i came across this on my msa's message board and i thought id share. no source was posted, so im not 100% sure if this is correct. if anyone can validate whether or not this is factual, i'd greatly appreicate it.
In a delightful report about how Imam Abu Hanifah received his name (his original name was Numan bin Thaabit bin Zuta bin Mah), an account of why the wife is forbidden to take more than one husband is recounted. 'Abu Hanifah' is an unusual name because it means 'the father of Hanifah', and Hanifah was his daughter. It was not the custom in those days to do this. Normally, the name would be 'the father of the name of a son.' How this came about is quite edifying. One day the great Imam Abu Hanifah was asked a question that, for the first time in his illustrious career, he was unable to answer. The question was, "Why were women forbidden to marry more than one husband at a time?" To make a long story short, Abu Hanifah's daughter said that she knew the answer and would solve this question if her father would make a promise to her that if she succeeded in solving this problem, he would then assure her a place in history. Abu Hanifah agreed. So she gathered a group of women together and gave each of them a cup. Then she brought in a large bowl of milk and asked each of them to dip their cups in the milk and to fill their cups. They did so. She then asked them to pour back the milk into the bowl. They did this too. She then asked them to re-fill their cups taking back only their own milk that they had poured into the bowl. This, obviously, was impossible to do. Hanifah had clearly demonstrated the kind of predicament that would be created if a woman had several husbands. With more than one husband, if she were to become pregnant, she would have exceptional difficulties determining who the actual father was. Identifying parentage and lineage would then be insurmountable for the offspring. Imam Abu Hanifah was so pleased with her answer that he took the name 'Abu Hanifah', 'the father of Hanifah', so his daughter did indeed earn a place in history.
the past two weeks have been interesting, i must say. our msa intramural basketball team, which in all humbleness was superb, suffered a 3 point overtime defeat in the first round of the playoffs. our undefeated season had came to a painful end with a heart-rending defeat. to make things better, that same night 2 incredibly painful blisters developed on the achilles of both my feet. i was in dire pain, hurting both physically and emotionally. my remedy? pop the blisters, which seemed to only worsen the situation. as of now though, im healed. but im left with 2 battle scars which serve as a testament to my manhood. quit laughing. moving right along. i had made up my mind to to run for the position of senator in the university government association this year. after filing my paperwork the campaigning period began, consisting mainly of me going around begging classmates and fellow muslims for votes. these efforts were accompanied by nightly qiyam sessions in which i begged the Almighty for divine intervention. it just so happened that i was running against 2 other people for a controversial seat (a number of complaints were filed by candidates regarding this position), and i was the only one lacking party affliation. the result? i came in third with a whopping 18% of the votes. after gathering myself, i went ahead and conceded the election. it was a hard fought battle, but unfortunately i came up a little short. id like to take a few moments to thank all those who were with me from the beginning, when the prospect of me running for election was nothing more than an idea being floated by me, myself, and i. yes, i served as my own campaign manager, campaign treasurer, and every other position relatin to my campaign. perhaps that explains the reason behind my defeat. again, quit laughing. with that, the first half of the spring 06 semester came to an end. alhamdulillah, a much needed break was now here. but it was back to campus a day later. i, with a couple friends were on hand to help with mist bowl preparations, but our duties today didnt consist of doing much. seeing that i had a very rare day off of work, i decided to pay a visit to the galleria to get an adapter for my sisters laptop. and with that the day came to an end.
