The Book Tabaqat al-Hanabila

"Tabaqat al-Hanabila" (The Hanbali Layers Book), authored by Ibn Abi Ya'la, Abu al-Hussein Muhammad Ibn al-Farra' al-Hanbali, had its first edition published in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, funded by the Founding King Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al Saud. The editor's note and index were printed at al-Taraqi Press in Saudi Arabia, while the book was printed at al-I'tidal Press in Damascus in 1931.

The book includes biographies of Hanbali jurists, arranged by layers, and contains various jurisprudential matters along with an explanation of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal's stance on them.

Tabaqat al-Hanabila Book presents issues and biographies of the Hanbali school of thought, spanning from the era of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal to the early twelfth century. It documents the jurisprudential matters discussed by the scholars and jurists of the Hanbali school, with Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal explaining several of them in terms of understanding, interpretation, clarification, and reasoning.

The book divides the layers of Hanbali jurists into six layers, arranged chronologically from the earliest to the most recent. The first layer includes the companions of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, and the second layer comprises the companions of his companions, followed by subsequent jurists in sequential order across the remaining sections. The book begins with the biography of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and concludes with the biography of Abi al-Barakat Ahmad Ibn Talhah al-‘Aqooli. Each layer is organized alphabetically by the names of the jurists.

Tabaqat al-Hanabila Book was authored by Abu al-Hussein Muhammad Ibn al-Farra' al-Hanbali, a historian and scholar of the Hanbali school. He lived in Baghdad and studied under his father and a group of Islamic jurists. Among his works is the book "Al-Mujarrad fi Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad" (The Abstract on the Virtues of Imam Ahmad).