PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF

ISLAM and SHARI’AH

By: PROF. MOHAMAD ALIA’AN A. ABDULATIFH, JD, Sh.L, MPA
FACULTY, College of Law
Faculty, CSSH (Islamic Studies)
Executive Assistant II, MSU General Santos
Chief of Staff, MSU General Santos
Director, Physical Plant Division, MSU General Santos
 7 PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAM
AND ISLAMIC LAW
From the time when prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) received
ALLAH’s divine revelations in Mekkah on 27th day of Ramadhan,
610 A.C., that continued throughout the period of his reign as
the leader of the new social, political and religious order or
group of people, the MUSLIMS, from Mecca to Madina, until his
death on 12th of Rabi Al-awwal, up to the periods of his
successors,the “Four Righteous and Pious Caliphs”, and the
advent of the different Schools of Muslim laws and scholars, the
Muslim legal system have gone through some stages of
development which Muslim writers and scholars have divided
into periods.
 7 PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAM
AND ISLAMIC LAW
 FIRST PERIOD
 It is the period from the year 13 before Hijra to 10 after Hijra (608 A.D-631 A.D.), during
the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) which may be referred to as “THE PERIOD OF
DIVINE LEGISLATION”.
 SECOND PERIOD
 The period from 10 A.H.- 40 A.H. (A.D. 631-660), also referred to as “ THE PERIOD OF THE
FOUR RIGHTLY GUIDED CALIPHS” (Companions of the Prophet);
 THIRD PERIOD
 The period from 41 A.H- 132 A.H. ( 661 A.D. – 750 A.D.) “ THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE”;
 FOURTH PERIOD
 The period from 132 A.H.- 350 A.H. (750 A.D.- 961 A.D.) “ THE PERIOD OF THE FOUR
FOUNDERS OF THE FOUR SUNNI OR SCHOOL OF MUSLIM LAWS”;
 7 PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF ISLAM
AND ISLAMIC LAW
 FIFTH PERIOD
 It is the period from 351 A.H. or 962, to the fall of Baghdad in 656 A.H. or the
period of “ THE ADVENT OF THE MUSTAWJIHUN JURISTS”;
 SIXTH PERIOD
 The period from 656 A.H. or 1258 A.D. to the abolition of the Caliphate in 1922,
when Jurists known as the Mugallidun came about “THE PERIOD OF MUGALLIDUN;
 SEVENTH PERIOD
 Begun from 1922 after the abolition of the Caliphate and the Sultanate of Turkey in
1924, and has not yet deemed to have come to an end.
 I- PERIOD OF DIVINE REVELATION
MEANING OF REVELATION
When Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) was in his 40th year, he
approached the decisive event which brought a complete change in
his life and the history of mankind, and this was when ALLAH (s.w.t)
chose him as his Messenger (Rasul’ ALLAH) and Prophet (Nabi) to
receive his messages or divine laws through series of revelations
and to spread them to Humanity.
REVELATION is a type of knowledge which the person
recognizes deep within himself with a certitude that it has come
down from GOD, whether directly or through mediation. Direct
revelations is brought to the ears of the person through a voice or
through other means.
 I- PERIOD OF DIVINE REVELATION
 MAKKAN PERIOD
 MADINITE PERIOD
 BATTLE OF BADR (17TH Ramadhan 12 H/ 14th March 624)
 BATTLE OF UHUD (15th Shawal 3 H/ 21 March 625)
 BATTLE OF KHANDAQ ( Shawal 5 A.H/ 31 March 627)
 CONQUEST OF MEKKAH
 FAREWELL PILGRIMAGE
 II- PERIOD OF FOUR RIGHTLY GUIDED AND
PIOUS CALIPHS (KHULAFA-I-RASHIDIN)

THE SECOND PERIOD

The period of the Four Rightly Guided and Pious Caliphs (A.H. 10-
40), also known as the Thirty years (30 years Period of the Orthodox
Khilafat). With the death of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w), the period of the
divine legislation came to an end. He is considered the last and the seal
of all the prophets and none follows after him. He had left the Muslim the
Qur’an, and his traditions for their guidance. The issue of a successor to
lead the newly established Muslim State devolved upon his principal
companions, and this led to the next era of the period of Muslim law, the
“30 years period of the so-called Rightly Guided and Pious Caliphs”.
 II- PERIOD OF FOUR RIGHTLY GUIDED AND
PIOUS CALIPHS (KHULAFA-I-RASHIDIN)

 THE FOUR CALIPHS

 ABU BAKR “Al-shiddiq” Ibn Uthman (632-643
A.C)
 UMAR Ibn Al-Khattab (634-644 A.C)
 UTHMAN “Al-Nurayn” Ibn Affan (Nov. 644- June
656)
 ALI Ibn Abu Talib (June 656- Jan. 661)
ABU BAKR “Al-shiddiq” Ibn Uthman (632-643 A.C)
 ABU BAKR was born in the second year of the Year of Elephant (570 A.C). His original name was
Abd Allah and was called by Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) Al-siddiq (FAITHFUL). He was also given
the name ATIQ which is variously interpreted by traditions to mean the First Caliph.
 He was successful in placing back Muslim states under the Muslim Rule and preserved the Unity of
Islam.
 Due to impending danger of losing Qur’an memorizers in battle, Abu Bakr initiated the Compilation
of the Qur’an.
 Knowledgeable and devoted to the Primary sources of Islamic Law. He administered Justice during
his time and believed to be the first Qadi to establish Prisons for Malefactors.
 He gives preference to the explicit ruling found in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith.
UMAR Ibn Al-Khattab (634-644 A.C)
 Umar was born forty years before Hijra. His father was Khattab Nufayl, and his mother
was Khantaman Hisham bin Mughirah of the Quraysh tribe.
 Responsible for preserving the original authentic copy of the Qur’an compiled during
the period of the first Caliph.
 Made use of the method of Reasoning through Ijma-i-ummah (Consensus of the
community) as a way of solution to settle difficult questions of law. (Unanimity)
 He enforced the principle that the majesty of the law was supreme and that the
administration of justice must be above the suspicion of subservience to executive
authority.
 He systematized the administration of justice by placing the Judicial machinery on a
right tract. He initiated the appointment of Qadi.
 Displayed a high degree of regard for the equality of men. He abolished slavery among
the arabs, and the selling of war prisoners into slavery. He raised the status of women.
UTHMAN “Al-Nurayn” Ibn Affan (Nov. 644- June 656)

 UTHMAN was born in 565 A.D. in the year of the Elephant. He belongs to the
Banu Umaiyad clan of the Quraysh.
 He received the title “Dhu Al-nurayn” which means possessor of two lights for
having married two of the daughters of prophet Muhammad (s.a.w).
 He pursued the policy of explansion of Muslim empires and consequently
followed the spread of Islam and the application of Muslim Law.
 Reconciled apparent conflicts in the writing and recitation of Qur’an or the
standardization of the script and pronunciation of the Holy Qur’an.
 He commissioned the writing of Mus-haf (Qur’an) according to the last
revision, which the prophet before his death had made.
ALI Ibn Abu Talib (June 656- Jan. 661)
 ALI was born in the 13th year of the Elephant. His father was Abu Talib, and mother was
Fatimah. His family belongs to the Banu Hashim Clan. He was brought up by Muhammad
(s.a.w) his Cousin.
 He continued the policy of expansion of Muslim Dominion and the Muslim Rule.
 He knew the Qur’an by heart and wrote a commentary of it. He is a good scribe and a
learned man.
 Under his close supervision, he compiled the first Arabic grammar specially for non-Arabs
who committed mistake in reciting the Qur’an.
 ALI is said to have transmitted five hundred and eighty six hadiths (586). 20 of which were
accepted unanimously by Bukhari and Muslims. 9 others were also acknowledged by Bukhari
alone, and 50 by Muslim only.
 He was a noted Jurist like Hazrat Umar.
 For the very first time, he systematically defined the powers and Jurisdiction of QADI’s. He
in fact, completed the task of the Judicial Machinery.
II- PERIOD OF FOUR RIGHTLY GUIDED AND
PIOUS CALIPHS (KHULAFA-I-RASHIDIN)
The first four Caliphs were men of action and experience of the world
and law in their hands, while it was separated from religion became imbued with
principles of practical application. Thus, while the period of the Prophet from
Hijra to his death is known as the period of Divine Legislation, the 30 years
period of the four Orthodox Caliphs may be considered as the period of
compilation and Codification of the Holy Qur’an.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
 The death of Caliph ALI brought to an end the period of the Four Rightly guided
and pious Caliphs, and the rise of the Umaiyad Dynasty with Muawiyah
proclaimed in Safar (40 July 660 A.C) as the Caliph. The Caliphs of this dynasty
were not generally noted for their knowledge of the sacred laws, except Umar
ibn Abd Al-Aziz, who was remarkable not only for his rigid piety, but also for his
extensive knowledge of the law and traditions.
 During this period, distribution began to be made in the rules of FIQH by ILM and
USUL, which were later developed by the jurists of the succeeding period as
distinct schools of thinking. This was given rise to by the difference of Hadith and
Ra’y or personal reasoning (Qiyas). The companions and their successors, in the
absence of any basis in the Qur’an and traditions, issued opinions on individual
reasoning.
 During this period, there arose 2 kinds of MUFTIs. 1) Ahl Al-Ray or People of
Opinion and 2) Ahl Al-Hadith or Traditionists.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
 During the pre-Islamic period, the Umayyads or "Banu Umayya" were a leading
clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. By the end of the 6th century, the
Umayyads dominated the Quraysh's increasingly prosperous trade networks
with Syria and developed economic and military alliances with the nomadic
Arab tribes that controlled the northern and central Arabian desert expanses,
affording the clan a degree of political power in the region. The Umayyads
under the leadership of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb were the principal leaders of
Meccan opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but after the latter
captured Mecca in 630, Abu Sufyan and the Quraysh embraced Islam. To
reconcile his influential Qurayshite tribesmen, Muhammad gave his former
opponents, including Abu Sufyan, a stake in the new order. Abu Sufyan and
the Umayyads relocated to Medina, Islam's political centre, to maintain their
new-found political influence in the nascent Muslim community.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
Muhammad's death in 632 left open the succession of leadership of the
Muslim community. Leaders of the Ansar, the natives of Medina who had
provided Muhammad safe haven after his emigration from Mecca in 622,
discussed forwarding their own candidate out of concern that the Muhajirun,
Muhammad's early followers and fellow emigrants from Mecca, would ally
with their fellow tribesmen from the former Qurayshite elite and take
control of the Muslim state. The Muhajirun gave allegiance to one of their
own, the early, elderly companion of Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and put an end
to Ansarite deliberations. Abu Bakr was viewed as acceptable by the Ansar
and the Qurayshite elite and was acknowledged as caliph (leader of the
Muslim community). He showed favor to the Umayyads by awarding them
command roles in the Muslim conquest of Syria. One of the appointees was
Yazid, the son of Abu Sufyan, who owned property and maintained trade
networks in Syria.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
 Abu Bakr's successor Umar (r. 634–644) curtailed the influence of the Qurayshite
elite in favor of Muhammad's earlier supporters in the administration and
military, but nonetheless allowed the growing foothold of Abu Sufyan's sons in
Syria, which was all but conquered by 638. When Umar's overall commander of
the province Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah died in 639, he appointed Yazid governor
of Syria's Damascus, Palestine and Jordan districts. Yazid died shortly after and
Umar appointed his brother Mu'awiya in his place. Umar's exceptional treatment
of Abu Sufyan's sons may have stemmed from his respect for the family, their
burgeoning alliance with the powerful Banu Kalb tribe as a counterbalance to
the influential Himyarite settlers in Homs who viewed themselves as equals to
the Quraysh in nobility or the lack of a suitable candidate at the time,
particularly amid the plague of Amwas which had already killed Abu Ubayda and
Yazid. Under Mu'awiya's stewardship, Syria remained domestically peaceful,
organized and well-defended from its former Byzantine rulers.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
Caliphate of Mu'awiya
 The recognition of Mu'awiya in Kufa, referred to as the "year of unification of the community" in the Muslim
traditional sources, is generally considered the start of his caliphate. With his accession, the political capital and the
caliphal treasury were transferred to Damascus, the seat of Mu'awiya's power. Syria's emergence as the metropolis of
the Umayyad Caliphate was the result of Mu'awiya's twenty-year entrenchment in the province, the geographic
distribution of its relatively large Arab population throughout the province in contrast to their seclusion in garrison
cities in other provinces, and the domination of a single tribal confederation, the Kalb-led Quda'a, as opposed to the
wide array of competing for tribal groups in Iraq.
 Mu'awiya's main challenge was reestablishing the unity of the Muslim community and asserting his authority and that
of the caliphate in the provinces amid the political and social disintegration of the First Fitna. There remained
significant opposition to his assumption of the caliphate and to a strong central government. The garrison towns of
Kufa and Basra, populated by the Arab immigrants and troops who arrived during the conquest of Iraq in the 630s–
640s, resented the transition of power to Syria. They remained divided, nonetheless, as both cities competed for
power and influence in Iraq and its eastern dependencies and remained divided between the Arab tribal nobility and
the early Muslim converts, the latter of whom were divided between the pro-Alids (loyalists of Ali) and the Kharijites,
who followed their own strict interpretation of Islam.
 The caliph applied a decentralized approach to governing Iraq by forging alliances with its tribal nobility, such as the
Kufan leader al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, and entrusting the administration of Kufa and Basra to highly experienced members
of the Thaqif tribe, al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba and the latter's protege Ziyad ibn Abihi (whom Mu'awiya adopted as his half-
brother), respectively.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
 The rebellion that led to the death of Caliph ALI, the fourth and last Caliph from
among the companions of the Prophet by Muawiyah resulted in the formation of
several political factions. These factions were the SHIA’S, KHARIJITES, SUNNIS
and MU’TAZILA. Under each of these factions, the development of Muslim law
was influenced by their independent application of Law.
 The SHIA’S
 The IMAMIYYAH SHIA
 The ZAYDIYAH SHIA
 The KHARIJITES
 The MU’TAZILA
 The SUNNI (Traditionists)
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
SHIA ISLAM
 Shia Islam or Shi'ism is the second largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated Ali
ibn Abi Talib as his successor and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most notably at the event of
Ghadir Khumm, but was prevented from succeeding Muhammad as the leader of the Muslims as a result of the choice
made by some of Muhammad's other companions at Saqifah. This view primarily contrasts with that of Sunni Islam,
whose adherents believe that Muhammad did not appoint a successor before his death and consider Abu Bakr, who
was appointed caliph by a group of senior Muslims at Saqifah, to be the first rightful caliph after Muhammad.
Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shia Muslims or simply Shia.

 Shia Islam is based on a hadith concerning Muhammad's pronouncement at Ghadir Khumm. Shia consider Ali to have
been divinely appointed as the successor to Muhammad, and as the first Imam. The Shia also extend this Imamah to
Muhammad's family, the Ahl al-Bayt ("the people/family of the House"), and some individuals among his descendants,
known as Imams, whom they believe possess special spiritual and political authority over the community, infallibility
and other divinely ordained traits. Although there are many Shia subsects, modern Shia Islam has been divided into
two main groupings: Twelvers and Ismailis, with Twelver Shia being the largest and most influential group among Shia.

 Shia Islam is the second largest branch of Islam: as of 2009, Shia Muslims constituted 10–15% of all Muslims. Twelver
Shia is the largest branch of Shia Islam, with 2012 estimates saying that 85% of Shias were Twelvers.
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
KHARIJITES
The Kharijites (Arabic: khawarij; sing. khariji) were the first identifiable sect of Islam. Their
identity emerged as followers of Muhammad attempted to determine the extent to which one
could deviate from ideal norms of behavior and still be called Muslim. The extreme Kharijite
position was that Muslims who commit grave sins effectively reject their religion,
entering the ranks of apostates, and therefore deserve capital punishment. This position
was considered excessively restrictive by the majority of Muslims, as well as by moderate
Kharijites, who held that a professed Muslim could not be declared an unbeliever (kafir). The
Kharijites believed it was forbidden to live among those who did not share their views, thus
acquiring the name by which they are known in mainstream Islamic historiography—khawarij
means “seceders” or “those who exit the community.” Radical Kharijites, on the other hand,
declared those who disagreed with their position to be apostates, and they launched periodic
military attacks against mainstream Muslim centers until they ceased to be a military threat
in the late 8th century CE. The Kharijites were also known as Haruriyah (from Harura, the site
of one of one of their main camps in Iraq), and more generically as ghulat (extremists)
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
MU’TAZILA
Muʿtazila (Arabic: ‫ المعتزلة‬al-muʿtazilah, English: “Those Who Withdraw, or Stand
Apart”), also called Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd, is an Islamic group that appeared in
early Islāmic history in the dispute over Alī's leadership of the Muslim community
after the death of the third caliph, Uthman. Those who would neither condemn
nor sanction ʿAlī or his opponents but took a middle position between him and his
opponents at the battle of Siffin and the battle of Jamal were termed the
Muʿtazila. By the 10th century CE the term had also come to refer to an Islamic
school of speculative theology (kalām) that flourished in Basra and Baghdad (8th–
10th century).
 III- THE PERIOD OF THE UMAIYAD
CALIPHATE
FIQH AND USUL AL-FIQH
 Fiqh is Islamic jurisprudence, Fiqh is often described as the human understanding and practices of the sharia, that is
human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the Quran and the Sunnah (the teachings and practices
of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions). Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation
(ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on
questions presented to them. Thus, whereas sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims, fiqh is
considered fallible and changeable. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam
as well as political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni
practice, plus two (or three) within Shi'a practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a faqīh (plural fuqaha).
 Figuratively, fiqh means knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their sources. Deriving religious rulings from
their sources requires the mujtahid (an individual who exercises ijtihad) to have a deep understanding in the
different discussions of jurisprudence. A faqīh must look deep down into a matter and not content himself with just
the apparent meaning, and a person who only knows the appearance of a matter is not qualified as a faqīh.
 The studies of fiqh, are traditionally divided into Uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence, lit. the roots of
fiqh, alternatively transliterated as Usool al-fiqh), the methods of legal interpretation and analysis; and Furūʿ al-
fiqh (lit. the branches of fiqh), the elaboration of rulings on the basis of these principles. Furū ʿ al-fiqh is the product
of the application of Uṣūl al-fiqh and the total product of human efforts at understanding the divine will. A hukm
(plural aḥkām) is a particular ruling in a given case.
 IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
 The Abbaside Caliphate (Arabic: ‫َاْلِخ اَل َفُة ٱْلَع َّباِس َّيُة‬, al-Khilāfah al-ʿAbbāsīyah) was
the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded
by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib
(566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs
for most of the caliphate from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq,
after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of
750 CE (132 AH). The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa,
modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of
Baghdad, near the ancient Sasanian capital city of Ctesiphon. Baghdad
became a center of science, culture, philosophy and invention in what
became known as the Golden Age of Islam.
 IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
1. The HANAFI Madhab (81-150/700-767 A.D.)
2. The MALIKI Madhab (90/95-179 A.H./ 713-795 A.D)
3. The SHAFI’I Madhab (150-204 A.H./ 767-821 A.D)
4. The HANBALI Madhab (164 A.H./ NOV. 780 A.D)
 IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
HANAFI SCHOOL OF THOUGHT (MADHAB)
 The Hanafi school (Arabic: ‫َح َنِفي‬, romanized: Ḥanafī) is one of the four traditional major Sunni
schools (madhab) of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). Its eponym is the 8th-century Kufan scholar,
Abū Ḥanīfa an-Nu‘man ibn Thābit, a tabi‘i of Persian origin whose legal views were preserved
primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani.
 Under the patronage of the Abbasids, the Hanafi school flourished in Iraq and spread
eastwards, firmly establishing itself in Khorasan and Transoxiana by the 9th-century, where it
enjoyed the support of the local Samanid rulers. Turkic expansion introduced the school to
the Indian subcontinent and Anatolia, and it was adopted as the chief legal school of the
Ottoman Empire.
 The Hanafi school is the maddhab with the largest number of adherents, followed by
approximately one third of Muslims worldwide. It is prevalent in Turkey, Pakistan, the
Balkans, the Levant, Central Asia, India, Bangladesh, Egypt and Afghanistan, in addition to
parts of Russia, China and Iran. The other primary Sunni legal schools are the Maliki, Shafi`i
and Hanbali schools.
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
MALIKI SCHOOL OF THOUGHT (MADHAB)
 The Mālikī (Arabic: ‫ )َم اِلِكي‬school is one of the four major madhhabs of Islamic
jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century.
The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary sources.
Unlike other Islamic fiqhs, Maliki fiqh also considers the consensus of the people of
Medina to be a valid source of Islamic law.
 The Maliki madhab is one of the largest groups of Sunni Muslims, comparable to the
Shafi`i madhhab in adherents, but smaller than the Hanafi madhab. Sharia based on
Maliki doctrine is predominantly found in Spain, North Africa (excluding northern and
eastern Egypt), West Africa, Chad, Sudan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirate of
Dubai (UAE), and in northeastern parts of Saudi Arabia.
 In the medieval era, the Maliki school was also found in parts of Europe under Islamic
rule, particularly Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily. A major historical center of
Maliki teaching, from the 9th to 11th centuries, was in the Mosque of Uqba of Tunisia.
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
 Although Malik ibn Anas was himself a native of Medina, his school faced fierce competition for followers in the
Muslim east, with the Shafi'i, Hanbali, and Zahiri schools all enjoying more success than Malik's school.[10] It was
eventually the Hanafi school, however, that earned official government favor from the Abbasids.
 Imam Malik (who was a teacher of Imam Ash-Shafi‘i,[11][12]: 121 who in turn was a teacher of Imam Ahmad ibn
Hanbal) was a student of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a descendant of the Islamic Nabi (Prophet) Muhammad and 6th
Shi'ite Imam), as with Imam Abu Hanifah. Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni Fiqh are connected to Ja'far,
whether directly or indirectly.[13]
 The Malikis enjoyed considerably more success in Africa, and for a while in Spain and Sicily. Under the Umayyads
and their remnants, the Maliki school was promoted as the official state code of law, and Maliki judges had free
rein over religious practices; in return, the Malikis were expected to support and legitimize the government's right
to power.[14] This dominance in Spanish Andalus from the Umayyads up to the Almoravids continued, with Islamic
law in the region dominated by the opinions of Malik and his students. The Sunnah and Hadith, or prophetic
tradition in Islam, played lesser roles as Maliki jurists viewed both with suspicion, and few were well versed in
either.[15] The Almoravids eventually gave way to the predominantly-Zahiri Almohads, at which point Malikis were
tolerated at times but lost official favor. With the Reconquista, the Iberian Peninsula was lost to the Muslims in
totality.[citation needed]
 Although Al-Andalus was eventually lost, the Maliki has been able to retain its dominance throughout North and
West Africa to this day. Additionally, the school has traditionally been the preferred school in the small Arab States
of the Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar).[16] While the majority of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia follows Hanbali laws, the country's Eastern Province has been known as a Maliki stronghold for centuries.[3]
 Initially hostile to mystical practices, Malikis eventually learned to coexist with Sufi customs as the latter became
widespread throughout North and West Africa. Many Muslims now adhere to both Maliki law and a Sufi order.
 IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
PRINCIPLES 0F MALIKI MADHAB
 Maliki school's sources for Sharia are hierarchically prioritized as follows: Quran and then trustworthy Hadiths (sayings, customs and actions of
Muhammad); if these sources were ambiguous on an issue, then `Amal (customs and practices of the people of Medina), followed by consensus of
the Sahabah (the companions of Muhammad), then individual's opinion from the Sahabah, Qiyas (analogy), Istislah (interest and welfare of Islam
and Muslims), and finally Urf (custom of people throughout the Muslim world if it did not contradict the hierarchically higher sources of Sharia).
[1]
 The Mālikī school primarily derives from the work of Malik ibn Anas, particularly the Muwatta Imam Malik, also known as Al-Muwatta. The
Muwaṭṭa relies on Sahih Hadiths, includes Malik ibn Anas' commentary, but it is so complete that it is considered in Maliki school to be a sound
hadith in itself.[2] Mālik included the practices of the people of Medina and where the practices are in compliance with or in variance with the
hadiths reported. This is because Mālik regarded the practices of Medina (the first three generations) to be a superior proof of the "living" sunnah
than isolated, although sound, hadiths. Mālik was particularly scrupulous about authenticating his sources when he did appeal to them, however,
and his comparatively small collection of a ḥādith, known as al-Muwa ṭṭah (or, The Straight Path).[2]
 The Great Mosque of Kairouan (also called the Mosque of Uqba or Mosque of Oqba) had the reputation, since the 9th century, of being one of the
most important centers of the Maliki school.[18] The Great Mosque of Kairouan is situated in the city of Kairouan in Tunisia.
 The second source, the Al-Mudawwana, is the collaborator work of Mālik's longtime student, Ibn Qāsim and his mujtahid student, Sahnun. The
Mudawwanah consists of the notes of Ibn Qāsim from his sessions of learning with Mālik and answers to legal questions raised by Sa ḥnūn in which
Ibn Qāsim quotes from Mālik, and where no notes existed, his own legal reasoning based upon the principles he learned from Mālik. These two
books, i.e. the Muwa ṭṭah and Mudawwanah, along with other primary books taken from other prominent students of Mālik, would find their way
into the Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, which would form the basis for the later Mālikī madhhab.
 Maliki school is most closely related to the Hanafi school, and the difference between them is more of a degree, rather than nature.[19]
However, unlike the Hanafi school, the Maliki school does not assign as much weight to analogy, but derives its rulings from pragmatism using the
principles of istislah (public interest) wherever the Quran and Sahih Hadiths do not provide explicit guidance.[19]
 Notable differences from other schools
 The Maliki school differs from the other Sunni schools of law most notably in the sources it uses for derivation of rulings. Like all Sunni schools of
Sharia, the Maliki school uses the Qur'an as primary source, followed by the sayings, customs/traditions and practices of Muhammad, transmitted
as hadiths. In the Mālikī school, said tradition includes not only what was recorded in hadiths, but also the legal rulings of the four rightly guided
caliphs – especially Umar.
 Malik bin Anas himself also accepted binding consensus and analogical reasoning along with the majority of Sunni jurists, though with conditions.
Consensus was only accepted as a valid source of law if it was drawn from the first generation of Muslims in general, or the first, second or third
generations from Medina, while analogy was only accepted as valid as a last resort when an answer was not found in other sources.
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
SHAFI’I SCHOOL OF THOUGHT (MADHAB)
 The Shafiʽi (Arabic: ‫ َش اِفِع ي‬Shāfiʿī, alternative spelling Shafei) madhhab is one of the four major traditional schools
of Islamic law in branch of Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Arab scholar Muhammad ibn Idris Al-Shafi ʽi, a pupil
of Malik, in the early 9th century. The school rejected "provincial dependence on traditional community practice"
as the source of legal precedent, and "argued for the unquestioning acceptance of the Hadith" as "the major basis
for legal and religious judgments". The other three schools of Sunni jurisprudence are Hanafi, Maliki and Hanbali.
 Like the other schools of fiqh, Shafiʽi relies predominantly on the Quran and the hadiths for Sharia. Where
passages of Quran and hadiths are ambiguous, the school first seeks religious law guidance from ijma – the
consensus of Islamic scholars (according to Syafiq Hasyim).If there was no consensus, the Shafi ʽi school relies on
qiyās (analogical reasoning) next as a source.
 The Shafiʽi school was widely followed in the early history of Islam, but the Ottoman Empire favored the Hanafi
school when it became the dominant Sunni Muslim power.[6] One of the many differences between the Shafi ʽi and
Hanafi schools is that the Shafiʽi school does not consider istihsan (judicial discretion by suitably qualified legal
scholars) as an acceptable source of religious law because it amounts to "human legislation" of Islamic law.
 The Shafiʽi school is now predominantly found in Somalia, Somaliland, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Lower Egypt,
the Swahili coast, Hijaz, Yemen, Kurdistan, The Levant, Dagestan, Chechen and Ingush regions of the Caucasus,
Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Kerala, Hyderabad Deccan and some other coastal regions in India,
Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, and the Philippines.
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
 Imam ash-Shafi'i was reportedly a teacher of the Sunni Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and a student of Imam Malik
ibn Anas,[17][18]: 121 who was a student of Ja'far al-Sadiq (a descendant of the Islamic Nabi (Prophet)
Muhammad), like Imam Abu Hanifah.[19][20][21] Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni Fiqh are connected
to Imam Ja'far from the Bayt (Household) of Muhammad, whether directly or indirectly.[22]
 The Shafiʽi madhhab was spread by Al-Shafiʽi students in Cairo, Mecca and Baghdad. It became widely
accepted in early history of Islam. The chief representative of the Iraqi school was Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, whilst
in Khorasan, the Shafiʽi school was spread by al-Juwayni and al-Iraqi. These two branches merged around Ibn
al-Salah and his father. The Shafiʽi jurisprudence was adopted as the official law during the Great Seljuq
Empire, Zengid dynasty, Ayyubid dynasty and later the Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo), where it saw its widest
application. It was also adopted by the Kathiri state in Hadhramawt and most of rule of the Sharif of Mecca.
[citation needed]
 With the establishment and expansion of Ottoman Empire in West Asia and Turkic sultanates in Central and
South Asia, Shafiʽi school was replaced with Hanafi school, in part because Hanafites allowed Istihsan (juristic
preference) that allowed the rulers flexibility in interpreting the religious law to their administrative
preferences.[8] The Sultanates along the littoral regions of the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula
adhered to the Shafiʽi school and were the primary drivers of its maritime military expansion into many Asian
and East African coastal regions of the Indian Ocean, particularly from the 12th through the 18th century.[23]
In the late 19th century, knowledge of Shafiʽi sciences was spread by a network of seagoing sharif merchants.
[24]
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
PRINCIPLES
The Shafiʽi school of thought regards five sources of jurisprudence as having binding authority. In
hierarchical order, these are: the Quran, the hadiths—that is, sayings, customs and practices of Muhammad
—the ijmā' (consensus of Sahabah, the community of Muhammad's companions),[10] the individual opinions
of Sahaba with preference to one closest to the issue as ijtihad, and finally qiyas (analogy).[3] Although al-
Shafiʽi's legal methodology rejected custom or local practice as a constitutive source of law, this did not
mean that he or his followers denied any elasticity in the Shariah.[11] The Shafi ʽi school also rejects two
sources of Sharia that are accepted in other major schools of Islam—Istihsan (juristic preference,
promoting the interest of Islam) and Istislah (public interest).[12][13] The jurisprudence principle of
Istihsan and Istislah admitted religious laws that had no textual basis in either the Quran or Hadiths, but
were based on the opinions of Islamic scholars as promoting the interest of Islam and its universalization
goals.[14] The Shafiʽi school rejected these two principles, stating that these methods rely on subjective
human opinions, and have potential for corruption and adjustment to political context and time.[12][13]
The foundational text for the Shafiʽi school is Al-Risala ("The Message") by the founder of the school, Al-
Shafiʽi. It outlines the principles of Shafiʽi fiqh as well as the derived jurisprudence.[15] Al-Risala became
an influential book to other Sunni Islam fiqhs as well, as the oldest surviving Arabic work on Islamic legal
theory.
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
HANBALI SCHOOL OF THOUGHT (MADHAB)
 The Hanbali school (Arabic: ‫ٱْلَم ْذ َهب ٱْلَح ۢن َبِلي‬, romanized: al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools
(madhahib) of Islamic jurisprudence.[1] It is named after the Iraqi scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), and was
institutionalized by his students. The Hanbali madhhab is the smallest of four major Sunni schools, the others being the
Hanafi, Maliki and Shafi`i.[2][3]
 The Hanbali school derives sharia primarily from the Qur'an, the Hadiths (sayings and customs of Muhammad), and the views
of Sahabah (Muhammad's companions).[1] In cases where there is no clear answer in sacred texts of Islam, the Hanbali
school does not accept istihsan (jurist discretion) or 'urf (customs of a community) as a sound basis to derive Islamic law, a
method that Hanafi and Maliki Sunni madh'habs accept. Hanbali school is the strict traditionalist school of jurisprudence in
Sunni Islam.[4] It is found primarily in the countries of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where it is the official Fiqh.[5][6] Hanbali
followers are the demographic majority in four emirates of UAE (Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Ajman).[7]
Large minorities of Hanbali followers are also found in Bahrain, Syria, Oman and Yemen and among Iraqi and Jordanian
bedouins.[5][8]
 The Hanbali school experienced a reformation during the 18th-century Wahhabi movement.[9] Historically the school was
small; during the 18th to early-20th century Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Al Saud greatly aided its propagation around
the world by way of their interpretation of the school's teachings.[9] As a result of this, the school's name has become a
controversial one in certain quarters of the Islamic world due to the influence he is believed by some to have had upon
these teachings, which cites Ahmad Ibn Hanbal as a principal influence along with the thirteenth-century Hanbali reformer
Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah. However, it has been argued by certain scholars that Ibn Hanbal's own beliefs actually played "no real
part in the establishment of the central doctrines of Wahhabism,"[10] as there is evidence, according to the same authors,
that "the older Hanbalite authorities had doctrinal concerns very different from those of the Wahhabis,"[10] as medieval
Hanbali literature is rich in references to saints, grave visitation, miracles, and relics.[11] Historically, the Hanbali school
was treated as simply another valid interpretation of Shariat (Islamic law), and many prominent medieval Sufis, such as
Abdul Qadir Gilani, were Hanbali jurists and mystics at the same time.[11]
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES
CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
PRINCIPLES
Sources of law
 Like all other schools of Sunni Islam, the Hanbali school holds that the two primary sources of Islamic law are the Qur'an and the Sunnah found in
Hadiths (compilation of sayings, actions and customs of Muhammad). Where these texts did not provide guidance, Imam Hanbal recommended
guidance from established consensus of Muhammad's companions (Sahabah), then individual opinion of Muhammad's companions, followed in order
of preference by weaker hadiths, and in rare cases qiyas (analogy).[1] The Hanbali school, unlike Hanafi and Maliki schools, rejected that a source
of Islamic law can be a jurist's personal discretionary opinion or consensus of later generation Muslims on matters that serve the interest of Islam
and community. Hanbalis hold that this is impossible and leads to abuse.[18] The Hanbali school also rejects taqlid (blind adherence to scholarly
opinions) and encourages the practice of Ijtihad (independent reasoning) through the study of Quran and Hadith.
 Ibn Hanbal rejected the possibility of religiously binding consensus (Ijma), as it was impossible to verify once later generations of Muslims spread
throughout the world,[18] going as far as declaring anyone who claimed as such to be a liar. Ibn Hanbal did, however, accept the possibility and
validity of the consensus of the Sahaba. the first generation of Muslims.[27][28] Later followers of the school, however, expanded on the types of
consensus accepted as valid, and the prominent Hanbalite Ibn Taymiyyah expanded legal consensus to later generations while at the same time
restricting it only to the religiously learned.[28] Analogical reasoning (Qiyas), was likewise rejected as a valid source of law by Ibn Hanbal himself,
[18][29][30] with a near-unanimous majority of later Hanbalite jurists not only accepting analogical reasoning as valid but also borrowing from the
works of Shafi'ite jurists on the subject.
 Ibn Hanbal's strict standards of acceptance regarding the sources of Islamic law were probably due to his suspicion regarding the field of Usul al-
Fiqh, which he equated with speculative theology (kalam).[31] While demanding strict application of Qur'an and Hadith, Hanbali Fiqh is
nonetheless flexible in areas not covered by Scriptures. In issues where the Qur'an and the Hadiths were ambigous or vague; the Hanbali Fuqaha
(jurists) engaged in Ijtihad to derive rulings. Additionally, the Hanbali madh'hab accepted the Islamic principle of Maslaha ('public interest') in
solving the novel issues.[32] In the modern era, Hanbalites have branched out and even delved into matters regarding the upholding (Istislah) of
public interest (Maslaha) and even juristic preference (Istihsan), anathema to the earlier Hanbalites as valid methods of determining religious law.
Theology
 Ibn Hanbal taught that the Qur'an is uncreated due to Muslim belief that it is the word of God, and the word of God is not created. The Mu ʿtazilites
taught that the Qur'an, which is readable and touchable, is created like other creatures and created objects. Ibn Hanbal viewed this as hearsay,
replying that there are things which are not touchable but are created, such as the Throne of God. Unlike the other three schools of Islamic
jurisprudence (Hanafi, Maliki, and Shafi), the Hanbali madhab remained largely traditionalist or Athari in theology[34] and it was primarily Hanbali
scholars who codified the Athari school of thought.
IV- THE PERIOD OF THE ABBASIDES CALIPHATE AND THE FOUR (4) MADHAHIBS
V- THE PERIOD OF THE MUSTAWJIHUN JURISTS
 The fifth perid of Muslim Law is the period from 351 A.H. or 960 A.D. to the fall of Baghdad in.
656 A.H. or 1258 A.D. In this period the schools of Muslim law were developed into separate
and independent schools.
 The Jurists of this period are called Mustawjihun, as they followed the views of the original
founders of the schools of law and developed and systematized those views. The doctrines of
the various schools of law were consolidated and codified during this period. The jurists of this
period applied themselves to the task of consolidating the work done by the founders of the
schools of law both in the fields of the theoretical science and the practical application of the
law. They devoted their attention to concrete questions, which had not been dealt with by the
founders of the different schools nor by their immediate disciples, and to the collection and
arrangement of the opinions of the founders of the schools.
 The Qadis or Muslim judges too tended to regard themselves as belonging to particular schools
of law, and to a large extent tended to confine themselves to the administration of the
doctrines of the particular school to which they belonged.
VI- THE PERIOD OF THE MUGHALLIDUN
 The jurists of this period are called Mughallidan (one who adhere to a particular school of thought), as they
regard themselves as the followers of the different schools of law. These jurists took a narrow view of their
functions and occupied themselves in determining which of the conflicting versions of the principal jurists, that
is, the founder of each schools and his disciples on a given question was correct and in the event of difference
of opinion among them, whose view was to be taken as representing the law.
 A jurist of this period does not approach a legal problem on his own evaluation of the Shari’ah values but follows
the law of the school of which he belongs, as laid by its founder, his disciples and followers. It has been said that
this process denies the jurists the use of his independent judgment. It is true that the right of Ijtihad has not
been claimed by modern jurists. Ijtihad literally means, “striving with full exertion and denotes the endeavor of
choosing in the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah between two or more differing legal interpretations and of
deducting from the Qur’an and Sunnah new rulings for meeting new solutions.
 Although the right of Ijtihad in the full sense has not been claimed by modern jurists, a number of such jurists
have exercised the right to examine the original sources of the law, namely the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith and
on that basis to criticize the adopted views of the schools of law. Among them are are Ibn Hazm (Kitab Al-
Muhalla), Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyam Al-Jawsi, Ibn Hajar, Al-Asqalani, and etc.
VII- THE PERIOD OF COMMENTATORS AND
ANNOTATORS
 The seventh period of the development of Muslim Law may be said to have began from the end of the 6 th
period which is considered by authorities on the subject commenced from the abolition of the caliphate in
1922 and the Sultanate of Turkey in 1924,and is believed to have not yet come to an end up to the present.
After the end of the 6th period, Sunni Islam had no more recognized head and the history of Muslim law in
the period was greatly affected by the application of the law in every Muslim country. In this period, great
inroads were made by secular law into the ___domain of Shari’ah in most of the Muslim Countries.
 At the end of the eight century A.H. (14th Century A.D.), we arrive at the age of commentators (Mufarsirun)
and annotators. Though carrying on their work under a modest title, the contributions of these learned men
to the science of law have been most valuable and important. It is wrong to suppose that the commentators
merely explained the texts and added nothing to the law. In fact, it is only in the writings of the
commentators and annotators that it is possible to find the doctrine of the different schools expounded in
their fullness. The official doctrine of each school came to be contained not in the works of the old
masters, though they might have been qualified to exercise Ijtihad but in those handbooks that the common
opinion of the school has recognized as the authoritative expositions of its correct doctrine.
ISLAMIC MODERNISM
By: PROF. MOHAMAD ALIA’AN A. ABDULATIFH, JD, Sh.L, MPA
FACULTY, College of Law
Faculty, CSSH (Islamic Studies)
Executive Assistant II, MSU General Santos
Chief of Staff, MSU General Santos
Director, Physical Plant Division, MSU General Santos
 ISLAMIC MODERNISM
Islamic Modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological
response to the Western cultural challenge“ attempting to reconcile the Islamic faith with
modern values such as democracy, civil rights, rationality, equality, and progress. It featured a
"critical reexamination of the classical conceptions and methods of jurisprudence" and a new
approach to Islamic theology and Quranic exegesis (Tafsir). A contemporary definition describes
it as an "effort to re-read Islam's fundamental sources—the Qur'an and the Sunna, (the practice
of the Prophet) —by placing them in their historical context, and then reinterpreting them,
non-literally, in the light of the modern context."

It was one of the of several Islamic movements – including Islamic secularism, Islamism, and
Salafism – that emerged in the middle of the 19th century in reaction to the rapid changes of
the time, especially the perceived onslaught of Western civilization and colonialism on the
Muslim world. Founders include Muhammad Abduh, a Sheikh of Al-Azhar University for a brief
period before his death in 1905 and Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani.

Since its inception, Islamic Modernism has suffered from co-option of its original reformism by
both secularist rulers and by "the official ulama" whose "task it is to legitimize" rulers' actions
in religious terms.
 ISLAMIC MODERNISM

ISLAMIC MODERNISM VS. SECULARISM AND SALAFISM/ISLAMISM

Islamic Modernism differs from secularism in that it insists on the importance of religious faith in public
life, and from Salafism or Islamism in that it embraces contemporary European institutions, social
processes, and values. One expression of Islamic Modernism, formulated by Mahathir Mohammed, is that
"only when Islam is interpreted so as to be relevant in a world which is different from what it was 1400
years ago, can Islam be regarded as a religion for all ages."
ISLAMIC MODERNISM
History of Islamic Modernism
 Commencing in the late nineteenth century and impacting the twentieth-century, Muhammed Abduh and his
followers undertook a project to defend, modernize and revitalize Islam to match Western institutions and
social processes. Its most prominent intellectual founder, Muhammad Abduh (d. 1323 AH/1905 CE), was Sheikh
of Al-Azhar University for a brief period before his death. This project superimposed the world of the
nineteenth century on the extensive body of Islamic knowledge that had accumulated in a different milieu.
These efforts had little impact at first. After Abduh's death, his movement was catalysed by the demise of the
Ottoman Caliphate in 1924 and promotion of secular liberalism – particularly with a new breed of writers being
pushed to the fore including Egyptian Ali Abd al-Raziq's publication attacking Islamic politics for the first time in
Muslim history. Subsequent secular writers of this trend including Farag Foda, al-Ashmawi, Muhamed
Khalafallah, Taha Husayn, Husayn Amin, et. al., have argued in similar tones.
 Abduh was skeptical towards many Hadith (or "Traditions"), i.e. towards the body of reports of the teachings,
doings, and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Particularly towards those Traditions that are reported
through few chains of transmission, even if they are deemed rigorously authenticated in any of the six canonical
books of Hadith (known as the Kutub al-Sittah). Furthermore, he advocated a reassessment of traditional
assumptions even in Hadith studies, though he did not devise a systematic methodology before his death.
ISLAMIC MODERNISM
Salafism and modernism
The origins of contemporary Salafiyya movement from the modernist movement of Jamal al-Din al-
Afghani and Muhammad Abduh is mentioned by some authors, although other scholars note that
Modernism only influenced Salafism. According to Quintan Wiktorowicz:
There has been some confusion in recent years because both the Islamic modernists and the
contemporary Salafis refer (referred) to themselves as al-salafiyya, leading some observers to
erroneously conclude a common ideological lineage. The earlier salafiyya (modernists), however, were
predominantly rationalist Asharis.
Muhammad 'Abduh and his movement have sometimes been referred to as "Neo-Mu'tazilites" in
reference to the Mu'tazila school of theology. Some have said Abduh's ideas are congruent to
Mu'tazilism. Abduh himself denied being either Ash'ari or a Mu'tazilite, although he only denied being a
Mu'tazilite on the basis that he rejected strict taqlid (conformity) to one group.
According to Oxford Bibliographies, the early Islamic Modernists (al-Afghani and Muhammad Abdu) used
the term "salafiyya“ to refer to their attempt at renovation of Islamic thought,[16] and this movement
is often known in the West as "Islamic modernism," although it is very different from what is called the
Salafiyya, which generally refers to movements such as Ahl-i Hadith, Wahhabism, etc.[Note 2] Associate
Professor of Middle Eastern History at Northwestern University,[17] Henri Lauziere disputes the notion
that al-Afghani and 'Abduh advocated a modernist movement of Salafism.[18] According to
Lauziere:"...based on what the technical term Salafism meant to Muslim religious specialists until the
early twentieth century, al-Afghani and Abduh were hardly Salafis to begin with. No wonder they never
claimed the label for themselves.[19]
 At the end of the 19th century, Muslim reformers like Muhammad Abduh, Jamal al-Din al-
Afghani, etc sought to reconcile Islam with the social and intellectual ideas of the Age of
Enlightenment by purging Islam from alleged alterations and adhering to the basic tenets
held during the Rashidun era. Their movement is regarded as the precursor to Islamic
Modernism.[20] Beginning with the French intellectual Loius Massignon in 1919, they were
often labelled by the Western scholars as Salafiyya - a technical term of theology mistook
as a rationalist slogan - to denote broad swathes of Muslim modernists who were
scripture-oriented; yet open to the Enlightenment ideals. Following the First World War,
Western colonialism of Muslim lands and the advancement of secularist trends; Islamic
reformers felt betrayed by the Arab nationalists and underwent a crisis. This schism was
epitomised by the ideological transformation of Sayyid Rashid Rida, a pupil of 'Abduh, who
began to revive the treatises of Hanbali theologian Ibn Taymiyyah and became the
"forerunner of Islamist thought". Unlike 'Abduh and Afghani, Rida and his disciples
susbcribed to the Hanbali theology. They would openly campaign against adherents of
other schools, like the Shi'ites, who were critical of Wahhabi religious interpretations.
Rida transformed the Reformation into a movement primarily concerned about protecting
Islamic culture, identity, and politics from Western influences. He advocated a theological
doctrine that emphasized the necessity of an Islamic state; in which the ulema (Islamic
scholars) would play a leading role.
Rida's fundamentalist doctrines would be later be adopted by Islamic scholars and movements like the Muslim
Brotherhood. According to the German scholar Bassam Tibi: "Rida’s Islamic fundamentalism has been taken up by
the Muslim Brethren, a right wing radical movement founded in 1928, which has ever since been in inexorable
opposition to secular nationalism.

Commencing in the late nineteenth century and impacting the twentieth-century, Muhammed Abduh and his
followers undertook a project to defend, modernize and revitalize Islam to match Western institutions and social
processes. Its most prominent intellectual founder, Muhammad Abduh (d. 1323 AH/1905 CE), was Sheikh of Al-
Azhar University for a brief period before his death. This project superimposed the world of the nineteenth
century on the extensive body of Islamic knowledge that had accumulated in a different milieu. These efforts had
little impact at first. After Abduh's death, his movement was catalysed by the demise of the Ottoman Caliphate in
1924 and promotion of secular liberalism – particularly with a new breed of writers being pushed to the fore
including Egyptian Ali Abd al-Raziq's publication attacking Islamic politics for the first time in Muslim history.
Subsequent secular writers of this trend including Farag Foda, al-Ashmawi, Muhamed Khalafallah, Taha Husayn,
Husayn Amin, et. al., have argued in similar tones.

Abduh was skeptical towards many Hadith (or "Traditions"), i.e. towards the body of reports of the teachings,
doings, and sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Particularly towards those Traditions that are reported
through few chains of transmission, even if they are deemed rigorously authenticated in any of the six canonical
books of Hadith (known as the Kutub al-Sittah). Furthermore, he advocated a reassessment of traditional
assumptions even in Hadith studies, though he did not devise a systematic methodology before his death.
THEMES OF ISLAMIC MODERNISM

1. The acknowledgement "with varying degrees of criticism or emulation", of the technological, scientific and legal
achievements of the West; while at the same time objecting "to Western colonial exploitation of Muslim countries
and the imposition of Western secular values" and aiming to develop a modern and dynamic understanding of
science among Muslims that would strengthen the Muslim world and prevent further exploitation.

2. Denying that "the Islamic code of law is unalterable and unchangeable", and instead claiming it can "adapt itself
to the social and political revolutions going on around it". (Cheragh Ali in 1883)

3. Invocation of the "objectives" of Islamic law (maqasid al-sharia) in support of "public interest", (or maslahah, a
secondary source for Islamic jurisprudence). This was done by Islamic reformists in "many parts of the globe to
justify initiatives not addressed in classical commentaries but regarded as of urgent political and ethical concern.“

4. Reinterpreting traditional Islamic law using the four traditional sources of Islamic jurisprudence – the Quran, the
reported deeds and sayings of Muhammad (hadith), consensus of the theologians (ijma) and juristic reasoning by
analogy (qiyas), plus another source ijtihad ( independent reasoning to find a solution to a legal question).

5. Taking and reinterpreting the first two sources (the Quran and ahadith) "to transform the last two [(ijma and
qiyas)] in order to formulate a reformist project in light of the prevailing standards of scientific rationality and
modern social theory.“
6. Restricting traditional Islamic law by limiting its basis to the Quran and authentic Sunnah, limiting the Sunnah with radical
hadith criticism.

7. Employing ijtihad not to only in the traditional, narrow way to arrive at legal rulings in unprecedented cases (where Quran,
hadith, and rulings of earlier jurists are silent), but for critical independent reasoning in all domains of thought, and perhaps
even approving of its use by non-jurists.

8. A more or less radical (re)interpretation of the authoritative sources. This is particularly the case with the Quranic verses on
polygyny, the hadd (penal) punishments, jihad, and treatment of unbelievers, banning of usury or interest on loans (riba), which
conflict with "modern" views.[Note 4]

9. On the topic of Jihad, Islamic scholars like Ibn al-Amir al-San'ani, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Ubaidullah Sindhi, Yusuf al-
Qaradawi, Shibli Nomani, etc distinguished between defensive Jihad ( jihad al-daf) and offensive Jihad ( Jihad al-talab or Jihad
of choice ). They refuted the notion of consensus on Jihad al-talab being a communal obligation (fard kifaya). In support of this
view, these scholars referred to the works of classical scholars such as Al-Jassas, Ibn Taymiyya, etc. According to Ibn Taymiyya,
the reason for Jihad against non-Muslims is not their disbelief, but the threat they pose to Muslims. Citing Ibn Taymiyya, scholars
like Rashid Rida, Al San'ani, Qaradawi, etc argues that unbelievers need not be fought unless they pose a threat to Muslims. Thus,
Jihad is obligatory only as a defensive warfare to respond to aggression or "perfidy" against the Muslim community, and that the
"normal and desired state" between Islamic and non-Islamic territories was one of "peaceful coexistence."[38][39][40] Similarly
the 18th-century Islamic scholar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab defined Jihad as a defensive military action to protect the Muslim
community, and emphasized its defensive aspect in synchrony with later 20th century Islamic writers.[41] According to Mahmud
Shaltut and other modernists, unbelief was not sufficient cause for declaring jihad.[40][42] The conversion to Islam by
unbelievers in fear of death at the hands of jihadists (mujahideen) was unlikely to prove sincere or lasting.[40][43] Much
preferable means of conversion was education.[40][44] They pointed to the verse "No compulsion is there in religion"[Quran
2:256][45]
10. On the topic of riba, Syed Ahmad Khan, Fazlur Rahman Malik, Muhammad Abduh, Rashid Rida, Abd El-
Razzak El-Sanhuri, Muhammad Asad, Mahmoud Shaltout all took issue with the jurist orthodoxy that any
and all interest was riba and forbidden, believing that there was a difference between interest and usury.
[46] These jurists took precedent for their position from the classical scholar Ibn Taymiyya who argued in
his treatise "The Removal of Blames from the Great Imams", that scholars are divided on the prohibition of
riba al-fadl.[47] Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the student of Ibn Taymiyya, also distinguished between riba al-
nasi'ah and riba al-fadl, maintaining that only rib al-nasi'ah was prohibited by Qur'an and Sunnah
definitively while the latter was only prohibited in order to stop the charging of interest. According to him,
the prohibition of riba al-fadl was less severe and it could be allowed in dire need or greater public
interest (maslaha). Hence under a compelling need, an item may be sold with delay in return for dirhams
or for another weighed substance despite implicating riba al-nasi'ah.[48]

11. An apologetic which links aspects of the Islamic tradition with Western ideas and practices, and claims
Western practices in question were originally derived from Islam.[49] Islamic apologetics has however
been severely criticized by many scholars as superficial, tendentious and even psychologically destructive,
so much so that the term "apologetics" has almost become a term of abuse in the literature on modern
Islam.
 SHARI’AH, FIQH AND USUL AL-FIQH
(Islamic Jurisprudence)
THE ADVENT OF MUSLIM LAW
Muslim law came along with Islam for the two were like a twin ideologies that came out of
this world together, one being the religion of Islam dealing with worship and devotion of
man to ALLAH (Ibada’t), and the other, a Muslim legal system regulating the relation among
men (muamala’t).

Under the Muslim legal system, the principle of separation between the church and the
state is unknown because the Qur’an, which is the principal and primary source of law, is
considered as all embracing regulating every aspect of their social, political and religious
affairs.

From its original source, the Muslim law is considered by Muslims as a divine law or God
made law because they believe that God is the original legislator who ordained and
revealed the Qur’an verses to His Messenger (rasul) and prophet (nabi) through
intermediary, the archangel Gabriel (Jebreel). (Binsaudi Arabani)
SHARI’AH DEFINED:
Shari’ah, literally means, the road to watering place or a clear path to be followed. As a
technical term, it means the canon law of Islam. It is a divine system of laws. The plural
Shari’i which properly denotes all the individual prescriptions composing, what is regulated
and provided in the Shari’ah is called Mashru, and anything connected with the cannon law,
or anything in keeping with it, or legal is called Shari.
In the latter system by Shari’ah and Shari is understood the totality of ALLAH’s
commandments relating to ethics which are treated separately.
According to the Orthodox view, Shari’ah is the basis for the judgment of actions as good
or bad. This is viewed from the Canon law, theological aspect of Shari’ah, as God made law
to govern the conduct of man, its commandments being considered high above human
wisdom that allows no human inquisition into its logic. In this latter conception, it is not a
law in the modern sense. But as advance earlier, the term Shari’ah in its most comprehensive
and broader meaning covers not only the law relating to worship or religious practices
(Ibadat), but also the law regulating the relation among men (Muamalat). It is this latter
meaning of Shari’ah that is treated in the modern sense of the term law.
Shari’ah; Principal Characteristics
Shariah has principal characteristics; they are the following, among others: Divine,
Preserved and Eternal, Comprehensive and Complete, Idealistic, Realistic and Practical.
Shari’ah is a Divine law because it is from ALLAH (s.w.t); It is Eternal and Preserved
because its sources are preserved and eternal and will continue to remain and reach
generations after generations; It is Comprehensive and Complete because it encompasses all
aspects of life. It gives us guidance from the day we are born till the day we die – it even
relates to us before we are born and after we die; and Lastly Shari’ah is Idealistic, Realistic
and Practical because it deals with the human beings as they are, it acknowledges their needs
and desires.
Allah knows the humans He created and knows that they need to eat, drink, and get
married. They have materialistic necessities and needs the same way they have their spiritual
and emotional needs.
QUR’ANIC BASIS OF SHARI’AH:

”For each we have appointed a Divine law (Shari’ah) and a trace out way”;

“And no have set thee (Muhammad) on a clear road (Shari’ah) of our

commandments”;

“Thus, We have sent you (O Muhammad) to a nation, before whom other nations have
passed away, that you may recite to them that which We have inspired you… Thus,
have we revealed it, a decisive utterance (Qur’an) in Arabic”; (Qur’an V:51)

ALLAH (s.w.t) said in His glorious Qur’an “Then we put you on a straight path
(Shari’ah) in your affairs, so follow it and do not follow the desires of those who have
no knowledge”. (Surah Al-Jathiyah (45):18)
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF SHARI’AH
Shari’ah consists of three elements or parts, namely:
1. Ilm;
2. Amal; and
3. Ikhlas. (To learn the things communicated by Shari’ah, to do what is learned
and to do everything for ALLAH’s divine providence.

The first part (ILM) refers to the knowledge of Shari’ah, that is to learn the four roots or
sources of shari’ah and the branches of those main sources. The second part (AMAL) means to
observe and practice Shari’ah and to dissiminate the knowledge of Shari’ah. The Third (IKHLAS)
to act according to the will of God as prescribed in His law, bearing in mind that man’s every at,
whether good or bad, is accorded its own weight on Judgment day. This third part of Shari’ah is
what makes the muamalat aspect of Shari’ah, that is the relation of men according to the law
regulating it, considered as attended with Divine interest as part of one’s ibadat, and hence, in
this sense, we say that the law relating to muamalat and the law relating to ibadat are so
intertwined that we find it not easy to separate one from the other.
Shari’ah; Five (5) Essential Values (Maqasid Al-Shari’ah)
The term “maqsid” (plural: maqasid) refers to a purpose, objective, principle, intent, goal,
or end.
The Shari’ah generally has come to the benefits of the individual and the community, and so,
its laws are designed so as to protect these benefits and to facilitate the improvement and
perfection of the life conditions of the human beings. ALLAH (s.w.t) Almighty says: “We have not
sent you but as a Mercy to the worlds” (21:107), which means that Qur’an singles out Mercy as
the most important purpose of the Prophethood of Muhammad (s.a.w). This can also be seen in
the Qur’an’s characterization of itself as “a healing to the (spiritual) ailments of the hearts” and
“a Guidance and Mercy” for the believers and mankind (10:57). Muslim scholars have, thus,
considered Mercy to be the all-pervasive objective of the Shari’ah, which is considered in all
intents and purposes to imply the benefit of interest (maslaha).
Maqasid as Understood From the Holy Qur’an
A vital principle that motivated Muslim scholars to develop such system of higher objectives is that
they found in Qur’an and in Hadith a tremendous amount of texts and indicators that affirm the fact that
Shari’ah is all-purposeful and that God’s deeds and rulings are of wisdom as He is All-Knowing All-Merciful.
Some of the Qur’anic passages that indicate and affirm that everything is created with purpose are:
“Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the
period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be
grateful.”(2:185)
Imam al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. Jarīr(224-310/839-923) in his interpretation of this verse
states: “Allah has intended for you O believers the ease as He knows how hard [is the rulings] on you in
such cases [i.e. in pilgrimage]
Another verse that further explain how Allah intend ease to mankind by His Shari’ah and its rulings:
“Indeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth so you may judge between the
people by that which Allah has shown you. And do not be for the deceitful an advocate.”(4:105)
The first essential value of Shari’ah: the preservation of religion (Din)
Religion is the sum of beliefs, rituals and rules commanded by God Almighty to regulate
people's relationship to their Lord and relationships with each other. God Most High has intended
through those provisions to establishing religion and install it in the people’s souls as they follow
it. The preservation of religion is legitimated in many Shari’ah texts that call to faith and
encourage it and forbid infidelity. Some of these Qur’anic texts are:
“And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and
he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.” (3:85).
And:
“Surely the religion in the Providence of Allah is Islam. And in no way did the ones to whom
the Book was brought differ (among themselves) except even after the knowledge came to
them, being inequitable among themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the signs of Allah, then
surely Allah is swift at the reckoning.” (3:19).
The second essential value of Shari’ah: the preservation of the self/soul (Nafs)
Islam has devoted a significant amount of texts and teaching into establishing the
preservation of one’s soul as the most fundamental principle of all. It is through life that Mankind
is able to maintain or preserve all of Almighty’s provisions and principles. Therefore, Islam has
not only protected the soul from being killed or wasted but also established a set of rules to
ensure its welfare spiritually and humanly—that is to secure surviving needs such as food,
marriage, shelter, drinks and clothing—as well as establishing rules that deny and forbid the all
means of self’s destructions.
ALLAH (s.w.t) Most High says:
“And in no way is it for a believer to kill a believer, except it be by mistake; and whoever
kills a believer by mistake must set free a believing slave, and present a blood money (diya) to
[the deceased’s] family, unless they [charitably] remit it. As if [the slain] was from a people
hostile to you and he was a believer, then [the penance is] to set free a believing slave; and if
[the slain] was from a people between whom and you there is a covenant, then a blood money
(diya) is to be presented to his family and [also] a believing slave must be set free. And whoever
does not find [the means to do so] must fast two months consecutively, a penance from Allah.
And Allah has ever been Knowing, Wise. (Q 4:92)”
 “O you who believe! Retaliation (qiṣāṣ) is prescribed on you for the ones murdered;
the freeman for the freeman, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But
whoever is forgiven somewhat by his [slain] brother (i.e., his family), then adhering to
with fairness and payment (adāʾ) [of blood money] to him in kindness (i ḥsān). That is an
alleviation and mercy from your Lord, but whoever transgresses [the limits of Allah]
after that, he shall receive a painful torment. (Q 2:178)
“And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbade[to be killed] except by [legal]
right. This has He instructed you that you may use reason.” (6:33)
The third essential value of Shari’ah: the preservation of the mind (Aql)
ALLAH (s.w.t) Most High has commanded us to preserve our minds and has forbid all the means
to disable it through the toxicities, alcohols. That is Allah Almighty has granted and distinguished
humans from all other creatures by the grace of the mind, which means the ability to distinguish
and making choices, and solving the difficulties faced in life.
ALLAH (s.w.t) has made humans, therefore, His successor on earth, and so they need to
maintain their mind, which is the basis of the discourse of the succession on earth.
Numerous amount of Islamic teachings exhorts on the realization of the mind, its importance,
and describes it as the altitude grace. Some of the Qur’anic texts that encourage humans to use
their mind to contemplate upon the creation of Allah Almighty and to understand their succession
on earth are:
“So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by
which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are
within the breasts.” (22: 46)
 “Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought
to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this
aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the
Fire.” (3:191)
And regarding forbidding what affects the mind or disables it, the intoxicants, Allah
Almighty says:
“O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to
other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it
that you may be successful.” (5:90)
The fourth essential value of Shari’ah: the preservation of lineage/offspring (Nasl)
For the sake of persevering human’s offspring, Shari’ah has legitimized marriage and
reproduction, and for the sake of protecting it, Shari’ah has forbade adultery and assigned a legal
punishment (had) for whoever commit it. Moreover, Shari’ah also assigned a legal punishment for
whoever lies about or render someone guilty unjustly of committing it (had al-Qazf).
This proves that in maintaining the lineage a necessity for the purity of offspring from any
potential distortion or corruption by mixing it so one does not even know who are their parents or
who are their own children.
In Quran we find the forbiddance of adultery is stated clearly and affirmly, Allah Most High says:
“And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a
way. (17:32).
And its punishment is stated in: “The [unmarried] woman or [unmarried] man found guilty of
sexual intercourse - lash each one of them with a hundred lashes, and do not be taken by pity for
them in the religion of Allah , if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a group of the
believers witness their punishment.” (24:23)
The fifth essential value of Shari’ah: the preservation of wealth (Mal)
Shari’ah has commanded for the purpose of preserving human’s wealth the pursuit of
earning a living and permitted transactions and exchanges and trade. Shari’ah also, for the sake
of preserving wealth as well, forbid and placed punishments upon theft, deception, treason and
consuming people’s wealth unjustly, in addition to discouraging the squandering of money.
Money, as well as everything, belongs to God Almighty, who has granted humans the status of
successors on earth, and so they are commanded to preserve such grace not to waste it.
ALLAH (s.w.t) Almighty says in Holy Qur’an:
“And do not consume one another's wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in
order that [they might aid] you [to] consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while
you know [it is unlawful].” (2:188)
“And give to the orphans their properties and do not substitute the defective [of your own]
for the good [of theirs]. And do not consume their properties into your own. Indeed, that is ever
a great sin.” (4:2)
 “Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands
who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, "Trade is [just] like interest."
But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest. So whoever has received an admonition
from his Lord and desists may have what is past, and his affair rests with Allah. But whoever
returns to [dealing in interest or usury] - those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide
eternally therein.” (2:275)
“Allah expunges riba (Interest or other unlawful) and He augments donations, and Allah does
not love every most disbelieving most-vicious person.”(2:276)
PROOFS OF SHARI’AH (Adillah Shari’ah)
Literally, Dalil means proof, indicated or evidenced. Technically, it is indicated, in the
sources from which a practical rule or law, or a hukm is deduced. Dalil in this sense is synonymous
with Asl, hence, the sources of Shari’ah are known both as Adillah and Usul. In the terminology of
Usul-Al-fiqh, Adillah Shari’ah refers to the four sources of Shari’ah,namely: The Qur’an, Sunnah,
Ijma and Qiyas.
There are a number of Ayats in the Qur’an which identify the sources of Shari’ah and the
order of priority between them. But one passage in which all the principal sources are indicated
occurs in Surah Al-Nisah which is as follows: “O you believers! Obey God and obey the Messenger
and those of you who are in-charge of affairs. If you have dispute concerning any matter, refer it
to God and to the Messenger. Obey God in this ayah refers to the Qur’an and obey the messenger
refers to Sunnah. Obedience to those who are in charge of affairs is held to be a reference to Ijma,
and the last portion of the Ayah which requires the referral of disputes to God and Messenger
authorizes Qiyas.
 CLASSIFICATIONS OF PROOFS OF SHARI’AH

A. DALIL AND AMARAH (sign or allusion)

Dalil is applied to the kind of evidence which leads to a definitive ruling or that which
leads to a positive Knowledge (Ilm). Amarah, on the otherhand, is reserved evidence or indication
which only leads to speculative rulings.
In this way, Dalil would only apply to the definitive proofs namely, the Qur’an, Sunnah
and Ijma and the remaining proofs which comprises a measure of speculation, such as Qiyas and
Istihsan and etc. would fall under the category of Amarah.
B. TRANSMITTED PROOFS (Adillah Naqliyyah) and RATIONAL PROOFS (Adillah Aqliyyah)
The authority of the transmitted proofs is independent of their conformity or otherwise with
the dictate of reason, although they can also be rationally justified. However, the authority and binding
force of the Qur’an, Sunnah and and Ijma are independent of any rational justification that might exist
in their favor. To these are added two other transmitted proofs, namely rulings of the Companions and
the laws revealed prior to the advent of Islam (Shara’i Min Qablemia).
The rational proofs are, on the other hand, founded in reason and need to be rationally
justified. They can only be accepted by virtue of their rationality. Qiyas, Istishah, Istislan and Istishab
are basically all rationalist doctrines although they are in many ways dependent on the transmitted
proofs, and in order to be valid must be founded on an established Hukm or the Qur’an, Sunnah or Ijma.
C. MUSTAQIL (Independent Proofs) and MUQAYYAD (Dependent Proofs)
The first three sources of Shari’ah are each on independent Asl or Dalil Mustaqil, that is proof in its
own right. Qiyas, on the other hand, is an Asl or Dalil Muqayyad in the sense, as indicated above, that
its authority is derived from one or the other of the three independent sources.
D. QAT’I (Definitive) ZANNI (Speculative)
The Qur’an, Sunnah and Ijma are definitive proofs in the sense that they are decisive and binding.
However, each of these sources contain speculative rules which are open to interpretation.