Madhhab

A madhhab is a tradition of Islamic jurisprudence that interprets religious sources and develops methods for deriving legal rulings. Sunni Islam recognizes four enduring schools, while Shi‘i jurisprudence has its own traditions.

Fiqh: Islamic jurisprudence: the human understanding and application of religious norms. A madhhab is a structured tradition within this broader practice of legal interpretation.
Mujtahid: A Muslim jurist qualified to derive legal rulings through independent reasoning. Qualified jurists interpret sources using a school’s principles and inherited scholarship.
Hanafi school: A Sunni school of Islamic jurisprudence associated with Abu Hanifa and developed by his students. It is one of the four major Sunni madhhabs.
Abu Hanifa: An eighth-century Muslim jurist whose teachings became the foundation of the Hanafi school. His legal reasoning gave one enduring madhhab its name and early direction.
Sunni Islam: The largest branch of Islam, whose religious traditions recognize the authority of the early Muslim community and its scholars. Four major madhhabs are conventionally identified within Sunni jurisprudence.
Sharia: The religious and moral path in Islam, grounded in revelation and interpreted through jurisprudence. Madhhabs develop legal understandings of the norms associated with this path.
Fatwa: A nonbinding legal opinion issued by a qualified Islamic jurist in response to a question. Fatwas apply juristic methods to concrete questions, often within a school tradition.
Maliki school: A Sunni school of Islamic jurisprudence associated with Malik ibn Anas and the practice of Medina. Its distinctive use of Medinan practice illustrates variation among madhhabs.
Malik ibn Anas: An eighth-century Muslim jurist and author of the Muwatta, associated with the Maliki school. His scholarship established a school rooted partly in the legal practice of Medina.
Shi‘a Islam: A major branch of Islam that recognizes Ali and his descendants as the rightful leaders of the Muslim community. Shi‘i legal traditions have distinct authorities and schools, rather than belonging to the four Sunni madhhabs.

Linked from 27 pages