his Kitab al-Umm, later summarized by al-Muzani in his Mukhtasar .
- Hanafi Commentaries: Al-Hakim al-Shahid included its material in his al-Kafi (his compendium of early Hanafi texts), which was subsequently explained and commented upon by al-Sarakhsi in his extensive legal work al-Mabsut .
- Modern Printing: The standalone text was edited and annotated by the scholar Abu al-Wafa al-Afghani and published by Lajnat Ihya al-Ma'arif al-Nu'maniyya in Hyderabad (printed in Cairo in 1357 AH / 1938 CE) .
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