The Four Juristic Schools Their Founders - Development - Methodology - Legacy Author by Islamic Research Team Department of Fatwa State of Kuwait Translated by Shaikh Mohammad Daniel Academic Proofreading by Prof. Ahmad Al-Hajji Al-kurdi Shaikh Ali Khalid al-Sharbaji Dr. Bumia Mohammed al-Saeed Shaikh Adnan b. Salim al-Nahaam Department of Fatwa State of kuwait The Four Juristic Schools Their Founders - Development - Methodology - Legacy Tâà{ÉÜ uç Islamic Research Team Department of Fatwa State of Kuwait gÜtÇáÄtàxw uç Shaikh Mohammad Daniel TvtwxÅ|v cÜÉÉyÜxtw|Çz uç Prof. Ahmad Al-Hajji Al-kurdi Shaikh Ali Khalid al-Sharbaji Dr. Bumia Mohammed al-Saeed Shaikh Adnan b. Salim al-Nahaam Our Objectives  Clarify Islamic rulings related to matters that Muslims encounter on a regular basis.  Disseminate proper Islamic knowledge to individuals in society.  Disseminate a well-balanced understanding First Editon of Islamic law that caters to the situation of 1439/2017 Muslims, while employing the true and respectful spirit of Islam.  Revive our rich Islamic juristic heritage that respects genuine variety of reasoning, and scholarly differences of opinion.  Educate imams and preachers with the juristic knowledge required to answer common queries that occur in society.  Participate with society in their auspicious Website of the Department occasions, by educating them through leaflets and other materials regarding these www.islam.gov.kw/eftaa occasions from an Islamic perspective.  Publish leaflets and books addressing issues of social importance, and their status and ﺀﺎﺘﻓﻹﺍ ﺓﺭﺍﺩﺇ rulings in Islamic Law. @eftaa_kw  Cater to the needs of new Muslims by eftakw assisting in their declaration of faith and gifting them beneficial Islamic books in their own language. Department of Fatwa Management For correspondence: State of Kuwait - Ministry of Endowments & Islamic Affairs Email: [email protected] - for the attention of Manager Department of Fatwa. A message from the Management A Message from the Management All praise be to Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds, and Protector of the Righteous. We bear witness that there is no God but Allah alone, free from all partners. And we bear witness that Mohammed is His slave and messenger. May Allah grant the choicest salutations and peace upon him, his family and companions. And as to what follows: The Department of Fatwa at the Kuwait Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs has routinely provided works that help students of sacred knowledge develop their understanding of matters pertaining to Islamic Law, as well as strengthen their academic ability. Furthermore, as it is not possible for the student of knowledge to dispense with the study of the books belonging to the renowned juristic schools - particularly the four well-known schools - and to learn the dominant from the anomalous positions of each school, the Islamic Research Team at the Department of Fatwa in Kuwait decided to author this work entitled: The Four Juristic Schools: Their Founders - Development - Methodology – Legacy It is hoped that this book will present to the respectable reader, a focused and academic insight of each of the four schools that have survived and found their unique place within this nation while other schools became extinct with the passing of time. These schools were served by their followers, and their legal methodology had been established, the opinions of their scholars recorded, and their positions redacted, thereby distinguishing the dominant position of the school from the weak and anomalous. This book dedicates a section to each of the four schools and introduces the founders of each school, their principles in deriving rulings, as well as the nomenclature of the schools - which provides 3 A message from the Management the key to understanding the context of the words and symbols used in each school. After the completion of this work, the management at the Department of Fatwa in the State of Kuwait submitted the contents of each section to a distinguished jurist of that respective school, who in turn perused it and provided feedback for edits or changes which were then made. Before the introductory chapter of each school, the commendation of the scholar who perused the section is provided. In this way, this project was finally realised, and we are pleased to provide a work that will serve as a guide for the beginner, and a revision for the advanced reader. In closing, we ask Allah to bless this endeavour so that it bears fruit, and benefits all those with a keen interest in the sacred sciences. The following people contributed to this project: Shaikh Turki ‘Isa al-Mutairi (Head) Doctor Ayman Mohammed Omar (Member) Shaikh Nur al-Deen Abdul Salam Mis’ee (Member) Shaikh Ahmed Abdul Wahab Salim (Member) Doctor Mahmoud Mohammed al-Kabsh (Member) Shaikh Mohammed Daniel (Member) May the choicest salutations and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammed, his family and all of his companions. The Department of Fatwa 4 F Prologue In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful Prologue All praise be to Allah, we praise Him and seek His forgiveness from the evils of our own selves. Whomsoever He guides, none can misguide and whomsoever He allows to be misguided, none can guide. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, free from all partners. And we bear witness that Mohammed is His slave and messenger, who said: “Whomsoever Allah intends for him goodness he blesses him with an understanding of this religion.”1 May the choicest salutations and peace be upon him and his family and all his companions. And as to what follows: The four juristic schools which the Muslim nation have approved, generation after generation, have provided a pivotal role in Islamic Law across Muslim lands. They have been the reference point of arbitration in the courts of Islamic Law and the curricula at Islamic institutes of learning and circles of knowledge. It is upon the principles of these various schools that many graduated to scholarship in their specialties and to these schools they fervently ascribed themselves, to the extent that it became imperative for them to be identified as belonging to a particular school, especially in the written works of Islamic history, biographies, hagiographies and encyclopedias. This fervent dedication of the scholars only existed because of the distinguishing characteristics of their respective schools over 1 Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim 5 Prologue other schools due to the noble stature of their founding scholars, the authentic passing down of their statements, the stability and conformity in the legal rulings, the determining of the dominant positions from the anomalous ones; the authentic from the inauthentic; in addition to the strength of their principles and standardisation of their rulings; the clarity of their proofs as well as the sheer dedication of their scholars in serving the school through verifying its proofs, and evaluating and redacting its positions, to the point that those who choose to depend on other schools to learn their religion have without doubt left the true avenue for such. Al-Hafidh Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy upon him) pointed to these special and essential qualities when he stated: “The wisdom of Allah (Exalted is He) caused for the stability and preservation of this religion by furnishing the Muslim nation with great Imams upon whom the nation hold consensus regarding their knowledge, understanding and stature in religious rulings and edicts in both the schools of traditionalists and rationalists to the extent that people resorted and depended upon them in learning their religion. Moreover, Allah set people to validate their schools and redact their principles to the point that the school of each Imam had been served and its fundamental principles and secondary rulings had been established until they became a reference point for rulings; and statements were refined with regards to the permissible and the forbidden.” He continued on this subject until he said: “…The schools that did not belong to these scholars did not spread and were not validated such that things were ascribed to them which they did not say, or people understood from them what they did not intend, and for these schools there was no one to defend them or point out the misrepresentations, contrary to that which we find in the reputable schools.” In addition to this, we find that these four schools have distinguished 6 Prologue themselves from other schools even in issues where they differ, and in their legal rulings, due to their agreement to the primary sources of Islamic Law and its underlying divine objectives and spirit; so rarely does one find anything that is strange or anomalous as you find in other schools such as that of the Dhahiri School. It is for this reason that we find the truth in legal issues is rarely found outside of the four schools, as Shaikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) states: “With regards to the statement of the person who says, ‘I do not limit myself to those four scholars’. If he means by this that he does limit himself to one of them leaving the others then he has done well, rather this is the correct of the two positions, but if he means by this that he does not take from any of them and rather differs from them, then he is definitely wrong as in general, the truth is not to be found outside of these four schools.” As it is important to mention the status of these schools and the position of their founders as well as learning about their sources, principles, texts and nomenclature, we responded by providing researchers, students and scholars of Islamic Law with this publication that we entitled: The Four Juristic Schools: Their Founders - Development - Methodology - Legacy This work includes a discussion on each of the four schools starting with a biography of the founder; stating his name, lineage, study, journeys, teachers, students, written works, legacy and demise. Then it discusses the development of the school and the academic stages that it went through, from the founding and establishment, to the spreading and following including its collation and redaction. Then it discusses the principle methodology of deriving rulings within the school, the most famous written works of the school, the nomenclature and symbols used within the school that are either found in these written works or used by the scholars, and preference of the soundest or most dominant position in the school. We have endeavoured to ensure that this work is presented in a 7 Prologue systematic and easy to follow way while maintaining brevity wherever possible, focusing on the most important topics that one should know without going into intricate details, as well as maintaining a simple level of language so that the student, intellectual, jurist or scholar may all find benefit in this work. In ending, we find it best to quote the words of the renowned scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy upon him): “O’ dear reader of this work; this is the assorted merchandise of the writer brought to you. This is his understanding and thought presented to you. For you is its prosperity and upon the writer its adversity; and for you is its fruit and for him is its recompense, so if it does not beget your praise and gratitude, let it not be bereft of your pardon, and if you refuse only to reproach, then His door remains open. Allah is the Guarantor of making this endeavour solely for his pleasure, and of ensuring that its author and reader profits in this world and the Hereafter; indeed He is the All-Hearer of supplication, He is sufficient for us and the best Disposer of affairs.” Finally, we would like end by petitioning Allah the Exalted to accept this effort from us as a good deed that has been done seeking His pleasure only. We ask Allah to bless this effort and to forgive us for any mistake or shortcomings that may have occurred. Ultimately, all praise is for Allah, The Lord of All The Worlds. May He grant the choicest salutations and peace upon our Prophet Mohammed and upon all his family and companions. Islamic Research Team Department of Fatwa State of Kuwait 8 Imam Abu Hanifah al-Numan’s School of Thought