Madhhab#Sunni

According to John Burton, "modern research shows" that fiqh was first "regionally organized" with "considerable disagreement and variety of view." In the second century of Islam, schools of fiqh were noted for the loyalty of their jurists to the legal practices of their local communities, whether Mecca, Kufa, Basra, Syria, etc.Burton, Islamic Theories of Abrogation, 1990: p.13 (Egypt's school in Fustat was a branch of Medina's school of law and followed such practices—up until the end of the 8th century—as basing verdict on one single witness, not two, and the oath of the claimant. Its principal jurist in the second half of the 8th century was al-Layth b. Sa'd.){{#tag:ref|It is usually assumed that no regional school developed in Egypt (unlike in Syria, Iraq and the Hijaz). Joseph Schach states that the legal milieu of Fustat (ancient Cairo) was a branch of the Medinan school of law.J. Schacht, The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950), p. 9 Regarding judicial practices, the qadis (judges) of Fustat resorted to the procedure called "al-yamin ma'a l-shahid", that is, the ability of the judge to base his verdict on one single witness and the oath of the claimant, instead of two witnesses as was usually required. Such a procedure was quite common under the early Umayyads, but by the early Abbasid period it had disappeared in Iraq and it was now regarded as the {{'}}amal ("good practice") of Medina. Up until the end of the 8th century, the qadis of Fustat were still using this "Medinan" procedure and differentiated themselves from Iraqi practices. From a doctrinal point of view, however, the legal affiliation of Egypt could be more complex. The principal Egyptian jurist in the second half of the 8th century is al-Layth b. Sa'd.R.G. Khoury, "Al-Layth Ibn Sa'd (94/713–175/791), grand maître et mécène de l’Egypte, vu à travers quelques documents islamiques anciens", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 40, 1981, p. 189–202 The only writing of his that has survived is a letter he wrote to Malik b. Anas, which has been preserved by Yahya b. Ma'in and al-Fasawi. In this letter, he proclaims his theoretical affiliation to the Medinan methodology and recognizes the value of the {{'}}amal. Nevertheless, he distances himself from the Medinan School by opposing a series of Medinan legal views. He maintains that the common practice in other cities is also valuable, and thus implicitly defends the Egyptians' adherence to their own local tradition. Thus it is possible that, even though it did not develop into a formal school of law, a specific Egyptian legal milieu was distinct of the Medinan School in the 8th century.Mathieu Tillier, "[https://www.academia.edu/1470575/Les_premiers_cadis_de_Fus_a_et_les_dynamiques_regionales_de_linnovation_judiciaire_750-833_ Les "premiers" cadis de Fusṭāṭ et les dynamiques régionales de l'innovation judiciaire (750–833)]", Annales Islamologiques, 45 (2011), p. 214–218|group=Note}} Al-Shafiʽi wrote that, "every capital of the Muslims is a seat of learning whose people follow the opinion of one of their countrymen in most of his teachings".{{cite book |title=The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence |last1=Schacht |first1=Joseph |publisher=Oxford University Press |orig-year=1950 |year=1959 |page=246}}{{cite book|last1=Shafi'i |page=148. Kitab Ikhtilaf Malid wal-Shafi'i |title=Kitab al-Umm vol. vii}} The "real basis" of legal doctrine in these "ancient schools" was not a body of reports of Muhammad's sayings, doings, silent approval (the ahadith) or even those of his Companions, but the "living tradition" of the school as "expressed in the consensus of the scholars", according to Joseph Schacht.{{cite book |title=The Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence |last1=Schacht |first1=Joseph |publisher=Oxford University Press |orig-year=1950 |year=1959 |page=98}}

It has been asserted that madhahib were consolidated in the 9th and 10th centuries as a means of excluding dogmatic theologians, government officials and non-Sunni sects from religious discourse.{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Islamic_law.aspx |title=Law, Islamic |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=13 March 2012}} Historians have differed regarding the times at which the various schools emerged. One interpretation is that Sunni Islam was initially{{when|date=December 2013}} split into four groups: the Hanafites, Malikites, Shafi'ites and Zahirites.Mohammad Sharif Khan and Mohammad Anwar Saleem, Muslim Philosophy And Philosophers, pg. 34. New Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1994. Later, the Hanbalites and Jarirites developed two more schools; then various dynasties effected the eventual exclusion of the Jarirites;Christopher Melchert, The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law: 9th–10th Centuries C.E., pg. 178. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1997. eventually, the Zahirites were also excluded when the Mamluk Sultanate established a total of four independent judicial positions, thus solidifying the Maliki, Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools. During the era of the Islamic Gunpowders, the Ottoman Empire reaffirmed the official status of these four schools as a reaction to Shi'ite Persia.Chibli Mallat, Introduction to Middle Eastern Law, pg. 116. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-19-923049-5}} Some are of the view that Sunni jurisprudence falls into two groups: Ahl al-Ra'i ("people of opinions", emphasizing scholarly judgment and reason) and Ahl al-Hadith ("people of traditions", emphasizing strict interpretation of scripture).Murtada Mutahhari, [http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/ijtihad-legislation.htm The Role of Ijtihad in Legislation], [http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/ Al-Tawhid] volume IV, No.2, Publisher: [http://www.itf.org.ir/ Islamic Thought Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314212635/http://www.itf.org.ir/ |date=14 March 2012}}

10th century Shi'ite scholar Ibn al-Nadim named eight groups: Maliki, Hanafi, Shafi'i, Zahiri, Imami Shi'ite, Ahl al-Hadith, Jariri and Kharijite.Devin J. Stewart, THE STRUCTURE OF THE FIHRIST: IBN AL-NADIM AS HISTORIAN OF ISLAMIC LEGAL AND THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS, International Journal of Middle East Studies, v.39, pg.369–387, Cambridge University Press, 2007 Abu Thawr also had a school named after him. In the 12th century Jariri and Zahiri schools were absorbed by the Shafi'i and Hanbali schools respectively.{{cite book|last1=Crone|first1=Patricia|title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|date=2013|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=498|isbn=978-0691134840|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q1I0pcrFFSUC&q=zahiri+absorbed+princeton&pg=PA498|access-date=13 May 2015}} Ibn Khaldun defined only three Sunni madhahib: Hanafi, Zahiri, and one encompassing the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools as existing initially,Ignác Goldziher, The Zahiris, pg. 5. Trns. Wolfgang Behn, intro. Camilla Adang. Volume three of Brill Classics in Islam. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2008. {{ISBN|9789004162419}}Meinhaj Hussain, A New Medina, [https://archive.today/20130103002610/http://www.grandestrategy.com/2012/01/6655434312-chapter-nine-new-medina.html The Legal System], Grande Strategy, 5 January 2012 noting that by the 14th-century historian the Zahiri school had become extinct,{{cite book|last1=Wolfgang|first1=Behn|title=The Zahiris|date=1999|publisher=BRILL|page=178|isbn=9004026320|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j_OIhpI9jfEC&q=ibn+khaldun+zahiri&pg=PA178|access-date=11 May 2015}}{{cite book|last1=Berkey|first1=Jonathon|title=The Formation of Islam|date=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=216|isbn=9780521588133|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mLV6lo4mvj0C&q=khaldun+zahiri&pg=PA216|access-date=11 May 2015}} only for it to be revived again in parts of the Muslim world by the mid-20th century.Daniel W. Brown, Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought: Vol. 5 of Cambridge Middle East Studies, pgs. 28 and 32. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|9780521653947}}M. Mahmood, The Code of Muslim Family Laws, pg. 37. Pakistan Law Times Publications, 2006. 6th ed.Hassan Ahmed Ibrahim, "An Overview of al-Sadiq al-Madhi's Islamic Discourse." Taken from The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought, pg. 172. Ed. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi'. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 2008. {{ISBN|9781405178488}}

Historically, the fiqh schools were often in political and academic conflict with one another, vying for favor with the ruling government in order to have their representatives appointed to legislative and especially judiciary positions.

The transformations of Islamic legal institutions in the modern era have had profound implications for the madhhab system. Legal practice in most of the Muslim world has come to be controlled by government policy and state law, so that the influence of the madhhabs beyond personal ritual practice depends on the status accorded to them within the national legal system. State law codification commonly utilized the methods of takhayyur (selection of rulings without restriction to a particular madhhab) and talfiq (combining parts of different rulings on the same question). Legal professionals trained in modern law schools have largely replaced traditional ulema as interpreters of the resulting laws. Global Islamic movements have at times drawn on different madhhabs and at other times placed greater focus on the scriptural sources rather than classical jurisprudence. The Hanbali school, with its particularly strict adherence to the Quran and hadith, has inspired conservative currents of direct scriptural interpretation. In the 20th century many Islamic jurists began to assert their intellectual independence from traditional schools of jurisprudence.{{cite encyclopedia|first1=Brinkley|last1=Messick |first2=Joseph A.|last2=Kéchichian|title=Fatwā. Process and Function|encyclopedia=The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World|editor=John L. Esposito|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=2009|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0243|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120012810/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/print/opr/t236/e0243|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 November 2015}} Examples of the latter approach include networks of Indonesian ulema and Islamic scholars residing in Muslim-minority countries, who have advanced liberal interpretations of Islamic law.

File:Madhhab Map3.png

Generally, Sunnis will follow one particular madhhab which varies from region to region, but also believe that ijtihad must be exercised by the contemporary scholars capable of doing so. Most rely on taqlid, or acceptance of religious rulings and epistemology from a higher religious authority in deferring meanings of analysis and derivation of legal practices instead of relying on subjective readings.{{cite web | url=http://www.sahihmuslim.com/sps/sp.cfm?subsecID=MNJ06&articleID=MNJ060001&articlePages=1 | title=Salafi Publications | on Ijtihad and Taqlid}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.rissc.jo/docs/1N-WithCovers(lowres).pdf|title=On Islam, Muslims and the 500 most influential figures}}

Experts and scholars of fiqh follow the usul (principles) of their own madhhab, but they also study the usul, evidences, and opinions of other madhahib.

File:Sunni Streams of Doctrine.pngThe four main schools of jurisprudence of Sunni Islam are the Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools.{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|volume=5|title=Mad̲h̲hab|page(s)=|first=|last=|authorlink=|url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/EIEO/SIM-8798.xml?rskey=Pjm5Yu&result=1|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_8798}} There's also the Zahiri school but it has less followers. Historically, there were other schools of jurisprudence but they became extinct which include the Jariri, Awza'i, Laythi, Thawri and Qurtubi schools.{{Cite book |last=Fathi |first=Saul Silas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-B3-EAAAQBAJ&dq=hanafi%20afghanistan%20pakistan%20levant&pg=PA344 |title=Gods and Religions |date=2023-12-22 |publisher=Writers Republic LLC |isbn=979-8-89100-466-5 |pages=344 |language=en}} The reason for the survival and dominance of the main schools was because of a number of factors including state support for specific scholars, dominance in debates and student numbers.{{Cite book |last=Rane |first=Halim |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOHb6MCGuVQC&dq=awza'i%20laythi&pg=PA82 |title=Islam and Contemporary Civilisation |date=2010 |publisher=Academic Monographs |isbn=978-0-522-85728-3 |pages=82 |language=en}} Sunni schools take their name from the classical jurist who founded them.

The order of priority for deducing law by the Hanafi school is:{{Cite book |last=Ramadan |first=Hisham M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZS7EaHTQX8C&dq=hanafi&pg=PA26 |title=Understanding Islamic Law: From Classical to Contemporary |date=2006 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-0991-9 |pages=26–29 |language=en}}

1. Quran
2. Sunnah
3. Ijma of the Sahaba
4. Individual opinions of the Sahaba
5. Qiyas
6. Istihsan
7. Urf

The order of priority for deducing law by the Maliki school is:

1. Quran
2. Sunnah, a hadith would be rejected if it contradicted the practice of the people of Medina
3. ʻAmal, the practice of the people of Medina
4. Ijma of the Sahaba
5. Individual opinion of the Sahaba
6. Qiyas
7. Isolated customs and practices of pockets of Medinans were also given some weight
8. Istislah
9. Urf

The order of priority for deducing law by the Shafi'i school is:

1. Quran
2. Sunnah
3. Ijma
4. Individual opinions of the Sahaba
5. Qiyas

The order of priority for deducing law by the Hanbali school is:

1. Quran
2. Sunnah
3. Ijma of the Sahaba, but not the ijma after that period
4. Individual opinions of the Sahaba
5. Weak hadith unless its weakness is attributed to transmission by degenerates or liars
6. Qiyas

==== Zahiri ====

The Zahiri school was founded by Dawud al-Zahiri (815–883). And flourished in Spain during the Caliphate of Córdoba under the leadership of Ibn Hazm. It was also followed by the majority of Muslims in Mesopotamia, Portugal, the Balearic Islands, and North Africa. The Zahiri school lost it's presence around the 14th-century.{{Cite web |title=Zahiri |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803133342854#:~:text=Quick%20Reference,by%20four%20extant%20Sunni%20schools. |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Visser |first=Hans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIXe3rY_OkgC&dq=zahiri+school+extinct&pg=PA17 |title=Islamic Finance: Principles and Practice |date=2009-01-01 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-84844-947-3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Esposito |first=John L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9HUDXkJIE3EC&dq=zahiri+school+extinct+14th&pg=PA114 |title=The Oxford History of Islam |date=2000-04-06 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988041-6 |language=en}} Today It is followed by minority communities in Morocco and Pakistan. The order of priority for deducing law by the Zahiri school is:

1. Quran
2. Sunnah
3. Ijmah of the Sahaba

The Twelver school of jurisprudence is known as the Ja'fari school.{{Cite book |last1=Bill |first1=James A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gDRc3GSGLQkC&pg=PA21 |title=Roman Catholics and Shi'i Muslims: Prayer, Passion, and Politics |last2=Williams |first2=John Alden |date=2003-08-01 |publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-5499-0 |pages=21 |language=en}} The other two schools are the Zaydi and Ismaili schools.{{Cite book |last=Leaman |first=Oliver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ogJuEAAAQBAJ&dq=shia%20schools%20jurisprudence%20jafari%20zaydi%20ismaili&pg=PT331 |title=Routledge Handbook of Islamic Ritual and Practice |date=2022-06-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-58390-8 |language=en}}

The Ja'fari school was named after the sixth Imam, Ja'far al-Sadiq. The order of priority for deducing law by the Ja'fari school is:

1. Quran
2. Sunnah
3. Ijtihad of the Imam

• Sharia (Islamic law)
• Schools of Islamic theology
• Islamic schools and branches
• Fiqh
• The four Sunni Imams
• Ikhtilaf
• Ijtihad
• Taqlid
• Verse of Obedience
• Uli al-amr
• Istihsan
• Qiyas

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

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• {{Cite book |first1=John |last1=Burton |title=The Sources of Islamic Law: Islamic Theories of Abrogation |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-7486-0108-2 |url=http://www.almuslih.org/Library/Burton,%20J%20-%20The%20Sources%20of%20Islamic%20Law.pdf |ref=JBSILITA1990 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=4 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104171116/http://www.almuslih.org/Library/Burton,%20J%20-%20The%20Sources%20of%20Islamic%20Law.pdf |url-status=dead}}
• Branon Wheeler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=slLpouSlzPcC Applying the Canon in Islam: The Authorization and Maintenance of Interpretive Reasoning in Ḥanafī Scholarship], SUNY Press, 1996.

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• {{cite book|first=Gibril F. |last=Haddad |author-link=Gibril Haddad |title=The Four Imams and Their Schools |location=London |publisher=Muslim Academic Trust |date=2007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28875851}}

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