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The brief

Introduction to the

Life and Fiqh

Methodologies of theFour Imams of Ahl al-

Sunnah

By

Abu Abdullah Irfan Jameel al-Hanbali

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The Life of Imam Abu Hanifa The GreatImam and master of Fiqh

The understanding of the laws and code of conduct of Islam is something that hasconstantly been evolving throughout Islamic history. The first generations of

Muslims after the Rasullullah had a much easier time understanding what isexpected out of them as Muslims because they had access to the Sahaba, the

companions of the Rasullullah . As history progressed, however, a need aroseto codify Islamic laws into organized and easy to access law codes.

The first person who undertook this monumental task was the great scholar ImamAbu Hanifa. Through his efforts, the first school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence),the Hanafi school, developed. Today, the Hanafi School is the largest and mostinfluential among the four schools (madhhabs) of fiqh.

Early Life and EducationAbu Hanifas given name was Numan ibn Thabit. He was born in 699 in the Iraqicity of Kufa, to a family of Persian origin. His father, Thabit, was a successfulbusinessman in Kufa and thus the young Abu Hanifa intended to follow in hisfathers footsteps. Living under the oppressive reign of the governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, Abu Hanifa stayed focused on running the family silk-making

business and generally steered clear of scholarship. With the death of al-Hajjaj in713 came the removal of oppressive policies regarding scholars, and Islamicscholarship soared in Kufa, especially during the reign of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz(717-720).

Thus, by his teenage years, Abu Hanifa began to study under some of the residentscholars of Kufa. He even got the opportunity to meet between eight and ten

companions of Rasullullah , among them Anas ibn Malik, Sahl ibn Sad, andJabir ibn Abdullah. After learning from some of the greatest scholars of Kufa, hewent on to study in Makkah and Madinah under numerous teachers, namely Ataibn Abu Rabah, who was known as one of the greatest scholars of Makkah at thetime.

He soon became an expert in the sciences of fiqh (Jurisprudence), Tafsir(exegesis of the Quran), and Kalam (seeking theological knowledge through debateand reason). In fact, the concept of using debate and logic became a cornerstone ofhis methodology for seeking Islamic laws.

His School of Fiqh

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The Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque in Baghdad

Imam Abu Hanifa was a firm believer that a code of laws cannot stay static for toolong, at the risk of no longer meeting the needs of the people. Thus he advocated

interpreting the sources of Islamic law (usul al-fiqh) in response to the needs of thepeople at the time. This dynamic form of legalism did not supersede the Quran

and Sunnah (sayings and doings of the Rasullullah ), of course. Instead, hepromoted the use of the Quran and Sunnah to derive laws that addressed theissues that people dealt with at that time.

A major aspect of his methodology was the use of debate to derive rulings. Hewould commonly pose a legal issue to a group of about 40 of his students, andchallenge them to come up with a ruling based on the Quran and Sunnah. Students

would at first attempt to find the solution in the Quran, if it was not clearly

answered in the Quran, they would turn to the Sunnah, and if it was not there, theywould use reason to find a logical solution.

Abu Hanifa based this methodology on the example when Rasullullah sentMuadh ibn Jabal to Yemen and asked him how he will resolve issues using Islamiclaw. Muadh responded that he would look into the Quran, then the Sunnah, and ifhe does not find a direct solution there, he would use his best judgement, an

answer that Rasullullah was pleased with.

Using such a process for codifying fiqh, the Hanafi madhhab (school of law) was

thus founded, based on the rulings of Imam Abu Hanifa, and his prominentstudents, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad al-Shaybani, and Zuffar. It became the first

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codified madhhab, through the main book of Abu Hanifas legal opinions, al-Fiqhal-Akbar.

His Legacy

A map of the distribution of madhhabs worldwide today. The Hanafi madhhab isin light green.

Numerous times throughout his later life, Abu Hanifa was offered a position asa chief judge in the city of Kufa. He consistently refused such appointments andthus found himself regularly imprisoned by both the Umayyad and later, the

Abbasid authorities. He died in the year 767 while in prison.

A masjid was built in his honour in Baghdad years later, and was renovated in theOttoman period by the monumental architect Mimar Sinan.His school of law became very popular in the Muslim world not long after hisdeath. As the official madhhab of the Abbasid, Mughal, and Ottoman Empires, hisschool became very influential throughout the Muslim world. Today, it is verypopular in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, the Balkans, Egypt, and the Indian Subcontinent.

Students of Imam Abu Hanifa & Their Books

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Abu Hanifah wrote many books, and his students also authored many importantbooks on Islam. The books of Abu Hanifah include Fiqh ul-Akbar and Al Alim-

wal-Mutaallim.

Some of the famous books of those who followed his Madhhab include, but arenot limited to the following:

Al Kharaj (Fiqh on Islamic Economic System) by Qadi Abu Yusuf Al Mabsoot by As-Sarkhasi (Fiqh)

Badaee as-Sanaee by Al-Kasaani (Fiqh) Fathul Qadeer by Kamal ibn Humam (Fiqh) Kitab-ul Usul-ul Fiqh by Al Bazdawi (Usul al-Fiqh) Muwatta by Muhammad al-Shaybani (Hadith) Kitab-ul-Aathar by Yusuf bin Abu Yusuf (Hadith)

Sources of Law used by the Hanafi MadhhabThe early jurists of this Madhhab deduced Islamic laws from the following sources,which are listed in the order of their importance:

1. The QuraanThey considered the Quraan to be the primary unquestionable source of Islamic

law. In fact it was used to determine the accuracy of the other sources. Accordinglyany other source that contradicted the Quraan was considered inaccurate.

2. The SunnahThe Sunnah was consulted as the second most important source of Islamic law,but with some qualification as to its use. They stipulated that it was not sufficientthat a Hadeeth be accurate (Saheeh), but it had to be also widely known (Mash-hoor), if it was to be used as a legal proof. This condition was laid down as asafeguard against false Hadeeths which were cropping up frequently in that region

where only a few notable Sahaabah had settled (Alee and Ibn Masood).

3. Ijmaa of the SahaabahThird is importance as a source of Islamic law was the unanimous opinion of theSahaabah on any point of law not specified in the Quraan or the Sunnah. That is,Ijmaa of the Sahaabah on any point of law not specified in the Quraan or theSunnah. That is, Ijmaa of the Sahaabah was given precedence over the personalopinions of Abu Haneefah and his students in their deduction of Islamic law. TheHanafi Madhhab also accepts the Ijmaa of Muslim scholars of any age as valid andbinding on Muslims.

4. Individual opinion of the Sahaabah

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If there were different opinions among the Sahaabah on a particular point of lawand no Ijmaa was subsequently formed, Abu Haneefah would choose the opinion

which appeared most appropriate to the case in question. In establishing this as avital principle of his Madhhab, Abu Haneefah again gave more weight to the

opinions of the Sahaabah than to his own. However, he did apply his ownreasoning in a limited sense by choosing one of their various opinions.

5. Qiyaas (Analogical deduction)Abu Haneefah felt no obligation to accept the deductions of the students of theSahaabah (Taabioon) in areas where no clear proof was available from any of theabove mentioned sources. He considered himself the equal of the Taabioon and

would make his own Ijtihaad based on the principles of Qiyaas which he and hisstudents established.

6. Istihsaan (Preference)Istihsaan, in short, is the preference of one proof over another proof because itappears more suitable, even though the preferred proof may be technically weakerthan the one it is preferred to. This may involve the preference of a Hadeeth whichis specific over a general one, or it may even involve the preference of a moresuitable law over the one deduced by Qiyaas.

7. Urf (Local Custom)Local customs were given legal weight in areas where there were no binding

Islamic customs available. It was through the application of this principle thatvarious customs found in the multiplicity of cultures within the Islamic worldentered the legal system and became mistakenly classified as Islamic.

Followers of the Hanafi MadhhabThose who now follow the Hanafi Madhhab are found mostly in India,Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Guyana, Trinidad, and Surinam and tosome extent Egypt. When the Ottoman rulers codified Islamic law according to

the Hanafi Madhhab in the nineteenth century CE and made it state law, anyscholar who aspired to be a judge was obliged to learn it. As a result, the Madhhabspread throughout the Ottoman Islamic State during the last Part of the nineteenthcentury.

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Imam Malik The Imam of Ahl al-Madinah

The collection and codification of Islamic law has historically been one of the mostimportant, and challenging, tasks that the Muslim community has undertaken in

1400 years of history. To be considered afaqih(an expert in Islamic law fiqh),one must have mastery of the Quran, the sayings of Rasullullah , othersources of law, as well as other subjects such as grammar and history. One of thegiants of Islamic law was the 8th century scholar of Madinah, Malik ibn Anas. At atime when the Muslim community desperately needed the sciences of fiqh and

hadith (sayings and doings of Rasullullah ) to be organized, Imam Malik roseto the occasion. His legacy is manifest in his continued influence throughout theMuslim world, both through his own works and the works of those he helpedguide on a path of scholarship and devotion to Islam.

Early Life and EducationImam Malik was born in 711 in the city of Madinah, 79 years after the death

of Rasullullah in that same city. His family was originally from Yemen, buthis grandfather had moved to Madinah during the reign of Umar ibn al-Khattab.Both his father and grandfather had studied religious sciences under the

Companions of the Rasullullah who still lived in Madinah, and thus youngMalik was raised in an environment that was based on Islamic scholarship, learning

from his father and uncle.

Imam Maliks uncle, Nafi, was an eminent scholar in his own right, and narratedhadith from Aisha, Abu Hurayrah, and Abdullah ibn Umar, all companions whoare noted for their vast knowledge of hadith. Although the political centre of theMuslim world shifted away from Madinah during the caliphate of Ali in the 650s, itremained the intellectual capital of Islam. In this capital of Islamic knowledge,Imam Malik mastered the sciences of hadith, Tafsir (interpretation of the Quran),and fiqh.

The Scholar of MadinahAfter an immense amount of study that extended into his 20s and 30s, Imam Malikbecame known as the most learned man in Madinah at his time. He became ateacher, attracting a huge number of students to lectures, which he held in the

mosque of the Rasullullah . He used to sit on the pulpit of the mosque withthe Quran in one hand and a collection of hadith in the other and offer legalrulings and opinions based on those two sources.

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Students flocked to his lectures from all corners of the Muslim world. Among hismore notable students were Abu Yusuf, Muhammad al-Shaybani (they were AbuHanifahs two most important students as well), and Imam al-Shafii.

Imam Malik held his classes in the Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah

The most unique aspect of Imam Maliks methodology in fiqh was his reliance onthe practices of the people of Madinah as a source of law. In the study of fiqh,

there are numerous sources that are used to derive laws. The first and second mostimportant sources are always the Quran and Sunnah. After those two, however,the great scholars of fiqh differed on the next most important source of law. ImamMalik believed that the practices of the people of Madinah should be seen as animportant source.

His reasoning for this was that Madinah at that time was not far removed from the

Madinah of Rasullullah . It had been spared the political and social upheavalthat much of the rest of the Muslim world dealt with. And the people living in thecity had been taught Islam by their ancestors who had been Companions of

the Rasullullah or students of the Companions. He thus reasoned that ifallofthe people of Madinah practiced a particular action and it did not contradict the

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Quran and Sunnah, then it can be taken as a source of law. He is unique among thefour great imams of fiqh in this opinion.

In order to ease the study of fiqh and hadith, Imam Malik compiled a book known

as the al-Muwatta. This was the first book that attempted to compile only soundand reliable sayings of Rasullullah into one book. Imam Malik said that heshowed his book to seventy scholars in Madinah, who all approved it, thus he gaveit the name al-Muwatta, meaning The Approved.

Al-Muwattawas a landmark book. It helped establish the science of hadith,particularly the judging of chains of narrations for hadith. Imam Malik wasso thorough in his selection of hadith that it has been placed on the same level(and sometimes above) the hadith compilations of Imams - Bukhari and Muslim.Imam Shafii even stated that there is no book on earth, after the Quran, that ismore authentic than theMuwatta.

Imam Maliks work was so influential as a book of fiqh that the caliph of the time,Harun al-Rashid, demanded that it be mass-printed and made the official book offiqh for the Abbasid Empire. Imam Malik, however, refused. He knew that no oneinterpretation of Islamic law was perfect and all-encompassing. As such, he refusedto allow his fiqh to become official, even under threat of persecution andimprisonment.

Imam Maliks CharacterBesides being one of the greatest scholars of fiqh in history, Imam Malik was an

incredibly humble and meticulous Muslim. Out of respect for the Rasullullah and his words, he would refuse to narrate a hadith while walking. Instead, whenasked about a hadith, he would stop, sit down, and give the hadith the attention it

deserved, out of respect for Rasullullah . He would also refuse to ride anyanimal in the city of Madinah, seeing it as unfathomable that he would ride on the

same dust that Rasullullah

s feet walked on. This type of extra respect andmeticulousness out of respect for Rasullullah certainly is not mandatoryaccording to Islamic law, but simply a sign of the emphasis Imam Malik placed on

the importance of Rasullullah .

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Imam Maliks seminal work, al-Muwatta

Among Imam Maliks sayings are:

The Sunnah is the ark of Nuh. Whoever boards it is saved, and whoever remainsaway perishes.

Knowledge does not consist in narrating much. Knowledge is but a light which

Allah places in the heart.

None renounces the world and guards himself without then ending up speakingwisdom.

When Imam Malik embarked on the study of Islamic sciences with a teacher, hismother advised him to learn from your teacher his manners before you learnfrom him his knowledge.

Imam Maliks ideology on fiqh developed into the Maliki madhhab (school). As

Imam Malik wished, it was not imposed on Muslims as the sole school of Islamiclaw. Instead, it complemented the other three schools that took precedence in the

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Sunni Muslim world the Hanafi, Shafii, and Hanbali schools. The Maliki Schoolbecame very popular in North and West Africa, as well as Muslim Spain. Today itremains the main madhhab of North and West Africa.

Imam Malik died at the age of 85 in the year 795. He was buried in the BaqeeCemetery in Madinah.

Famous Books of the Madhhab:

Formation of the Maliki MadhhabImaam Maaliks method of teaching was based on the narration of Hadeeths andthe discussion of their meanings in the context of problems of that day. He wouldeither narrate to his students Hadeeths and Athars (statements of the Sahaabah) on

various topics of Islamic law then discuss their implications, or he would inquireabout problems which had arisen in the areas from whence his students came, thennarrate appropriate Hadeeths or Athars which could be used to solve them.

After Maalik completed al-Muwatta, he used to narrate it to his students as thesum total of his Madhhab, but would add or subtract from it slightly, whenever

new information reached him. He used to strictly avoid speculation andhypothetical Fiqh and thus his school and its followers were referred to as thepeople of Hadeeth (Ahl al-Hadeeth).

Sources of Law Used by the Maliki MadhhabImaam Maalik deduced Islamic law from the following sources which are listed inthe order of their importance.

1. The Quraan

Like all the other Imaams, Maalik considered the Quraan to be the primary sourceof Islamic law and utilized it without laying any pre-conditions for its applications.

2. The SunnahThe Sunnah was used by Imaam Maalik as the second most important source ofIslamic law, but, like Abu Haneefah, he put some restrictions on its use. If aHadeeth were contradicted by the customary practice of the Madeenites, herejected it. He did not, however, insist that a Hadeeth be Mash-hoor (well-known)before it could be applied as Abu Haneefah did. Instead he used any Hadeeth that

was narrated to him as long as none of the narrators were known liars or extremely

weak memorizers.

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3. Amal (practices) of the MadeenitesImaam Maalik reasoned that since many of the Madeenites were direct descendants

of the Sahaabah and Madinah was where the Rasullullah spent the last tenyears of his life, practices common to all Madeenites must have been allowed, if

not encouraged by the Rasullullah himself. Thus, Imaam Maalik regardedcommon Madeenite practices as a form of highly authentic Sunnah narrated indeeds rather than words.

4. Ijmaa of the SahaabahImaam Maalik like Abu Hanifah considered the Ijmaa of the Sahaabah, as well asthat of later scholars, as the third most important source of Islamic law.

5. Individual Opinion of the Sahaabah

Imaam Maalik gave full weight to the opinions of the Sahaabah, whether they wereconflicting or in agreement, and included them in his book of Hadeeth, al-Muwatta. However, the consensus of the Sahaabah was given precedence overindividual opinions of the Sahaabah. Where there was no consensus, theirindividual opinions were given precedence over his own opinion.

6. QiyaasMaalik used to apply his own deductive reasoning on matters not covered by thepreviously mentioned sources. However, he was very cautious about doing sobecause of the subjectivity of such forms of reasoning.

7. Customs of the MadeenitesImaam Maalik also gave some weight to isolated practices found among a fewpeople of Madinah so long as they were not in contradiction to known Hadeeths.He reasoned that such customs, though occurring only in isolated instances, mustalso have been handed down from earlier generations and sanctioned by the

Sahaabah or even the Rasullullah himself.

8. Istislaah (Welfare)

The principle of Istihsaan developed by Abu Haneefah was also applied by Maalikand his students except that they called it by the name Istislaah which meansseeking that which is more suitable. It deals with things which are for human

welfare but have not been specifically considered by the Shariah. An example ofIstislaah is found in Caliph Alis ruling that a whole group of people who took partin a murder were guilty even though only one of the group had actually committedthe act of murder. Another example is the right of a Muslim leader to collect taxesfrom the rich other than Zakaah if the interest of the state demands it, whereas inShariah only Zakaah has been specified. Imaam Maalik also applied the principleof Istislaah to deduce laws more in keeping with needs which arose from currentsituations than those deduced by Qiyaas.

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9. Urf (Custom)Like Abu Haneefah, Maalik considered the various customs and social habits ofpeople throughout the Muslim world as possible sources of secondary laws as long

as they did not contradict either the letter or the spirit of the Shariah. According tocustom in Syria, for example, the word Daabbah means a horse, whereas itsgeneral meaning in Arabic is four legged animal. Hence, a contract made in Syriarequiring payment in the form of a Daabbah would legally mean a horse whereaselsewhere in the Arab world it would have to be more clearly defined as a horse.

Main students of the Maliki MadhhabThe most notable of Maliks students who did not later form their own Madh-habswere al-Qaasim and Ibn Wahb.

Abu Abd al-Rahmaan Ibn al-Qaasim (745-813 CE)Al-Qaasim was born in Egypt but travelled to Madinah where he studied under histeacher and mentor for a period of more than twenty years. He wrote an extensivebook on the Fiqh of the Madhhab, eclipsing even al-Muwatta of Maalik himselfand called it al-Mudawwanah.

Abu Abdullah ibn Wahb (742-819 CE)Ibn Wahb also travelled from Egypt to Madinah in order to study under Imaam

Maalik. He distinguished himself in th deduction of laws to such a degree thatMaalik gave him the title of al-Mufti, which means the official expounder ofIslamic law. Ibn Wahb was offered an appointment as judge of Egypt, but turned itdown in order to maintain his integrity as an independent scholar.

Maalik had other famous students from other madh-habs. Some of them modifiedtheir own Madh-habs based on what they learnt from Maalik, for example,Muhammad ash-Shaybani who was among the foremost students of AbuHaneefah. There were others who developed their own Madhhabs by combining

Maliks teachings with that of others, for example Muhammad ibn Idrees ash-Shafii who studied for many years under Imaam Maalik as well as under AbuHanifahs student Muhammad as-Shaybani.

Followers of the Maliki MadhhabToday, the followers of this Madhhab are found mostly in Upper Egypt, Sudan,North Africa (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco), West Africa (Mali, Nigeria, Chad,etc.) and the Arabian Gulf states (Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain).

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Imam al-Shafii the Father of Usul al-Fiqh

In the study of fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence, different schools have developed over

time. These schools were founded by the greatest legal minds in Islamic history,and expanded upon by their successors in their schools. Each one of these imamsadded a unique and new dimension to the understanding of Islamic law.

For the third of the four great imams, Imam Muhammad al-Shafii, his greatcontribution was the codifying and organization of a concept known as usul al-fiqh -the principles behind the study of fiqh. During his illustrious career, he learnedunder some of the greatest scholars of his time, and expanded on their ideas, whilestill holding close to the Quran and Sunnah as the main sources of Islamic laws.

Today, his madhhab (school of thought), is the second most popular on earth,

after the madhhab of Imam Abu Hanifa.

Early LifeMuhammad ibn Idrees al-Shafii was born in 767 (the year of Imam Abu Hanifasdeath) in Gaza, Palestine. His father died when he was very young, and thus hismother decided to move to Makkah, where many members of her family (who

were originally from Yemen) were settled. Despite being in a very bad economicsituation, his mother insisted that he embark on a path towards scholarship,

especially considering the fact that he was from the family of the Rasullullah .

Thus, as a young man, he was trained in Arabic grammar, literature, and history.Because of his familys financial situation, his mother could not afford proper

writing materials for the young al-Shafii. He was thus forced to take notes in hisclasses on old animal bones. Despite this, he managed to memorize the Quran atthe age of seven. Afterwards, he began to immerse himself in the study of fiqh, andmemorized the most popular book of fiqh at the time, ImamMaliksMuwatta,which he memorized by age ten.

Studies under Imam Malik

At the age of thirteen, he was urged by the governor of Makkah to travel toMadinah and study under Imam Malik himself. Imam Malik was very impressed

with the intelligence and analytical mind of the young al-Shafii, and provided himwith financial assistance to ensure that he remains in the study of fiqh.

In Madinah, al-Shafii was completely immersed in the academic environment ofthe time. In addition to Imam Malik, he studied under Imam Muhammad al-Shaybani, one of Imam Abu Hanifas foremost students. This familiarized al-Shafii

with differing viewpoints on the study of fiqh, and he greatly benefited from the

exposure to various approaches to fiqh. When Imam Malik died in 795, Imam

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Shafii was known to be one of the worlds most knowledgeable scholars, eventhough he was in his 20s.

His TravelsNot long after Maliks death, Imam Shafii was invited to Yemen to work as ajudge for the Abbasid governor. His stay there would not last long however. Theproblem was that as an academic, Imam Shafii was not ready for the politically-charged environment he found himself in. Because he insisted on beinguncompromisingly fair and honest, numerous factions within the governmentmade it their aim to remove him from his post.

A map of the distribution of madhhabs worldwide today. The Shafii madhhab is in blue.

In 803, he was arrested and carried in chains to Baghdad, the seat of the AbbasidCaliphate, on trumped-up charges of supporting Shia rebels in Yemen. When hemet with the caliph of the time, Harun al-Rashid, Imam Shafii gave animpassioned and eloquent defense, which greatly impressed the caliph. ImamShafii was not just released, but Harun al-Rashid even insisted that Imam Shafiistay in Baghdad and help spread Islamic knowledge in the region. Al-Shafii agreedand smartly decided to stay away from politics for the remainder of his life.

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While in Iraq, he took the opportunity to learn more about the Hanafi madhhab.He was reunited with his old teacher, Muhammad al-Shaybani, under whom hemastered the intricate details of the madhhab. Although he never met Imam AbuHanifa, he had great respect for the originator of the study of fiqh, and his school

of thought.

Throughout his 30s and 40s, Imam al-Shafii travelled throughout Syria and theArabian Peninsula, giving lectures and compiling a large group of students thatstudied under him. Among them was Imam Ahmad, the originator of the fourthschool of fiqh, the Hanbali madhhab. Eventually, he finally went back to Baghdad,but found out that the new caliph, al-Mamun, held some very unorthodox beliefsabout Islam, and was known to persecute those who disagreed with him. As aresult, in 814, Imam Shafii made his final move, this time to Egypt, where he wasable to polish off his legal opinions and finally organize the study ofusul al-fiqh.

Al-RisalaDuring the 700s and the early part of the 800s, there were two competingphilosophies about how Islamic law should be derived. One philosophy waspromoted byahl al-hadith, meaning the people of Hadith. They insisted onabsolute reliance on the literal interpretation of Hadith and the impermissibility ofusing reason as a means to derive Islamic law. The other group was known as ahlal-rai, meaning the people of reason. They also believed in using Hadith ofcourse, but they also accepted reason as a major source of law. The Hanafi andMaliki schools of fiqh were mostly considered to have been ahl al-raiat this time.

Al-Risala of Imam Shafii

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Having studied both schools of fiqh, as well as having a vast knowledge ofauthentic hadith, Imam al-Shafii sought to reconcile the two philosophies andintroduce a clear methodology for fiqh known as usul al-fiqh. His efforts towardsthis end resulted in his seminal work,Al-Risala.

Al-Risalawas not meant to be a book that discussed particular legal issues and al-Shafii's opinion on them. Nor was it meant to be a book of rules and Islamic law.Instead, it was meant to provide a reasonable and rational way to derive Islamiclaw. In it, Imam al-Shafii outlines four main sources from which Islamic law canbe derived:

1. The Quran.

2. The Sunnah of Rasullullah .

3. Consensus among the Muslim community.

4. Analogical deduction, known as Qiyaas.

For each one of these sources (as well a several more sources that he deems not asimportant), he goes in depth in his Risala, explaining how they are to be interpretedand reconciled with each other. The framework he provides for Islamic lawbecame the main philosophy of fiqh that was accepted by all subsequent scholarsof Islamic law. Even the Hanafi and Maliki schools were adapted to work within

the framework that al-Shafii provided.

The contributions of Imam al-Shafii in the field ofusul al-fiqhwere monumental.His ideas prevented the fraying of the study of fiqh into hundreds of different,competing schools by providing a general philosophy that should be adhered to.But it also provided enough flexibility for there to still be different interpretations,and thus madhhabs. Although he probably did not intend it, his followers codifiedhis legal opinions (which were laid out in another book, Kitab al-Umm) after hisdeath in 820, into the Shafii madhhab. Today, the Shafii madhhab is the secondlargest madhhab after the Hanafi madhhab, and is very popular in Egypt, Palestine,Syria, Yemen, East Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Language of Imam ShafiiBesides being a giant of a scholar in the field of fiqh, Imam Shafii was noted forhis eloquence and his knowledge of the Arabic language. During his travels,Bedouins, who were known to be the best-versed in the Arabic language, wouldattend his lectures not to gain knowledge of fiqh, but just to marvel as his use oflanguage and his mastery of poetry. One of his companions, Ibn Hisham, notedthat I never heard him [Imam Shafi'i] use anything other than a word which,

carefully considered, one would not find a better word in the entire Arabiclanguage.

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Formation of the Shafii Madhhab

Imaam ash-Shafii combined the Fiqh of Hijaaz (Maliki thought) with that of Iraq,

(Hanafi thought) and created a new Madhhab which he dictated to his students inthe form of a book called al-Hujjah (The Evidence). This dictation took place inIraq in the year 810 CE and a number of his students memorised his book andnarrated it to others. This book and period of his scholarship are usually referredto as al-Madhhab al-Qadeem (the old school of thought) to differentiate it fromthe second period to his scholarship which occurred after he reached Egypt. InEgypt he absorbed the Fiqh of Imaam al-Layth ibn Sad and dictated al-Madhhabal-Jadeed (the new school of thought) to his students in the form of another book

which he named al-Umm (he Essence). Because of his exposure to a completelynew set of Hadeeths and legal reasoning, in al-Madhhab al-Jadeed, he reversedmany of the legal positions which he had held while in Iraq. Imaam ash-Shafiiholds the distinction of being the first Imaam to systematize the fundamentalprinciples of Fiqh which he recorded in his book called ar-Risaalah.

Sources of Law Used by the Shafii Madhhab

1. The QuraanAsh-Shafii did not differ from the previously mentioned Imaams, in theiruncompromising stand in relation to the primacy of the Quraan among thesources of Islamic law. He relied on it as heavily as those before him adding onlythe new insights which he gained from a deep study of its meaning.

2. The SunnahImaam ash-Shafii laid down only one condition for the acceptance of Hadeeths,namely that they be authentic (Saheeh). He rejected all the other conditions set byImaams Abu Haneefah and Maalik. He was also noted for his great contributionsto the science of Hadeeth criticism.

3. IjmaaAlthough ash-Shafii had serious doubts about the possibility of the Ijmaa in anumber of cases, he conceded that in the few cases where it was known to haveoccurred, it should be regarded as the third most important source of Islamic law.

4. Individual Opinions of the SahaabahCredence was given by Imaam ash-Shafii to the individual opinions of theSahaabah on condition that they were not at variance with each other. If there wereconflicting opinions among the Sahaabah on a legal point, he like Abu Haneefah,

would choose whichever opinion was the closest to the source and leave the rest.

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5. QiyaasQiyaas was, in the Imams opinion, a valid method for deducing further laws fromthe previous sources. However, he placed it last in order of importance,

considering his personal opinions inferior to proofs based on the opinions of thecompanions.

6. Istis-haab (Linking)Both the principle Istihsaan used by Abu Haneefah and Istislaah used by Maalik

were rejected by ash-Shafii and considered a form of Bidah (innovation), since, inhis opinion, they were based mostly on human reasoning in areas where revealedlaws already existed. However, in dealing with similar issues ash-Shafii was obligedto use a principle similar to Istihsaan and Istislaah which he called Istis-haab. Istis-haab literally means seeking a link, but legally it refers to the process of deducing

Fiqh laws by linking a later set of circumstances with an earlier set. It is based onthe assumption that the Fiqh laws applicable to certain conditions remain valid solong as it is not certain that these conditions have altered. If, for example, onaccount of the long absence of someone, it is doubtful whether he is alive or dead,then by Istis-haab all rules must remain in force that would hold if one knew forcertain that he was still alive.

Main students of Shafii Madhhab

The most important of Imaam ash-Shafiis students who continued to follow hisschool of thought were: al-Muzanee, ar-Rabee and Yoosuf ibn Yahyaa.

Al-Muzani (791-876 CE)Al-Muzanees full name was Imaaeel ibn Yahyaa al-Muzanee. He was the constantcompanion of Imaam ash-Shafii throughout his stay in Egypt. Al-Muzanee wasnoted for writing a book which comprehensively gathered the Fiqh of ash-Shaafiee. Later condensed under the title Mukhtasar al-Muzani, it became the

most widely read Fiqh book of the Shafii Madhhab.

Ar-Rabee Al-Maraadi (790-873 CE)Ar-Rabee was noted as the main narrator of ash-Shafiis book al-Umm. He wroteit down during Imaam ash-Shafiis lifetime along with ar-Risaalah and otherbooks.

Yoosuf ibn Yahyaa al-BuwaytiYoosuf ibn Yahyaa succeeded ash-Shaafiee as the main teacher of the Madhhab.He was imprisoned and tortured to death in Baghdad because he rejected the

officially sanctioned Mutazilite philosophy on the creation of the Quraan.

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Followers of the Shafii MadhhabThe majority of the followers of the Shafii Madhhab are now to be found inEgypt, Southern Arabia, (Yemen, Hadramawt), Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, and

East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania) and Surinam in South America.

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Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal The Champion of IslamicBelief

So far in our four part series on the four great imams of fiqh (Islamic

jurisprudence), we have seen each one of the imams have a special and enduringrole in Islamic history. Imam Abu Hanifa was the trailblazer when it came tocodifying fiqh and establishing the basics of how it is to be studied. ImamMalik upheld the importance of hadith in the field of fiqh through his landmarkcollection of hadith, al-Muwatta. And Imam al-Shafii revolutionized the study offiqh by establishing the field ofusul al-fiqh, the principles behind the study of fiqh.For the last of the four great imams, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, his contribution wentbeyond just fiqh. Although he was one of the greatest jurists and scholars of hadithof his time, perhaps his greatest legacy was his courage to stand for the orthodox

beliefs of Islam as they were imparted to Rasullullah in the face ofpersecution and imprisonment at the hands of the political authority. For thisreason, Imam Ahmads legacy is far more than just the establishment of theHanbali madhhab, but also includes the preservation of core Islamic beliefs againstpolitical oppression.

Early LifeAhmad ibn Hanbal al-Shaybani was born in 778 in Baghdad, the capital of theAbbasid Caliphate. The relatively new city was fast becoming a centre of

scholarship of all forms. So as a child, Ahmad had numerous opportunities to learnand expand his intellectual horizons. Thus, by the time he was 10 years old, he had

memorized the entire Quran and began studying the traditions of Rasullullah ,the hadith.

Imam Ahmad travelled throughout the Arabian Peninsula in search of knowledge

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Like Imam Shafii, Imam Ahmad lost his father at a very young age. So in additionto spending his time studying fiqh and hadith under some of Baghdads greatestscholars, he also worked in a post office to help support his family. He was thusable to afford studying under one of Imam Abu Hanifas foremost students, Abu

Yusuf. From Abu Yusuf, the young Ahmad learned the basics of fiqh such asIjtihaad(intellectual decision making), andQiyaas(analogical deduction).

After becoming proficient in the Hanafi Madhhab, Ahmad ibn Hanbal began tostudy Hadith under some of the greatest Hadith scholars of Baghdad, includingHaytham ibn Bishr. He was so eager to expand his knowledge of the sayings and

doings of the Rasullullah that he would regularly be waiting after Fajr outsideof the homes of his teachers, ready to start that days lesson. After studying inBaghdad, he went on to study in Makkah, Madinah, Yemen, and Syria. During thistime, he even met Imam al-Shafii in Makkah. Al-Shafii helped the young Ahmadmove beyond just memorization of hadith and fiqh, and be able to instead alsounderstand the principles behind them. This collaboration between two of the fourgreat imams clearly shows that the schools of Islamic law are not opposed to eachother, but rather work hand in hand. In fact, when Imam al-Shafii left Baghdad, he

was recorded as having said, I am leaving Baghdad when there is none morepious, nor a greater jurist than Ahmad ibn Hanbal.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal the ScholarAfter studying with Imam al-Shafii, Imam Ahmad was able to begin to formulate

his own legal opinions in fiqh. When Imam Ahmad was 40 years of age in the year820, his mentor Imam al-Shafii passed away. At this point, Imam Ahmad began toteach hadith and fiqh to the people of Baghdad. Students would flock to hislectures, and he especially took care of the poorer ones, keeping in mind his ownhumble origins.

Despite being in the capital of the Muslim world, Baghdad, Imam Ahmad refusedto be attracted to a life of luxury and wealth. He continued to live on very humblemeans, and rejected the numerous gifts that people would offer him,instead choosing to live on whatever small amounts of money he had. He

especially insisted on not accepting gifts from political figures, ensuring hisindependence from the political authority which could affect his teachings.

The MihnaImam Ahmad was in Baghdad during the time of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun,

who reigned from 813-833. Although al-Mamun was vital to the establishment ofBaghdad as an intellectual centre, he was heavily influenced by a group known asthe Mutazila. Mutazili philosophy championed the role of rationalism in allaspects of life, including theology. Thus, instead of relying on the Quran andSunnah to understand God, they relied on philosophical techniques first developed

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by the Ancient Greeks. Chief among their beliefs was that the Quran was a createdbook, as opposed to the un-created literal word of Allah.

Al-Mamun believed in the Mutazili line of thought, and sought to impose this

new and dangerous belief system on everyone in his empire including thescholars. While many scholars pretended to subscribe to Mutazili ideas in order toavoid persecution, Imam Ahmad refused to compromise his beliefs.

Legal writings based on the Hanbali Madhhab written by Abu Dawud in the late 800s.

Al-Mamun instituted an inquisition known as the Mihna. Any scholars whorefused to accept Mutazili ideas was severely persecuted and punished. Imam

Ahmad, as the most famous scholar of Baghdad, was brought before al-Mamun

and ordered to abandon his traditional Islamic beliefs about theology. When herefused, he was tortured and imprisoned. His treatment at the hands of thepolitical authority was extremely severe. People who witnessed the torturecommented that even an elephant could not have handled the treatment that Imam

Ahmad was subject to.

Despite all of this, Imam Ahmad held to traditional Islamic beliefs, and thus servedas an inspiration for Muslims throughout the empire. His trials set the precedentthat Muslims do not give up their beliefs regardless what the political authorityimposes on them. In the end, Imam Ahmad outlived al-Mamun and his successorsuntil the Caliph al-Mutawakkil ascended in 847 and ended the Mihna. Imam

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Ahmad was again free to teach the people of Baghdad and write. During this time,he wrote his famousMusnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a collection of hadith that served asthe basis of his school of legal thought, the Hanbali Madhhab.

Imam Ahmad passed away in Baghdad in 855. His legacy was not restricted to theschool of fiqh that he founded, nor the huge amount of hadith he compiled.Unlike the other three imams, he had a vital role in preserving the sanctity ofIslamic beliefs in the face of intense political persecution. Although the HanbaliMadhhab has historically been the smallest of the four, numerous great Muslimscholars throughout history were greatly influenced by Imam Ahmad and histhoughts, including Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, IbnKathir, and Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

Formation of the Hanbali Madhhab

Imaam Ahmads greatest concern was the collection, narration, and interpretationof Hadeeth. His teaching method consisted of dictating Hadeeths from his vastcollection known as al-Musnad,which contained over 30,000 Hadeeths, as well asthe various opinions of the Sahaabah concerning their interpretation. He wouldthen apply the Hadeeths or rulings to various existing problems. If he could notfind a suitable Hadeeth or opinion to solve a problem, he would offer his own

opinion while forbidding his students to record any of his own solutions. As aresult, his Madhhab was recorded, not by his students but by their students.

Sources of Law Used by the Hanbali Madhhab

1. The QuraanThere was no difference between the way Ahmad ibn Hanbal approached Quraanand that of those who preceded him. In other words, the Quraan was givenprecedence over all else under all circumstances.

2. The Sunnah

Likewise, the Sunnah of the Rasullullah occupied the number two positionamong the fundamental principles used by the founder of this school in thededuction of laws. His only stipulation was that it be Marfoo, i.e. attributed

directly to the Rasullullah .

3. Ijmaa of the SahaabahImaam Ahmad recognized the consensus of opinion of the Sahaabah, and placed it

in the third position among the fundamental principles. However, he discreditedthe claims of Ijmaa outside the era of the Sahaabah as being inaccurate, due to the

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vast number of scholars and their wide diffusion throughout the Muslim empire.In his opinion, Ijmaa after the era of the Sahaabah was impossible.

4. Individual Opinions of the Sahaabah

If a problem arose in an area where the Sahaabah had expressed conflictingopinions, Ahmad, like Maalik, would give credence to all the various individualopinions. Because of that, there developed within the Madhhab many instances ofmultiple rulings for individual issues.

5. Hadeeth Daeef (Weak Hadeeth)For a ruling on a case where none of the previous four principles offered a readysolution, the Imaam used to prefer to use a weak Hadeeth rather than applying hisown deductive reasoning (Qiyaas). However, this was on condition that the

weakness of the Hadeeth was not due to the fact that one of its narrators was

classified as a Faasiq (degenerate), as a Kadhdhaab (liar).

6. QiyaasAs a last resort, that is when no other major principle could be directly applied,Ahmad would reluctantly apply the principle of Qiyaas and deduce a solutionbased on one or more of the previous principles.

Main Students of the Hanbali MadhhabImaam Ahmads main students were his own two sons, Saalih (died 873 CE) and

Abdullah (died 903 CE). Imaam Bukhari and Muslim, compilers of the mostoutstanding collections of Hadeeth, were among the great scholars of Hadeeth

who studied under Imaam Ahmad.

Followers of the Hanbali MadhhabThe majority of the followers of this Madhhab can now be found in Palestine andSaudi Arabia. Its survival in Saudi Arabia, after almost completely dying outelsewhere in the Muslim world, is due to the fact that the founder of the so called

Wahhab, had studied under scholars of the Hanbali Madhhab, and thus it

unofficially became the Fiqh Madhhab of the movement. When Abdul- Azeezibn Saoud captured most of the Arabian peninsula and established the Saudidynasty, he made the Hanbali Madhhab the basis of the kingdoms legal system.