The Early Development of the 4 Mazhabs & Independents - Lessons for all... It is of value to understand, in the context of prominence and strict adherence to Sunni
Madhȃhib, how these Madhȃhib were followed in the early centuries during their formation.
One measure is to have an appreciation for Muslim jurists (Fuqahȃ’) during that period, as this in Islamic law, thus establishing their relevance to the study of the background of the four
schools of Islamic law. Consequently, Bernards and Nawas (2003) found that,
“For the entire 400-year period studied, the Mȃlikȋ Madhhab was the largest, followed
by the “Independents”, those Fuqahȃ’ who were not claimed by any of the four Sunni
Madhahib. The share of the other three Sunni Madhahib, the Ḥanafȋs, the Shȃfi’ȋs and
the Ḥanbalȋs, was more or less equal. The phenomenon of switching from one Sunni
Madhhab to another was marginal.”
Furthermore, the last eponym (Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal) died in 241 AH; thus to focus
examination on the first two and a half centuries, is of greater value. This, Bernards and Nawas
(2003) reveal, demonstrates that 13% were Ḥanafȋs, 18% were Mȃlikȋs, 2% were Shȃfi’ȋs, 9%
were Ḥanbalȋs, 5% were Switchers and 54% were Independents. In contrast, the following 150
Another key point is that many other Madhȃhib did exist. The dying out of these and
the remainder of only the four major schools of thought clearly needs further
investigation. Many Muslim commentators have argued that the survival of the four
major schools of thought was due to the personal sacrifice of the eponyms in their
lifetimes, standing up against the status quo or, in some cases, resisting the pressure of
the Caliph of their time to issue Fatȃwa in his favour, often resulting in torture and
imprisonment.
years beyond the demise of the last eponym show that the figures changed dramatically, with
13% being Ḥanafȋs, 37% being Mȃlikȋs, 21% being Shȃfi’ȋs, 17% being Ḥanbalȋs, 5% being
Switchers and 7% being Independents. Thus, as would be expected, proportionately most
Independents disappeared in the duration of the first four centuries, with their proportions
declining from 54% (0 - 250 AH) to 7% (250 - 400 AH). Consequently, large proportions of
Fuqahȃ’, in the most part, migrated from being Independents to being Mȃlikȋs (18%; 0 - 250 AH
to 37%; 250 - 400 AH), and Shȃfi’ȋs (2%; 0 - 250 AH to 21%; 250 - 400 AH).
provides insights as to the extent of followership commanded by the eponyms of the four main
Madhȃhib. In their paper about the geographical distribution of 406 Fuqahȃ’ in the first four
centuries of Islam, Bernards and Nawas (2003) found that 13% were Ḥanafȋs, 29% were Mȃlikȋs,
13% were Shȃfi’ȋs, 14% were Ḥanbalȋs, 5% were Switchers and 27% were Independents.
Switchers are defined as Fuqahȃ’ who, during the course of their lives, switched from adherence
to one Madhhab to adherence to another. Independents were those Fuqahȃ’ who did not adhere
to any Madhhab. There sample size was based on biographical accounts collected for the Ulama
Project, which was completed in 2000. The database thus consisted of 1,049 biographical
accounts of Islamic scholars of the early centuries of Islam, within the five main disciplines of
Islamic sciences. The 406 Fuqahȃ’ cited by Bernards and Nawas (2003) were those specialised
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