أبو حنيفة
Abū Ḥanīfa
Person
Al-Nu’man ibn Thabit (699–767), the jurist of Kufa from whom the Hanafi school, the largest of the four Sunni schools, takes its name.
What it means
Born in Kufa, he was a silk merchant and a jurist known for his use of reason, analogy and the practice of choosing the more equitable ruling (istiḥsān). He declined to serve as a judge under the Abbasids, and is reported to have died in prison in Baghdad. His students Abu Yusuf and al-Shaybani wrote down his teaching.