SCHOOLS OF MUSLIM LAW Ancient Schools of Law > During the period of Umadayyas, the Kazis/Qazis (judge) was appointed. » The credit of laying down the foundation of Muslim law goes to these Kazis, who, while tendering decisions in cases coming before them, exercised a very wide discretion. — XO ons could Chelleroa Moat Ah 00 0d (Leach —A8- They drew upon the custom, practice, administrative regulations and the Koranic noms. Kazis helped in Islamicizing(formulating) the customary It was in this period that the Kazis became highly specialised and the practice of appointing specialists of law was established. Within the purview of these specialists of law came the entire field of customary law, existing practices, religious and the rules of Islamic law. + Thus the scope of law was widened. It was in this period that new social situations, new social conditions demanded new sets of rules. The Kazis of the Umadayyas period were the first muftis of Islam. « These Specialists constituted the ancient schools of law.» These specialists were the private individuals who were held high in esteem by the people and the rulers because of their profound learning and knowledge. » These schools took the Koranic teachings seriously. » The feature of these schools is that they developed the theory of the living traditions of the schools. Modern Schools of law Modern School » The first broad division is between the schools of Sunnis and Shias Laws. » There are 4 recognised schools of Sunni Law. » They are: Hanafi Schools also known as the Kufa school, named after the founder, Imam Abu Hanifa; . Maliki School also known as the Madina School, named after its founder Maliki-Ibn-Anas. Shafi school named after its founder Imam Shafi and Hanbal School founded by Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. All these schools are also known as orthodox schools.The Hanafi School » Abu Hanifa an-Numan Ibn Thabit was bom in A.H. 80 (699-767 AD), during the reign of the Umaiyad Caliph, Abdul Malik. » Abu Hanifa was offered the office of the Kazi of Kufa. » He declined the offer. Therefore he was tortured by the Governor. | » He was put behind the bars for the same reason and he died there, > During the time of Abu Hanifa, the jurists were divided into 2 groups:- Jurist of Hijaz - called upholders of the traditions Jurist of Iraq - upholders of private opinion. » Abu Hanifa belonged to the second group. » He was initiated into legal learning by the great Imam Jafar- as-Sadik, the founder of the Shia school. » He was the follower of Abu Abdullah Ibn-ul-Mubarak and Hamid bin-Sulaiman. » He was endowed with remarkable powers of reasoning and deductions. He was very clear in his mind and thoughts. > His contribution to the Muslim Jurisprudence was outstanding as he laid down the theories and principles of Muslim jurisprudence, and truly he was called the founder of Muslim jurisprudence. » He reinforced: the doctrine of the kiyas and gave it new dimensions. » He was also the propounder of istihsan (equity). He was given the title of upholder of private judgment ppellate to Great Imam. » He gave preference to the Koran and the Sunna as the main sources of law at the same time he gave equal importance to the ijma and the kiyas. » Abu Hanifa’s two disciples Abu Yusuf (who became the Chief Kazi of Baghdad) and Muhammad Ash- Shaybani, further developed the legal thought of their master. > Abu Yusuf put more reliance on traditions than his master had done. » But he changed his opinions so frequently that he was known to be inconsistent.» Shaybani was the disciple of both Abu Hanifa and Abu Yusuf. >» He emphasized tradition even much more than Abu Yusuf did. »>He used some or the other tradition as a convenient device in support of his own systematic reasoning. >» Thus, under the cloak of traditions, what he propounded was strict analogy or systematic reasoning. The Maliki School » In the great city of Medina was born a great jurist by the name of Malik Ibn Anas. » At Madina, he devoted himself to leaming the traditional scholarship. » He is regarded as the greatest exponent of traditions and one of the greatest authorities on the Hadis. » He was not merely a tradionalist but a jurist of a very high order. » Malik’s jurisprudence lays emphasis on the Koran and the sunna, the sunna of the Prophet. » When the traditions came into conflict with each other that he had recourse to the ijma, but again he relied on the ijma of the mujtahids of Madina exclusively. » He also recognised Muslahat (public welfare) i.e. Jurist to deduce law on the basis of general consideration of public good. » To the four sources of Muslim law, he added one more ice. istadlal, principle of logical deduction. » Mailik’s book Kitab-al-Muwatta systematized the law. » Another important work is Muwatta which is a record of his teachings compiled by his disciples.THE SHAFI SCHOOL School was founded by Muhammad Ibn Idris ash- » The Shafi Safi. » He was a follower of Malik Ibn Anas. > He was a traditionalist, yet he gave impo reasoning. > He was the founder of the science of usul. » He perfected the doctrine of ijma. >» He was in agreement with Malik as to istadlal (principle of logical deduction) as a fifth source of law. >» He made a sharp distinction between the rules emerging from the traditions of the Prophet, and systematic reasoning and in fact he closely blended both the rules and thus he was radition-bound and systematic. tance to legal » He was responsible for the doctrine of Qiyas but he ruled that an analogy may be based rightly on the Koran or Hadis or Ijma. He established Ijma as a source of law. » He recognised only the sunna of the Prophet. » He was attached to the traditions of the Prophet. » He rejected the doctrine of taqlid. > Muzani, a disciple of Shafi, com i iscipl is posed his work Mukht i cha which s based on the basic doctrine of » Shafi’s most famous work is kitab-al-umm, » There are several works on the Shafi ; n i school, the most napeus of them are Hajar’s Tuhfat-al-Muhtaj and il ajat al-Muhtaj of Ramli, both commentaries of Nawavi’s Minhaj al Talibin and Al Ghazzali’s Al-WajizTHE HANBALI SCHOOL » Abu Abdullah Ahmed Ibn Hanbal was one of the prominent scholars who sat at the feet of ‘Ash-Shafi. » Born at Baghdad, Hanbal studied law and traditions under other masters also. » He specialized in traditions and became one of the prominent traditionalists. > Theology was his forte. As a theologist and a traditionalist, his reputation spread far and wide. » Some people regard Hanbal as more of a saint and a traditionalist rather than a lawyer. > Hanbal gave little importance to the ijma and analogy » He solely relied on the traditions of the Prophet. >» He was fanatically unbending and rigid. He would compromise with nothing. » The Hanbali scholars tried to elaborate the doctrine and they had to recognize consensus as well as analogy. » It was the great Hanbal scholar Ibn Taymiyya, who once again purified the doctrine and rejected the consensus of the scholars. » He rejected the taqlid and started interpreting the Koran and the Hadis afresh. » The Wahabis were the followers of the Hanbali school. > They accepted his legal theory, including his theological doctrines and his rejection of taqlid. > Hanbal was the author of several treaties. The important ones are Musnad al-Imam Hanbal, Taat-ur- Rasul and Kitab-ul-Alal. » Muwaffak al-Din wrote the most exhaustive book on the Hanbali doctrines.ZAHIRI AND ABU THAWR SCHOOLS > There are so; ion toad 8 pean bat froma iain not taken its name from a » is Was an : and school niet Teen school af Abu Thaw, » By 1300 A.D only the four school: is on Is of the Si i, Hanafi, the Mailki, the Shafi and the Hanbali suvivede °° ee Shia School » Three dominant schools of Shia are: The Zaydis, after Imam Zayd . The Ismailis, the follower of Imam Ismail at-Maktum, also known as Seveners, and . The Ithna Asharis also known as the Twelvers. THE SHIA SCHOOLS » Imam Jafar as-Sadik was the sixth Imam (supreme law giver) of Imamias. > He founded the Shia school. > Shias do not accept any tradition which does not emanate from the household of the Prophet. » They also do not accept Kiyas. » According to them, the Imam is the final interpreter of » ky Ijma could be valid only when it is not possible to consult the Imam. * » The Shias do not accord recognition to equity, public policy, public goods or analogy.» The term Shia is abbreviation of Shiat Ali » It represents that faction of ie Prophet, atta Ophet and the Muslims, which after ched itself to Ali, the son- Considered him to be their > The Shias i i . the Prophet Ali to be the Tightful successor of > They do not Tecognise the first three calinhs ; Bakt, Omar and Osman, caliphs. ie. Abu >» The Shias have been Continuously plagued by the dynastic troubles. » The first dynastic trouble arose after the death of the fourth Imam, Zaynul Abidin. » One faction of the Shias accepted Zayd, a son of the fourth Imam as their Imam. Thus, came into existence the first school of law of the Shias. » Zayd is the author of the Majmu-ul-Flaq. » After the death of Imam Jafar, the sixth Imam, dissensions and dynastic troubles cropped up again. » The majority of the Shias followed Musa Kazim, This sect or school came to be known as the Ithna Ashari School. It is also known as Twelvers. » There are numerous works belonging to this school, the most famous being Shar-ai-ul-Islam,> The minority of the Shias, after the death of Jafar, followed Ismail, the elder son of Imam Jafar: Consequently they are known as the Ismailis and their School is known as Ismaili School. » They are also known as the Seveners. » i leading work of the Ismaili School is the Daaimul- slam. » It is also known as Fatimidi School. » In India, Ismailis are divided into two groups: i. The Khojas, they are also known as Eastern Ismailis and are followers of H.H. the Agha Khan, who is their 49 Imam, and The Boharas, who are also known as the Western Ismailis. Conclusion > The Sunni Schools are: (1)The Hanafi School also known as Kufa School named after Imam Abu Hanifa. It is the oldest school and it lays emphais on the kiyas as a source of law. (2) The Madina or Maliki School, named after its founder, Malik Ibn Anas. It Tejects the Kiyas and emphasises the traditions and the Ijma. (3) The Shafi School, founded by Imam Muhammad Ibn Idris Ash- Shafi, was the protagonist and the Propounder of the classical theory of Ismalic jurisprudence. He perfected the doctrine of Ijma and founded the science of Usul. (4) The Hanbali School, founded by Ahmed Ibn Hanbal laid stress on the importance of the traditions or the Sunna.> The Shias also spilt into three schools: (1) The first spilt took place after the death of the fourth Imam, Zaynul-Abdin, whose son, Zayd was accepted as the Imam by some of the Shias and thus arose the Zaydi School. (2) After the death of the Imam Jafar, another split took place among the Shias. The majority followed Imam Musa Kazim. His followers are known as. the Twelvers or the Ithana Ashari School. (3) The minority followed Ismail, the elder brother of Imam Musa Kazim. Thus came into existence the third school, the Ismail School. The followers of this school are known as the Seveners.