The Malikite School

Malik b. Anas was followed by Muhammad b. Idris al-Muttalibi ash-Shafi’i.

He traveled to the ‘Iraq after Malik’s time. He met the followers of the imam Abu Hanifah and learned from them. He combined the approach of the Hijazis with those of the ‘Iraqis.

He founded his own school and opposed Malik on many points. Malik and ash-Shafi’i were followed by Ahmad b. Hanbal. He was one of the highest-ranking hadith scholars. His followers studied with those of Abu Hanifah, notwithstanding the abundant knowledge of traditions they themselves possessed. They founded another school.

These four authorities are the ones recognized by tradition in the (Muslim) cities. Tradition-bound people obliterated all other (authorities), and scholars no longer admit any differences of opinion.

The technical terminology of the sciences has become very diversified, and there are obstacles preventing people from attaining the level of independent judgment.

It is also feared that (the existence of differences of opinion) might affect unqualified people whose opinion (reasoning) and religion could not be trusted. Thus, (scholars) came to profess their inability (to apply independent judgment), and had the people adopt the tradition of the (authorities) mentioned and of the respective group of adherents of each. They forbade one to modify his traditional (allegiance), because that would imply frivolity.

All that remained after basic textbooks had been produced in the correct manner, and the continuity of their transmission had been established, was to hand down the respective school traditions and, for each individual adherent, to act in accordance with the traditions of his school.

Today, jurisprudence means this, and nothing else.180 The person who would claim independent judgment nowadays would be frustrated and have no adherents.

The Muslims today follow the tradition of one of the four (authorities). The adherents of Ibn Hanbal are few in number. 181 Most of them are in Syria and in the ‘Iraq, that is, 182 in Baghdad and environs. They are the people who have the best knowledge of the Sunnah and of the transmission of traditions and 183 prefer them to analogical reasoning as a source of law, as far as possible.

They 184 were strongand numerous in Baghdad, until they clashed with the Shi’ah in the territory of (Baghdad). That caused much unrest in Baghdad. It stopped when the Tatars took possession of Baghdad, and was never resumed later on. The majority of Hanbalites are now to be found in Syria.

Abu Hanifah’s adherents today are the ‘Iraqis and the Muslims of India, China, Transoxania, and all the non-Arab (Persian-Turkish) countries. His school had formerly been restricted rather to Baghdad and the ‘Iraq. There had been pupils of his at the court of the ‘Abbasid caliphs.

Their writings were numerous and their disputations with the Shafi’ites were frequent. Their ways of dealing with controversial questions 185 were excellent.

They made a nice discipline out of (the subject of controversial questions) and developed remarkable ideas in this connection. All that is in the hands of scholars. The Maghrib has some knowledge of it. It was brought there by Judge Ibn al-‘Arabi 186 and Abul-Walid al-Baji 187 from their travels.

Ash-Shafi’i has more adherents in Egypt than anywhere else. His school had formerly spread through the ‘Iraq, Khurasan, and Transoxania. The Shafi’ites had shared with the Hanafites the task of giving legal decisions and teaching in all (Muslim) cities.

They had many discussion meetings, and the books on controversial questions are full of the various kinds of (Shafi’ite) argumentation. Later on, all this stopped when the eastern countries were wiped out. When the imam Muhammad b. Idris ash-Shafi’i took up his residence with the ‘Abd-al-Hakam family 188 in Egypt, a number of them 189 studied with him. His pupils in Egypt included al-Buwayti, 190 al-Muzani, 191 and others.

Malikites in Egypt were certain members of the ‘Abd-al-Hakam family, 193 Ashhab, 194 Ibn al-Qasim,195 Ibn alMawwaz, 196 and, further, al-Harith b. Miskin 197 and his family; then, Judge Abu Ishaq b. Sha’ban 198 and his followers. Orthodox jurisprudence was then cut off from Egypt by the appearance of the Shi’ah dynasty.

Alid jurisprudence came into use there. All the other (schools with their) scholars were on the point of complete disappearance, when 199 Judge ‘Abd-al-Wahhab 2 00 came to Egypt from Baghdad at the end of the fourth [tenth] century, because he was in need and had to seek a livelihood. The ‘Ubaydid(-Fatimid) caliphs proceeded 201 to honor him. They advertised his great qualifications, in order to be able to blame the ‘Abbasids for driving out such a religious leader, and showed satisfaction with him.

As a result, the Malikite school saw some flourishing in Egypt, until the extremist Shi’ah ‘Ubaydid(-Fatimid) dynasty was wiped out by Salah-ad-din b. Ayyub.

That meant the end of ‘Alid jurisprudence in Egypt and the return of orthodox jurisprudence among the Egyptians. The jurisprudence of ash-Shafi’i and his ‘Iraqi followers now flourished (in Egypt). It turned out to be in a better position than before, and was greatly cultivated.

The book of ar-Rafi’i 204 was imported from the ‘Iraq into Syria and Egypt.

Among famous Shaft’ites were:

• Muhyi-ad-din an-Nawawi, one of the champions who had grown up in the shadow of the Ayyubid dynasty in Syria
• ‘Izz-ad-din b. ‘Abd-as-Salam, 205 then,
• Ibn ar-Raf’ah 206 in Egypt
• Taqi-ad-din b. Daqiqal-‘id. 207

After the latter two, there was Taqi-ad-din as-Subki. 208

Finally, (Shafi’ite leadership) was assumed by the present Shaykh of Islam in Egypt, Siraj-ad-din al-Bulqini. 209

• He is the greatest Shafi’ite in Egypt today and the greatest Egyptian religious scholar.

Malik’s school was restricted to Maghribis and Spaniards, even though it was also found among other peoples.

However, (Maghribis and Spaniards) very rarely follow other schools. (This situation is explained by the fact that) they mostly traveled to the Hijaz.

There, their journey ended. Medina, at that time, was the home of religious scholarship, which spread to the ‘Iraq from there. The ‘Iraq did not lie in the way of (the travels of the Maghribis and the Spaniards).

Thus, they restricted themselves to studying with the scholars of Medina, that is, with Malik, the leading Medinese scholar at that time, as with his teachers before him and with his pupils after him.

Thus, Maghribis and Spaniards (always) referred to (Malik) and became his adherents and nobody else’s, as the methods of other (authorities) did not reach them. Furthermore, the desert attitude was predominant among Maghribis and Spaniards. They did not care for sedentary culture, such as existed among the ‘Iraqis.

Therefore, they were more inclined toward the Hijazis, because the Hijazis also had the desert attitude. Thus, the Malikite school among them always retained its simplicity and was not affected by the refinement and improvement of sedentary culture that took effect in other schools.

The school doctrine of each authority became, among his adherents, a scholarly discipline in its own right. They were no longer in a position to apply independent judgment and analogy.

Therefore, they had to make reference to the established principles from the school doctrine of their authority, in order to be able to analyze problems in their context and disentangle them when they got confused.

A firmly rooted habit was required to enable a person to undertake such analysis and disentanglement and to apply the school doctrine of his particular authority to those (processes) according to the best of his ability.

This habit is (what is meant) at this time by the science of jurisprudence.

All Maghribis are adherents of Malik. His pupils were formerly spread over Egypt and the ‘Iraq.

In Iraq, they were represented by Judge Ismail and his contemporaries, such as Ibn Khuwazmandad, Ibn al-Muntab,212 Judge Abu Bakr al-Abhari, Judge Abul-Hasan b. al-Qassar, Judge ‘Abd-al-Wahhab, and their successors.

In Egypt, there was Ibn al-Qasim, Ashhab, Ibn ‘Abd-al-Hakam, al-Harith b. Miskin, and their contemporaries. Yahya b. Yahya alLaythi traveled from Spain (to the East) and met Malik and transmitted the Muwatta’ on his authority.

He was an important pupil of Malik. Also, ‘Abd-al-Malik b. Habib traveled from Spain (to the East) and studied with Ibn alasim and his contemporaries.

He spread the school of Malik in Spain. He wrote a systematic work on it, in the Kitab al-Wadihah. A pupil of his, al-‘Utbi, wrote the ‘Utbiyah. Asad b. al-Furat traveled from Ifrigiyah (to the East) and studied first with the followers of Abu Hanifah, but then changed over to the school of Malik.

He studied with Ibn al-Qasim all the chapters of jurisprudence and wrote down what he learned. He brought his book back to al-Qayrawan. It was called al-Asadiyah, after Asad b. al-Furat.

Sahnun studied it with Asad (himself). He, then, traveled to the East and met Ibn al-Qasim.

He studied with him and confronted him with the problems of the Asadiyah.

He reconsidered many of them, and Sahnun wrote down his own problems in a systematic work, and stated which of the problems of the Asadiyah he had reconsidered.

Ibn al-Qasim and he together wrote to Asad and asked him to delete from the Asadiyah the problems that had been reconsidered (by Ibn al-Qasim and Sahnun) and to accept the book of Sahnun.

Asad, however, refused to do that.

As a result, people disregarded Asad’s book and followed the Mudawwanah of Sahnun, despite the fact that (in the Mudawwanah) different problems were confusingly lumped together in the various chapters.

Therefore, the Mudawwanah was called Mudawwanah-and-Mukhtalitah or the “mixed up, confused one”.

The inhabitants of al-Qayrawan concentrated upon the Mudawwanah, whereas the Spaniards concentrated upon the Wadihah and the ‘Utbiyah.Ibn Abi Zayd, then, made a compendium of the Mudawwanah-and-Mukhtalitah in a book entitled al-Mukhtasar.

One of the jurists of al-Qayrawan, Abu Sa’id al-Baradhi’i, also made a compendium of it in a book entitled at-Tahdhib.

The shaykhs of Ifriqiyah used the Tahdhib as their textbook. They accepted it and disregarded all other works.

In the same way, the Spaniards used the ‘Utbiyah as their textbook and kept away from the Wadihah and other works.

Malikite scholars have never ceased writing commentaries, explanations, and synopses of these main works.

The people of Ifrigiyah wrote a good deal on the Mudawwanah. Scholars such as Ibn Yunus, al-Lakhmi, Ibn Muhriz, at-Tunisi, Ibn Bashir, and others, wrote on it.

The Spaniards wrote a good deal on the ‘Utbiyah. Scholars such as Ibn Rushd and others wrote on it.

Ibn Abi Zayd collected all the problems, contradictions, and statements from the main works in the Kitab anNawadir.

He dealt with all the stated opinions of the school and listed in detail in that book the contents of all the main works. Most of it was taken over by Ibn Yunus into his book on the Mudawwanah.

The Malikite school was very actively cultivated in Spain and northwestern Africa, until the dynasties of Cordoba and al-Qayrawan were destroyed.

Later on, the Maghribis held on to the (Malikite tradition of the) two (cities).

There are 3 different schools within the Malikite school:

1. That of the Qayrawanians. Its founder was Sahnun, who studied with Ibn al-Qasim

2. That of the Cordovans. Its founder was Ibn Habib, who studied with Malik, Mutarrif, 231 Ibn al-Mijishim, 232 and Asbagh.

3. That of the ‘Iraqis. Its founder was Judge Ismail and his companions.

Eventually, there appeared the book of Abu ‘Amr b. alHajib, in which he summarized the various approaches of the Malikite (authorities) to every subject and enumerated their statements on every individual problem. Thus, his work came to be a kind of synopsis of the school.

The Malikite school had been in Egypt since the times of al-Harith b. Miskin, Ibn al-Muyassar, Ibn al-Lahib, Ibn Rashiq, and Ibn Shas. 245 In Alexandria, it was cultivated by the ‘Awf and Sanad families, and by Ibn ‘Ata’llah. 246 I do not know from whom Abu ‘Amr b. al-Hajib 247 got his knowledge of the Malikite school, but he lived after the destruction of the ‘Ubaydid(-Fatimid) dynasty and the disappearance of ‘Alid jurisprudence and after the orthodox Shdf’ite and Malikite jurisprudence had reappeared (in Egypt).

The Egyptian school followed that of the ‘Iraqis. Judge ‘Abd-al-Wahhab moved from Baghdad to Egypt at the end of the 10th century. The Egyptians studied with him.

The Malikite school in Egypt had started with al-Harith b. Miskin, Ibn Muyassar, Ibn al-Lahib, and Ibn Rashiq.

It had remained under cover because of the appearance of the extremist Shi’ah and ‘Alid jurisprudence.

The ‘Iraqi school was shunned by the inhabitants of alQayrawan and Spain, because it was far away, its ways of reaching conclusions were obscure.

They knew little about the sources that (the ‘Iraqis) used. Scholars are (basically) men of independent judgment, even when (their opinion) stands apart (and does not agreewith the general opinion), and they do not blindly believe in tradition, nor do they like to use it as (their) method.

Therefore, the Maghribis and Spaniards do not accept the opinion of the ‘Iraqis, whenever they cannot find a tradition of the imam Malik or one of his companions to support it.

Later on, the various schools merged with each other. In the 12th century, Abu Bakr at-Turtushi traveled from Spain amd settled in Jerusalem. The Egyptians and Alexandrians studied with him and took over from him elements of the Spanish school into their own Egyptian school.

One of his most important followers was the jurist Sanad, the author of the Tiraz, 239 and his companions.

A number of people studied with them. They included the ‘Awf family and their followers. Abu ‘Amr b. al-Hajib studied with them. He was followed by Shihab-ad-din alQarafi. 241 In this way, there was a continuity (of Maliki teaching) in those times.

The Shafi’ite school had also been destroyed in Egypt at the time of the ‘Alid ‘Ubaydid(-Fatimid) 242 dynasty.

Later on, the work of the Khurasanian Shafi’ite ar-Rafi’i 243 made its appearance with the jurists who renewed the Shafi’ite school.

In Syria, one of the Shafi’ite champions, Muhyi-ad-din an-Nawawi, made his appearance.

Later on, the western school of Malikites also took over elements of the ‘Iraqi school through ash-Shirimsihi. 244 He was outstanding in Alexandria as representative of the Western and Egyptian school.

When the ‘Abbasid al-Mustansir, the father of al-Musta’ im and son of az-Zahir, built his college in Baghdad, he asked the ‘Ubaydid(-Fatimid) caliphs, who at that time were in Cairo, to send him ash Baghdad, (al-Mustansir) appointed him professor in the Mustansiriyah College.

He remained there until Hulagu took possession of Baghdad in 656 [1258]. He escaped the fury of the catastrophe and went free. He remained living there until he died in the days of Hulagu’s son, Ahmad Abagha.

A compendium of the Egyptian school that had taken over elements of the Western school, was made, as we have mentioned, 248 in the Mukhtasar of Abu ‘Amr b. al-Hajib, which mentions the different problems of every juridical subject and enumerates the various statements on each individual problem.

Thus, it came to be a kind of synopsis of the school.

When his work reached the Maghrib at the end of the 13th century, the majority of Maghribi students, and especially the inhabitants of Bougie, concentrated upon it. The chief teacher of the people of Bougie, Abu ‘Ali Nasir-ad-din az-Zawawi, 249 had been the one who brought the work of Ibn al-Hajib to the Maghrib.

He had studied with (Ibn al-Hajib’s) followers in Egypt, had copied his Mukhtasar, and brought it (to the West). It spread among his pupils in the region of Bougie and was introduced by them into all the other cities of the Maghrib.

Contemporary Maghribi students of jurisprudence use and study it, because of the interest the shaykh Nasir-ad-din is said to have aroused in it. A number of Maghribi shaykhs, such as Ibn ‘Abd-asSalim, Ibn Rashid, 250 and Ibn Harun,251 commented on it.

All of them are shaykhs of Tunis. Their principal champion in this respect is Ibn ‘Abd-as-Salam. In addition, they use the Kitab at-TahdhIb as textbook in their teaching.