1. INTRODUCTION

In this report, I would like to start off by stating how powerful Islam as a religion is. It is the

only true religion from Allah as it basically means “Submitting or surrendering one’s will to

the wills of God (Allah)*. It is the innate character of human being, Muslim particularly to

submit the worship of God. This feeling is instilled in him or her from the day of birth. In

reality, the whole universe is the creation of God (Allah) and working with the Will of God.

Though the modern science claims all these phenomena as Law of nature but it’s actually is

Law of God for nature. Basically we as Muslim depend on God sustenance and guidance

throughout our entire life. Now who are Muslims? What are we?

We Muslims are followers of the religion of Islam those who submit to the will of God as

explained in our primary and secondary sources with is the Holy Quran and the traditions

of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, the messenger of Islam. Muslims in Population

consists of more than 10 billions and it spreads to all kinds of race, nationality and cultures.

Besides Arab countries, majorities of Muslim are in Asia and Africa. With the vast numbers

of Muslims, are they entitled to follow one of the Madhabs which we are going to discuss

here mainly the four schools of thoughts (Hanafi, Hambali, Syafi’e and Maliki)? And what

are their contributions?

METHODOLOGY

Before we are heading into something else, it’s reasonable to understand the words

Madhhabs first. The word Madhhabs is extracted from the meaning to go’ or “to take as a

way”, in other words a Muslim can follow number of interpretive possibilities in

understanding the primary text of Quran and Hadiths. In a larger extent, it represents the

entire school of thought of particular imam (Mujtahid). They are in the likes of Abu Hanifa,

Maliki, Shafi’I and Hambali which is what we are going to discuss as we go along. They are

Mujtahid imam who as the explainer and who analyze the Quran and the Sunna in the

authorized Syariah rule which we can understand as Fiqh or Jurisprudence.

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For the existence of these four Madhhabs or we call the ‘school of thoughts’, we go back to

the early beginning of evolution of Islam. We already know that Islam is a religion directly

from Allah the Al-mighty and at the age of the prophets which is the time where the Islamic

law introduced. During the prophets (peace upon him) reign, he gave permission to invoke

his own reason only in cases where the Qur'an and the Hadith were found silent on a

certain issue. If the Qur'an is clear, the question of ijtihad does not arise. If the Qur'an is

silent and the Hadith is clear, the question of ijtihad does not arise again. It can be resorted

to only in case both the basic sources the Qur'an and the Hadith, are seen to be silent in

respect of the issue. In the end, we should like to briefly refer to ijtihad, an important

principle of Islamic jurisprudence. Ijtihad here means having personal opinions. It is also

meaning a religious duty and in fact a religious and collective obligation upon all qualified

persons in the event where an issue arises but no urgency encounter over the ruling (Rauf,

2005). If it’s in pressing situations, Ijtihad becomes personal obligation upon all qualified

Mujtahids. This is how it actually begins, which is by division of opinions.

These four schools happen to initiate during the golden period of the Abbasids. After the

death of Prophets Muhammad, these divisions of opinions created many jurists as well as

schools of Laws. Many of these schools became extinct with the death of their “followers”.

Followers here means the generation of the companions of the Prophet (Mahmassani,

2005). During the emergence of Abbasid state in the 8th century, the science of

Juresprudence Flourished and attained its Golden age. This is exactly the time when the

four schools of Sunni became widespread and from what I understand this is the part

where there is no more interactions between Mujtahids or “Tokoh-Tokoh Islam” and

originate the “Great wall of China” between them. All of these schools namely Hanafite,

Shafite, Malikite and Hambalite have their own traditions, commentaries which are written

and the science of Law which are compiled.

2. FINDINGS

2.1Brief information and history of existence of the four schools of Islam.

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2.1.1 The Hanafi school is the first of the four Sunni schools of Law. It is distinguished

from the other schools through its placing less reliance on mass oral traditions as

source of legal knowledge. It developed the exegesis of the Quran through a method or

analogical reasoning known as Qiyas. It also established the principle that the universal

concurrence of the Ummah (community) of Islam on a point of law. The process are

called Ijma, which is the consensus of the scholars. Thus the school definitely

established Quran, the traditions of the prophet, Ijma’ and Qiyas as Basis of Islamic law.

Imam Hanafi accepted local customs as a secondary source.

The Hanafi School of law was founded by Abu Hanifah (d.767) in Kufa in Iraq. It derived

from the bulk of the ancient school of Kufa and absorbed the ancient school of Basra.

Abu Hanifah belonged to the period of the successors (tabiin)of the Sahabah (the

companions of the Prophet). He was a Tabi'i since he had the good fortune to have lived

during the period when some of the Sahabah were still alive. Having originated in Iraq,

the Hanafi school was favoured by the first 'Abbasid caliphs in spite of the school's

opposition to the power of the caliphs.

The privileged position which the school enjoyed under the 'Abbasid caliphate was lost

with the decline of the 'Abbasid caliphate. However, the rise of the Ottoman Empire led

to the revival of Hanafi fortunes. Under the Ottomans the judgement-seats were

occupied by Hanafites sent from Istanbul, even in countries where the population

followed another madhhab. Consequently, the Hanafi madhhab became the only

authoritative code of law in the public life and official administration of justice in all the

provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Even today the Hanafi code prevails in the former

Ottoman countries. It is also dominant in Central Asia and India.

2.1.2. Maliki school of law is the second of the Islamic schools of jurisprudence. The

sources of Maliki doctrine are the Qur'an, the Prophet's traditions (hadith), consensus

(ijma'), and analogy (qiyas). The Malikis' concept of ijma' differed from that of the

Hanafis in that they understood it to mean the consensus of the community represented

by the people of Medina. (Overtime, however, the school came to understand consensus

to be that of the doctors of law, known as 'ulama.)

Imam Malik's major contribution to Islamic law is his book al-Muwatta (The Beaten

Path). The Muwatta is a code of law based on the legal practices that were operating in

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Medina. It covers various areas ranging from prescribed rituals of prayer and fasting to

the correct conduct of business relations. The legal code is supported by some 2,000

traditions attributed to the Prophet.

Maliki school of Law was founded by Malik ibn Anas (c.713-c.795), a legal expert in the

city of Medina. Such was his stature that it is said three 'Abbasid caliphs visited him

while they were on Pilgrimage to Medina. The school spread westwards through Malik's

disciples, becoming dominant in North Africa and Spain.

Syafi’e school of law was the third school of Islamic jurisprudence. According to the

Shafi'i school the paramount sources of legal authority are the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

Of less authority are the Ijma' of the community and thought of scholars (Ijitihad)

exercised through qiyas. The scholar must interpret the ambiguous passages of the

Qur'an according to the consensus of the Muslims, and if there is no consensus,

according to qiyas.

2.1.3. The Shafi'iyyah school of Islamic law was named after Muhammad ibn Idris al-

Shafi'i (767-819). He belonged originally to the school of Medina and was also a pupil of

Malik ibn Anas (d.795), the founder of Malikiyyah. However, he came to believe in the

overriding authority of the traditions from the Prophet and identified them with the

Sunnah.

Baghdad and Cairo were the chief centres of the Shafi’e. From these two cities Shafi'i

teaching spread into various parts of the Islamic world. In the tenth century Mecca and

Medina came to be regarded as the school's chief centers outside of Egypt. In the

centuries preceding the emergence of the Ottoman Empire the Shafi'is had acquired

supremacy in the central lands of Islam. Today it remains predominant in Southern

Arabia, Bahrain, the Malay Archipelago, East Africa and several parts of Central Asia.

2.1.4 The Hanbali School of law is the fourth school of law within Sunni Islam. It derives

its decrees from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, which it places above all forms of

consensus, opinion or inference. The school accepts as authoritative an opinion given

by a Companion of the Prophet, providing there is no disagreement with anther

Companion. In the case of such disagreement, the opinion of the Companion nearest to

that of the Qur'an or the Sunnah will prevail.

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The Hanbali school of law was established by Ahmad b. Hanbal (d.855). He studied law

under different masters, including Imam Shafi'i (the founder of his own school). He is

regarded as more learned in the traditions than in jurisprudence. His status also derives

from his collection and exposition of the hadiths. His major contribution to Islamic

scholarship is a collection of forthy-thousand traditions known as 'Musnadul-Imam

Hanbal'.

In spite of the importance of Hanbal's work his school did not enjoy the popularity of

the three preceding Sunni schools of law. Hanbal's followers were regarded as

reactionary and troublesome on account of their reluctance to give personal opinion on

matters of law, their rejection of analogy, their fanatic intolerance of views other than

their own, and their exclusion of opponents from power and judicial office. Their

unpopularity led to periodic bouts of persecution against them.

2.2 Contribution by the four schools of Islamic Law.

Hanafi School of Law contributions.

If we analyse back the history of Islam few centuries ago, we’ll understand that the jurists

during the era of tabien and Tabi’ Tabien are divided into two parts. They are called ‘Ahli

Hadith’ and ‘Ahli Akal’. These two believers has been debating intensely in making sure

that they are the one who’s right or should be referred to.

We understand that Prophet Muhammad has lived in both Makkah and Madinah in the

majority of his life. These two places are the central of hadith. That the reason how ‘Ahli

Hadith’ existed, and this is also why most of the problems arise before are handled by the

use of Hadith (tradition of Prophet).

As for the other division, the Jurists in Iraq use the methods of precedent cases that are

solved by the Hadith (tradition of Prophet) before or similar cases that happened before

and employ it to current problems. It is not simply by using their minds to solve it. One of

the reasons why this group exists is the lacking of influences on Hadith (tradition of

Prophet) in that particular country. Imam Hanafi lives and breathes in the city of Kufah

which is why he is more into Ahli Akal.

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He is more integrated with Qiyas. He often involved in debates such as against the

Mu’tazilah, The Syiah, Qadariah and many others. This is one of his main contributions as

most of his Madhabs consists of Qiyas. Qiyas here means as Analogy, in Islamic definition, it

is how the Jurists or Doctors of laws seeking solutions by the use of Logic, reasoning and

opinion based on analogy in the scientific rules and premises. This caused by the existing

new cases which are not provided in the Quran, Sunnah, consensus of opinions, and the

companions of the Prophet (Rauf. 2005) it is the fourth source of Islam (Haji Hassan, 2007)

One important contribution which I want to highlight is Imam Hanafi being a famous

teacher in the city of Kufah. His name spread throughout the Arab countries, and his has

successfully create his on Madhab, which known as Madhab Hanafi. All kinds of students

want to become his students even those who are already an expert jurist at that time. And

because of his love for debates, he used this approach to teach his students and not to just

consume everything from his teaching but to gives their own opinions.

This contribution leads to encouragement for those students to improve the knowledge

vastly and learn the Subject of Islam endlessly. His teachings brought about famous

students who again continue contributions in teaching of Islam. If there were problems,

huge problems particularly, he used to have a meeting (Muzakarah), or exchange opinions

(Munazarah) and Debate (Mubahasah) to solve it. He doesn’t like students who like to

follow him 100% (Taqlid) but to do research and analyze before making decision. This

leads to advancement in human-being specifically in the search of Knowledge.

2.2.1. Books and articles.

In the history of Imam Hanifah, when he is already old and weak and no longer is

active in his creating his own outputs, a class jurists emerged who are his students

with the likes of Abu Yussof, Imam Muhammad Bin Hassan Asy Saibani compiled all

the fatwas and Ijtihad of Imam Abu Hanifah (Imam Hanafi). One of the main books is

Kitab Al-Kharaj. it is the book of reference in the Hanafi School. This book is

embodying his views on taxation and fiscal problems of the state and also testifies the

extensive knowledge, depth and thoroughness by Abu Yussof. There are many others

books that contributed to the society of Islam in the world such as book by Imam

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Muhammad Bin Hassan Asy Saibani. Most of his books are relating to laws of

inheritance (Haji Hassan,2007).

The methods of his Maddhab are based on Al-Quran, then the traditions of prophet,

Fatwas of companions, then Qiyas, Istihsan (best opinion made up by Imam Hanafi and

finally the culture.

2.2.2. Places which are contributed by Hanafi School

In general the Hanafi school has contributed the teachings to the Muslims in Algeria,

Tunisia, Syria, Iraq, Afrika, India, Pakistan, Turki, Afganistan, Balkan, Turkestan,

Armenia and others. In India, the followers are approximately 48 millions lives (Haji

Hassan, 2007). Till nowadays the followers of Hanfi School are almost quarter of

Muslims Population.

2.3. Maliki School of Law contributions.

Imam Maliki as the fouder of Maliki School are well known of his genius in the way he

is capturing knowledge. He at 17 years old already establishes his own school of

knowledge. Like Hanafi, the students are not only normal students but well known

Jurists all over the country. He was given acknowledgement by the teachers to have his

own school of knowledge at that age. His school of Knowledge was at Prophet’s

Mosque at first then carried on to his own place. Here he gave or send out his fatwas to

the people which basically based on fatwas by Saidina Umar dan Ibnu Mas’ud.

2.3.1. Knowledge on Hadith (Tradition on Prophet Muhammad).

His contribution very much goes to his expertise in Hadith (Tradition on Prophet

Muhammad). His genius mind in ‘Hadith’ established his as the top Jurists amongst

others at that time. He became the person who most of these jurists refer to and he has

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the capacity and authorization to compile every ‘Hadith’ on Prophet Muhammad into a

book. No one at that time resisted his expertise on ‘Hadith’ as claimed by Madhabs

before him.

The methods of giving his fatwas are different to Imam Hanafi who relies on Analogy

(qiyas). Imam Maliki likes to answer problem which are currently arising or yet to

arise as he only want to answer questions which are valuable (haji Hassan, 2007).

2.3.2. Books and articles.

He has created one of his own Book, ‘Kitab Muwatta’ and infact it is the most

important Book by Imam Maliki. He has taken 40years to complete this book. This

book are as a reference to the Maliki School as it consists of the Hadiths on the

prophets and other Fatwas by close friends (companions) and Tabien (Haji Hassan,

2007).

He has compiled 10,000 Hadith which was initially 100,000 of Hadith. It was analyzed

deeply and carefully before he eliminated all other Hadiths. Then it was again reduced

to 500 after checked and synchronized with the Quran before it was inserted to his

main Book mentioned above (Tarikuddin, 2007).

This book has contributed so much to the Muslim world as it consists of the sayings of

Rasulullah saw, and the Fatwas. Nowadays the contents are as basically 600 Hadith

Musnad (the Prophet), 222 hadith Mursal (Companions), 613 hadith Mauquf (Words of

Companions) and 285 hadith on words of Tabien (Haji Hassan, 2007). This book gives

vast knowledge to the followers of Maliki School.

The methods of his Maddhab are based on first Quran, ‘Hadith’, Ijma (Doctors of Laws

decision), Qiyas(Analogy), Maslahah al Mursalah (avoiding terrible things).

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2.3.3. Places which were contributed by Maliki school.

As I have understood, Imam Malik lives and teaches in the city of Madinah but his

Maddhabs or school has spread very quickly to Egypt. It spread as the students who

learnt from him returned to their native country and continues his teachings to the

people. In Egypt however he was challenged pretty heavily by Imam As-Syafie and his

power has been diminishing. He then revitalized his Authority in the 556 hijrah with

the rising of Ayubiyyah. The ruler of the dynasty helped his built a school to teach

which is called as ‘Al Qumhiyyah’.

As in Spain, he was helped by several well known individuals his spreading his

teachings and authority. Those are in the likes of Khalifah Hisyam and the ruler. They

also appoint other jurists in support of Imam Maliki teachings. Nowadays Maliki school

influences are not much as before but still contributed to some of the countries in

Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Palestine, Hedjaz and others.

2.4. Syafi’e School of Law contributions.

If Imam Syafie to be compared with the previous Imams, he was more moderate in

terms of spreading his Maddhab. This make easier for followers to understand his

Fatwas especially in our part of the world such as Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand,

Indonesia, Kemboja, Filipina and others who love moderation. He applied his moderate

approach in Quran understanding and ‘Hadith’ analysis. In terms of learning

knowledge, he is very much differ to both Imam Hanafi and Maliki as he preferred to

travel all over the Arab countries and Persian in efforts to get more knowledge’s. This

is how he gathered his vast knowledge on Islam and better understanding of Al-Quran

and ‘Hadith’.

He is very interested in poems. This caused most jurists and Doctors of Laws went

against him because for them its useless to study poem. He stood strong on his views

about poems and he memorized a lot of poems during his time which is based on Islam

rules and principals. Here he contributed on summarizing numbers of Poems which

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are allowed and which are prohibited as for example poem on sexual elements, poems

which are meant to accuse Islam and few others (Haji Hassan, 2007).

2.4.1. Books and Articles.

As top Jurists he made significant contributions in terms of creating important articles

of his own which are used for reference for the followers of Syafi’e School in making

decision of Feqah or Islamic rulings. In his books, Imam Syafi’e also contributed by

giving his interpretations on rules based on Islamic sources. He wrote his books on his

own hands which he compiled every ‘hadiths’ and sayings of the prophet and not on

his Ijtihads. He also contributed in making Poems and articles on Fiqah. Two books he

created in Iraq are called ‘Qaul Qadim’ and In Mesir ‘Qaul Jadid’. Qaul Jadid are the one

are being used and acknowledged by himself to used by people all around the world.

Books that are still existed until know which has massive contributions to the Muslim

world are:

1. Kitab Ar- Risalah

Articles of how to set rules from the Quran, Sunnah, Ijma and Qiyas.

2. Kitab Az-Za’faran

Decisions made by Imam Syafi’e

3. Kitab Al-Umm

The biggest Fiqah Book made for Syafi’e School and considered as the mother of all

books referred by the followers. It also shows the proficiency in Fiqah Knowledge

which consists of Chapter Jamiul Ilmi (Prophet’s Sunnah), Chapter Ibtalul Istihsan

(Rules he set in Iraq), etc.

There are few others books and articles made by Madhab Syafi’e like Book of Ikhtilaful

hadith, Al-Musnad, Fiqah book, Faraidh (inheritance) and many others which are

useful for the followers (Haji Hassan, 2007).

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The Basics of his Maddhab is from Quran, next Hadith, then Ijma, Qiyas and Istidlal.

2.4.2. Countries which vastly contributed by Syafi’e School.

Iraq

Even though he is raised in Mekah and succeeded in giving his own fatwa at the

age of 15 he still based his teaching from other Top Jurists such as Imam Sufyan

and Imam Muslim. In Iraq he began to spread he’s own Madhabs and only

succeeded for his third attempts, he open his own school to teach people in Iraq

which then he’s school were called ‘Qaul Qadim’. It also means decisions on rules

are based on the minds of Imam Syafie. It started to grow rapidly in Iraq.

Egypt

He then went to Egypt but had to change his Madhab which are suitable with the

people there. The Ijtihads he had in Iraq are not applicable in that country. His

Madhab were then called as ‘Qaul Jadid’ or a new ways of thinking by Imam

Syafie.

Due to his expertise and his determination in spreading his Madhab, most

followers from Hanafi School and Maliki School transferred to follow his instead.

Other countries.

Beside Egypt and Iraq, Syafi’e school has followers in Kota Merw, Tauran, Sri

Langka, Farsi, Hijaz, Kurdi, then spreading more to our area of the world such as

Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Philipines, Indonesia, Burma, Laos and other

countries

2.5. Hambali School of Law contributions.

Hambali is from City of Baghdad, he is similar to Madhab Syafi’e as he went out of the

city to further his knowledge. He works really hard to find ‘Hadiths’ outside of Baghdad.

He memorized a lot of ‘Hadith’ which were approximately 1 million of them.

He only becomes a teacher at the age of 40, because he wants to make sure that he was

ready to give out Fatwa and Ijtihad like other Mujtahids. He wants to be a teacher who

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can form his own Maddhab and interprets the rules and principals by the primary

sources.

2.5.1. His bravery on holding firm on his faith on the theory of Quran creation.

Imam Hambali has rejected the theory of he creation of Quran and was asked to accept

it by Caliph Al Wathiiq. Due to his resistance he was presecuted, beaten and imprisoned

(Mahmassani, 2000). He was tortured purely on political reasons. And due to his

stubbornness, others were sacrificed and murdered. This showed how the integrity and

how fearless was Imam Hambali. This is one highlight of his contributions towards

Islam.

2.5.2. Books and articles.

He was also very careful in giving out Fatwas which are reflected in his contributions of

his own books. It is known there was only one ‘Hadith’ book which was finished by

Imam Hambali. This particular book is called ‘Al- Musnad. There were more articles

such as ‘Tafsir Al-Quran, Jawabatul Quran, Al-Tarikh, At-Taatur Rasul, Al-Zhud, Al-

Masail, Fadhil, and many others which were written by Imam Hambali. All these books

are as reference to his followers. He has vast knowledge on Quran and ‘Hadith’ or

tradition on the prophets (Haji Hassan, 2007).

In the Book of Musnad, he has inserted 40,000 hadith from the millions of Hadith he

memorized before. All the contents of this book are source of his ruling in developing

his own Madhab. The contents are properly justified in sequences particularly the

names of companions of Prophet Muhammad.

His Maddhab are based on Quran, ‘Hadith’, Fatwas on companions who are in peace or

not, Hadith Mursal & Hadith Dhaif and finally Qiyas.

2.5.3. Contributions to parts of the world.

Hanafi school however are the least spreading sunni school. It begun very slowly

starting from Baghdad and continue outside Iraq during the forth century and in Egypt

during the sixth century (Mahmassani, 2000). More followers are found in Qatar and

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Bahrain, Aqur, Dailam and Rahab. Arab Saudi also follows Hambali School and called

them as Madhab Wahabi (Haji Hassan, 2007).

3. Conclusion.

From the information laid above, I can understand how different in the way they

contributed to the populations of Muslim, most of them contributed their Maddhab by

teaching and spread out by their students, each of them have their very own book for

reference to the followers and their influences are divided to different part of the world.

After studying the four schools of laws, I understood that we as Muslim are obliged to

follow one of the Maddhab considering where we live and stay. Referring to Maddhab is

considered as the third knowledge after Quran and ‘Hadith’. It’s their interpretation which

was important to us the followers as they are well thought-out as the Mujtahid of Islam. As

in Quranic Verse," Ask those who recall, if you know not " (Qur'an 16:43), and in Surat al-

Nisa, " If they had referred it to the Messenger and to those of authority among them, then

those of them whose task it is to find it out would have known the matter " (Qur'an 4:83). It

basically means that we can refer to those who have the capacity to draw inferences

directly from Primary Sources of Islam. It is not difficult to see why Allah has obliged us to

ask experts.

Now, if you asked me should it be applicable nowadays for these four Madhabs? I’ll answer

yes definitely but it depends on where you are. If we are in Brunei Darussalam for example,

we know the Shafi’e school is dominant in this part of the world so we have to follow

Shafi’e rules. It is the same goes to people in Turkey who follows Hanifah School,

Moroccans following Maddhab Maliki, and others following Hambali. All of these School of

Laws have different opinions on current issues that we have encountered, currently facing

or yet to be encountered. It can be on social issues, trading activities and moral issues. As

we are facing different kind of issues which are not clear on how to find the solution

nowadays, we refer to these Mujtahids Book or School. For example in moral issue,

(gambling ) The first form of gambling is when no party is obliged to pay any amount for

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certain; rather, the payment of each party is dependent upon a uncertain event in the

future. In this case, the gambler does not stake his money initially, rather the money is put

at stake by promising to pay later. For example, A and B compete in a race, with the

promise of the loser paying the winner $100. In this example, there is no certainty of

payment from any one party; rather the payment is contingent from both sides on winning

and losing. Also included in this category is the betting that takes place in horse-racing and

various other sports. For example, A says to B that if team X wins the match, I will pay you

$100, but if team X loses, you will have to pay me $100. This will be gambling, hence

unlawful. It is for this reason, Sayyiduna Ali (Allah is pleased with him) said: Chess is the

gambling of non-Arabs. (Al-Bayhaqi in his Shayb al-Iman)

However, it should be noted here that in order for this type of betting to be considered

gambling, there should be a two-way bet. If a one-way bet is made, it will not be considered

gambling, hence lawful. Also, if a third person not taking part in the sport vows to give the

winner a prize, then this is also permitted and not considered to be gambling, provided the

participants do not have to pay anything to enroll into the competition. This is based on

Hanafi viewpoint; it will be slightly different for other Maddhabs.

As for trading activities issues, one example can be use here are how our Maddhab gave his

standpoint. For example by earnings from a job that involved some unlawful activities. Let

just say I’am working in restaurant which sale both Halal and non-halal foods. The money

that I earn from this kind of job is lawful, albeit of doubtful lawfulness. What this means is

that I will be prohibited to give the money away in charity. The only thing that is obligatory

on me is to regret from the specific unlawful things that I did while on the job. One of the

conditions of such regret is that for me to stop working in such a restaurant. Again other

Maddhabs will have different views on this.

As for Law, back to Hanafi school decisions on some issues especially on theft. Based on

Quranic Verse:

“As to the thief, male of female, cut off his or her hands. A punishment by way of example, from Allah, for their crime “ (Surah al-Maidah, 38).

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The penalty for the one who steals (when the above conditions are met) is that his/her

right arm is amputated. If a person steals a second time, his left foot is amputated; if a third

time, then he will be imprisoned until he repents, but no further amputation will take place.

Finally on social issues, one interesting example here can be discussed here is on the social

interaction between opposite sex or confusion on limits to talking to the opposite sex.

There are several verses of Quran that we can touch on based on Syafi’e school. One of it is

as following.

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will

make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say

to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they

should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof;

that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to

their husbands, their fathers..." [Al-Nour, 24: 30-31]

And another Hadith that can be related is:

"When a man and woman are alone together, Satan is the third." [Tirmidhi]

Under Maddhab Syafi’e it is crucial to know each other but that must be done within certain

limits. For example, it is fine for us to get to know each other in the presence of family

members. However, be cautious about online chatting, as mentioned before. Also, be

cautious about unsupervised telephone conversations. In principle, there is nothing wrong

with talking on occasion, particularly if we have something important to discuss. However,

the limits of propriety must be observed. If we are to talk on the phone, it should be with

the permission of your wali or parents. Furthermore, we should avoid talking to him or her

when we are alone.

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4. Recommedation.

I am sometimes rather doubtful about the strength of Muslims nowadays compared to past

during the learning of Islam were very robust and vigorous. There is lacking of analysis of

the primary sources now compared to before or even to study Islam as a religion. People

nowadays just accept that they are belong to one of the school and never bother to analyze

why they are following the school (Taqlid).

The first condition for, I would say really the, in order to build Muslim unity today, to take

us back to the theme of the conference, or discussion, in other word breaking the ‘Great

wall of China’ between the schools. the first condition has to be to reestablish a coherent

system of interpretation in the Divine, of the Divine Lawgiver's messages to us along these

lines.  Unless we do so, we will have not four madhhabs in their usual, traditional condition

of harmony.  We will be going to have as many madhhabs as we have Muslim egos.  That

precious thing called Muslim unity is going to be lost forever, and the religion will slip ever

more disastrously into the extreme and violent direction.

Islam is a gift and a very special religion. This is how we have to see it.   It is our most

precious possession.  It is through Islam that we strive for peace and justice and harmony

in the world and it is through Islam that we strive also for eternal joy and serenity in the

presence of our Creator. Now its time to act to save this gift before it’s too late.  There is a

real danger that this gift will be taken away from us.  We must try to recreate that

extraordinary methodology incarnated in the four Madhhabs of Sunni Islam, championed

by the great Imams of our history, and which underpinned our unity for so long.

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Reference

References:

Rauf, F. A, 2002: Yayasan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia,2002.

Mahmassani, S, 2000. Open press (M) Sdn Bhd), p.13-33

Haji Hassan, Perniagaan Jahabersa, 2007

www.sunnipath.com

http://muslim-canada.org/contribution_shafi.html

http://suzyashraf.tripod.com/htm/_ed._Syed_Mumtaz_Ali.htm

http://muslim-canada.org/contribution_shafi.html

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