What is hanbali school? According to maliki fiqh…
a. Ahmad b. Hanbal (164-241 AH / 781-855 CE)
Ahmad b. Hanbal, who was born in Baghdad in h. 164 and passed on in the same city in h. 241, was a scholar of Islamic law and hadith from the ahl-hadith school. He memorized the whole of the Qur’an when he was a child. He studied fiqh from Imam Muhammad and Imam Shafi’i. For the reason that he did not accept the contention that “the Qur’an is created”, which was introduced by Caliph Ma’mun and continued to be supported by his successor Mu’tasim, he was tortured and imprisoned by the administration.
Ahmad b. Hanbal collected about 40,000 ahadith in his book titled “Musnad:’ He also wrote a book called Kitab al-Ilal.
b. The Regions where the Hanbali School exists today
This madhhab is especially widespread in the Hijaz region. Today, most of the people living in Saudi Arabia follow the Hanbali school. The group known by the term Wahhabi follow the Hanbali School in legal matters. According to estimations, approximately 5% of the Muslim world follows this school.
Source: Fiqh1 (According To The Maliki School Of Islamic Law), Erkam Publications
