Ibrahim al-Nakhai

Abu Imran ibn Yazid (; –714), commonly known as Ibrahim al-Nakha'i , was an early Kufan jurist of the tabi'in. A pioneer of the use of ra'y and qiyas, al-Nakha'i influenced later Kufan jurists through his student Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman, including Abu Hanifa.

Biography Ibrahim al-Nakha'i was born in Kufa in , although there is some dispute on the exact year. He was of the Nakha, a branch of the Madhhaj tribe which had migrated to Kufa from Yemen following the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia, hence the nisba al-Nakha'i. His family was known for scholarly activity; his father was a hadith transmitter, his maternal uncle was Alqama ibn Qays and Aswad ibn Yazid was his maternal cousin.

Al-Nakha'i was affiliated with the students of Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, a companion of Muhammad, which included his uncle Alqama who became his principal mentor of fiqh. He began travelling to the Hejaz from a young age,

Teaching in the Great Mosque of Kufa, al-Nakha'i accepted Hammad ibn Abi Sulayman into his halaqa (study circle), who became his foremost student. Upon al-Nakha'i's death in 738, Hammad would become the leader of his halaqa.

Jurisprudence The fiqh of al-Nakha'i is characterised by the use of ra'y (independent reasoning), and as a result he is considered as one of the progenitors of the ahl al-ra'y. Both prophetic hadith and athar from Muhammad's companions were considered by al-Nakha'i to be authoritative; the views of Ibn Mas'ud in particular formed the basis of his legal thought. Through qiyas, al-Nakha'i attempted to "deduce general propositions from the authoritative sources and then apply them to all relevant cases".

The origins of the Kufan jurists' tradition of formulating and answering hypothetical legal questions can be seen in the thought of al-Nakha'i. Some of the hypothesised scenarios were impossible, although he entertained these less frequently than later Kufans.

Legacy Al-Nakha'i greatly influenced later Kufan and Hanafi jurists, primarily through Hammad. Hammad's primary student, Abu Hanifa, often adduced al-Nakha'i as an authority but did not always agree with his views. Quotations of al-Nakha'i and narrations in whose isnad he is present feature prominently in the two separate works named al-Athar authored respectively by Abu Hanifa's disciples Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani. but references al-Nakha'i 336 times in his musnad.