There are 4 schools of jurisprudence that fall into the Ahlussunnah group, namely Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hambali. What is the explanation of each of these schools and how is it spread throughout the world?
Assalamu’alaikum all Muslim friends, what is a school of thought? Madhhab is an Arabic term which means a path that is passed and passed, something that is a person’s goal both concretely and abstractly.
Madhhab is the path chosen so that it is connected with the message brought by the Prophet Muhammad. There are at least 3 scopes that often use the term mazhab in it, namely the aqidah school, political school, and fiqh school.
In Islamic law or fiqh there are four major schools of thought recognized by the Ahlussunnah Wal Jamaah group, namely Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hambali.
Get to know the 4 schools of Islam and their spread throughout the world
1. Hanafi School
The Hanafi or Hanafi school was founded by Nu’man Bin Thabit or better known as Abu Hanifah (died 767 AD). His legal thinking is rational. This school of thought originates from Kufa, a city that has achieved high progress in Iraq, so that many problems that arise are solved through opinions, analogies, and Khafi’s qiyas.
His famous work is the fiqh of Al Akbar. The Hanafi school is a school of fiqh with the largest number of followers in the world with a total of 675 million followers. The countries with the most followers of this sect are Pakistan (127 million people), India (120 million people), Bangladesh (116 million people), Turkey (56 million people), Afghanistan (24 million people), and Uzbekistan (20 million people). ).
During the Ottoman period this school was the official school of the kingdom. His famous disciples or followers were Abu Yusuf, namely Imam Ahmad’s teacher, Ash-syaibani, namely Imam Shafi’i’s teacher, Abu Mansur Al maturidi, Jalaluddin Al Rumi, and Bahaudin Naqsyaband.
2. Maliki School
The Maliki or Maliki school was founded by Malik bin Anas (died 797 AD) or commonly known as Imam Malik. Throughout his life Imam Malik never left Medina except for the purposes of the pilgrimage. His legal thinking is heavily influenced by the sunnah which tends to be textual. Imam Malik is also a narrator of Hadith, his famous work is al-muwatta, which is a hadith with a fiqh style.
Imam Malik is also known as a mufti (ulama who has the authority to interpret and give fatwas to the people), cases that have been faced such as his fatwa that the law imposed is not valid. In addition, his thoughts also use the traditions of the people of Medina.
The Maliki school of jurisprudence is a school of jurisprudence with followers concentrated in North Africa and West Africa with a total of 270 million followers. The countries with the most followers are Morocco (35 million), Algeria (30 million), Egypt (25 million), Sudan (20 million), Nigeria (18 million), and Tunisia (8 million).
His famous disciples or followers were Imam Shafi’i, Yahya al-laitsi, Ibn Rusdi, Al qurthubi, Ibn Battuta and Ibn Khaldun.
3. The Shafi’i School
The Shafi’i school was founded by Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Idris as-Shafi’i (died 767 AD). During his life he had lived in Baghdad, Medina and finally in Egypt. Therefore the style of thought is a convergence or meeting between rationalists and traditionalists.
In addition to being based on the Qur’an, sunnah, and ijma, Imam Shafi’i also adheres to qiyas. He is also called the first person to record the science of fiqh proposals. His famous works are Al-Umm and Ar-Risalah.
His moderate thinking is shown in Qaul Qadim (the new opinion) and Qaul Jadid (the old opinion). For its distribution, the Shafi’i school was followed by 495 million people. Countries with the majority of followers of this sect are Indonesia (215 million people), Ethiopia (30 million people), Malaysia (19 million people), Yemen (11 million people), Egypt (10 million people), and Somalia (8 million people). ).
His famous students or followers were Imam Ahmad Al Ghazali, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Majah, An Nawawi, Abu Hasan Al Asy’ari, and Said nursi.
4. Hambali School
The Hambali or servant school of thought was founded by Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Hambal (died 855 AD), otherwise known as Imam Hambali. In his youth he studied with Abu Yusuf and Imam Shafi’i. His style of thought is traditionalist, apart from being based on the Qur’an, sunnah, and ijtihad, he also uses the hadith Mursal and Qiyas if he has to.
Apart from being a legal expert, he is also a hadith expert whose famous work is Musnad Ahmad, a collection of hadiths of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam. The Hambali school of followers is concentrated in the Persian Gulf region with 41 million followers. The countries with the most followers of this school are Saudi Arabia (30 million), the United Arab Emirates (11 million), and Qatar (2 million).
His famous disciples or followers were Imam Bukhari, Abdul Qodir Al Jailani, Ibn Qudammah, Ibn Qaiyyim Al Jauziyah, and Muhammad bin Abdul Wahab.
These four schools of jurisprudence have influenced the colorful development of Islam, the differences in the implementation of fiqh based on each school in a community. Often it becomes an endless debate, tolerance is the key to maintaining brotherhood in faith. Wallahu A’lam Bishwab
