Hanafi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Islamic school of thought named after an influential jurist that emphasizes reasoning and consensus in legal decisions
2. A branch of Islamic jurisprudence founded by a prominent scholar, focusing on methodology involving interpretation and analogy
3. A traditional framework of Islamic law established by a well-known Islamic thinker, noted for its flexibility and adaptability in legal rulings

Etymology: Hanafi comes from Arabic "ḥanafiyy", a relational adjective formed from the name of Abu Hanifa (died 767 CE), the Kufan jurist whose legal reasoning gave rise to one of the four major Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence. The "-iyy" ending is the standard Arabic suffix that turns a name into an adjective meaning "belonging to" or "associated with" that person, so a Hanafi is literally a follower of Abu Hanifa's method. The name itself carries a sense of its own. In Arabic, "ḥanīf" originally described someone who turned away from paganism toward monotheism, and the school's founder is named in that tradition. The same root gives the Arabic word for the Abrahamic faith-tradition of pure monotheism, so the adjective links a legal school to older religious vocabulary.

Synonyms: hanafi school, hanafi madhhab