The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law, 9th-10th Centuries C.E. (Studies in Islamic Law and Society, V. 4) (Studies in Islamic Law and Society, V. 4)

The Sunni Schools Of Law Are Named For Jurisprudents Of The 8th And 9th Centuries, But They Did Not Actually Function So Early. The Main Division At That Time Was Rather Between Adherents Of Ra'y And Hadith. The Schools Had No Regular Means Of Forming Students. Relying Mainly On Biographical Dictionaries, This Study Traces The Constitutive Elements Of The Classical Schools And Finds That They Came Together In The Early 10th-century, Particularly With The Work Of Ibn Survaj (d. 306/918), Al-khallal (d. 311/923), And A Series Of Hanafi Teachers Ending With Al-karkhi (d. 340/952). Malikism Prospered In The West For Political Reasons, While The Ahiri And Jariri Schools Faded Out Due To Their Refusal To Adopt The Common New Teaching Methods. In This Book The Author Fleshes Out These Historical Developments, While At The Same Time Developing Some Different Perpectives. Introduction ---- 1. The Traditionalists Of Iraq --- 2. From Regional Schools To Personal --- 3. The Hanafi School Of The Later Ninth Century --- 4. The Ninth-century Shafii School Of Law And Theology --- 5. Ibn Surayj And The Classical Shafii School --- 6. Al-karkhi And The Classical Hanafi School --- 7. Al-khallal And The Classical Hanbali School --- 8. The Maliki School --- 9. Two Schools That Did Not Last ---- Conclusion. By Christopher Melchert. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Sunni schools of law are named for jurisprudents of the eighth and ninth centuries, but they did not actually function so early. The main division at that time was rather between adherents of ra'y and ḥadīth. No school had a regular means of forming students.Relying mainly on biographical dictionaries, this study traces the constitutive elements of the classical schools and finds that they first came together in the early tenth century, particularly with the work of Ibn Surayj (d. 306/918), al-Khallāl (d. 311/923), and a series of ḥanafī teachers ending with al-Karkhī (d. 340/952). Mālikism prospered in the West for political reasons, while the ẓāhirī and Jarīrī schools faded out due to their refusal to adopt the common new teaching methods.In this book the author fleshes out these historical developments in a manner that will be extremely useful to the field, while at the same time developing some new and highly original perspectives. Melchert traces the emergence of jurisprudence by h adith, the personalization of the old regional schools in response, and finally the emergence of the classical, guild schools, with regular means of forming students, in the early tenth century. Melchert traces the emergence of jurisprudence by ḥadīth, the personalization of the old regional schools in response, and finally the emergence of the classical, guild schools, with regular means of forming students, in the early tenth century.