The jurisprudent, Ahmad bin bin Hanbal

Compiled by: Syed Ali Shahbaz
On July 31, 855 AD, the jurisprudent, Ahmad bin Mohammad bin Hanbal ash-Shaybani, passed away in his hometown Baghdad at the age of 77. His father was an army officer of the Abbasid regime in Khorasan. After studying under Abu Yusuf the student of the Iranian Sunni jurist, Abu Hanifa, he travelled widely around Arabia, Iraq, and Syria, to collect hadith, before returning to Baghdad, where he was not welcomed for his views.
He suffered imprisonment and flogging under the caliphs Ma'moun and Mu'tasim, and was banished from Baghdad by the next caliph, Watheq. It was only when the tyrant, Mutawakkil, assumed power as caliph that he was welcomed back in Baghdad.
Ibn Hanbal is the founder of one of the four court sanctioned schools of Sunni jurisprudence, named after him, as Hanbali. His principal work is a collection of hadith, known as al-Musnad in which he has included hadith on the merits of the Ahl al-Bayt or Blessed Household of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA).
He, however, apparently for political reasons, failed to have direct contact with the Infallible Imams of his time, such as Imam Reza, Imam Jawad, and Imam Hadi (peace upon them) – respectively the 8th, 9th and 10th Infallible Heirs of the Prophet, for collecting authentic hadith from the right sources, although he has cited in his collection the famous hadith that "the one who dies without the recognizing the Imam of the Age, dies the death of ignorance."