In the madhhab of Ahmad.

His statement, “in the madhhab of Ahmad”: linguistically, madhhab denotes the place to which one goes, the time of going, or the act of going itself.

In technical usage, a person’s madhhab is what a qualified independent jurist states on the basis of evidence and dies maintaining. If he changes his view, then his latter view is his madhhab.

By our saying, “what a qualified independent jurist states,” we exclude what is said by one who merely imitates others, for such a person has no madhhab of his own and possesses no knowledge. Previously, Ibn Abd al-Barr’s report of the scholarly consensus that one who merely imitates others is not a scholar was mentioned (1). For this reason, Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his Nuniyyah:

Knowledge is knowing guidance by its evidence;
it and blind imitation are not alike. (2)

Ahmad was Ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani, the imam of the people of the Sunnah, jurisprudence, and hadith. He was the imam of the people of the Sunnah in matters of creed and tawhid; the imam of the jurists in legal questions; and the imam of the hadith scholars in its transmission and in evaluating its narrators.

He endured trials for Allah’s sake through which, we hope, Allah raised his ranks and expiated his sins. None but he and a small group stood firm before al-Ma'mun and his supporters, who distorted the Speech of Allah. Yet he, may Allah have mercy on him, was the strongest and the most trusted by the masses. Thus, people awaited what Ahmad would say concerning the createdness of the Quran. But he stated decisively that the Quran is the Speech of Allah, uncreated. They even whipped him until he lost consciousness and dragged him through the marketplaces. Allah rewarded him by making him an imam:

“And We made from among them leaders, guiding by Our command, when they were patient and were certain of Our signs.” * [al-Sajdah]

Know that when the scholars say, “the madhhab of so-and-so,” they may mean one of two things: