[1] He is popularly known as Ibn Hanbal. Born in Baghdad or in Merv in Khurāsān (presently the city is in the Republic of Turkmenistan), he started learning hadith at the age of 16 and travelled to different places in collecting from scholars the sayings attributed to Prophet Muhammad (S). Among his prominent teachers, mention could be made of Sufyān bin ‘Uyaynah, ‘Abd al-Razzāq bin Hammām al-San‘ānī and Muhammad bin Idrīs al-Shāfi‘ī. He left behind many works, the most famous of which is the hadith compendium titled al-Musnad. His biographers have credited him with such characteristics as sharp memory, patience, purity of heart and thought, sincerity, courage and intellect. For further familiarity on his life, viewpoints and bases of thought, refer to the contemporary Egyptian scholar Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zuhrah’s work titled: Ibn Hanbal – Hayātuhu wa ‘Asruhu, Arā’uhu wa Fiqhuh (Ibn Hanbal – His Life and Times, His Views and His Fiqh), Egypt, Dār al-Fikr al-‘Arabī, 1367 AH/1947 CE.

[2] Musnad (pl. Masānīd) is the name given to works where the hadith are arranged in order of the names of the companions who after the Prophet are regarded as the prime source by the Sunnis. Several books were compiled under this title, of which Ahmad bin Hanbal’s Musnad is the most famous one.

[3] Abu Musā al-Madyanī, Khasā’is al-Musnad (This treatise has been published at the beginning of Ibn Hanbal’s Musnad by Ahmad Muhammad Shākir), p. 21.

[4] Al-Jazarī, Muhammad bin Muhammad, al-Mus‘ad al-Ahmad fī Khatm-i Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, p. 39. This treatise has also been included by Shākir in his introduction to the Musnad.

[5] Ibid, p. 28.

[6] Al-Suyutī, Jalāl al-Dīn, Jāmi‘ al-Ahādīth, compiled and arranged by ‘Abbās Ahmad Saqar and Ahmad ‘Abd al-Jawād, pulished in 21 volumes by Dār al-Fikr, Beirut, 1994.

[7] Hasan or fair, according to Sunni traditionists is the term used to classify a hadith which is traced to the Prophet or his companions or the second generation of Muslims, on the authority (sanad) of a person of short memory but considered reliable. This type of hadith is also free of shādh, which means a tradition of reliable isnād but contrary to another similarly attested tradition.

[8] Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Mus‘ad al-Ahmad fī khatm Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, pp. 53-55.

[9] Al-Murādī, Silk al-Durar, vol. 4, p. 160

[10] On Ibn Hanbal’s accusation of support for the Alawids refer to Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd al-Rahmān bin ‘Alī bin al-Jawzī’s Manāqib al-Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal with a foreword by ‘Adil Nuwayhiz, Dār al-Afāq al-Jadīdah Publishers, Beirut, pp. 359-362, 1973.

[11] This work brought about the death of al-Nasā’ī. It is said that when on a trip to Damascus he found the people of Syria ignorant of the lofty personality of Imam ‘Alī (‘a), he decided to write a book on the merits of the Commander of the Faithful. When al-Nasā’ī started reading his work from the pulpit of the Mosque of Damascus, the enemies of the Prophet’s Household pulled him down and beat him so severely that he succumbed to his injuries in Palestine.

[12] Ahmad Amīn, Zuhā al-Islām, 6th edition, vol, 2, pp. 122-123, published by Maktabah al-Nihzat al-Misriyyah, 1961.

[13] Ibn al-Jawzī, Manāqib al-Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, p. 165.

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibn Abī al-Hadīd, Sharh Nahj al-Balāghah, vol. 1, p. 17.

[16] Ibn al-Jawzī, Manāqib al-Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, p. 163.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Abu al-Husayn Muhammad bin Abī Ya‘lā, Tabaqat al-Hanābilah, vol. 1, p. 320, edited by Muhammad Hāmid al-Faqī, Cairo, 1952. It is interesting to note that Ibn Hanbal’s reply bears close resemblance to the answer given by Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (‘a) to Mufazzal bin ‘Umar concerning this same hadith. Imam ‘Alī bin Musā al-Rizā (‘a) also gave a similar reply to Ma’mun; refer to ‘Allāmah Majlisī: Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 39, pp. 193-194, Dār al-Ihyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī, Beirut. It is essential to know that according to many narrations, Imam ‘Alī (‘a) has stated: I am the distributor of heaven and hell”, Bihār al-Anwār, vol. 39, p. 199.

[19] Ibn al-Jawzī, Manāqib al-Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, p. 164. 

[20] Bāghī is used to describe a person who on the basis of a wrong cause rebels against and fights the just leader. In the view of Imami scholars, such a bāghī is a kāfir. Refer to al-Miqdād bin ‘Abdullāh al-Suyurī’s Kanz al-‘Irfān fī fiqh al-Qur’ān, edited by Muhammad Bāqir Behbudī, al-Maktabah al-Murtazawiyyah, vol. 1, p. 386, Tehran 1384 AH.

[21] For more details refer to Shaykh Muhammad Abu Zuhrah’s book Ibn Hanbal: Hayātuhu wa ‘Asruhu, Arā’uhu wa Fiqhuh, pp. 148-149.

[22]  Muhammad Bāqir al-Musawī al-Khwansārī, Rawzāt al-Jannāt, vol. 1, p. 187, Maktabah Ismā‘īliyān, Tehran, 1390 AH.

[23] Al-Tusī, Muhammad bin al-Hasan, al-Rijāl, p. 367, edited by Muhammad Sādiq Al-i Bahr al-‘Ulum, 1st edition, Najaf, 1381/1961. Also refer to Sayyid Abu al-Qāsim al-Khu’ī: Mu‘jam Rijāl al-Hadith, vol. 2, p. 260, 3rd edition, Dār al-Zahrā’, Beirut, 1403/1983.

[24] Asad Haydar, al-Imam al-Sādiq wa al-Madhāhib al-Arba‘ah, vol. 2, pp. 503-506, 2nd edition, Dār al-Kitāb al-‘Arabī, Beirut, 1392/1971. The author has listed the names of Ibn Hanbal’s teachers, who according to him had Shi‘ite tendencies, but a review of Shi‘ite narrators in Sayyid al-Khu’ī’s Mu‘jam Rijāl al-Hadith shows that no hadith has been related from Ahmad bin Hanbal in authoritative Shi‘ite books of hadith.

[25] Ustādī, Rizā, Musnad al-Rizā (‘a) in 40 articles, p. 154, 1st edition, published by Kitāb-Khāneh Ayatullāh Mar‘ashī Najafi, Qum, 1413/1371.

[26] Reference to the great generosity and munificence of the Prophet, Ahmad Shākir’s explanation on the margins of this hadith.

[27] Ahmad bin Hanbal, al-Musnad, annotated by Ahmad Muhammad Shākir in 15 volumes, Dār al-Ma‘ārif, Cairo, 1949-1958, hadith no. 883.

[28] Hamdī ‘Abd al-Majīd al-Salafī, Murshid al-Muhtār, vol. 1, p. 239, 2nd edition, Beirut, 1407/1987.

[29] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 1600 (Ahmad Shākir).

[30] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 4.

[31] Ibn Hanbal’s Musnad published in 6 volumes by Matba‘ah al-Maymaniyyah, vol. 4, pp. 164-165, 1st edition, Egypt, 1313 AH.

[32] Ibn Hanbal’s Musnad, vol. 5, 356, Matba‘ah al-Maymaniyyah.

[33] Ibid, vol. 3, p. 14. Hadith al-Thaqalayn has been recorded extensively in the Musnad, e.g. vol. 3, pp. 17, 26 & 59; vol. 4, p. 367; vol. 5, pp. 181, 189, 190.

[34] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 950 (Ahmad Shākir).

[35] Al-Salafī, Murshid al-Muhtār, vol. 3, pp. 156-157.

[36]  Ahmad Shākir’s explanation on Hadith al-Ghadīr.

[37] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 2992 (Ahmad Shākir)

[38] Refer to footnotes of the same hadith.

[39] Al-Musnad, hadith nos. 2676 & 31111; also refer to Musnad, Matba‘ah al-Maymaniyyah, vol. 3, p. 346 (Musnad Jābir bin ‘Abdullāh al-Ansārī).

[40] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 1608 (Ahmad Shākir).

[41] Muslim bin Hajjāj, al-Jāmi‘ al-Sahīh, vol. 2, pp. 236-237, Bulaq Press, Cairo, 1290 AH; Muhammad bin ‘Isā Tirmidhī: al-Sunan (al-Jāmi‘ al-Sahīh), vol. 4, pp. 329-330, printed in India, 1328.

[42] The conquest of Khaybar by Imam ‘Alī (‘a) is among the widely related hadith. Ibn Hanbal has recorded this several times in his Musnad, e.g. refer to vol. 3, p. 116 and vol. 4, p. 52, al-Maymuniyyah print.

[43] We have mentioned this hadith in brief because of its length. For the full text refer to Musnad, hadith 3062 (Ahmad Shākir), and also hadith no. 3063 recorded through different isnād. Ahmad Shākir considers the isnād of both the hadith as sahīh.

[44] Musnad, vol. 4, p. 107 (Musnad Wāthilah bin Asqa‘), Matba‘ah al-Maymaniyyah; also refer to vol. 6, pp. 292, 298, 304, 323 (Musnad Umm-i Salamah).

[45] Ibid, vol. 3, p. 259 (Musnad Anas bin Mālik); also refer to vol. 3, p. 286.

[46] On the identity of the Ahl al-Bayt.

[47] Al-Musnad, vol. 3, pp. 167, 199 (Ahmad Shākir) 

[48] For hadith on Hazrat Fātimah al-Zahrā’ (‘a) refer to al-Musnad, vol. 6, p. 282, Matba‘ah al-Maymaniyyah.

[49] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 642 (Ahmad Shākir). This hadith has been recorded through a slightly different chain of authority (isnād) on pages 102 & 236 of the same book. 

[50] Ibid, hadith no. 576. This hadith has been added by Ibn Hanbal’s son ‘Abdullāh.

[51] Ibn Hajar ‘Asqalānī, Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb, vol. 1, p. 430, printed by Dā’irat al-Ma‘ārif al-‘Uthmāniyyah, Haiderabad Deccan (India).

[52] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 7863 (Ahmad Shākir); also refer to hadith nos. 6406 & 7392 of the same edition.

[53] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 1376 and also hadith no. 1377 with a slight variation in its text and a different chain of authority (Ahmad Shākir).

[54] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 1727 (Ahmad Shākir)

[55] Among these mention could be made of Hadith nos. 1723, 1725, 1731,  & 7744 of Musnad. Also refer to al-Salafī: Murshid al-Muhtār, vol. 1, p. 177 for similar hadith.

[56] Al-Musnad, Matba‘ah al-Maymaniyyah, vol. 3, pp. 31 & 33; also refer to p. 82 of the same volume where the hadith says Imam ‘Alī (‘a) was mending the Prophet’s shoes.

[57] Tāhā Husayn, al-Fitnah al-Kubrā (‘Alī and Prophethood), vol. 2, p. 77, 6th edition, Dār al-Ma‘ārif, Egypt, 1969. 

[58] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 6499 (Ahmad Shākir).

[59] Also refer to hadith nos. 6500, 6926, 6927. For other instances of its recording in the Musnad refer to al-Salafī: Murshid al-Muhtār, vol. 2, p. 39. For details on the Prophet’s prophecy and ‘Ammar’s martyrdom refer to Muhammad bin Jarīr al-Tabarī: Tārīkh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, vol. 5, pp. 38 to 42, annotated by Muhammad Abu al-Fazl Ibrahīm, 2nd edition, Dār al-Ma‘ārif, Egypt, 1971.

[60] Al-Musnad, hadith nos. 209, 210.

[61] Ibid, hadith no. 6480 (Ahmad Shākir).

[62] Ibid, hadith no. 3781. Refer to Holy Qur’ān (5:12) regarding the Nuqabā’ (Chieftans) of Banī Isrā’īl.

[63] Al-Musnad, vol. 5, p. 101. Also refer to al-Safārīnī, Shams al-Dīn Muhammad: Sharh Thulāthiyyāt Ahmad, vol. 1, p. 539, first edition, 1380, Damascus.

[64] Al-Salafī, Murshad al-Muhtār, vol. 3, p. 380.

[65] E.g. refer to Musnad, al-Maymaniyyah print.

[66] For more information on the views of the Sunnis refer to al-Safārīnī: Sharh Thulāthiyyāt Ahmad, vol. 2, pp. 540-566. Also see al-‘Askarī, Sayyid Murtazā: Naqsh-e A’immah dar Ihyā’-e Dīn, vol. 11, pp. 74-84.

[67] Al-Musnad, hadith no. 773.

[68] Ibid, hadith no. 645.

[69] Ibid, hadith no. 3571. There are several other hadith in the Musnad concerning the uprising of the Mahdī (‘a), e.g. hadith nos. 3572, 3573, 4098, 4279 etc. Most of the isnād of these ahadith have been confirmed as sahīh.

[70] Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqaddimah, translated by Franz Rosenthal, vol. 2, pp. 156-157, published by Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1986.

[71] Ibid, vol. 2, p. 158.

[72] Ibid, vol. 2, p. 159.

[73] Ibid, vol. 2, p. 162.

[74] Shākir, Sharh al-Musnad, vol. 5, pp. 197-198.