One can gain the lofty rank of Imam Abu Ḥanīfa has in…

““One can gain the lofty rank of Imam Abu Ḥanīfa has in hadith by his elevated chain. He narrates many hadith with chains that are termed Thunaiyāt (Two-narrator narrations) and Thulathiyāt (Three-narrator narrations). This means that between the Imam and the Messenger of Allah a there only exists three narrators and often only two. In a recent study published under the title: Al- Imam al-A‘azam Abu Ḥanīfa Wa al-Thunaiyāt Fi Masānidihi, by Shaikh Abd al-Aziz al-Sa‘di, it is stated just the two-narrator narrations (Thunaiyāt) of the Imam are approximately 219 narrations. This makes his narrations, according to the standards of the classical hadith specialists (Muhadithin), stronger and more esteemed and valuable4 than the narrations found in the Sahihs of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, as there, one will nd, that the number of narrators between the muhaddith and the Messenger a are in most cases not less than four (in fact, the thulathiyāt of Imam Bukhari only number 21 narrations). This proves beyond doubt that Imam Abu Ḥanīfa was not only a reputable Muhaddith, moreover he was from the major authorities and Huffaz of Hadith.””

— Muhammad Sajaad