KHOROG, March 4, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- A republican conference formally titled “Heritage of Imam Azam and National Culture,” dedicated to the 1130th anniversary of al-Imam al-Azam Numan Thabit bin Zuta bin Mah, better known by his kunya as Abu Hanifa was held in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (Gorno Badakhshan or GBAO) on March 3.

Abu Hanifa, (699-767 CE / 80-148 AH) was the founder of the Sunni Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence.

The conference, staged by the GBAO local authorities in cooperation with president’s office, brought together representatives from local authorities and president’s office and researchers from Khorog State University and the Khorog-based Institute for Humanities of the Academy of Sciences.

Inaugurating the conference, the GBAO governor Qodir Qosim underscored tolerant attitude of Abu Hanifa to other schools of Islamic jurisprudence.  “Religious tolerance of Imam Azam is a role model,” said the governor, “He managed to harmonically unite Islamic and Tajik national values.”

Papers given at the conference were dedicated to moral views of Imam Azam, his attitude to of schools of Islamic jurisprudence, influence of Imam Azam on formation of national self-consciousness of the Tajik people.

In the meantime, Asia-Plus’ reporter for Kulob reported that similar conference was held Tuesday at the town of Fakhor as well.

Abu Hanifa was born in Kufa, Iraq during the reign of the powerful Umayyad caliph Abdul Malik bin Marwan.  His father, Thabit bin Zuta, a trader from Kabul, part of Khorasan in Persia, (the capital of modern day Afghanistan),was 40 years old at the time of Abu Hanifa''s birth.

His ancestry is generally accepted as being of non-Arab origin as suggested by the etymology of the names of his grandfather (Zuta) and great-grandfather (Mah). The historian, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, records a statement from Abu Hanifa''s grandson, Ismail bin Hammad, who gave Abu Hanifa''s lineage as Thabit bin Numan bin Marzban and claiming to be of Persian origin. The discrepancy in the names, as given by Ismail of Abu Hanifa''s grandfather and great-grandfather are thought to be due to Zuta''s adoption of a Muslim name (Numan) upon his acceptance of Islam and that Mah and Marzban were titles or official designations in Persia.  Further differences of opinion exist on his ancestry.  Abu Muti, for example, describes Abu Hanifa as an Arab citing his ancestry as Numan bin Thabit bin Zuta bin Yahya bin Zaid bin Asad. The widely accepted opinion, however, is that he was of Persian ancestry.

Among the four established Sunni schools of legal thought in Islam, the Hanafi school is the oldest, Abu Hanifa was the first to systematically arrange and compile Islamic law.  A unique feature of the school is the method in which the law was codified:  Abu Hanifa would convene and preside over a board of jurists (consisting of about 40-50 of his own students) and each would give his own opinion on a particular legal issue, Abu Hanifa would then decide which is the opinion that is to be selected by corroborating it or sometimes would offer his own unique opinion.  The Hanafi school also has the most followers among the four major Sunni schools.

Today, the Hanafi school is predominant among the Sunnis of Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China as well as in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia in the Balkans and the Caucasus.