Law and Jurisprudence
• The five major schools of legal
thought
• The impact of Muslim
jurisprudence on European civil
law.
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IMAM MALIK (93 AH - 179 AH/715 - 795 AD)
• He spent the whole of his life in Madinah where
much of the Qur’an was revealed and most of the
legal practices of Islam established.
• He spent his life studying, recording and clarifying
the legal parameters and precedents which was
passed down to him by the first two generations of
Muslims who were the direct inheritors of the
perfected form of Islam left by the Prophet (saw).
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• Although he is the author of numerous books, his
most important work is the Kitab al-Muwatta, which
deals with the subject of Islamic Law based on
Ahadith and Sunnah. It is the earliest surviving book
of its kind - written around 150 A.H.
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• Ibn Abd al-Barr said that Malik was the first who
compiled a book formed exclusively of sound
narrations.
• Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi said: “The Muwatta’ is the first
foundation and the core, while al-Bukhari’s book is
the second foundation in this respect. Upon these
two all the rest have built, such as Muslim and alTirmidhi.”
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• Shah Wali Allah said something similar and added
that it is the principal authority of all four Schools of
Law, which stand in relation to it like the
commentary stands in relation to the main text.
Malik composed it in the course of forty years,
having started with ten thousand narrations until he
reduced them to their present number of under
2,000.
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• Imam Malik held the hadith of the Prophet in such
reverence that he never narrated anything nor gave a
fatwa unless in a state of ritual purity.
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IMAM ABU HANEEFA (80 AH - 150
A.H. 699 AD - 767 AD)
• It is said that Abu Hanifah was extremely pious,
avoided forbidden things, remained silent and
absorbed in his thoughts most of the time, and
answered a question only if he knew the answer.
He was very generous and self-respecting, never
asked a favour of anybody, shunned the company
of the worldly-minded and held worldly power
and position in contempt. He avoided slander and
only talked well of people.
• Despite the fact that Abu Hanifa’s school of
thought is the last to emerge, it is the most widely
followed.
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• He was a man of profound learning and was as
generous with his knowledge as with his
money.
• Despite his wealth and high position in
society, the Imam was extremely gentle and
polite.
• He was a man of few words and never took
part in idle talk. In his classroom he would sit
quietly, letting his pupils freely debate among
themselves, and would speak only when the
discussion had become long and drawn-out
without any conclusion being reached. He
would then give his decision, which would
satisfy all present.
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• He left behind him three works namely (1) ‘Fiqh-iAkbar’, (2) ‘Al Alim Wal Mutaam’ and (3) ‘Musnad’.
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IMAM SHAFI‘I (150 AH - 204
A.H/767 - 820 AD)
• Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i was
a descendant from the Quraysh tribe, and thus,
he is the only Imam who is related to the Prophet
(saw).
The most important of books is the Kitab al-Umm
which contains his rulings of on almost all
subjects of Islamic Law.
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• He is known as 'Nasir al Sunnah‘ (one who saved the
sunnah).
• He was honoured as al-Imam al Mujaddid in that he
is the Mujaddid of the 2nd century.
• He was a student of Imam Malik with whom he spent
eight months.
• Imam Malik made this comment: “No scholar more
brilliant than Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi‘i ever
came to me as a pupil.”
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• He is said to have divided innovation (al-bid‘ah) into
good and bad on the basis of ‘Umar’s words about
the tarawih or congregational supererogatory night
prayers in the month of Ramadan: “What a fine
innovation this is!”
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• Among his sayings is: “The study of hadith is
better than supererogatory prayer, and the
pursuit of knowledge is better than
supererogatory prayer.”
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• Being a prominent figure, his lectures attracted a
huge gathering of at least 5,000 students among
whom nearly 500 took down notes daily. Imam
Bukhari, Imam Muslim, and Imam Tirmizi were also
amongst his noteworthy students.
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IMAM AHMAD IBN HANBAL (164
AH - 241/780 AD. 855 AD)
• Chronologically, he was the last of the four
imams.
• He was a very pious scholar who devoted all his
life in the Science of Ahadith and Fiqh.
• It is said that he learnt almost a million Ahadith by
heart.
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• Harmala said: “I heard al-Shafi`i say: ‘I left Baghdad
and did not leave behind me anyone more virtuous
(afdhal), more learned, more knowledgeable than
Ahmad ibn Hanbal.’”
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• He was probably the most learned in the sciences of
hadith of the four great Imams of Sacred Law, and his
students included many of the foremost scholars of
hadith. Abu Dawud said of him: ‘Ahmad’s gatherings
were gatherings of the afterlife: nothing of this world
was mentioned. Never once did I hear him mention
this-worldly things.’ ... He never once missed praying
in the night, and used to recite the entire [Qur’an]
daily.
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Challenges Confronting
Muslims Globally
• Challenges of Modern Science and Technology
and the Muslim Responses
• Challenges of reinvention of Islamic civilization
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