Heretic books by Ibn Hanbal

Question:

Do Hanafi scholars report of heresy in the books of Ibn Hanbal?

Answer:

Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Adh-Dhahabi writes:

“Muhammad Ibn Shuja’ Ath-Thalji (Ath-Thallaj) is the legal scholar of Baghdad and a follower of the Hanafi school of law, called Abu Abdillah, who was the author of the collected works.” [Mizan-ul-I’tidal, Volume 6 Page 182]

محمد بن شجاع بن الثلجى الفقيه البغدادي الحنفي، أبو عبد الله صاحب التصانيف

“Among other things, it turned out that he was in the habit of insulting Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and his followers and saying: “Should there be anything Ahmad has accomplished?” [Mizan-ul-I’tidal, Volume 6 Page 182]

جاء من غير وجه أنه كان ينال من أحمد وأصحابه، ويقول: إيش قام به أحمد

“Ibn Ath-Thallaj used to say: “With the followers of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, there is a need to slaughter them.” [Mizan-ul-I’tidal, Volume 6 page 183]

وجعل ابن الثلاج يقول: أصحاب أحمد بن حنبل يحتاجون أن يذبحوا

“Abd-us-Salam reported that he heard Ibn Ath-Thallaj say: “With Ahmad Ibn Hanbal are the books of heresy.” [Mizan-ul-I’tidal, Volume 6, Page 183]

عن عبد السلام القاضى قال: سمعت ابن الثلاج يقول: عند أحمد بن حنبل كتب الزندقة

“I say: despite the difficulty with him, he was a man who was engaged in reading the Qur’an and worshipping and he died in prostration during the afternoon prayer. May he find mercy, God willing.” [Mizan-ul-I’tidal, Volume 6, Page 183]

قلت: وكان مع هناته ذا تلاوة وتعبد ومات ساجدا في صلاة العسر، ويرحم إن شاء الله

“Ahmad Ibn Kamil said: “He was the legal scholar of Iraq in his day.” Abu Al-Hasan Ibn Al-Munadi said: “He taught the people to read the Qur’an.” [Mizan-ul-I’tidal, Volume 6 page 183]

وقال أحمد بن كامل: كان فقيه العراق في وقته وقال أبو الحسين بن المنادى: كان يتفقه ويقرئ الناس القرآن