Schools of Muslim law (Sunni)

Submitted by
Usama Ansari
Division- Regular, Roll No-39-Class B.A.LL. B(Hons)of

Faculty of Law
Jamia Millia Islamia.
In
November, 2018

Under the guidance of

Dr. Ghulam Yazdani

One of the more interesting phenomena in Islamic religious history is the development of the
schools of law. This phenomenon has seldom failed to arouse our interest, though it has
consistently eluded our understanding. The difficulty in grasping the significance of the
schools of law is evidenced by vacillation in translating the term madhhab. This term was
first translated as 'sect,' then as 'rite' or 'school.' But a Sunni madhhab could not be a sect,
since the term 'sect' is applied to a dissenting religious body, one that is heretical in the eyes
of other members within the same communion. The death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632
BCE constituted a major crisis for the fledgling ummah (Muslim community). The question
of succession divided the ummah into two distinct religion-political communities of
interpretation, designated subsequently as Sunnism and Shiism. Although this schism was
initially the result of political factionalism, it gradually gained theological characteristics as
well. Even so, there is no clear distinction between Shia and Sunni Islam. In addition, both of
these denominations can be divided into subcategories of interpretation: there are different
branches of Shia Islam just as there are different branches in Sunni Islam.
Given the political instability and socio-religious factionalism among the early Muslims,
various madhab (schools) of thought within Islamic jurisprudence emerged In the first 150
years of Islam. Most of them were short-lived, either becoming extinct or merging with other
schools. Today, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafii, Hanbali (Sunni), Jafari, Zaydi (Shiite), Zahiri and
Ibadi are considered the main schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and all have major
constituencies within both the Shia and Sunni communities. This article looks briefly at the
four major schools in Sunni Islam. Although these schools offer different legal interpretations
about issues that are not addressed in the Koran and Hadith (traditions concerning the life and
utterances of the Prophet Muhammad), in terms of the fundamental principles of Islam, they
share common ground. The idea of a school of law implies a body of doctrine followed by the
members of that school; but this idea does not accord with a system wherein jurisconsults are
expected to arrive at legal opinions individually after reflecting upon the sources of the law to
the best of their ability, that is, after practising ijtihad, personal reasoning, a very individual
activity. The result of this ijtihad is the fatwa, or legal opinion. There was no such thing as a
fatwa arrived at by a committee of jurisconsults, let alone by a whole school of them.
Furthermore, Islam encourages the practice of ijtihad. A tradition going back to the Prophet
makes it quite clear that a jurisconsult, in practising ijtihad, receives a reward in the world to
come, even if he should be mistaken; and if right, he is doubly rewarded. The encouragement
given him to practice ijtihad is such that he is rewarded regardless of the result.
The Holy Qur’an, Tradition and Ijtihad are the three main sources of Islamic law which
govern and regulate all aspects of a Muslim’s public and private life. These laws relate to
religious worship, prohibitions, and all contracts and obligations that arise in social life such
as inheritance, marriage, divorce, punishments, conduct of war and the administration of the
state.1
The science of these religious laws is called Fiqah and the expert in this field such as a jurist
is called a faqih (plural: fuqaha). We read that Ijtihad, or the exercise of judgement, is a valid

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source of Islamic laws in areas where the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions are not explicit. But
the exercise of this independent judgement can only be left in the hands of proper scholars of
the Holy Qur’an and the Tradition. Although a number of other jurists also became popular
during their times, only the above four are now recognised by the vast majority of Sunni
Muslims. These four great jurists and theologians tried to systemise the Islamic law into a
comprehensive rational system which covered all possible legal situations. The four
prominent schools of Islamic law are named after their founders and are called the Hanafiyya,
the Malikiyya, the Shafiyya, and the Hanbaliyya schools of religious law.2
Most Muslims regard these four schools as equally valid interpretations of the religious law
of Islam. These schools are in good agreement on all essential aspects of the religion of
Islam. They all acknowledge the authority of the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions as the
ultimate source of the Islamic law. Only in areas and situations where these two sources are
silent, do the four schools use their independent reasoning in which they may differ with each
other. Sunni and Shia are the two main sects in Islam. A minority known as Ibadi, who are
neither Sunni nor Shia, are prevalent in some parts of Arabian sub continent. On matters
concerning which no explicit command of Allah nor any authority of the Prophet to be found,
when great scholars in different area decided on their own Qiyas, the usual differences of
opinion and difference in the interpretation that each of them had their own explanation and
reasons, they gave rise to different schools or codes of law. Such differences of opinion
sometimes caused conflicting judgments. For example, it is the law according to Quran-an
and Sunna that a wife entitled to maintenance from her husband. But whether a decree can be
passed for recovery of past maintenance, the Hanafi School says that it is wrong to decree
past maintenance which is lapsed by not claiming in time. But according to Shaffie School a
wife is entitled to recover past maintenance as dues from husband and his property. Both
schools have their own reasons and arguments for their opinion.
In these circumstances the Muslim world universally accepted all schools as right path and
come to the point that to follow any one school as all are in right paths. In all these schools or
codes of law there is no error or difference in law as to the meaning of Quran and Sunna.
There is no difference as to the basic belief of Islam and Islamic way of life. They are not
separate sects, parties or casts. One school is not higher or lower than the other and each
school is respecting other schools. All are uniting in the matters of faith worship and prayer.
It is like to choose one line to travel in four-line traffic as we cannot drive through all lines at
a time.
There are four important schools of law among Sunni. They are Hanafi, Maliki, Shaffie and
Hanbali.3 The three importance schools of law among Shia are Isna ashari, Ismaili and Zaidi.4
The development of the schools can be best understood when the facts regarding the
development of prophetic traditions and legal studies are taken into consideration. In the
history of this development there are two moments of great significance; they have to do with
the last two schools of the four surviving schools of law: the school of Shafi'i and the school
of Ahmad.

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https://www.jstor.org/stable/162473?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
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http://www.maslaha.org/untold-islam/depth/schools-of%20islamic%20law%20and%20their%20differences
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Aqil Ahmed Mohammedan Law (sources of Muslim law)
 Hanafi School
Hanafi It is the first and most popular school in Muslim law. Earlier it was known as Koofa
School. The city of Koofa in Iraq was then the capital Khalifate.5 Subsequently it become
popular in the name Hanafi which derived from the name of Abu Haneefa who was the
founder of this school. As the Prophet himself prohibited writing and preserving of his words
and traditions, and on question where Quran-an does not provided explicit commands, the
Hanafi method was to relay on customs and precedents of the Muslim community as the
tradition of the Prophet. Thus, Hanafi School was codifying the precedents which were
prevalent among Muslim in that period.6 There is no book written by Imam Abu Haneefa, the
founder of this school who lived AD 699 to 767 (died in Hijra 150). This school grown
through his two disciples Imam Muhammed and Imam Abu Yousuf popularly known as
Shaihaini Imam Abu Yousuf was the chief Judge of Iraq and Imam Muhammed al Shaibani
was the author of books of importance. They were codifying Ijma’s of that period giving
much importance to lsthihsan (Juristic preference) and placing little reliance on Hadis. By the
encouragement from the part of Abbasid Khalifate, this school became the widely spread
school among Muslim. Majority of Muslims of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, central Asia,
Syria and Turkey are the followers of this School. Above 95% of Indian Muslim are
following Hanafi law. Hence in India if litigated as Sunni, the courts will normally decide
them according to Hanafi law unless otherwise specifically mentioned in the suit. The most
authoritative Book on Hanafi law is the Hedaya it is written by Burhan–u-dheen, Ali bin Abu
Baker al Margining. He is said to have spent thirteen years in compiling the Hedaya. He died
in Hijra 593 (AD 1196) It contains law on almost all subjects except law of inheritance. In
1770, Lord Warren Hastings, Governor General of India, empowered a number of Muslim
The Hanafi school was founded by Abu Hanafi an-Numan (d. 767), a merchant who studied
and taught in Kufa, Iraq and is reported to have left behind one major work, al-Fiqh al-Akbar.
He was one of the earliest Muslim scholars to seek new ways of applying Islamic tenets to
everyday life. Hanafi doctrine is considered among the most flexible and liberal in Islamic
jurisprudence, including in the areas of criminal law, treatment of non-Muslims, individual
freedoms, marriage and use of property. Officially adopted by the Ottoman Turks in the 16th
century, Hanafi jurisprudence remains the most influential school in the world. It is used in
Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey and Afghanistan and by significant minority
Muslim groups in countries such as Iran and Malaysia. Like the other schools, the Hanafi
school derives its Interpretation from the Koran and Hadith. When these sources are
ambiguous on an issue, the consensus of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions is relied
upon. Then the individual opinion of the prophet’s companions is sought, and finally local
customs. Abu Hanafi is regarded by modern scholars as the first to formally adopt and use
qiyas (analogical reasoning) when the Koran and Hadith are silent or ambiguous in their
guidance.

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Schools of Muslim law( Aqil Ahmed Mohammedan Law)
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https://free-islamic-course.org/stageone/stageone-module-4/four-schools-law-islam.html
 Maliki School
This school derived it name from Malik–bin- Anas who was the Mufti of Madeena. His
period was from AD 713 to 795 (Hijra 179).7 During this period the capital of Muslim
Khalifa was at Koofa where Imam Abu Hanafi and his disciples flourished with Hanafi
School. When the disciples of Imam of Abu Haneefa codified their law based on Ijma’s and
lsthihsan, Imam Malik at Madeena, the city of the Prophet codified Sunna and Hadis on the
permission given by Khalifa Umar-bin Abul Aziz. Imam Malik collected about 8000
traditions of the Prophet. He testified and compiled only about 2000 out of these traditions.
He codified it in subject wise in his Book Mu-atha which was the first and most authoritative
book of Hadis. When Hanafi School gave importance to Ijma’s of the people and lsthihsan
(Juristic preference) the Maliki School was giving importance to Sunna and Hadis8. Maliki
law is based on Sunna. They accept Ijma’s only in rare cases and they will accept Ijma’s of
the scholars of Madeena alone. As he gave Fatwa challenging the sovereign authority of
Khalifa, he faced enmity and of lack of support from Muslim governments. Thus this school
did not get much popularity and now they predominate only in North and West Africa.
Though there are no followers of Maliki School in India, when Dissolution of Muslim
Marriages Act 1939 was enacted, some provisions for it were taken from Maliki law because
it was giving more rights and freedom for women in the law marriage and divorce. In Hanafi
law, a woman has to wait seven years to dissolve her marriage if whereabouts of husband is
not known. But the period is only two years in Maliki law thus in Dissolution of Muslim
Marriage Act, this Maliki Provision accepted as the law. The most authoritative Book on
Maliki School is Mu-atha of Imam Malik which is the first book on Hadis in Islam. Thus, it is
accepted as authority by the whole Muslim world. I have seldom quoted from Mu-watha in
this work. One of the giants of Islamic jurisprudence was Malik ibn Anas, an 8th-century
scholar from Medina and the founder of the Maliki school. Maliki is the second-largest of the
four schools of Sunni Islam, followed by approximately 25 per cent of Muslims. The Maliki
school is predominantly practised in North Africa (excluding northern and eastern Egypt),
West Africa, Chad, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and north-eastern
parts of Saudi Arabia. In the medieval period, the Maliki school was also used in parts of
Muslim-dominated territories in Europe such as Sicily and Spain. The Maliki school differs
slightly from the three other schools of jurisprudence in Sunni Islam, most notably in the
sources it uses to derive rulings. Although it follows other schools in its use of the Koran as a
primary source, it relies less on the hadith. Additionally, the practice of the people of Medina
(amalahl al-medina) is used as a source, which is different from other schools. This source
sometimes takes precedence over the Hadith, since the practice of the people of Medina was
considered a ‘living Sunnah’ (the body of traditional social and legal custom and practice),
because the Prophet Muhammad lived in Medina, formed a government there and died there.
Furthermore, most of his companions lived there during his life and after his death. In
addition to the above jurisprudential differences, there are slight differences in the preferred
way to pray. According to the majority of ulama (Muslim scholars) in the Maliki school,
during prayer the hands should be placed at the sides, which is similar to how Shiites pray.
However, the more common Sunni practice of joining the hands beneath the chest, right hand
over left, does not invalidate the prayer.

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The Maliki School arose in the Arabian Peninsula, the original home of all Islamic thought. It
was initially named the School of Hejaz25 or alternately the School of Medina. The doctrines
developed by the Maliki School are historically related to prime Muslim thinkers like Umar
ibn al Khattab, Abbas (Prophet Muhammad’s uncle) and Aishah (Prophet Muhammed’s
wife). Later on in the school’s history, some of the most learned jurists were the teachers of
Malik, whose name became the eponym of the school.
Malik ibn Anas al Asbahi was a Yemen descendant, born in Medina in 713 AD. He lived
there until his death in 795, the only times he left the city being those that he went to Mecca
as a pilgrim. Therefore, Malik epitomised the learning of the people of Medina. The Al
Muwatta is a book written by Malik on Muslim law, which contains a compilation of
traditions handed down from Prophet Muhammed, his companions and followers arranged
according to the subjects of jurisprudence. In this book, Malik mentions the general
foundations of fiqh, which are the Qur’an, its texts, its outward meanings and understood
meanings, the Sunnah, the consensus and then analogy.
Malik ibn Anas was a man profoundly committed to tradition throughout the development of
his legal doctrine. He often stressed the fact that he would not stray from the path that his
teachers and the consensus of the great thinkers of Medina had handed down to him.
Compared to the Hanafi School, the Maliki School is considered to be somewhat more
conservative in its approach to law, and especially in relation to issues concerning the female
gender. This is perhaps something linked with the fact that at the time, Medina’s scholars had
traditionally followed more conservative views. According to Malik’s doctrine, women can
only get married with the approval and involvement of a marriage guardian. Moreover,
Maliki law grants fathers and parental grandfathers the right to approve a marriage of their
daughters and granddaughters without their consent, and in some cases, even against their
will. Hanafi law, on the other hand, limits this coercion (known as jabr) in relation to
marriage to the age of puberty.

Among Malik ibn Anas’s students was Muhammad ibn Idris al-­‐Shafi’i., who was the
founder of the school going under his name.

Shaffie school
The third school was founded by Imam al-Safi (d. 820 A.D.) who was a disciple of Imam
Malik. Imam Shafi placed great importance on the Traditions of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and explicitly formulated the
rules for establishing the Islamic law. He was a great thinker, had an unusual grasp of
principles and a clear understanding of the judicial problems. This school is strong in Lower
Egypt, Syria, India and Indonesia. the founder of the Maliki school. Shafii’s most important
books are ar-Risalah (‘the message’) and al-Umm (‘the mother’). One of the most notable
followers of the Shafii School was the Persian scholar Imam al-Ghazali (1058-1111), the
influential philosopher and theologian. The Shafii school predominates in Kurdistan, Egypt,
Yemen, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Palestine, Syria, Brunei
and Malaysia. Although the school is considered to be one of the more conservative, many of
its followers uphold liberal views in interpreting Islam.9 The school recognizes five sources
of jurisprudence as having the necessary authority: the Koran, Hadith, ijma (the consensus of
scholars or of the community), the individual opinions of Prophet Muhammad’s close
companions and, finally, qiyas. Imam Shafii significantly limited the scope for using qiyas in
deriving Islamic law.10
As discussed above, the Shafi’i school was not exactly a school based on the geographic
tradition of a certain area or city; it was an outcome of a single jurist’s efforts, who was very
much knowledgeable in the doctrines of the other two schools and was able to synthesise new
doctrine out of both. Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-­‐Abas ibn Uthman ibn Shafi’i was born in
Gaza, Palestine in 767 AD and died in Egypt in 820 AD. He utilised the opportunity to merge
the knowledge of the Iraqi as well as the Hejaz fiqh, which, along with his extensive traveling
in the Islamic world, gave him a profound and deep understanding of Islamic law. As a result
of the above, Shafi’i gained the opportunity to formulate a new theoretical basis for law,
which is expressed in his famous work, Alrisalah. This book was written in Bagdad during
Shafie’s second stay and was revised when the scholar moved to Egypt during the years 814-
­‐815.
Shafi’i regarded himself as a representative of the law school of Medina, even though he had
openly accepted the Traditionists’ central views. (The Traditionist approach propagated that
that Islamic tradition was more important for the formulation of law compared to the
doctrines developed by the various schools, which emerged across the Islamic world). Shafi’i
first developed his doctrine in Iraq, but when he moved to Egypt, he retreated back to some
of his early views on law. Thus, this resulting doctrine came to be known as the Egyptian
doctrine, or new version of Shafie’s school. Shafi’i dictated Al-­‐umm to al-­‐Rabi ibn
Suleiman, a close student of his. It is a highly influential piece of work that did not only
define Shafie’s own doctrine, but also many of the elements and differences among other
Islamic schools of law. This seven-­‐ volume book deals with many law topics, some of them
being: transactions, religious holidays, penal/criminal matters and personal status manners.
The book also makes references to the differences in Islamic thought on law, such as those
between Ali and Ibn Masud, and those between Shafi’i and Malik. In Al-­‐umm, Shafi’i
delves into his most loved topic, which is attacking those who do not regard the traditions of
Islam as necessary in the formulation of jurisprudence. He also nullifies the importance of
juristic preference (known as istihsan29) as a valid form of law.
Among Shafie’s students was Ahmad ibn Hanbal, whose name was given to the school he
founded. Since Egypt was home of Shafie’s doctrine, the Shafi’i School has deep roots in this
particular country. It was the official school in the times of the Ayyubid dynasty (1169-­‐
1252 AD) and maintained a prestigious rank during the Mamluks, who succeeded the
Ayyubids. The Shafi’i School was replaced by the Hanafi School much later, when the
Ottoman Empire conquered Egypt in 1517 AD. Nowadays, the Hanafi School constitutes the
official law practiced in courts as far as personal status matters go. However, many Egyptians
(especially of the rural areas of the country) follow the doctrine of the Shafi’i school for their
religious observances. The same happens in many other areas of the Muslim world, i.e. in the

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https://www.academia.edu/2310961/The_background_and_formation_of_the_Four_Schools_of_Islamic_Law
greater parts of Palestine and Jordan, and has many followers in Syria, Iraq, the Hejaz, India,
Pakistan, Indonesia, and the Sunni parts of Iran and Yemen.

Hanbali school
The Hanbali school is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), who was a
disciple of Imam Shafii. Until the emergence of the House of Saud in the Arabian Peninsula,
the school did not enjoy any patronage or support from a serious political force. Indeed, its
legitimacy was not always accepted. Today, it is regarded as the smallest of all the Sunni
schools of jurisprudence, found mainly in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Although Hanbali is the
most conservative of the Sunni schools, it is considered liberal in most commercial matters.
‘Conservative’ here refers to adherence to a strict interpretation of Islam through a literal
understanding of the Koran and Hadith. Wahhabism, which is one of the strictest and most
influential movements within Sunni Islam, is rooted in the Hanbali school. After Mohamad
ibn Abdul Wahhabi (d. 1791), Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) was one of the most notable and
controversial Hanbali scholars. His strict beliefs are thought to have had a considerable
influence on contemporary Wahhabism and Jihadism.11 The Hanbali school recognizes as
sources of law the Koran, Hadith, fatwas (decrees) issued by the prophet’s companions, the
opinions of individual companions, traditions with weaker chains of transmission or lacking
the name of a transmitter in the chain, and qiyas when absolutely necessary. The school
encourages independent reasoning (ijtihad) through the study of the Koran and Hadith. It also
rejects taqlid, or blind adherence to the opinions of other scholars, and advocates a literal
interpretation of textual sources.
Hanbali is another school based on the heritage of a scholar, since it embodied the doctrine,
opinions and fatwas of another important Islamic lawmaker: Ahmad ibn Hanbal. Hanbal was
born in Baghdad in 780 AD and died in the same city in 855. He travelled extensively the
Islamic world, in countries like Syria, Yemen and the Hejaz, as well as Kufa and Basra cities
in Iraq. He did so in order to gather as many Islamic traditions concerning all aspects of law
and produce his seminal work, Musnad al-­‐Imam Ahmad. It is a colossal piece of work,
which extends over six volumes and contains more than forty thousand items. The Musnad
al-­‐Imam Ahmad, together with the fact that Hanbali did not write any books on fiqh like
many other of the scholars of his time, leads many Muslim historians to think that he should
be regarded a traditionalist rather than a jurist. Nevertheless, his students assembled his
opinions on legal matters as well as fatwas (juristic rulings) he produced, which led to a set of
principles and laws important enough to create a school out of this great thinker’s work on
law.
The dedication of the Hanbali School to the traditions of Islam can also be found in its
separation from the views of other schools regarding the sources of law. According to Ibn
Qayum al-­‐Jawziyah (d. 1350), a late Hanbali legist, there are five main sources of law: the
holy texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, the fatwas of scholars as long as they do not contradict
the scriptures, the sayings and opinions of jurists that fall in line with the holy texts, traditions

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without a specific lineage of transmission and ownership, and finally the reasoning which is
based on analogy if there are no other means available.
Ibn Hanbal is famous throughout the annals of Islamic history for being a steadfast believer in
all things Muslim in his personal life. He maintained a solid stance, which passionately
defended the idea of an uncreated and eternal Qur’an. His denial towards the doctrine of the
“createdness” of the Qur’an led to his imprisonment during the Inquisition in Baghdad,
involving hard conditions and beatings. Hannibal’s strict adherence to doctrine is mirrored in
the voices of two followers who brought his school back to life: one is Ibn Qayum (another
great Sunni Islamic jurist) and the great Hanbali school teacher, Tawial-­‐Din ibn Taymiyah
(d. 1327). Echoes of Hanbali’s personal views can also be found in the career of Muhammad
ibn Abd al Wahab (d. 1792), who was a famous Hanbali reformer of Nejd. Hanbal’s school
includes many followers, an important one being Muwaffaq al-­‐Din ibn Qudamah (d. 1223),
the author of the twelve-­‐volume masterpiece Al-­‐Mughni, as well as author of the Al umdah.
The revived Hanbali School, which lacked popularity among Muslim followers before the
abovementioned Ibn Tay Amiyah, gained even more strength during the 18th century AD. Ibn
Abd al Wahab was head of a reformist movement in Arabia, which sought to drive Islam back
to its original, pristine foundations. Those foundations were impeccably loyal to the Qur’an
and the Sunnah, instead of the thought of later Islamic law scholars. The success of the
Wahhabis and the return of the famous Saudi Arabian family in the early 20th century
established the Hanbali School as the official law school of Saudi Arabia. Hanbali is also the
official law school of Qatar, and has many followers in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and other places
of the Muslim world.12

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Bibliography

1.http://www.maslaha.org/untold-islam/depth/schools-
of%20islamic%20law%20and%20their%20differences
2. https://free-islamic-course.org/stageone/stageone-module-4/four-schools-law-islam.html
3. https://www.jstor.org/stable/162473?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
4. https://fanack.com/religions/four-sunni-schools-of-islamic-jurisprudence/
5.https://www.academia.edu/2310961/The_background_and_formation_of_the_Four_School
s_of_Islamic_Law
6. http://muslimpersonallaw.in/schools-of-muslim-law/
7. http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1335

Books referred- 1. Aqil Ahmed Mohemmadan law