The Difference Between the Terms Aʾimmatunā al-Thalāthah and al-Aʾimmah al-Thalāthah in Ḥanafī Fiqh Books

By Mln. Abrar Habib (Takmīl Graduate, 2019)

While studying and researching the Ḥanafī Madhhab, one will come across various technical terminology. Two frequently used terms are “aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah” and “al-aʾimmah al-thalāthah.” These two terms may seem similar, but both are unique and have subject-specific meanings. Each will be defined and examples of the Ḥanafī jurists using them will be presented.

The term “aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah” refers to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad.[1] The following are a few examples:

(1) When commentating on Qudūrī, ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī said:

(والوكيل بالخصومة وكيل بالقبض عند) أئمتنا الثلاثة (أبي حنيفة وأبي يوسف ومحمد) خلافا لزفر

Imām Qudūrī is explaining that a wakīl (trans. representative) in a claim also has the right to be a representative in the act of qabḍ (trans. taking possession). And Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad all held this opinion.[2]

In his commentary, Maydānī added the phrase “aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah”[3] indicating that Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad are known as “aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah” in the Ḥanafī Madhhab.

(2) When commentating on al-Multaqā al-Abḥur, Dāmād Āfandī mentioned the following:

(ورؤية داخل الدار) كافية (وإن) وصلية (لم يشاهد بيوتها) عند أئمتنا الثلاثة

Ibrāhīm al-Ḥalabī explained that seeing a house’s interior is enough to rescind the purchaser’s right to cancel, even if he did not look inside the actual rooms.[4] Dāmād Āfandī commented stating that this is the view held by aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah.[5]

(3) When commentating on Marghīnānī’s Hidāyah, Ibn al-Humām wrote:

لو حبس الخياط أو الصباغ الثوب بعد الفراغ من العمل وقال لا أعطيكه حتى تعطيني الأجر فله ذلك عند أئمتنا الثلاثة

Ibn al-Humām here stated that a tailor may refuse to give his work to a customer until he receives his wage. And aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah holds this opinion.[6]

When the wording aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah is used, Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad are intended by it. As for the term “al-aʾimmah al-thalāthah,” Shaykh Aḥmad al-Naqīb stated that this refers to these three imāms.[7] However, defining it thus is not something that the earlier jurists did. On the contrary, examples where they used this term indicate to the rulings of Imām Shāfiʿī, Imām Mālik, and Imām Aḥmad. The primary reference works do not suggest that this term refers to Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Qāḍī Abū Yūsuf, and Imām Muḥammad.

Examples of this can be seen in the following passages:

(1) When commentating on Nasafī’s Kanz al-Daqāʾiq, Fakhr al-Dīn ʿUmar al-Zaylaʿī said:

وبه قالت الأئمة الثلاثة مالك والشافعي وأحمد

Thus, Zaylaʿī clarified that al-aʾimmah al-thalāthah refers to Imām Shāfiʿī, Imām Mālik, and Imām Aḥmad.[8]

(2) When commenting on Nasafī’s Kanz al-Daqāʾiq, Ibn Nujaym wrote:

(قوله وواجبها قراءة الفاتحة) وقالت الأئمة الثلاثة فرض

The Ḥanafīs say reciting Sūrat al–Fātiḥah is wājib, and al-aʾimmah al-thalāthah said it is farḍ.

(3) When commenting on Tumurtāshī’s Tanwīr al-Abṣār wa Majmaʿ al-Biḥār, Ḥaṣkafī said:

(ويمنع زوجها من غسلها ومسها لا من النظر إليها على الأصح) وقالت الأئمة الثلاثة: يجوز لأن عليا غسل فاطمة رضي الله عنهما

al-Aʾimmah al-thalāthah here said that it is permissible for a man to wash his wife’s body because ʿĀlī washed Fāṭimah (may Allāh be pleased with them).[9]

After checking the references that Shaykh Aḥmad provided, all four references do not support his claim. In fact, they are all defining the term aʾimmatunā al-thalāthah.[10]

And Allāh knows best.

[1] al-Fawāʾid al-Bahiyyah fī Tarājim al-Ḥanafiyyah, 248.

[2] Mukhtaṣar al-Qudūrī, 118.

[3] al-Lubāb fī Sharḥ al-Kitāb, 207.

[4] Multaqā al-Abḥur, 53.

[5] Majmaʿ al-Anhur, 2:36.

[6] Fatḥ al-Qadīr, 9:75.

[7] al-Madhhab al-Ḥanafī, 1:313.

[8] Tabyīn al-Ḥaqāʾiq, 1:236.

[9] al-Durr al-Mukhtār, 117.

[10] al-Taʿlīq al-Mumajjad, 29; al-Fawāʾid al-Bahiyyah, 248; Muqaddimat ʿUmdat al-Riʿāyah, 16; al-Madkhal ilā Dirāsat al-Madāris li al-Ashqar, 108.