Fiqhof5Pillars

Comparingthelegalrules(ahkam-ishar’iyya)inMalikiandShafischools(e.g.,itiswajib,mandub,makruh…)withtheHanafischoolofthought.

BY HYDER GU LAM

MASTERS I N I S LAM I C S TUD I ES

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ObjectivesAttheendofthispresentation,theaudienceshouldbeabletolearn:

•thehistoryoftheSunnischoolsofIslamiclaw;

•thelegalrulesintheMaliki,ShafiandHanafischoolsofthoughtpertainingtoaliableMuslim(mukallaf);

•identifyandcomparethedifferencesintheMalikiandShafischools,withtheHanafischool;

•CriticismofImamAbuHanifa;

•themercyindifferencebetweentheschools.

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DefinitionsAkham:TheArabicwordhukm(pl.akham)literalmeans“acommand”.ThehukmisaruleofIslamlaw.

ThetypesoflegalrulesareAkham-i-Shariah.Itcomesintobeingthroughtheoperationofthreeelements:

1.Truesourcefromwhichthehukmoriginates– theoriginalsourceisGod.

2.Theactwhichthehukmoperates(iefard,wajib,sunnahetc).

3.AliablepersonwithinIslamiclaw(mukallaf),forwhose conductthehukmisstipulated.

Themukallaf mustbe(a)Muslim,(b),reachedpuberty (maturityand(c)bementallyandphysicallyhealthyiecompetent.

Madhab:meansagroupofstudents, legists,judgesandjuristswhohadadoptedthedoctrineofaparticularleadingjurists,suchasAbuHanifa,andwhichhasdistinctivecharacteristics.

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MadhabsInthefirst150yearsofIslam,therewerenumerousmadhabs,mostofwhichhavebecomeobsolete.

AsoftheAmmanMessage,eightareofficiallyacknowledgedbytheleadersoftheinternationalMuslimcommunity:

*fiveSunnischools(includingtheZahiri);

*twoShiaschools(Ja’fari,andZaidi);and

*theIbadischool.

Reference:http://ammanmessage.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=99&Itemid=64

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ShafiSchoolofLawSchool of Islamic law founded by Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-Abbas ibn Uthman ibn Shafii (767 — 820 CE / 150 — 204 AH) in the eighth century. Prominent in Egypt, Palestine, and Jordan with a significant number of followers in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Hejaz, Pakistan, India, and Indonesia and among Sunnis in Iran and Yemen. Official school for Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt, and prominent during the Mamluk regime that followed. Displaced by the Hanafi school there when the Ottomans occupied Egypt in 1517. Combined knowledge of fiqh as practiced in Iraq with that of Hejaz. Considers hadith superior to customary doctrines of earlier schools in formulation of Islamic law. Denies preference (istishan) as source of law.

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MalikiSchoolofLawSchool of law attributed to Malik ibn Anas al-Asbahi (711–795 CE/93–179 AH) in the eighth century in the Arabian Peninsula. Originally referred to as the School of Hejaz or the School of Medina. Predominant in North Africa and significantly present in Upper Egypt, Sudan, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait. Characterized by strong emphasis on hadith; many doctrines are attributed to early Muslims such as Muhammad's wives, relatives, and Companions. A distinguishing feature of the Maliki school is its reliance on the practice of the Companions in Medina as a source of law. Additionally, Malik was known to have used ray (personal opinion) and qiyas (analogy).

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HanafiSchoolofLawIslamic school of legal thought (madhhab) whose origins are attributed to Abu Hanifah (80 AH/699 CE – 150 AH/767 CE) in Kufa, Iraq, in the eighth century. Most widespread school in Islamic law, followed by roughly one-third of the world's Muslims. Dominant in the Abbasid caliphate and the Ottoman Empire. Remains the dominant legal authority in successor states for personal status and religious observances. Uses reason, logic, opinion (ray), analogy (qiyas), and preference (istihsan) in the formulation of laws. Legal doctrines are relatively liberal, particularly with respect to personal freedom and women's rights in contracting marriages. First school to formulate contract rules for business transactions involving resale for profit and payment for goods for future delivery.

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*HanbaliSchoolofLawIslamic school of legal thought (madhhab) whose origins are attributed to Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855 CE) in ninth-century Baghdad. The official school in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with many adherents in Palestine, Syria, and Iraq. Recognizes as sources of law: the Quran, hadith, fatwas of Muhammad's Companions, sayings of a single Companion, traditions with weaker chains of transmission or lacking the name of a transmitter in the chain, and reasoning by analogy (qiyas) when absolutely necessary. Encourages the practice of independent reasoning (ijtihad) through study of the Quran and hadith. Rejects taqlid, or blind adherence to the opinions of other scholars, and advocates a literal interpretation of textual sources. Ritualistically, the Hanbali school is the most conservative of the Sunni law schools, but it is the most liberal in most commercial matters. gal theory Came to accept Usul al-Fiqh as elaborated by the Shafiʿi School of Law and Hanafi School of LawPopular in Iraq and Syria until the 14th century, the traditionalist Ḥanbalī legal approach was revived in the 18th century through the teachings of Ibn Taymīyah (1263–1328) in the Wahhābīyah movement of central Arabia. This madhhab has since become the official legal school of 20th-century Saudi Arabia.

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*Ja’fariSchoolofLawJaʿfarī jurisprudence or Jaʿfarī Fiqh is the school of jurisprudence of most Shi'a Muslims, derived from the name of Imam Jaʿfar as-Ṣādiq, the 6th Shi'a Imam. This school of jurisprudence is followed by Twelvers, Alevis and Ismailis in general, as well as a small minority of Zaidis.

It differs from the four or sometimes Five Schools or madhhabs of Sunni jurisprudence in its reliance on ijtihad, as well as on matters of inheritance, religious taxes, commerce, personal status etc. However, despite these differences, there have been numerous fatwas regarding the acceptance of Jaʿfarī fiqh as an acceptable Muslim madhab by Sunni religious bodies. These include the Amman Message and a fatwa by Al-Azhar.

Popular in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, East Africa and through put the Muslim diaspora.

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LegalRules:Hanafi

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Sunnazawa’id

Fard-Iayni Fard-i-kifai

LegalRules:ShafiandMaliki

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Maliki/

ImamAbuHanifaTheaccusationabout ImamAbuHanifaabandoninghadith appearstohavebeenformulatedwhilsthewasstillalive(AbuZahra,2005).

Theadherentsofhadith criticisedAbuHanifaandmadeaccusationsabouthim,themostsignificantwasthathe irreverentlydisregardedthehadith.However,aquickperusaloftheargumentsoftheadherentstohadith werethattheywerenot lookingtounderstandthefiqhofImamAbuHanifabutratherattackingtheperson.

AsestablishedbyAbu-Mu’ayyadMuhammadibnMahmudal-Khwarazmi(593AH/1197CE– 655AH/1257CE),thereexistedatleastfifteenoftheearliermusnads(collectionofHadiths)ofImamAbuHanifa(Yusuf,2007).

Ifoneistobelieveandacceptthegroundsregardingtheaccusationabout ImamAbuHanifaabandoninghadith andusinghispersonalopinion,onemustdisregardhischaracter.Animpossibletaskwhenoneisremindedthat ImamAbuHanifaisheldinhighesteembymanyofhiscontemporaries,hisstudents, historians,scholarsandMuslimsaroundtheworld(Dickinson,1996)..

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Questions?

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a. Isthereamercyintermsofthedifferenceinthelegalrulesformthevariousschools?

b. Shouldwefollowaschool,ifsowhy?IsthereanoverarchingschooloflawinAustralia?

References:

AbuZahra,M.(2005).ThefourImams. India:Premierpublishingcompany.

al-Jiiziri,A.(2009).IslamicJurisprudenceAccordingtotheFourSunniSchools:Al-Fiqh'Alaal-Madhahibal-Arba'ah-VolumeIActsofWorship.Louisville,Kentucky:FonsVitae.

al-Misri,A.(1994).RelianceoftheTravellers:aclassicmanualofIslamicsacredlaw(translatedbyNuhhaMimKeller).Evanston,Il,USA:SunnaBooks.

Alkhateeb,F.(2014).LostIslamichistory:reclaimingMuslimcivilisationfromthepast.London:HurstandCompany.

As-Safadi,M.(2004).ThemercyinthedifferenceofthefourSunnischoolsofIslamiclaw.London:DarAlTaqwa.

Auda,J.(2008).MaqasidAl-ShariahasphilosophyofIslamicLaw:asystemsapproach.InternationalInstituteofIslamicThought

Brown,J.A.C.(2014).MisquotingMuhammad: ThechallengesandchoicesofinterpretingtheProphet’slegacy.London:OneworldPublications.

Dickinson,E.(1996).AḥmadB.al-ṢaltandHisBiographyofAbūḤanīfa.JournaloftheAmericanOrientalSocietyVol.116,No.3,pp.406-417.Retrievedfrom:http://www.jstor.org/stable/605146

Dogan,R.(2015).FivepillarsofIslam.SanClemente:FBPublishing.

Dogan,R.(2014).AhkamShar’i(ValuesofIslamicLaw).InUsulal-FiqhmethodologyofIslamicjurisprudence.Clifton,NJ.:TughraBooks.

Esposito,J.L.(ed)(2003).TheOxfordDictionaryofIslam. OxfordUniversityPressPrintPublication.CurrentOnlineVersion:2014DOI:10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001eISBN:9780199891207

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References:

Gomaa,A.(2011). Reasoning from thetradition.Louisville, Kentucky: Fons Vitae.

Hallaq,W.(2012). Shari’a: Theory, practicetransformations. NewYork:Cambridge University Press.

IbnRusd (1996).Thedistinguished jurist’s primer (volume two)(TranslatedbyImranAhsanKhanNyazee).Reading,UK:GarnetPublishing.

Keller,N.H.M.(2012). Al-Nawawi’s manual ofIslam.Cambridge: TheIslamic TextsSociety, p.vii.

Laldin,M.A.(2011). Introduction toshari’ah andIslamic jurisprudence (3rdedition). Kuala Lumpur: CERTPublications.

Makdisi, G.(1979). Thesignificance oftheSunni schools ofLawinIslamic religious history. International Journal ofMiddle EasternStudies, 10,1,(Feb 1979), pp.1-8.

Nyazee,I.A.K.(2003). Islamic jurisprudence. Selangor, Malaysia:TheOtherPress

Unknown author.Fiqh asasocial construction: Developing thediscipline ofFiqh (session Three).Fromhttp://media.leidenuniv.nl/legacy/ppt0000007.pdf accessedon 17July 2015.

Weeramantry, C.G.(1988). Islamicjurisprudence: aninternational perspective. London: PalgraveMacmillan.

Yusuf, A-R.(2007). Fiqh-al-Imam: keyproofs inHanafifiqh. California: White threadPress.

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End“Ourschooliscorrectwiththepossibilityoferror,andanotherschoolisinerrorwiththepossibilityofbeingcorrect”AbuHafsNasafi(12th century,CentralAsianHanafischolar)

"WisdomisthelostpropertyoftheBeliever,lethimclaimitwhereverhefindsit"ImamAli(as)

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