Madh'hab: Difference between revisions

The various schools of Islamic law all developed as theologians and jurists debated among themselves more than a hundred years after [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]] on how to identify and interpret what Muhammad had left behind by way of oral traditions.

The schools of law differ primarily in the authentication and interpretive methodologies they employ to firstly determine which scriptures ([[hadiths]], for the most part, since the [[Qur'an]] is considered [[Corruption of Qur'an|authentic]] by consensus) are soundly attributable to [[Muhammad]] and to secondly determine how these scriptures should be understood and reconciled with one other in such a manner as to allow the derivation of legal rulings.

It should be noted that the schools of law are in themselves neither static nor homogeneous, as they have each developed and formalized a great deal since the times of their eponymous founders and consist internally of a diverse variety of opinions. As such, the schools of law are perhaps better characterized as enclosed arenas of debate wherein a common set of rules are followed. When it comes to inter-madhab debate, there is no common set of rules that is obliged beyond the thinly theological (such as the divinity of the Qur'an) and, as such, the topic of debate is frequently the rules themselves rather than the substantive rulings they give rise to.

{{Main|Salafism}}Starting in the early 19th century, Muhammad ibn abd al-Wahhab gave rise to what become the modern day trend in Sunni Islamic thought known as Salafism. Salafism, almost necessarily wildly diverse internally, is the basic idea that the four classical schools of Islamic law have developed too cumbersome a set of legal methodologies that staying loyal to both the exact words of scripture ''and'' any respective madhab's interpretive methods is impossible. Lacking a strict method of interpretation, the Salafis look back to the practices of the early Muslims and Muhammad's [[companions]] to determine how scripture should be interpreted, and almost always prefer to just cite a hadith directly in response to a legal question rather than provide a systematically-derived and probably more nuanced answer - though, since many hadith are in themselves unclear and contradictory, this becomes a contentious and even impossible task, thus forcing either disagreement or a resort to some to a less developed interpretive approach that brings about a reconciliation of the texts.

The Hanafi madhab was founded by Imam Abu Hanifah al-Nu'man (d. 767) in Kufa, Iraq.

The Maliki madhab was founded by Imam Malik ibn Anas (d. 795) in the city of [[Medina]], located in the Hijaz.

The Shafi'i madhab was founded by Imam ibn Idris al-Shafi'i (d. 820), who, after being born in Gaza, would travel to Mecca, Medina, Yemen, Cairo, and Baghdad.

The Hanbali madhab was founded by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), who, after growing up in Baghdad, would travel throughout Iraq, Syria, and the Arabian peninsula.

==References==