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The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools 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 The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
and hadiths as primary sources. Unlike other Islamic fiqhs, Maliki fiqh also considers the consensus of the people of
Medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
to be a valid source of Islamic law. The Maliki school is one of the largest groups of Sunni Muslims, comparable to the Shafi`i madhhab in adherents, but smaller than the
Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
madhhab. Sharia based on Maliki doctrine is predominantly found in North Africa (excluding northern and eastern Egypt), West Africa, Chad,
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
, Kuwait,
Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...
, Qatar, the Emirate of Dubai ( UAE), and in northeastern parts of
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
.Jurisprudence and Law – Islam
Reorienting the Veil, University of North Carolina (2009)
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.Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Riad Nourallah, ''The future of Islam'', Routledge, 2002, page 199


History

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 The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools ('' madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanba ...
, and Zahiri schools all enjoying more success than Malik's school. It was eventually the
Hanafi The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
school, however, that earned official government favor from the Abbasids. Imam Malik (who was a teacher of Imam Ash-Shafi‘i, 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 prophet
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
and 6th Shi'ite Imam), as with Imam Abu Hanifah. Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni ''
Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and e ...
'' are connected to Ja'far, whether directly or indirectly. 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. This dominance in Spanish Andalus from the Umayyads up to the
Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century tha ...
s 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. 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 ' ( Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the N ...
, the Iberian Peninsula was lost to the Muslims in totality. Although
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
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). 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. 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.


Principles

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). 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.Vincent J. Cornell (2006), Voices of Islam, , pp 160 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 aḥādith, known as ''al-Muwaṭṭah'' (or, The Straight Path). The example of Maliki approach in using the opinion of Sahabah were recorded in Muwatta Imam Malik per ruling of cases regarding the law of consuming Gazelle meat. This tradition were used from opinion of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. Malik also included the daily practice of az-Zubayr as his source of "living sunnah" (living tradition) for his guideline to pass verdicts for various matters, in accordance of his school of though method. 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 Saḥnūn 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 Muwaṭṭah 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 The Hanafi school ( ar, حَنَفِية, translit=Ḥanafiyah; also called Hanafite in English), Hanafism, or the Hanafi fiqh, is the oldest and one of the four traditional major Sunni schools ( maddhab) of Islamic Law (Fiqh). It is named a ...
school, and the difference between them is more of a degree, rather than nature.Jamal Nasir (1990), The Islamic Law of Personal Status, Brill Academic, , pp. 16–17 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.


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 Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
, 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
caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
s – 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.Mansoor Moaddel, ''Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse'', pg. 32.
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
:
University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...
, 2005.


Notable Mālikīs

* Ibn Abd al-Hakam (d. 829), one of the Egyptian scholars who developed the Maliki school in Egypt *Asbagh ibn al-Faraj (d. 840), Egyptian scholar * Yahya al-Laithi (d. 848), Andalusian scholar, introduced the Maliki school in
Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
* Sahnun (AH 160/776–77 – AH 240/854–55), Sunnī jurist and author of the '' Mudawwanah'', one of the most important works in Mālikī law * Abd al-Malik ibn Habīb (AH 174/790-241/853), a prominent student of the direct students of Imām Mālik. He collected the opinions of Imām Mālik and his students in his ''al-Wādiḥah'', which is one of the most important works in Mālikī law and the main authoritative book on Mālikī law in al-Andalus and the Maghrib. * Ibn Abi Zayd (310/922–386/996), Tunisian Sunnī jurist and author of the ''Risālah'', a standard work in Mālikī law * Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr (978–1071), Andalusian scholar * Ibn Tashfin (1061–1106), one of the prominent leaders of the Almoravid dynasty * Qadi Ayyad (d. 1149), a great Imam and Qadi in Maliki jurisprudence * Ibn Rushd ( Averroes) (1126–1198), philosopher and scholar *
Al-Qurtubi Imam Abū ʿAbdullāh Al-Qurṭubī or Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Abī Bakr al-Anṣārī al-Qurṭubī ( ar, أبو عبدالله القرطبي) (121429 April 1273) was an Andalusian jurist, Islamic scholar and muhaddith. H ...
(1214–1273) * Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (1228–1285), Moroccan jurist and author who lived in Egypt * Khalil ibn Ishaq al-Jundi (d. ca. 1365), Egyptian jurist, author of
Mukhtasar Mukhtaṣar ( ar, المختصر), in Islamic law, refers to a concise handbook of legal treatises, characterized by neatness and clarity. ''Mukhtasar''s originated during the Abbasid caliphate and were created as a method to facilitate the quick ...
* Ibn Battuta (February 24, 1304 – 1377), explorer * Ibn Khaldūn (1332/AH 732–1406/AH 808), scholar, historian and author of the Muqaddimah *
Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Mūsā al-Shāṭibī (720 – 790 A.H./1320 – 1388 C.E.) was an Andalusí Sunni Islamic legal scholar following the Maliki madhab.Dr. Ahmad Raysuni, ''Imam Shatibi's Theory of the Higher Objectives and Intent ...
(d. 1388), a famous Andalusian Maliki jurist *
Sidi Boushaki Sidi Boushaki or Ibrahim Ibn Faïd Ez-Zaouaoui () (1394 CE/796 AH – 1453 CE/857 AH) was a maliki theologian born near the town of Thenia, east of Algiers. He was raised in a very spiritual environment with high Islamic values and ethics wit ...
(d. 1453), a famous Algerian Maliki jurist * Sidi Abd al-Rahman al-Tha'alibi (d. 1479), a famous Algerian Maliki jurist


Contemporary Malikis

* Usman dan Fodio (1754–1817), founder of the Sokoto Caliphate *
El Hadj Umar Tall Hadji Oumarûl Foutiyou Tall (Umar ibn Sa'id al-Futi Tal, ar, حاج عمر بن سعيد طعل), ( – 1864 CE), born in Futa Tooro, present day Senegal, was a West African political leader, Islamic scholar, Tijani Sufi and Toucouleu ...
(1794–1864), founder of the Toucouleur Empire * Emir Abdelkader (1808–1883), Algerian sufi and politician, religious and military leader who led a struggle against the French colonial invasion *
Ahmad al-Alawi Ahmad al-Alawi (1869–14 July 1934), (in full, Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafā ibn ʿAlīwa, known as al-ʿAlāwī al-Mustaghānimī ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن مصطفى بن عليوة المعروف بالعلاوي � ...
(1869–1934), Algerian Sufi leader * Omar Mukhtar (1862–1931), Libyan resistance leader * Abdallah bin Bayyah (born 1935), Mauritanian professor of Islamic Legal Methodology at King Abdulaziz University * Muhammad Ibn 'Abd al-Karim al-Khattabi, Moroccan resistance leader * Abu-Abdullah Adelabu * Sherman Jackson *
Abdalqadir as-Sufi Abdalqadir as-Sufi (born Ian Stewart Dallas; 1930 – 1 August 2021) was a Shaykh of Instruction, leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, founder of the Murabitun World Movement and author of numerous books on Islam, Sufism and poli ...
(1930–2021), Scottish '' shaykh'' and founder of the
Murabitun World Movement The Murabitun World Movement is an Islamic movement founded by its current leader, Abdalqadir as-Sufi (born as Ian Dallas), with communities in several countries. Its heartland is Spain. The number of its followers may amount, according to one ...
* Hamza Yusuf (born 1958), American scholar and co-founder of
Zaytuna College Zaytuna College (formerly the Zaytuna Institute) is a private liberal arts college in Berkeley, California. It is the first accredited Muslim undergraduate college in the United States and was founded in 2008 by Hamza Yusuf, Zaid Shakir and Ha ...
*
Suhaib Webb Suhaib Webb is an American Muslim imam who converted from Christianity to Islam in 1992. He has previously been the imam of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC). Biography Early life He was born William Webb in 1972 in Oklahoma ...
*
Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila (21 March 1946 – 11 January 2003) was a Nigerian politician and administrator. One of the first administrators to inherit the post first republican administrative structure instituted by the military, served the Local Edu ...
*
Ahmed Saad Al-Azhari Ahmed Saad Al-Azhari ( ar, أحمد سعد الأزهري), is an Egyptian born, British Islamic scholar, and is the founder of the Ihsan Institute. He is an advocate of teaching traditional Islamic sciences; which he has taught in various parts ...
, British Islamic scholar and a graduate of Al-Azhar university. Saad was formerly a Shafi’i before adopting the Maliki school * Muḥammad al Tahir ibn Ashur (1879-1973) Tunisian Islamic Scholar and Shariah Judge


See also

* Outline of Islam *
Glossary of Islam The following list consists of notable concepts that are derived from Islamic and associated cultural (Arab, Persian, Turkish) traditions, which are expressed as words in Arabic or Persian language. The main purpose of this list is to disambig ...
* List of Islamic scholars * The Seven Fuqaha of Medina *
Malikism in Algeria Malikism is considered as an essential part of the Fiqh jurisprudence practice within the Islam in Algeria. Algeria has adopted ''Malikism'' because the principles of this jurisprudential rite are rules which take into account the changes obs ...
*
Adhan Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer ( salah) in a mo ...
* Islamic views on sin


References


Citation

*


Further reading

* Cilardo, Agostino (2014), ''Maliki Fiqh'', in ''Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God'' (2 vols.), Edited by C. Fitzpatrick and A. Walker, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO * Chouki El Hamel (2012), ''Slavery in Maliki School in the Maghreb'', in Black Morocco: A History of Slavery, Race, and Islam, Cambridge University Press, * Thomas Eich (2009)
Induced Miscarriage (Abortion) in Early Maliki and Hanafi Fiqh
Islamic Law & Society, Vol. 16, pp. 302–336 * Janina Safran (2003)
Rules of purity and confessional boundaries: Maliki debates about the pollution of the Christian
History of religions, Vol. 42 No. 3, pp. 197–212 * FH Ruxton (1913), ''The Convert's Status in Maliki Law'', The Muslim World, Vol 3, Issue 1, pp. 37–40,


External links


Partial Translation of Mālik's ''Al-Muwaṭṭah''
University of Southern California

Bulend Shanay, Lancaster University


Al-Risalah of 'Abdullah ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani
10th century Maliki text on Islamic law, Translated by Aisha Bewley

{{Authority control Madhhab Schools of Sunni jurisprudence Sunni Islamic branches Sunni Islam