Ahmad bin Hanbal

Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ḥanbal Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Shaybānī
Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal's name in Arabic script
Title	Sheikh ul-Islam
Born	Rabi-ul-I, 164 AH/November, 780 Baghdad, Iraq
Died	12 Rabi'-ul-I, 241 AH/2 August, 855 (aged 74-75) Baghdad, Iraq
Ethnicity	Arab
Era	Islamic Golden Age
Region	Iraq
Occupation	Scholar of Islam
Religion	Islam
Jurisprudence	Ijtihad
Creed	Athari
Main interest(s)	Fiqh, Hadith, Aqeedah
Notable idea(s)	Hanbali madhhab
Notable work(s)	Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal Radd ʿala’l-Ḏj̲ahmiyya wa’l-Zanādiḳa Kitāb al-Sunna
Influenced by Al-Shafi‘i,Sufyan ibn `Uyaynah, ‘Abd ar-Razzaq as-San‘ani,
Influenced Virtually all subsequent Sunni Muslims, but particularly jurists and mystics of the Hanbali school like Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn Aqil, Ibn Taymiyyah, Abdul-Qadir Gilani, Abdullah Ansari, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, and Ibn Qudamah

Imam Aḥmad
Imam Aḥmad's name in the style of Arabic calligraphy
Tābi‘ al-Tābi‘un; Jurist, Theologian, Hadith Traditionist, Maddhab Founder; Defender of Orthodoxy, True Shaykh of Islam, Proof of the Faith, Seal of the Mujtahid Imams, Reinforcer of the Religion, One who Gathered the Knowledge of the First and the Last,Guardian of the Prophet's Traditions,Confirmer of Relics
Venerated in	All of Sunni Islam (Salafi Sunnis honor rather than venerate him).
Major shrine	Tomb of Imam Aḥmad, Baghdad, Iraq

Aḥmad bin Muḥammad bin Ḥanbal Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Shaybānī (Arabic: احمد بن محمد بن حنبل ابو عبد الله الشيباني‎‎; 780–855 CE/164–241 AH), often referred to as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal or Ibn Ḥanbal for short, or reverentially as Imam Aḥmad by Sunni Muslims, was an Arab Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, and hadith traditionist. An enormously influential and vigorous scholar during his lifetime, Ibn Hanbal went on to become "one of the most venerated" and celebrated personalities in the tradition of Sunni Islam, within which he was often referred to by such reverent epithets as True Shaykh of Islam,Proof of the Faith, and Seal of the Mujtahid Imams. He has been retrospectively described as "the most significant exponent of the traditionalist approach in Sunni Islam," with his "profound influence affecting almost every area of" orthodox Sunni thought. One of the foremost classical proponents of the importance of using hadith literature to govern Islamic law and life, Ibn Hanbal is famous for compiling one of the most important Sunni hadith collections, the celebrated Musnad, an enormous compendium of prophetic traditions that has continued to wield considerable influence in the field of hadith studies up to the present time. Additionally, Ibn Hanbal is also honored as the founder of the Hanbali school of Sunni jurisprudence, which is one of the four major orthodox legal schools of Sunni Islam.

Having studied fiqh and hadith under many teachers during his youth, Ibn Hanbal became famous in his later life for the crucial role he played in the Mihna, the inquisition instituted by the Abbasid Caliphate al-Ma'mun towards the end of his reign, in which the ruler gave official state support to the Mutazilite dogma of the Quran being created, a view that contradicted the orthodox doctrine of the Quran being the eternal, uncreated Word of God. Suffering physical persecution under the caliph for his unflinching adherence to the traditional doctrine, Ibn Hanbal's fortitude in this particular event only bolstered his "resounding reputation" in the annals of Islamic history.