Hanbali

[han-buh-lee]

noun

Islam.

1. one of the four schools of Islamic law, founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Other Word Forms

• Hanbalite noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hanbali¹

< Arabic Ḥanbalī, derivative of name of founder Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal

Example Sentences

"My wife is using boiled rice to feed our 11-month old baby. We can barely get one bottle of powdered milk a month," said Abdullah Hanbali, who worked as an engineer before the war.

Read more on Reuters

Of Islam’s four major schools of thought, the underpinning of Saudi Arabia’s legal system is based on the most conservative Hanbali branch and an ideology widely known as Wahhabism.

Read more on The Guardian

“The interpretation of Shari‘a that is increasingly being adopted is Hanbali, the most conservative one that is dominating in the Middle East.”

Read more on Time

Four schools make up Sunni jurisprudence: Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki and Hanbali, the latter spawning the Wahhabi and Salafi movements in Saudi Arabia.

Read more on Newsweek

Both follow Hanbali jurisprudence, the strictest of four schools of traditional Sunni Islamic law: when Egyptians chide someone for nitpicking, the expression is “Don’t be Hanbali”.

Read more on Economist