The Laythi school () was an 8th-century religious law school of

Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.Fiqh
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...

within

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

whose Imam was

Al-Layth ibn Sa'd Al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Fahmī al-Qalqashandī () was an Arab and the chief representative, imam, and eponym of the Laythi school of Islamic Jurisprudence. He was regarded as the main representative of an Egyptian tradition ...

. One of known characteristics of al-Layth jurisprudence was his rejection towards

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

usage of Madina custom as an independent source of law.

History

Al-Layth ibn Sa'd was born in Egypt of Persian parentage in the year 716. After an extensive study of all the then-known areas of Islamic learning, al-Layth became Egypt's major scholar. He was a contemporary of both Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik. He debated with the latter on various points of Fiqh, including his rejection of Malik's inclusion of the

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

custom as an independent source of Fiqh.

Disappearance

Al-Layth's school disappeared shortly after his death in 791 for three key reasons. The first is that he neither compiled, dictated, nor instructed his followers to record his legal opinions and their proofs, so little remains from his school beyond a few references in early books of comparative Fiqh. The second reason is that Al-Layth had few students, none of whom became outstanding jurists, so the school was not popularized. The final reason is that Imam Al-Shafi'i settled in Egypt soon after Al-Layth's death, and so the

Shafi'i school The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionis ...

quickly displaced the Laythi school.

References

Islamic jurisprudence Schools of Sunni jurisprudence {{Islam-stub