Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RH)

“Salih ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal described his father: He was of medium height with a dark complexion. His beard was thick and black, turning white only in his final years. He walked with his head slightly bowed and his eyes cast downward — never letting his gaze wander. He dressed simply, wearing a cotton garment and a head covering, and I never saw him wearing anything extravagant.”

“During the Mihna, Imam Ahmad (RH) was brought before the Caliph al-Mu'tasim and debated by the scholars who supported the Mu'tazilite position. He was then flogged severely and fell unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he found himself still chained and refused to recant. He said afterward: When the flogging was occurring, I was reminded of the hadith that whoever is patient through a trial will be rewarded. I focused on that hadith and the pain became lighter.”

“Salih ibn Ahmad narrated: My father used to hire out for agricultural work when money was scarce, and he would carry heavy loads to earn. He refused to accept money from his students and refused gifts from rulers. He said: I will work with these hands before I accept money that obligates me to anyone.”

“After the Mihna ended with the death of al-Wathiq and the accession of al-Mutawakkil — who supported the traditional position on the Quran — the new Caliph sent Imam Ahmad (RH) generous gifts of money to compensate for his suffering. Ahmad refused every gift, saying: I cannot take from the source that was the source of my suffering. The money in this treasury passed through hands that harmed the scholars of Islam.”

“Salih ibn Ahmad narrated: My father was gentle with us as children. He would play with us and not scold us harshly. When I made a mistake in my lessons, he would correct me quietly and ask me to try again. He never shouted at me in my memory. He used to say: A child who grows up afraid of his father will seek knowledge only to please his father — not for its own sake.”

“When Ahmad ibn Hanbal's (RH) first wife Abbasa died, he was devastated. He said to his son: I have been married to your mother for twenty years and I cannot remember a single quarrel between us. She died and we had never exchanged a harsh word. Salih said: I do not remember my father laughing heartily after she died.”

“When Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RH) died in Baghdad in 241 AH, the response of the city was without precedent in Islamic history. Estimates of the funeral gathering range from several hundred thousand to over a million — historians differ on the exact number but agree it was extraordinary. People came from regions far from Baghdad. The caliph himself honored the occasion.”

“Despite his immense reputation, Imam Ahmad (RH) was known to be accessible to ordinary people — poor questioners, simple craftsmen, women with legal questions. He did not make people wait long and did not make them feel their question was beneath him. He said: The one who closes his door to ordinary people has closed it to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.”

“Salih ibn Ahmad narrated: My father prayed three hundred rak'ahs every day and night. When he was flogged in the Mihna and became ill, he reduced this to one hundred and fifty. Even when he was very old, he maintained this. He would say: This is not because of its quantity — it is because I fear to sleep when I could be awake before Allah.”

“During the flogging in the Mihna, witnesses reported that Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RH) was seen moving his lips throughout. When they asked him afterward what he had been saying, he told them: I was repeating the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ — that no Muslim is afflicted with fatigue, illness, grief, sadness, hurt, or distress, even the prick of a thorn, except that Allah expiates his sins by it.”

“Salih ibn Ahmad narrated: My father used to eat plain bread and salt. He rarely ate meat except on Fridays. He wore a single cotton garment in summer and a woolen one in winter, and he owned no luxuries in his house. After the Mihna, when people sent him gifts, he returned them. He said: If I accept this, I have accepted a price for what I went through — and what I went through was for Allah, not for money.”

“On the last night of his life, Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (RH) began to sweat profusely. He asked those around him to wipe his face. Then he said: Not yet. Not yet. Those present thought he was speaking to the Angel of Death. Then he raised his finger in the shahada and passed away. He was seventy-seven years old.”