, "the imām of Bag̲h̲dād", celebrated theologian, jurist and traditionist (164-241/780-855), and one of the most vigorous personalities of Islam, which he has profoundly influenced both in its historical development and its modern revival. Founder of one of the four major Sunnī schools, the Ḥanbalī, he was, through his disciple Ibn Taymiyya [q.v.], the distant progenitor of Wahhābism, and has inspired also in a certain degree the conservative reform movement of the Salafiyya.

1. Life. Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal was an Arab, belonging to the Banū S̲h̲aybān, of Rabīʿa, who had pl…