Qadi Abu Yusuf

"When I was first attracted to Hadith, I went to Abu Yusuf."
Ahmad Hanbal (rahimullah)

Qadi Abu Yusuf was a descendent of the Ansar and Sahaba Sa'd b. Sibat. (radiAllahu anhu). Born in Kufah in 113 or 117 H. and passed away on the 5th of Rabi' al-Awwal 182 H.

Qadi Abu Yusuf. as long as Imam Abu Hanifah (rahimullah) lived he regularly, attended his court. Imam Abu Hanifah acknowledge his mastery in Fiqh. Returning once from a visit to Abu Yusuf during the latter's sickness, Abu Hanifah (rahimullah) said to his companions: "If, Allah forbid, this man (Abu Yusuf) dies, the world will lose one of its great scholars."

Abu Yusuf attended the lectures of many other doctors. He heard Traditions from A'mash, Hisham b. 'Urwah, Sulaiman Taimi, Abu Ishaq Shaibani, Yahya b. Sa'id al-Ansari and others, learned maghazi (military history) and siyar (biography) from Muhammad b. Ishaq and knowledge of Fiqh from Muhammad b. Abi Laila. Allah endowed him with so much intelligence and such a good memory that he learned all these disciplines simultaneously! Other Imams in other sciences ackowledged his quick intelligence and penertration.

Although he is known mostly in Fiqh, he was unrivalled in other sciences.The historian Ibn Khallikan quotes Hilal b. Yahya as having said:
"Abu Yusuf was a hafiz of tafsir (exegesis), maghazi and ayyam al-'Arab (history of Arabia), Fiqh was one of his minor accomplishments."