I was gonna post now about Shia schools of aqidah but I decided to leave that for later and instead post about the sunni madhhab (schools of jurisprudence, aka fiqh) in order to highlight the connection between schools of aqidah with the schools of fiqh. So first some definitions.
Fiqh
Fiqh (
/fiːk/;
[1] Arabic: فقه
[fɪqh]) is
Islamic jurisprudence.
[2] Fiqh is often described as the human understanding of the
sharia,[3] that is human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the
Quran and the
Sunnah (the teachings and practices of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad and His companions). Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (
ijtihad) of the Quran and
Sunnah by Islamic jurists (
ulama)
[3] and is implemented by the rulings (
fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them. Thus, whereas
sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims,
fiqh is considered fallible and changeable.
Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (
madh'hab) of
fiqh within
Sunni practice, plus two (or three) within
Shi'a practice. A person trained in
fiqh is known as a
faqīh (plural
fuqaha).
[4]
Figuratively,
fiqh means knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their sources and deriving religious rulings from their sources necessitates the
mujtahid (an individual who exercises
ijtihad) to have a deep understanding in the different discussions of jurisprudence. A
faqīh must look deep down into a matter and not suffice himself with just the apparent meaning, and a person who only knows the appearance of a matter is not qualified as a
faqīh.
[2]
The studies of
fiqh, are traditionally divided into
Uṣūl al-fiqh (
principles of Islamic jurisprudence, lit. the roots of fiqh), the methods of legal interpretation and analysis; and
Furūʿ al-fiqh (lit. the branches of fiqh), the elaboration of rulings on the basis of these principles.
[5][6] Furūʿ al-fiqh is the product of the application of
Uṣūl al-fiqhand the total product of human efforts at understanding the divine will. A
hukm (plural
aḥkām) is a particular ruling in a given case.
The word
fiqh is an Arabic term meaning "deep understanding"
[7]:470 or "full comprehension". Technically it refers to the body of Islamic law extracted from detailed Islamic sources (which are studied in the
principles of Islamic jurisprudence) and the process of gaining knowledge of Islam through jurisprudence. The historian
Ibn Khaldun describes
fiqh as "knowledge of the rules of God which concern the actions of persons who own themselves connected to obey the law respecting what is required (
wajib), sinful (
haraam), recommended (
mandūb), disapproved (
makrūh) or neutral (
mubah)".
[8] This definition is consistent amongst the jurists.
The formative period of Islamic jurisprudence stretches back to the time of the early Muslim communities. In this period, jurists were more concerned with issues of authority and teaching than with theory and methodology.
[11]
Progress in theory and methodology happened with the coming of the early Muslim jurist
Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi`i (767–820), who codified the basic principles of Islamic jurisprudence in his book
ar-Risālah. The book details the four roots of law (
Qur'an,
Sunnah,
ijma, and
qiyas) while specifying that the primary Islamic texts (the Qur'an and the hadith) be understood according to objective rules of interpretation derived from scientific study of the Arabic language.
[12]
Secondary sources of law were developed and refined over the subsequent centuries, consisting primarily of juristic preference (
istihsan), laws of the previous prophets (
shara man qablana), continuity (
istishab), extended analogy (
maslaha mursala), blocking the means (
sadd al-dhari'ah), custome
urf and saying of a companion (
qawl al-sahabi).
[13]
Diagram of early schools
The Quran set the rights, the responsibilities and the rules for people and for societies to adhere to, like not dealing in
interest. Muhammad then provided an example, which is recorded in the hadith books, showing people how he practically implemented these rules in a society. After the passing of
Muhammad, there was a need for jurists, to decide on new legal matters where there is no such ruling in the Quran or the Hadith, example of
Islamic prophet Muhammad regarding a similar case.
[14][15]
In the years proceeding Muhammad, the community in Madina continued to use the same rules. People were familiar with the practice of Muhammad and therefore continued to use the same rules.
The scholars appearing in the diagram below were taught by
Muhammad's companions, many of whom settled in Madina.
[16] Muwatta[17] by
Malik ibn Anas was written as a consensus of the opinion, of these scholars.
[18][19][20] The
Muwatta[17] by Malik ibn Anas quotes 13 hadiths from Imam
Jafar al-Sadiq.
[21]
Aisha also taught her nephew
Urwah ibn Zubayr. He then taught his son
Hisham ibn Urwah, who was the main teacher of
Malik ibn Anas whose views many Sunni follow and also taught Jafar al-Sadiq. Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, Hisham ibn Urwah and Muhammad al-Baqir taught
Zayd ibn Ali, Jafar al-Sadiq,
Abu Hanifa, and Malik ibn Anas.
Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, Imam Abu Hanifa and Malik ibn Anas worked together in
Al-Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina. Along with Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, Muhammad al-Baqir, Zayd ibn Ali and over 70 other leading jurists and scholars.
Al-Shafi‘i was taught by Malik ibn Anas.
Ahmad ibn Hanbal was taught by Al-Shafi‘i.
Muhammad al-Bukhari travelled everywhere collecting hadith and his father
Ismail ibn Ibrahim was a student of Malik ibn Anas.
[22][23][24][25][26]
en.wikipedia.org
In the books actually written by these original jurists and scholars, there are very few theological and judicial differences between them. Imam Ahmad rejected the writing down and codifying of the religious rulings he gave. They knew that they might have fallen into error in some of their judgements and stated this clearly. They never introduced their rulings by saying, "Here, this judgement is the judgement of God and His prophet."
[27] There is also very little text actually written down by
Jafar al-Sadiq himself. They all give priority to the Qur'an and the Hadith (the practice of Muhammad). They felt that the Quran and the Hadith, the example of Muhammad provided people with almost everything they needed. "This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion" Quran 5:3.
[28]
These scholars did not distinguish between each other. They were not Sunni or Shia. They felt that they were following the religion of Abraham as described in the Quran "Say: Allah speaks the truth; so follow the religion of Abraham, the upright one. And he was not one of the polytheists" (Qur'an 3:95).
Most of the differences are regarding Sharia laws devised through
Ijtihad where there is no such ruling in the Quran or the Hadiths of
Islamic prophet Muhammad regarding a similar case.
[27] As these jurists went to new areas, they were pragmatic and continued to use the same ruling as was given in that area during pre-Islamic times, if the population felt comfortable with it, it was just and they used
Ijtihad to deduce that it did not conflict with the Quran or the Hadith. As explained in the
Muwatta[17] by
Malik ibn Anas.
[18] This made it easier for the different communities to integrate into the Islamic State and assisted in the quick expansion of the Islamic State.
To reduce the divergence,
ash-Shafi'i proposed giving priority to the Qur'an and the Hadith (the practice of Muhammad) and only then look at the consensus of the Muslim jurists (
ijma) and analogical reasoning (
qiyas).
[18] This then resulted in jurists like
Muhammad al-Bukhari[29] dedicating their lives to the collection of the correct Hadith, in books like
Sahih al-Bukhari. Sahih translates as authentic or correct. They also felt that Muhammad's judgement was more impartial and better than their own.
These original jurists and scholars also acted as a counterbalance to the rulers. When they saw injustice, all these scholars spoke out against it. As the state expanded outside Madina, the rights of the different communities, as they were constituted in the
Constitution of Medina still applied. The Quran also gave additional rights to the citizens of the state and these rights were also applied. Ali, Hassan and
Hussein ibn Ali gave their allegiance to the first three caliphs because they abided by these conditions. Later
Ali the fourth caliph wrote in a letter "I did not approach the people to get their oath of allegiance but they came to me with their desire to make me their Amir (ruler). I did not extend my hands towards them so that they might swear the oath of allegiance to me but they themselves extended their hands towards me".
[30] But later as fate would have it (
Predestination in Islam) when
Yazid I, an oppressive ruler took power, Hussein ibn Ali the grandson of
Muhammad felt that it was a test from God for him and his duty to confront him. Then
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr,
Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr's cousin confronted the
Umayyad rulers after Hussein ibn Ali was betrayed by the people of Kufa and killed by Syrian Roman Army now under the control of the
Yazid I the Umayyad ruler.
[31] Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr then took on the Umayyads and expelled their forces from Hijaz and Iraq. But then his forces were depleted in Iraq, trying to stop the Khawarij. The Ummayads then moved in. After a lengthy campaign, in his last hour Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr asked his mother
Asma' bint Abu Bakr the daughter of
Abu Bakr the first caliph for advice. Asma' bint Abu Bakr replied to her son, she said:
[32] "You know better in your own self, that if you are upon the truth and you are calling towards the truth go forth, for people more honourable than you have been killed and if you are not upon the truth, then what an evil son you are and you have destroyed yourself and those who are with you. If you say, that if you are upon the truth and you will be killed at the hands of others, then you will not truly be free". Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr left and was later also killed and crucified by the Syrian Roman Army now under the control of the Umayyads and led by Hajjaj.
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr the son of
Abu Bakr the first caliph and raised by
Ali the fourth caliph was also killed by the
Ummayads.
[33] Aisha then raised and taught his son Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr who later taught his grandson
Jafar al-Sadiq.
During the early Ummayad period, there was more community involvement. The Quran and Muhammad's example was the main source of law after which the community decided. If it worked for the community, was just and did not conflict with the Quran and the example of Muhammad, it was accepted. This made it easier for the different communities, with Roman, Persian, Central Asia and North African backgrounds to integrate into the Islamic State and that assisted in the quick expansion of the Islamic State. The scholars in Madina were consulted on the more complex judicial issues. The Sharia and the official more centralized schools of fiqh developed later, during the time of the Abbasids.
[34]
Madhhab
A
madhhab (
Arabic: مذهب
maḏhab, IPA:
[ˈmaðhab], "way to act"; pl. مذاهب
maḏāhib,
[maˈðaːhɪb]) is a school of thought within
fiqh (Islamic
jurisprudence).
The major
Sunni madhhabs are
Hanafi,
Maliki,
Shafi'i and
Hanbali.
[1] They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all jurists aligned themselves with a particular madhhab.
[2] These four schools recognize each other's validity and they have interacted in legal debate over the centuries.
[2][1]Rulings of these schools are followed across the Muslim world without exclusive regional restrictions, but they each came to dominate in different parts of the world.
[2][1] For example, the Maliki school is predominant in North and West Africa; the Hanafi school in South and Central Asia; the Shafi'i school in East Africa and Southeast Asia; and the Hanbali school in North and Central Arabia.
[2][1][3] The first centuries of Islam also witnessed a number of short-lived Sunni madhhabs.
[4] The
Zahiri school, which is commonly identified as extinct, continues to exert influence over legal thought.
[4][1][2] The development of
Shia legal schools occurred along the lines of theological differences and resulted in formation of the
Twelver,
Zaidi and
Ismaili madhhabs, whose differences from Sunni legal schools are roughly of the same order as the differences among Sunni schools.
[4][3] The
Ibadi legal school, distinct from Sunni and Shia madhhabs, is predominant in Oman.
[1]
"Ancient" schools
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.
[7] (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.)
[Note 1] Al-Shafi‘i writes 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`.
[11][12] 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.
[13]
Al-Shafi'i and after
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.
[14] Historians have differed regarding the times at which the various schools emerged. One interpretation is that Sunni Islam was initially[
when?] split into four groups: the
Hanafites,
Malikites,
Shafi'ites and
Zahirites.
[15] Later, the
Hanbalites and
Jarirites developed two more schools; then various dynasties effected the eventual exclusion of the Jarirites;
[16] 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.
[14] 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.
[17] 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).
[18]
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.
[16][19] In the 12th century Jariri and Zahiri schools were absorbed by the Shafi'i school.
[20] Ibn Khaldun defined only three Sunni
madhahib: Hanafi, Zahiri, and one encompassing the Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali schools as existing initially,
[21][22] noting that by the 14th-century historian the
Zahiri school had become extinct,
[23][24] only for it to be revived again in parts of the Muslim world by the mid-20th century.
[25][26][27]
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.
[17] Geographer and historian
Al-Muqaddasi once satirically categorized competing
madhahib with contrasting personal qualities: Hanafites, highly conscious of being hired for official positions, appeared deft, well-informed, devout and prudent; Malikites, dull and obtuse, confined themselves to observance of prophetic tradition; Shafi'ites were shrewd, impatient, understanding and quick-tempered; Zahirites haughty, irritable, loquacious and well-to-do; Shi'ites, entrenched and intractable in old rancor, enjoyed riches and fame; and Hanbalites, anxious to practice what they preached, were charitable and inspiring.
[28] While such descriptions were almost assuredly humorous in nature, ancient differences were less to do with actual doctrinal opinions than with maneuvering for adherents and influence.[
citation needed]
List of sunni schools
Hanafi
The
Hanafi (
Arabic: حنفي
Ḥanafī) school is one of the four religious
Sunni Islamic schools of
jurisprudence (
fiqh).
[1] It is named after the scholar
Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit (d. 767), a
tabi‘i whose legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples,
Abu Yusuf and
Muhammad al-Shaybani. The other major schools of
Sharia in Sunni Islam are
Maliki,
Shafi`i and
Hanbali.
[2][3]
The sources from which the Hanafi
madhhab derives Islamic law are, in order of importance and preference: the
Quran, and the
hadiths containing the words, actions and customs of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad (narrated in six hadith collections, of which
Sahih Bukhari and
Sahih Muslim are the most relied upon); if these sources were ambiguous on an issue, then the consensus of the
Sahabah community (
Ijma of the companions of Muhammad), then individual's opinion from the Sahabah,
Qiyas (analogy),
Istihsan (juristic preference), and finally local
Urf (local custom of people).
[7]
Abu Hanifa is regarded by modern scholarship as the first to formally adopt and institute analogy (
Qiyas) as a method to derive Islamic law when the Quran and hadiths are silent or ambiguous in their guidance.
[8]
The foundational texts of Hanafi madhhab, credited to Abū Ḥanīfa and his students
Abu Yusuf and
Muhammad al-Shaybani, include
Al-fiqh al-akbar (theological book on jurisprudence),
Al-fiqh al-absat (general book on jurisprudence),
Kitab al-athar (thousands of hadiths with commentary),
Kitab al-kharajand
Kitab al-siyar (doctrine of war against unbelievers, distribution of spoils of war among Muslims,
apostasy and taxation of
dhimmi).
[9][10][11]
As the fourth Caliph,
Ali had transferred the Islamic capital to
Kufa, and many of the
first generation of Muslims had settled there, the Hanafi school of law based many of its rulings on the earliest Islamic traditions as transmitted by Sahaba residing in Iraq. Thus, the Hanafi school came to be known as the Kufan or Iraqi school in earlier times. Ali and
Abdullah, son of Masud formed much of the base of the school, as well as other personalities such as
Muhammad al-Baqir,
Ja'far al-Sadiq, and
Zayd ibn Ali.
In the early history of Islam, Hanafi doctrine was not fully compiled. The fiqh was fully compiled and documented in the 11th century.
[12]
The Turkish rulers were some of the earliest adopters of the relatively more flexible Hanafi fiqh, and preferred it over the traditionalist Medina-based fiqhs which favored correlating all laws to Quran and Hadiths and disfavored Islamic law based on discretion of jurists.
[13] The
Abbasids patronized the Hanafi school from the 10th century onwards. The Seljuk Turkish dynasties of 11th and 12th centuries, followed by Ottomans adopted Hanafi fiqh. The Turkic expansion spread Hanafi fiqh through Central Asia and into
Indian subcontinent, with the establishment of
Seljuk Empire,
Timurid dynasty,
Khanates,
Delhi Sultanate,
Bengal Sultanate and
Mughal Empire. Throughout the reign of Emperor
Aurangzeb the Hanafi based
Fatawa-e-Alamgiri served as the legal, juridical, political, and financial code of most of
South Asia.
[12][13]
They are linked with the Mutaridi school of aqidah.
Maliki
The
Mālikī (
Arabic: مالكي) school is one of the four major
madhhabs of
Islamic jurisprudence within
Sunni Islam.
[2] It was founded by
Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the
Quran and
hadiths as primary sources. Unlike other Islamic fiqhs, Maliki fiqh also considers the consensus of the people of
Medina to be a valid source of
Islamic law.
[3]
The Maliki madhhab is one of the largest groups of Sunni Muslims, comparable to the
Shafi`i madhhab in adherents, but smaller than the
Hanafi madhhab.
[1][4] Sharia based on Maliki doctrine is predominantly found in
North Africa (excluding northern and eastern Egypt),
West Africa,
Chad,
Sudan,
Kuwait,
Bahrain,
[5] the Emirate of Dubai (
UAE), and in northeastern parts of
Saudi Arabia.
[1]
In the
medieval era, the Maliki school was also found in parts of
Europe under Islamic rule, particularly
Islamic Spain and the
Emirate of Sicily.
[6] A major historical center of Maliki teaching, from the 9th to 11th centuries, was in the
Mosque of Uqba of Tunisia.
[7][8]
Although Malik ibn Anas was himself a native of Medina, his school faced fierce competition for followers in the Muslim east, with the
Shafi'i,
Hanbali, and
Zahiri schools all enjoying more success than Malik's school.
[9] It was eventually the
Hanafi school, however, that earned official government favor from the
Abbasids.
The Malikis enjoyed considerably more success in Africa, and for a while in Spain and Sicily. Under the
Umayyads and their remnants, the Maliki school was promoted as the official state code of law, and Maliki judges had free rein over religious practices; in return, the Malikis were expected to support and legitimize the government's right to power.
[10] This dominance in Spanish
Andalus from the Umayyads up to the
Almoravids continued, with Islamic law in the region dominated by the opinions of Malik and his students. The
Sunnah and
Hadith, or prophetic tradition in Islam, played lesser roles as Maliki jurists viewed both with suspicion, and few were well versed in either.
[11] The Almoravids eventually gave way to the predominantly-Zahiri
Almohads, at which point Malikis were tolerated at times but lost official favor. With the
Reconquista, the Iberian Peninsula was lost to the Muslims in totality.[
citation needed]
Although
Al-Andalus was eventually lost, the Maliki has been able to retain its dominance throughout North and West Africa to this day. Additionally, the school has traditionally been the preferred school in the small
Arab States of the Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar).
[12] While the majority of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia follows Hanbali laws, the country's
Eastern Province has been known as a Maliki stronghold for centuries.
[1]
Maliki school's sources for
Sharia are hierarchically prioritized as follows: Quran and then trustworthy Hadiths (sayings, customs and actions of Muhammad); if these sources were ambiguous on an issue, then
`Amal (customs and practices of the people of Medina), followed by consensus of the
Sahabah(the companions of Muhammad), then individual's opinion from the
Sahabah,
Qiyas (analogy),
Istislah (interest and welfare of Islam and Muslims), and finally
Urf (custom of people throughout the Muslim world if it did not contradict the hierarchically higher sources of Sharia).
[2]
The Mālikī school primarily derives from the work of
Malik ibn Anas, particularly the
Muwatta Imam Malik, also known as
Al-Muwatta. The Muwaṭṭa relies on Sahih
Hadiths, includes Malik ibn Anas' commentary, but it is so complete that it is considered in Maliki school to be a sound hadith in itself.
[3] Mālik included the practices of the people of Medina and where the practices are in compliance with or in variance with the hadiths reported. This is because Mālik regarded the practices of Medina (the first three generations) to be a superior proof of the "living"
sunnah than isolated, although sound, hadiths. Mālik was particularly scrupulous about authenticating his sources when he did appeal to them, however, and his comparatively small collection of aḥādith, known as
al-Muwaṭṭah (or, The Straight Path).
[3]
The second source, the Al-Mudawwana, is the collaborator work of Mālik's longtime student,
Ibn Qāsim and his
mujtahid student,
Sahnun. The Mudawwanah consists of the notes of Ibn Qāsim from his sessions of learning with Mālik and answers to legal questions raised by Saḥnūn in which Ibn Qāsim quotes from Mālik, and where no notes existed, his own legal reasoning based upon the principles he learned from Mālik. These two books, i.e. the Muwaṭṭah and Mudawwanah, along with other primary books taken from other prominent students of Mālik, would find their way into the
Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, which would form the basis for the later Mālikī madhhab.
Maliki school is most closely related to the
Hanafi school, and the difference between them is more of a degree, rather than nature.
[14] However, unlike the Hanafi school, the Maliki school does not assign as much weight to analogy, but derives its rulings from pragmatism using the principles of
istislah (public interest) wherever the Quran and Sahih Hadiths do not provide explicit guidance.
[14]
The Maliki school differs from the other Sunni schools of law most notably in the sources it uses for derivation of rulings. Like all Sunni schools of Sharia, the Maliki school uses the
Qur'an as primary source, followed by the sayings, customs/traditions and practices of
Muhammad, transmitted as hadiths. In the Mālikī school, said tradition includes not only what was recorded in hadiths, but also the legal rulings of the four
rightly guided caliphs – especially
Umar.
Malik bin Anas himself also accepted
binding consensus and
analogical reasoning along with the majority of Sunni jurists, though with conditions. Consensus was only accepted as a valid source of law if it was drawn from the
first generation of Muslims in general, or the first,
second or third generations from Medina, while analogy was only accepted as valid as a last resort when an answer was not found in other sources.
[15][16]
I think they more linked with the Ash'ari school of aqidah but also they take inspiration from mutaridi scholars. It seems that there is no clear cut equivalence between sunni madhhab and sunni aqidah schools but still scholars of particular orientations are more used by some schools then others.
Shafi'i
The
Shafi‘i (
Arabic: شافعي
Shāfiʿī, alternative spelling
Shafei)
madhhab is one of the four
schools of Islamic law in
Sunni Islam.
[1][2] It was founded by the
Arab scholar
Al-Shafi‘i, a pupil of
Malik, in the early 9th century.
[3][4] The other three schools of Sunni jurisprudence are
Hanafi,
Maliki and
Hanbali.
[1][2]
The Shafi school predominantly relies on the Quran and the
Hadiths for
Sharia.
[3][5] Where passages of Quran and Hadiths are ambiguous, the school first seeks religious law guidance from
Ijma – the consensus of Scholars (Community of Islamic scholars).
[6] If there was no consensus, the Shafi‘i school relies on individual opinion (
Ijtihad) of the companions of Muhammad, followed by analogy.
[3]
The Shafi‘i school was, in the early history of Islam, the most followed ideology for Sharia.[
citation needed] However, with the
Ottoman Empire's expansion and patronage, it was replaced with the Hanafi school in many parts of the Muslim world.
[5] One of the many differences between the Shafi‘i and Hanafi schools is that the Shafi‘i school does not consider
Istihsan (judicial discretion by suitably qualified legal scholars) as an acceptable source of religious law because it amounts to "human legislation" of Islamic law.
[7][
not specific enough to verify]
The Shafi‘i school is now predominantly found in
Somalia,
Eritrea,
Ethiopia,
Djibouti, eastern
Egypt, the
Swahili coast,
Hijaz,
Yemen,
Kurdish regions of
the Middle East,
Dagestan,
Chechen and
Ingush regions of the
Caucasus,
Indonesia,
Malaysia,
Sri Lanka,
Maldives,
Kerala and some other coastal regions in
India,
Singapore,
Myanmar,
Thailand,
Brunei, and
the Philippines.
[8]
The Shafi‘i school of thought regards five sources of
jurisprudence as having binding authority. In hierarchical order, these are: the Quran, the hadiths—that is, sayings, customs and practices of
Muhammad—the
ijmā' (consensus of
Sahabah, the community of Muhammad's companions),
[9] the individual opinions of Sahaba with preference to one closest to the issue as
ijtihad, and finally
qiyas (analogy).
[3] Although al-Shafi‘i's legal methodology rejected custom or local practice as a constitutive source of law, this did not mean that he or his followers denied any elasticity in the Shariah.
[10] The Shafi‘i school also rejects two sources of
Sharia that are accepted in other major schools of Islam—
Istihsan (juristic preference, promoting the interest of Islam) and
Istislah (public interest).
[11][12] The jurisprudence principle of
Istihsan and
Istislah admitted religious laws that had no textual basis in either the Quran or Hadiths, but were based on the opinions of Islamic scholars as promoting the interest of Islam and its universalization goals.
[13] The Shafi‘i school rejected these two principles, stating that these methods rely on subjective human opinions, and have potential for corruption and adjustment to political context and time.
[11][12]
The foundational text for the Shafi‘i school is
Al-Risala ("The Message") by the founder of the school, Al-Shafi‘i. It outlines the principles of Shafi‘i fiqh as well as the derived jurisprudence.
[14] Al-Risala became an influential book to other Sunni Islam fiqhs as well, as the oldest surviving Arabic work on Islamic legal theory.
[15][
page needed]
The Shafi‘i madhhab was spread by Al-Shafi‘i students in Cairo, Mecca and Baghdad. It became widely accepted in early history of Islam. The chief representative of the Iraqi school was Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, whilst in Khorasan, the Shafi‘i school was spread by al-Juwayni and al-Iraqi. These two branches merged around
Ibn al-Salah and his father.[
citation needed]
The Shafi‘i jurisprudence was adopted as the official law during the
Great Seljuq Empire,
Zengid dynasty,
Ayyubid dynasty and later the
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), where it saw its widest application. It was also adopted by the
Kathiri state in
Hadhramawt and most of rule of the
Sharif of Mecca.[
citation needed]
With the establishment and expansion of Ottoman Empire in West Asia and Turkic Sultanates in Central and South Asia, Shafi‘i school was replaced with Hanafi school, in part because Hanafites allowed
Istihsan (juristic preference) that allowed the rulers flexibility in interpreting the religious law to their administrative preferences.
[7] The Sultanates along the littoral regions of the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula adhered to the Shafi‘i school and were the primary drivers of its maritime military expansion into many Asian and East African coastal regions of the Indian Ocean, particularly from the 12th through the 18th century.
[16][
not specific enough to verify]
[17][
not specific enough to verify]
I can't find anything linking Shafi'i madhhabwith any particular aqidah except the fact that Al-ash'ari (the founder of the school of aqidah) apparently was a shafi'i.
Hanbali
The
Hanbali school (
Arabic: المذهب الحنبلي,
romanized:
al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four traditional
Sunni schools of
Islamic jurisprudence.
[1] It is named after the Iraqi scholar
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), and was institutionalized by his students. The Hanbali
madhhab is the smallest of four major Sunni schools, the others being the
Hanafi,
Maliki and
Shafi`i.
[2][3]
The Hanbali school derives
sharia predominantly from the Quran, the
Hadiths (sayings and customs of Muhammad), and the views of
Sahabah (Muhammad's companions).
[1] In cases where there is no clear answer in sacred texts of Islam, the Hanbali school does not accept jurist discretion or customs of a community as a sound basis to derive Islamic law, a method that
Hanafi and
Maliki Sunni fiqhs accept. Hanbali school is the strict traditionalist school of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam.
[4] It is found primarily in the countries of
Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and
Qatar, where it is the official fiqh.
[5][6] Hanbali followers are the demographic majority in four emirates of
UAE (Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Ajman).
[7] Large minorities of Hanbali followers are also found in
Bahrain,
Syria,
Oman and
Yemen and among
Iraqi and Jordanian
bedouins.
[5][8]
The Hanbali school experienced a reformation in the
Wahhabi-
Salafist movement.
[9] Historically the school was small; during the 18th to early-20th century
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and
Al Saud greatly aided its propagation around the world by way of their interpretation of the school's teachings.
[9] As a result of this, the school's name has become a controversial one in certain quarters of the Islamic world due to the influence he is believed by some to have had upon these teachings, which cites Ibn Hanbal as a principal influence along with the thirteenth-century Hanbali reformer
Ibn Taymiyyah. However, it has been argued by certain scholars that Ibn Hanbal's own beliefs actually played "no real part in the establishment of the central doctrines of
Wahhabism,"
[10] as there is evidence, according to the same authors, that "the older Hanbalite authorities had doctrinal concerns very different from those of the Wahhabis,"
[10] as medieval Hanbali literature is rich in references to saints, grave visitation, miracles, and relics.
[11] Historically, the Hanbali school was treated as simply another valid interpretation of Islamic law, and many prominent medieval
Sufis, such as
Abdul Qadir Gilani, were Hanbali jurists and mystics at the same time.
[11]
(((I think this last part is important to remember that the hanbali school is not the same as the salafists movements even if they are connected by history and geography)))
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, the founder of Hanbali school, was a disciple of
Al-Shafi‘i. Like Shafi'i and al-Zahiri, he was deeply concerned with the extreme elasticity being deployed by many jurists of his time, who used their discretion to reinterpret the doctrines of Quran and Hadiths to suit the demands of Caliphs and wealthy.
[12] Ibn Hanbal advocated return to literal interpretation of Quran and Hadiths. Influenced by the debates of his time, he was known for rejecting religious rulings (
Ijtihad) from the consensus of jurists of his time, which he considered to be speculative theology (
Kalam). He associated them with the
Mu'tazilis, whom he despised. Ibn Hanbal was also hostile to the discretionary principles of rulings in jurisprudence (
Usul al-fiqh) mainly championed by the people of opinion, which was established by
Abu Hanifa, although he did adopt al-Shafi'i's method in usul al-fiqh. He linked these discretionary principles with
kalam. His guiding principle was that the Quran and Sunnah are the only proper sources of Islamic jurisprudence, and are of equal authority and should be interpreted literally in line with the
Athari creed. He also believed that there can be no true consensus (
Ijma) among jurists (mujtahids) of his time,
[12]and preferred the consensus of Muhammad's companions (
Sahaba) and weaker hadiths. Imam Hanbal himself compiled
Al-Musnad, a text with over 30,000 saying, actions and customs of Muhammad.
[1]
Ibn Hanbal never composed an actual systematic legal theory on his own, though his followers established a systemic method after his death.
[13][
self-published source] Much of the work of preserving the school based on Ibn Hanbal's method was laid by his student
Abu Bakr al-Khallal; his documentation on the founder's views eventually reached twenty volumes.
[14] The original copy of the work, which was contained in the
House of Wisdom, was burned along with many other works of literature during the
Mongol siege of Baghdad. The book was only preserved in a summarized form by the Hanbali jurist al-Khiraqi, who had access to written copies of al-Khallal's book before the siege.
[14]
Relations with the
Abbasid Caliphate were rocky for the Hanbalites. Led by the Hanbalite scholar
Al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Barbahari, the school often formed mobs of followers in 10th-century Baghdad who would engage in violence against fellow Sunnis suspected of committing sins and all
Shi'ites.
[15] During al-Barbahari's leadership of the school in Baghdad, shops were looted,
[16] female entertainers were attacked in the streets,
[16] popular grievances among the lower classes were agitated as a source of mobilization,
[17] and public chaos in general ensued.
[18] Their efforts would be their own undoing in 935, when a series of
home invasions and
mob violence on the part of al-Barbahari's followers in addition to perceived deviant views led to the Caliph
Ar-Radi publicly condemning the school in its entirety and ending its official patronage by state religious bodies.
[18]
Like all other schools of Sunni Islam, the Hanbali school holds that the two primary sources of Islamic law are the
Qur'an and the
Sunnah found in
Hadiths (compilation of sayings, actions and customs of
Muhammad). Where these texts did not provide guidance, Imam Hanbal recommended guidance from established consensus of Muhammad's companions (
Sahabah), then individual opinion of Muhammad's companions, followed in order of preference by weaker hadiths, and in rare cases qiyas (analogy).
[1] The Hanbali school, unlike Hanafi and Maliki schools, rejected that a source of Islamic law can be a jurist's personal discretionary opinion or consensus of later generation Muslims on matters that serve the interest of Islam and community. Hanbalis hold that this is impossible and leads to abuse.
[12]
Ibn Hanbal rejected the possibility of religiously binding consensus (
Ijma), as it was impossible to verify once later generations of Muslims spread throughout the world,
[12] going as far as declaring anyone who claimed as such to be a liar. Ibn Hanbal did, however, accept the possibility and validity of the consensus of the
Sahaba. the first generation of Muslims.
[19][20] Later followers of the school, however, expanded on the types of consensus accepted as valid, and the prominent Hanbalite
Ibn Taymiyyah expanded legal consensus to later generations while at the same time restricting it only to the religiously learned.
[20] Analogical reasoning (
Qiyas), was likewise rejected as a valid source of law by Ibn Hanbal himself,
[12][21][22] with a near-unanimous majority of later Hanbalite jurists not only accepting analogical reasoning as valid but also borrowing from the works of
Shafi'ite jurists on the subject.
Ibn Hanbal's strict standards of acceptance regarding the sources of Islamic law were probably due to his suspicion regarding the field of
Usul al-Fiqh, which he equated with speculative theology (
kalam).
[23] In the modern era, Hanbalites have branched out and even delved into matters regarding the upholding (
Istislah) of public interest (
Maslaha) and even juristic preference (
Istihsan), anathema to the earlier Hanbalites as valid methods of determining religious law.
Ibn Hanbal taught that the Qur'an is uncreated due to Muslim belief that it is the word of
God, and the word of God is not created. The
Mu'tazilites taught that the Qur'an, which is readable and touchable, is created like other creatures and created objects. Ibn Hanbal viewed this as heresy, replying that there are things which are not touchable but are created, such as the Throne of God.
[24] Unlike the other three schools of Islamic jurisprudence (
Hanafi,
Maliki, and
Shafi), the Hanbali madhab remained largely traditionalist or
Athari in theology
[25] and it was primarily Hanbali scholars who codified the
Athari school of thought.
Ok, this one is easier, Hanbali and Athari schools are really interconnected but also it seems some early shafi'i scholars were part of the Atari movement.
Zahiri
The
Ẓāhirī (
Arabic: ظاهري)
madhhab or
al-Ẓāhirīyyah (
Arabic: الظاهرية) is a school of
Islamic jurisprudence founded by
Dawud al-Zahiri in the ninth century,
[1][2][3][4] characterised by reliance on the outward (
ẓāhir) meaning of expressions in the
Qur'an and
hadith, as well as rejection of analogical deduction (
qiyās). After a limited success and decline in the
Middle East, the Ẓāhirī school flourished in the
Caliphate of Córdoba (
Al-Andalus, today's
Spain and
Portugal), particularly under the leadership of
ibn Hazm.
Whereas some analysts describe Zahirism as a distinct school of Islam
[5], others have characterized it as a fifth school of thought (
madhhab) of
Sunni Islam,
[6][7][8] and still retains a measure of influence and is recognized by contemporary Islamic scholars. In particular, members of the
Ahl-i Hadith movement have identified themselves with the Ẓāhirī school of thought.
[9]
While those outside the school of thought often point to
Dawud al-Zahiri (815–883/4 CE) as the "founder" of the school, followers of the school themselves tend to look to earlier figures such as
Sufyan al-Thawri and
Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh as the forerunners of Ẓāhirī principles.[
citation needed]
Umm al-Qura University professor
Abdul Aziz al-Harbi has argued that the
first generation of Muslims followed the school's methods and therefore it can be called "the school of the first generation."
[10]
The Ẓāhirī school was initially called the Dawudi school after Dawud al-Ẓāhirī himself and attracted many adherents, although they felt free to criticize his views, in line with the school's rejection of
taqlid.
[11] By the end of the 10th century, members of the madhhab were appointed as
qadis in
Baghdad,
Shiraz,
Isfahan,
Firuzabad,
Ramla,
Damascus,
Fustat, and
Bukhara.
[11][12]
Parallel to the school's development in the east, Ẓāhirī ideas were introduced to North Africa by theologians of the
Maliki school who were engaged in lively debates with the
Hanafi school, and to the
Iberian Peninsula by one of Dawud al-Ẓāhirī's direct students.
[11] Unlike
Abbasid lands, where the Ẓāhirī school developed in parallel and in opposition to other madhhabs (chiefly Hanafi,
Shafi‘i, and
Hanbali), in the West it only had to contend with its Maliki counterpart, which enjoyed official support of the
Umayyad rulers.
[11] An increasing number of Ẓāhirī scholars appeared starting from the late 9th century CE in different parts of the Iberian peninsula, though none of their works have survived.
[11]
It was not until the rise of the
Almohads that the Ẓāhirī school enjoyed official state sponsorship. While not all of the Almohad political leaders were Ẓāhirīs, a large plurality of them were not only adherents but were well-versed theologians in their own right.
[13][
not specific enough to verify] Additionally, all Almohad leaders – both the religiously learned and the laymen – were extremely hostile toward the Malikis, giving the Ẓāhirīs and in a few cases the Shafi‘is free rein to author works and run the judiciary. In the late 12th century, any religious material written by non-Ẓāhirīs was at first banned and later burned in the empire under the
Almohad reforms.
[14][15]
The Ẓāhirī school enjoyed its widest expansion and prestige in the fourth Islamic century, especially through the works of
Ibn al-Mughallis, but in the fifth century it lost ground to the Hanbalite school.
[16] Even after the Zahiri school became extinct in Baghdad, it continued to have some followers in Shiraz.
[17] Ẓāhirism maintained its prestige in
Syria until 788 A.H. and had an even longer and deeper impact in
Egypt.
[16] In the 14th century C.E., the
Zahiri Revolt marked both a brief rekindling of interest in the school's ideas as well as affirmation of its status as a non-mainstream ideology.[
citation needed]
Al-Muhalla, a Medieval manual on Ẓāhirī jurisprudence, served in part as inspiration for the revolt and as a primary source of the school's positions.
[18][
failed verification] However, soon afterwards the school ceased to function and in the 14th century
Ibn Khaldun considered it to be extinct.
[19][20] With the
Reconquista and the loss of Iberia to Christian rule, most works of Ẓāhirī law and legal theory were lost as well, with the school only being carried on by individual scholars, once again on the periphery.[
citation needed]
Wael Hallaq has argued that the rejection of
qiyas (analogical reasoning) in Ẓāhirī methodology led to exclusion of the school from the Sunni juridical consensus and ultimately its extinction in the pre-modern era.
[21] Christopher Melchert suggests that the association of the Ẓāhirī school with
Mu'tazilite theology, its difficulty in attracting the right patronage, and its reliance on outmoded methods of teaching have all contributed to its decline.
[22]
Of the utmost importance to the school is an underlying principle attributed to the founder Dawud that the validity of religious issues is only upheld by certainty, and that speculation cannot lead to the truth.
[30] Most Ẓāhirī principles return to this overarching maxim.
Japanese Islamic scholar
Kojiro Nakamura defines the Ẓāhirī schools as resting on two presumptions. The first is that if it were possible to draw more general conclusions from the strict reading of the sources of Islamic law, then God certainly would have expressed these conclusions already; thus, all that is necessary lies in the text. The second is that for man to seek the motive behind the commandments of God is not only a fruitless endeavor but a presumptuous one.
[31]
The Ẓāhirī school of thought generally recognizes three sources of
Islamic law within the
principles of
Islamic jurisprudence. The first is the Qur'an, considered by Muslims to be the verbatim word of
God (Arabic: الله
Allah); the second consists of the
prophetic as given in historically verifiable
reports, which consist of the sayings and actions of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad; the third is
absolute consensus of the Muslim community.
Certain followers of the Ẓāhirī school include religious
inference as a fourth source of Islamic law.
[32][
verification needed]
The school differs from the more prolific schools of Islamic thought in that it restricts valid consensus in jurisprudence to the consensus of the first generation of Muslims who lived alongside Muhammad only.
[33][34] While
Abu Hanifa and
Ahmad ibn Hanbal agreed with them in this,
[35][36] most followers of the Hanafi and
Hanbali schools generally do not, nor do the other two Sunni schools.
Additionally, the Ẓāhirī school does not accept
analogical reasoning as a source of Islamic law,
[37] nor do they accept the practice of
juristic discretion, pointing to a verse in the Qur'an which declares that nothing has been neglected in the Muslim scriptures.
[38] While
al-Shafi‘i and followers of his school agree with the Ẓāhirīs in rejecting the latter,
[39] all other Sunni schools accept the former, though at varying levels.[
citation needed]
Well this one also appears to be kinda linked with Athari textualism.
Ok this is super long so I will leave Shias for later but I will make now another post for Ibadis and khamwarij because at least that's short.