Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal Article

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal summary

Learn about the life of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and his contributions to Islam

verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, (born 780, Baghdad, Iraq—died 855, Baghdad), Muslim theologian and jurist. He began to study the Ḥadīth (Traditions) at age 15. He traveled widely to study with the great masters and made five pilgrimages to Mecca. In 833–835 he bravely endured floggings and imprisonment rather than subscribe to the Muʿtazilī doctrine of a created (rather than eternal) Qurʾān, and he is remembered as a staunch upholder of Muslim traditionalism. He compiled the Traditions of Muhammad and is the eponym of the Ḥanbalī school, the most traditional of the four orthodox Islamic schools of law. Opposing codification of the law, he believed jurists needed the freedom to derive legal solutions from the Qurʾān and the sunna. He is revered as one of the fathers of Islam.