others say eighty lashes; yet the beating itself was exceedingly savage and brutal. When he returned to his house a surgeon came, excised the dead flesh from his body, and continued to treat him. After Allah granted him recovery, he lived for a time with both of his thumbs aching whenever the weather turned cold. He declared everyone who had harmed him to be absolved, save the innovators. As he did so, he would recite Allah’s words: “Let them pardon and overlook…” and remark, “What benefit is there to you if your Muslim brother is punished on your account?” End of the abridged report.
Thus did Imam Ahmad—may Allah have mercy on him—stand firm upon the truth, patient through prison and flogging, undeterred by the blame of any critic in the cause of Allah, and unawed by power or tyranny. In the end the outcome—and the punishment—fell upon his enemies. Yet he forgave and overlooked the wrongs of his opponents and declared them absolved, except for the people of innovation, for they had violated Allah’s sanctities and their offense was not limited to him personally. It is deep-rooted faith and beneficial upbringing, drawn from the Book and the Sunnah, that fashion real men and inspire steadfastness in times of trial and dread. Such are the stances of heroes.
- The distinguishing features of his school and the principles on which it rests
All the Sunni schools are schools of truth, especially the four schools of the imams—Abu Hanifah, Malik, al-Shafi‘i, and Ahmad. Each of these orthodox schools has its own merits, and Imam Ahmad’s school is distinguished among them by its closeness to the texts¹ and to the fatwas of the Companions.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “His legal opinions and rulings were transmitted and taught generation after generation, until they became a standard and an exemplar for the people of Sunnah despite their differences…”²