After a limited success and decline in theMiddle East, the Ẓāhirī school flourished in theCaliphate of Córdoba and more broadly inIslamic Iberia, particularly under the leadership of the Andalusian Muslim juristIbn Hazm.[1] The Ẓāhirī school is said to have lingered on in various locations under various manifestations before being superseded by theḤanbalī school,[9] but has also been revived in the mid-20th century in some regions of theMuslim world.[10][11][12]
Zahirism is characterized as a fifth school of thought (madhhab) within theSunnībranch of Islam,[13][14][15] and still retains a measure of influence and is recognized by contemporaryMuslim scholars. In particular, members of theAhl-i Hadith movement have identified themselves with the Ẓāhirī school of thought.[16][17]
The Ẓāhirī school was initially called theDāwūdi school after Dawud al-Ẓāhirī himself, and attracted many adherents, although they felt free to criticize his views, in line with the Ẓāhirī school's rejection oflegal conformity (taqlīd).[27] Alongside theḤanbali jurists, Ẓāhiris constituted one of the major schools that originated from theAhl al-Ḥadīth school,[2] which advocated the superiority of theQuran,ḥadīth literature, andsunnah (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to theIslamic prophetMuhammad during his lifetime) in legal jurisdiction, and denied the validity oflogic (‘āql) as an independent source of Islamic law.[28] By the end of the 10th century, members of the madhhab were appointed asjudges (qāḍī) inBaghdad,Shiraz,Isfahan,Firuzabad,Ramla,Damascus,Fustat, andBukhara.[27][29]
Parallel to the school's development in the east, Ẓāhirī ideas were introduced to North Africa by theologians of theMaliki school who were engaged in lively debates with theHanafi school, and to theIberian Peninsula by one of Dawud al-Ẓāhirī's direct students.[27] UnlikeAbbasid lands, where the Ẓāhirī school developed in parallel and in opposition to other madhhabs (chiefly Hanafi,Shafi‘i, andHanbali), in the West it only had to contend with its Maliki counterpart, which enjoyed official support of theUmayyad rulers.[27] Starting in the late 9th century CE, an increasing number of "hir" scholars emerged in various regions of the Iberian peninsula, but none of their works have survived.[27]
It was not until the rise of theAlmohads that the Ẓāhirī school enjoyed official state sponsorship. While not all of the Almohad political leaders were Ẓāhirīs, a large plurality of them were not only adherents but were well-versed theologians in their own right.[31][not specific enough to verify] Additionally, all Almohad leaders – both the religiously learned and the laymen – were extremely hostile toward the Malikis, giving the Ẓāhirīs and in a few cases the Shafi‘is free rein to author works and run the judiciary. In the late 12th century, any religious material written by non-Ẓāhirīs was at first banned and later burned in the empire under theAlmohad reforms.[32][33]
The Ẓāhirī school enjoyed its widest expansion and prestige in the fourth Islamic century, especially through the works ofIbn al-Mughallis, but in the fifth century it lost ground to the Hanbalite school.[34] Even after the Zahiri school became extinct in Baghdad, it continued to have some followers in Shiraz.[35] Ẓāhirism maintained its prestige inSyria until 788 A.H. and had an even longer and deeper impact inEgypt.[34] In the 14th century C.E., theZahiri Revolt marked both a brief rekindling of interest in the school's ideas as well as affirmation of its status as a non-mainstream ideology.[citation needed]Al-Muhalla, a medieval manual on Ẓāhirī jurisprudence, served in part as inspiration for the revolt and as a primary source of the school's positions.[36][failed verification] However, soon afterwards the school ceased to function and in the 14th centuryIbn Khaldun considered it to be extinct.[37][38] With theReconquista and the loss of Iberia to Christian rule, most works of Ẓāhirī law and legal theory were lost as well, with the school only being carried on by individual scholars, once again on the periphery.[citation needed]
Wael Hallaq has argued that the rejection ofqiyas (analogical reasoning) in Ẓāhirī methodology led to exclusion of the school from the Sunni juridical consensus and ultimately its extinction in the pre-modern era.[39]Christopher Melchert suggests that the association of the Ẓāhirī school withMu'tazilite theology, its difficulty in attracting the right patronage, and its reliance on outmoded methods of teaching have all contributed to its decline.[40]
In the modern era, the Ẓāhirī school has been described as "somewhat influential", though "not formally operating today".[41] While the school does not comprise a majority of any part of theMuslim world, there are communities of Ẓāhirīs in existence, usually due to the presence of Ẓāhirī scholars of Islamic law.[citation needed] In particular, adherents of the modern-day Ahl-i Hadith movement in India and Pakistan have self-consciously emulated the ideas of the Ẓāhirī school and identified themselves with it.[10][11] Modernist revival of the general critique byIbn Hazm – the school's most prominent representative – of Islamic legal theory among Muslim academics has seen several key moments in recent Arab intellectual history, includingAhmad Shakir's republishing of Al-Muhalla,Muhammad Abu Zahra's biography of Ibn Hazm, and the republishing of archived epistles on Ẓāhirī legal theory bySa'id al-Afghani in 1960 andIhsan Abbas between 1980 and 1983.[42] In 2004 theAmman Message recognized the Ẓāhirī school as legitimate, although it did not include it among Sunni madhhabs,[43] and the school also received recognition fromSudan's former Islamist Prime Minister,Sadiq al-Mahdi.[12] The literalist school of thought represented by the Ẓāhirī madhhab remains prominent among many scholars and laymen associated with theSalafi movement,[41] and traces of it can be found in the modern-daySalafi movement.[44] The school experienced a revival in theIslamic State.[45]
Of the utmost importance to the school is an underlying principle attributed to the founderDawud ibn 'Ali; who had robustly denounced the delicacies and ambiguities inFiqh sciences. According to Dawud, the validity of religious issues is only upheld by certainty, and that speculation cannot lead to the truth. This certainty is to be determined by the outward or literal (Zahir) meaning of theQurʾān andHadith.[46][47] Most Ẓāhirī principles return to this overarching maxim. Japanese Islamic scholarKojiro Nakamura defines the Ẓāhirī schools as resting on two presumptions. The first is that if it were possible to draw more general conclusions from the strict reading of the sources of Islamic law, then God certainly would have expressed these conclusions already; thus, all that is necessary lies in the text. The second is that for man to seek the motive behind the commandments of God is not only a fruitless endeavor but a presumptuous one.[48] Another major characteristic was their fierce condemnation ofQiyas (analogical reasoning) as a heresy and distortion ofSharia (Islamic law) but still accept religious inference.[47]
The Ẓāhirī school of thought generally recognizes three sources ofIslamic law within theprinciples ofIslamic jurisprudence. The first is the Qur'an, considered by Muslims to be the verbatim word ofGod (Arabic: اللهAllah); the second consists of theprophetic as given in historically verifiablereports, which consist of the sayings and actions of theIslamic prophetMuhammad; the third isabsolute consensus of the Muslim community.
The school differs from the more prolific schools of Islamic thought in that it restricts valid consensus in jurisprudence to the consensus of the first generation of Muslims who lived alongside Muhammad only.[50][26] WhileAbu Hanifa andAhmad ibn Hanbal agreed with them in this,[51][52] most followers of the Hanafi andHanbali schools generally do not, nor do the other two Sunni schools.
Additionally, the Ẓāhirī school does not acceptanalogical reasoning as a source of Islamic law,[53] nor do they accept the practice ofjuristic discretion, pointing to a verse in the Qur'an which declares that nothing has been neglected in the Muslim scriptures.[54] Whileal-Shafi‘i and followers of his school agree with the Ẓāhirīs in rejecting the juristic discretion,[55] all other Sunni schools accept the analogical reasoning, though at varying levels.[56][citation needed]
Some followers of the Ẓāhirī school differ with the majority in that they consider theVirgin Mary to have been a female prophet.[57]
Riba, or interest, on hand-to-hand exchanges of gold, silver, dates, salt, wheat and barley are prohibited per Muhammad's injunction, but analogical reasoning is not used to extend that injunction to other agricultural produce as is the case with other schools.[58] The Ẓāhirīs are joined in this by early scholars such asTawus ibn Kaysan andQatadah.[citation needed]
Admission in an Islamic court of law is seen as indivisible by Ẓāhirīs, meaning that a party cannot accept some aspects of the opposing party's testimony and not other parts. The Ẓāhirīs are opposed by the Hanafi and Maliki schools, though a majority of Hanbalites share the Ẓāhirī position.[59]
Another example of the ignoring of analogical reasoning by Ẓāhirīs and how it separates that school from mostmadhhab, is their attitude towards dogs. Pious Muslims commonly avoid dogs, arguing the hadith -- "If a dog drinks from your bowl then you must wash it seven times" -- indicate that dogs are unclean on the grounds that there is no other reason for thoroughly cleaning what dogs have used. Ẓāhirīs, in contrast, maintain that (in the words of one adherent), "if the prophet meant 'the dog is an unclean animal', ... he would have said 'the dog is an unclean animal'" but they accept religious inference which is similar to analogy.[60]
Like its founder Dawud, the Ẓāhirī school has been controversial since its inception.[61] Due to their some so-called rejection of intellectual principles considered staples of other strains within Sunni Islam, adherents to the school have been described as displaying non-conformist attitudes.[62]
The Ẓāhirī school has often been criticized by other schools within Sunni Islam. While this is true of all schools, relations between the Hanafis, Shafi‘is and Malikis have warmed to each other over the centuries; this has not always been the case with the Ẓāhirīs.
Not surprisingly given the conflict over al-Andalus, Maliki scholars have often expressed negative feelings regarding the Ẓāhirī school.Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, whose father was a Ẓāhirī, nevertheless considered Ẓāhirī law to be absurd.[58]Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, himself a former Ẓāhirī, excluded Dawud al-Ẓāhirī along withAhmad ibn Hanbal from his book on Sunni Islam's greatest jurists,[63] thoughIgnác Goldziher has suggested that Ibn Abdul-Barr remained Ẓāhirī privately and outwardly manifested Maliki ideas due to prevailing pressures at the time. At least with al-Ballūṭī, one example of a Ẓāhirī jurist applying Maliki law due to official enforcement is known. Ẓāhirīs such as Ibn Hazm were challenged and attacked by Maliki jurists after their deaths.[58]
Followers of the Shafi‘i school within Sunni Islam have historically been involved in intellectual conflict with Ẓāhirīs.[64] This may be due to Al-Shafi'i being a major proponent of the principle of Qiyas; rejected by the Zahiris.[65][66][67][68][69]
Hanbali scholarIbn al-Qayyim, while himself a critic of the Ẓāhirī outlook, defended the school's legitimacy in Islam, stating rhetorically that their only sin was "following the book of theirLord and example of their Prophet."[70]
The position adopted by the most exacting of scholars is that those who deny analogy are not considered scholars of the Umma or conveyers of the Shari‘a, because they oppose out of mere obstinacy and exchange calumnies about things established by an overwhelming preponderance of the evidence, conveyed by whole groups from whole groups back to their prophetic origin (tawatur). For most of the Shari‘a proceeds from ijtihad, and the unequivocal statements from the Qur’an and hadith do not deal [n: in specific particulars by name] with even a tenth of the Shari‘a [n: as most of Islamic life is covered by general principles given by Allah to guide Muslims in every culture and time, and by analogy (qiyas) from established rulings], so these [Dhahiris] are considered like unlearned, common people.”
The relationship between Ẓāhirism andSufism has been complicated. Throughout the school's history, its adherents have always included both Sufis as well as harsh critics of Sufism. Many practitioners of Sufism, which often emphasizes detachment from the material world, have been attracted to the Ẓāhirī combination of strict ritualism and lack of emphasis on dogmatics.[71][72]
Discerning who exactly is an adherent to the Ẓāhirī school of thought can be difficult. Harbi has claimed that most Muslim scholars who practiced independent reasoning and based their judgment only on the Qur'an and Sunnah, or Muslim prophetic tradition, were Ẓāhirīs.[30] Followers of other schools of thought may have adopted certain viewpoints of the Ẓāhirīs, holding Ẓāhirī leanings without actually adopting the Ẓāhirī school; often, these individuals were erroneously referred to as Ẓāhirīs despite contrary evidence.[73]
Additionally, historians would often refer to any individual who praised the Ẓāhirīs as being from them. SufimysticIbn Arabi has most often been referred to as a Ẓāhirī because of a commentary on one of Ibn Hazm's works, despite having stated twice that he isn't a follower of the Ẓāhirī school of thought.[74] Similarly,Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari would include Ẓāhirī opinions when comparing differing views of Sunni Muslims, yet he founded a distinct school of his own.[75] The case of Muslim figures who have mixed between different schools have proven to be more problematic.Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, for example, referred to himself as a Ẓāhirī when pressed on the matter.[76] When Ibn Hazm listed the most important leaders of the school, he listed known Ẓāhiralh bin Qasim, al-Balluti, Ibn al-Mughallis, al-Dibaji and Ruwaym, but then also mentionedAbu Bakr al-Khallal,[77] who despite his Ẓāhirī leanings is almost universally recognized as a Hanbalite.[78]
Scott Lucas states "The most controversial aspect of al-Bukhari's legal principles is his disapproval of qiyas" and "A modern study of personal status laws in the Arab world by Jamal J. Nasir contains one sentence that explicitly mentions that the Ẓāhirīs and al-Bukhari rejected qiyas..."[79][80]
Lucas also points out that the legal methodology of Bukhari is very similar to that of Ibn Hazm.[81][82]
Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali (died 1987), translated theQur'an, former prayer leader at Islam's two holiest mosques and professor at multiple universities.
Sa'id al-Afghani (died 1997), former Arabic language professor atDamascus University, correspondent member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo and proponent of language education reform.
Abu Turab al-Zahiri (died 2002), Indian-born Saudi Arabian linguist, jurist, theologian and journalist.
Ihsan Abbas (died 2003), Palestinian scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies, widely considered to be at the forefront of both fields during the 20th century.
Muqbil bin Hadi al-Wadi'i (died 2001), A Yemeni hadīth scholar and founder of the Dar al-Hadīth Institute in Damaaj, Yemen.
^abM. Mahmood,The Code of Muslim Family Laws, p. 37. Pakistan Law Times Publications, 2006. 6th ed.
^abHassan Ahmed Ibrahim, "An Overview of al-Sadiq al-Madhi's Islamic Discourse." Taken fromThe Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought, p. 172. Ed. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi'.Hoboken:Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.ISBN9781405178488
^Wiederhold, Lutz. "Legal–Religious Elite, Temporal Authority, and the Caliphate in Mamluk Society: Conclusions Drawn from the Examination of a “Zahiri Revolt” in Damascus in 1386." International Journal of Middle East Studies 31.2 (1999): 203-235.
^Encyclopedia of Islam, vol. II, C-G, pg. 182. Eds. Bernard Lewis, Charles Pellat and Joseph Schacht. Assist. J. Burton-Page, C. Dumont and V.L. Menage. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1971. Photomechanical print.
^Coulson, N.J (1978). "4- Master Architect: Muhammad ibn-Idris Ash-Shafi'i".A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 70–71.ISBN0-85224-354-5.
^Christopher Melchert, The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law: 9th-10th Centuries C.E., p. 190. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1997.
^Adang, "The Spread of Zahirism in al-Andalus in the Post-Caliphal Period: The evidence from the biographical dictionaries," pp. 297–346. Taken fromIdeas, Images and Methods of Portrayal: Insights into Classical Arabic Literature and Islam. Ed. Sebastian Gunther, Leiden: 2005.
^Carl Brockelmann,Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur. Zweite den Supplementbänden angepasste Auflage. Vol. 1, p. 400. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 1937–1949.
^Christopher Melchert (1997).The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law: 9th-10th Centuries C.E.. Brill. p. 187.ISBN9789004109520.We may guess at some of the reasons for the demise of the original Zahiri school. [...] This is roughly the explanation of Wael B. Hallaq: that the juridical theory of Sunnism recognized qiyas and therefore excluded Zahirism.
^Adam Sabra, "Ibn Hazm's Literalism: A Critique of Islamic Legal Theory." Taken from:Ibn Ḥazm of Cordoba: The Life and Works of a Controversial Thinker, pg. 98. Volume 103 of Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section 1: The Near and Middle East. Eds.Camilla Adang,Maribel Fierro, and Sabine Schmidtke. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2012.ISBN9789004234246
^Devin J. Stewart, "Muhammad b. Dawud al-Zahiri's Manual of Jurisprudence." Taken from Studies in Islamic Law and Society Volume 15: Studies in Islamic Legal Theory. Edited byBernard G. Weiss. p. 111.Leiden: 2002.Brill Publishers.
^abCoulson, N.J (1978). "4- Master Architect: Muhammad ibn-Idris Ash-Shafi'i".A History of Islamic Law. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 71.ISBN0-85224-354-5.
^Kojiro Nakamura, "Ibn Mada's Criticism of Arab Grammarians."Orient, v. 10, pp. 89–113. 1974
^Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, "Shareet al-Khobar," tape #4, 1989:Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
^Samir Kaddouri, "Refutations of Ibn Hazm by Maliki Authors from al-Andalus and North Africa." Taken fromIbn Hazm of Cordoba: The Life and Works of a Controversial Thinker, p. 541. Eds. Camilla Adang,Maribel Fierro and Sabine Schmidtke.Leiden:Brill Publishers, 2013.ISBN9789004243101
^Lucas, Scott C. (2006). "The Legal Principles of Muhammad B. Ismāʿīl Al-Bukhārī and Their Relationship to Classical Salafi Islam".Islamic Law and Society.13 (3): 292.doi:10.1163/156851906778946341.
^Lucas, Scott C. (2006). "The Legal Principles of Muhammad B. Ismāʿīl Al-Bukhārī and Their Relationship to Classical Salafi Islam".Islamic Law and Society.13 (3): 303.doi:10.1163/156851906778946341.
^Lucas, Scott C. (2006). "The Legal Principles of Muhammad B. Ismāʿīl Al-Bukhārī and Their Relationship to Classical Salafi Islam".Islamic Law and Society.13 (3): 290.doi:10.1163/156851906778946341.
^Lucas, Scott C. (2006). "The Legal Principles of Muhammad B. Ismāʿīl Al-Bukhārī and Their Relationship to Classical Salafi Islam".Islamic Law and Society.13 (3): 312.doi:10.1163/156851906778946341.
^Ess, Josef van, Theology and Society in the Second and Third Centuries of the Hijra, Vol.4, at page 164.
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