Schools of Muslim Law

Schools of Muslim Law:

There are two main schools of Muslim law: 1) Sunni school 2) Shia School.

The majority of Muslims are Sunnis and hence it is presumed that the parties to a suit are Sunnis unless proved otherwise. After demise of the prophet raised a momentous question: one party advocated the principle of succession, while another pressed the election of the successor. The difference between the two lies in political events, not in law or jurisprudence.

Since it was inevitable for jurists to interpret all sources differently, conflicting interpretations often emerged. Consequently, these differences of opinions led to the creation of various schools of law. Although there are differences of opinions amongst these schools, the Muslim world considers all of them to be correct. Thus, no school has more prominence over another.

1) Shia School:

The supporters of succession to the office by inheritance to the prophet are known as Shias. The Shias advocated that the office should go by the right of succession and thus the Imamat i.e. headship should be confined to prophet’s own family as his nominees. This group was represented by Fatima, daughter of the prophet and then Ali, son-in-law of the prophet became the Caliph of the Shia group.

Shia Sub-Schools:

The Shias are divided into the following three sub-schools:

a) The Ithna – Ashriyah:

They follow the ‘Ithna- Ashriyah’ law. The great majority of the Shias in India follow this of law. Their important text is ‘Shar’ya-ul-Islam’.

The followers of this School can be found in India, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan. This School was also called the Imamiyah School. This School believed in a Muta i.e. ‘temporary marriage’.

This School further subdivided itself into two:

Akbaris Sect– they follow a modern form of legal deductions and reasoning when there requires an interpretation. The traditions by the Imams hold vital importance while following this Sect. This Sect as the name suggests come from the word Akhbari which is derived from the word news and newspaper.

Usuli Sect – Which is in quite a dominance as compared to the Akbaris. This School believed in the true sources of Muslim Law. The Quran, the hadiths and the Ijmas. The word Usuli essentially means theory of jurisprudence. Meaning that the School relies on the jurisprudential principles.

b) The Ismaili:

The Khojas and Boharas of Bombay belong to this School. The followers of this School can be found in Pakistans, India and Syria. The School refers to the Nizaris who acknowledged Aga Khan the fourth as a true Imam. However, there was a division in this Sect since the ‘Khojas’ who were actually Hindus and ‘Bohras’ the other sub-Sect believed that the true Imam was different for the two Sects. The issue arose when Jafar inherited his eldest son and therefore did not believe him to be the true and divine Imam.

This Sect as a whole believed that God is one and the teachings of the prophet were vital and followed the same as well.

c) Zaidvs:

They do not exist in India, and are to be found mostly in South Arabia. The followers of this School are majorly found in Yemen only. The name of this School is from Zayd Ibn Ali who was the son of the fourth Imam. The name of the fourth Imam was Ali Ibn Husain. This School believed in responsibility and political uprise. It was believed that untrue and un-divine leaders should be revolted against.

This School is very similar to the teachings of the Sunni Muslims. Also, they believed that the Muslims should follow the true successor of the Prophet Mohammed and since Faithma was the surviving daughter only her sons should be true Imams of Muslim community.

d) Motazila School

The followers of this School are in minority and can be found in Iran. This School arose out of a different Sect. It does not co-relate itself to either of the two Sect either Sunni Sect or the Shia Sect. These Muslims were although defectors of the Shia sect. This Sect was founded by Al-Gazzal.

The followers of this Sect believed in true divine justice and unity and believed that evil could be overpowered by the good and that the Quran itself can only be the truest and divine source to overcome evil from the society

2) Sunni School:

The supporters of the principle of election came to be called Sunnis. The Sunnis advocated the principle of election by the Jamat and chose out their Imam by means of votes. The majority of Muslims suggested that there should be election to choose successor of the prophet. This group was led by Ayesha Begum, the youngest wife of the prophet. This group then lead by Abu Bakr as the Caliph.

Sub Schools or Sub-Sects:

a) Hanafi:

This is the most famous school of Sunni law. Abu Hanifa was the founder of this school. Abu Hanifa placed little reliance on the oral traditions, which had not yet been reduced to writing and laid more stress on Ijma and Istehsan. He recognised the authority of the custom (urf) also. It is followed by Muslims in the Levant, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Western lower Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Balkans, Russia etc. There are movements within this school such as Barelvis, Deobandis, Tabliqui Jamaat, which are all concentrated in South Asia and in most parts of the India. The Prophet had disallowed codification of his words and sayings; hence whenever the Quran did not explain something, this school relied on the Prophet’s traditions.

The Hedaya is the most authoritative book of this school. It covers topics like inheritance as well as succession amongst followers of this school. Sirajiyya is also an important work in this regard. The Hanafi school is the most followed school amongst all schools of Muslim law and the Muslims in India. Thus, whenever courts have to interpret Islamic law principles, they generally rely first on this school. The Hanafi school relies on Ijma (interpretations of jurists)

b) Maliki:

It was founded by Malik Ibn Anas. Malik leaned more upon traditions and the usages of the prophet and the precedents established by his companions. The powers of the head of the family over his wife’s property and over his children are the main features of this school. It is followed by Muslims in North Africa, West Africa, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Upper Egypt, some parts of Europe, etc. Murabitun world movement follows this school.

It originates almost to the same period as the Hanafi school but it flourished first in the city of Madina. the Maliki school originates from Sunna and Hadis. These two important sources give importance to the sayings, teachings, customs and traditions of Prophet Mohammed. Imam Malik had personally collected information on thousands of recorded traditions of the Prophet. Then he codified most of them in a book, which is the most prominent Hadis today. Although there are very few followers of this school, Indian laws have derived and codified some of their provisions.

It is the only school in which a married woman is not the complete mistress of her own property. Maliki School believed that in a marriage a wife was incapable of owning and maintaining her personal properties and therefore, according to him all the property of the wife in the marriage should be owned and maintained by her husband due to this disability. This School had a very different and unique view with regards to the property and no other Schools had such an outlook.

c) Shafei:

Imam Md Ibn Idris ash-Shafei was the founder of this school. He was noted for his balance of judgement and moderation of views. He relied more upon traditions than Abu Hanifa but less than his master Malik. He was the founder of the doctrine of Qiyas which must base upon Quran, Hadith and Ijam. The doctrines of this school are less favourable to womwn. There are very few followers of this school may be found in Indonesia, Malaysia, South East Asia, Eastern lower Egypt, Somalia, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Yemen, India, Brunei etc.

The Shafei school is basically a combination of the Maliki school and the Hanafi school. Ijma, i.e. the interpretations of jurists is the most important source of law in the Shafei school. It also relies on the customs of the Muslim people. The Qiya source of law, which depends on analogical interpretations by people, originates from this school.

This School further stated that the wife in the matrimony was not a free tool or device. However, in cases of marriage and all even if she is an adult she needs to take the permission of her parent or guardian to guide her in such matters.

d) Hanbali:

It was founded by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal. He laid much stress on traditions and allowd very narrow margin to the doctrine of analogy. This fourth and the latest of the jurists, was a saintly reactionary and his teaching was characterised by blind reliance on tradition. It is followed by Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, etc. Salafist movement follows this school.

Imam Hanbal rejected the relying on Qiyas and insisted on going back to Sunna and Hadis to interpret the Quran and other laws. This was because in his opinion the teachings and traditions of Prophet Mohammed matter more than peoples’ interpretations. As a result, Imam Hanbal collected thousands of Hadis and codified them in his book, Musnath.

e) Lahiri:

The Lahiri school was founded by Dawud Al Zahiri. It is followed in Pakistan, Morocco, Mesopotamia, Portugal, Balearic Island, North Africa, Spain, etc.

Thus these are the various schools of Islamic law across the world. All these schools follow the principles laid in Quran and Quran is the only authority for all of these.

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