Maḏāhib

Sunni Muslims believe that there are four valid maḏāhib (schools of thought): Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī. Each of the four schools has its sources in the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth, and they differ only in the interpretation, application, and scholarly analysis of those sources. This website is currently and solely based on the Ḥanafī maḏhab.

It is important to remember that the great Imāms had a deep and mutual respect for one another’s legal positions. Consequently, accepting as valid the opinions of all four legal schools would become a cornerstone of Sunni jurisprudence. However, the etiquette that was and is still observed by each of four schools is:

Our opinion is correct with the possibility of being incorrect, and their opinion is incorrect with the possibility of being correct.

Hence, the scholars of one school do not criticize the scholars of another school, but rather understand that each is following an interpretation of the same sources of Sharī’ah (the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth) as propounded by their Imāms – all of whom possessed the ability to infer rulings directly from the Qur’ān and the aḥādīth of the Messenger ﷺ. These four schools have been accepted century after century by Ahl al-Sunnah w’al Jamaa’ah (people of the Sunnah and Companions). Although there are those who do not follow a school of jurisprudence and claim to rely only on the aḥādīth, what they are in fact claiming is a place alongside the four Sunni Imāms. These same people also follow the interpretations of scholars they trust, which is similar to following one of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence. The difference however is that they replace the opinions of the righteous Imāms of earlier centuries with the opinions of scholars of latter times.