Zahiri school facts for kids

The Ẓāhirī school (Arabic: ظاهري; Ẓāhirī or Dhāhirī) is a Sunni way of understanding Islamic law. It was started in the 800s by Dāwūd al-Ẓāhirī. He was a Persian Muslim scholar and expert in law.

This school is known for being very strict about the literal meaning of religious texts. It focuses on the clear, outward meaning (ẓāhir) of words in the Quran and ḥadīth. It also relies on the agreement (ijmāʿ) of Muhammad's first companions. The Ẓāhirī school does not use analogical reasoning (qiyās) or local customs (urf) to make legal decisions. Other Islamic law schools often use these methods.

After some success and then a decline in the Middle East, the Ẓāhirī school became popular in Islamic Spain. This was especially true under the leader Ibn Hazm. The school existed for about 500 years. Some say it later joined with the Ḥanbalī school. However, it has also seen a comeback in some parts of the Muslim world since the mid-1900s.

Some people see Ẓāhirism as a separate school of Islam. Others consider it a fifth main school (madhhab) within Sunni Islam. It still has some influence today. Many modern Muslim scholars recognize it. Members of the Ahl-i Hadith movement, for example, often follow Ẓāhirī ideas.

History

How it Started

Dawud al-Ẓāhirī moved from Kufa to Baghdad when he was young. He studied prophetic traditions and Quranic explanations. He learned from famous scholars like Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Dawud's father followed a different school, the Ḥanafī school. Some thinkers believe the Ẓāhirī school, like the Ḥanbali one, was a reaction to the Ḥanafī system.

The Ẓāhirī school was first called the Dāwūdi school, named after Dawud al-Ẓāhirī. Many people joined it. They were free to question Dawud's ideas, as the school rejected blind following. Ẓāhirīs and Ḥanbali jurists came from the Ahl al-Ḥadīth group. This group believed the Quran, ḥadīth, and sunnah (Muhammad's sayings and habits) were the best sources for law. They did not think logic (‘āql) could be a separate source. By the late 900s, Ẓāhirī judges (qāḍī) worked in many cities. These included Baghdad, Shiraz, and Damascus.

A professor named Abdul Aziz al-Harbi suggests that Muhammad's first companions followed Ẓāhirī methods. This means it could be seen as "the school of the first generation."

Spreading West

Ẓāhirī ideas also reached North Africa and Spain. This happened through scholars who debated other schools. In the Abbasid lands, the Ẓāhirī school grew alongside others. But in the West, it mainly competed with the Maliki school. The Maliki school had official support from the Umayyad rulers. By the late 800s, more Ẓāhirī scholars appeared in Spain.

The Ẓāhirī school gained official support when the Almohads came to power. Many Almohad leaders were Ẓāhirīs themselves. They were also very against the Malikis. This allowed Ẓāhirīs to write books and run the courts freely. In the late 1100s, the Almohads even banned and burned religious books not written by Ẓāhirīs.

Decline

The Ẓāhirī school was most popular in the 900s. But in the 1000s, it lost ground to the Hanbalite school. Even after it disappeared in Baghdad, some followers remained in Shiraz. Ẓāhirism stayed important in Syria until the late 1300s. It had an even longer impact in Egypt. In the 1300s, the Zahiri Revolt showed a brief return of interest. But soon after, the school stopped working as a main group. By the 1300s, Ibn Khaldun thought it was gone.

When Spain was lost to Christian rule (the Reconquista), many Ẓāhirī legal writings were lost. The school then only continued through individual scholars. Some experts say that rejecting qiyas (analogical reasoning) led to its decline. Others suggest its link to certain theology and lack of support also played a part.

Modern Times

Today, the Ẓāhirī school is described as "somewhat influential." It is "not formally operating today" as a major school. However, there are still communities of Ẓāhirīs. This is usually because of Ẓāhirī scholars. In India and Pakistan, followers of the Ahl-i Hadith movement often identify with Ẓāhirī ideas.

Modern scholars have also shown new interest in the ideas of Ibn Hazm, a famous Ẓāhirī. The Amman Message in 2004 recognized the Ẓāhirī school as valid. It is also recognized by some leaders like Sadiq al-Mahdi from Sudan. The literalist ideas of the Ẓāhirī school are still important among many scholars and people in the Salafi movement. The school even saw a revival in the Islamic State.

Principles

A key idea for the Ẓāhirī school comes from its founder, Dawud ibn 'Ali. He believed that religious matters must be based on certainty, not guesswork. This certainty comes from the clear, literal (Zahir) meaning of the Quran and Hadith. Most Ẓāhirī rules follow this main idea.

Japanese scholar Kojiro Nakamura says the Ẓāhirī school has two main beliefs. First, if God wanted more general rules, He would have said them clearly in the texts. So, everything needed is already there. Second, trying to guess God's reasons for His commands is pointless and disrespectful. Another important part of their belief was strongly rejecting Qiyas (analogical reasoning). They saw it as wrong and a distortion of Sharia (Islamic law).

The Ẓāhirī school generally uses three sources for Islamic law. These are part of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence.

• The first is the Quran, which Muslims believe is the exact word of God (Arabic: الله Allah).
• The second is the prophetic tradition. This comes from reliable reports about the sayings and actions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
• The third is the absolute agreement of the Muslim community.

Some Ẓāhirī followers also include religious inference as a fourth source.

The Ẓāhirī school differs from other schools in one main way. It only accepts the agreement of the first generation of Muslims (those who lived with Muhammad) as valid. While Abu Hanifa and Ahmad ibn Hanbal agreed with this, most followers of other Sunni schools do not.

Also, the Ẓāhirī school does not accept analogical reasoning as a source of law. They also do not accept juristic discretion. They point to a verse in the Quran that says nothing has been left out of the scriptures. While al-Shafi‘i agrees with Ẓāhirīs on rejecting juristic discretion, all other Sunni schools accept analogical reasoning, though to different degrees.

Different Rulings

• Some Ẓāhirī followers believe the Virgin Mary was a female prophet. Most other schools do not.
• Riba, or interest, on certain items like gold, silver, dates, and wheat is forbidden. But Ẓāhirīs do not use analogical reasoning to extend this rule to other farm products. Other schools do this.
• In an Islamic court, admission of guilt is seen as a whole. A person cannot accept part of a testimony and reject another. Most Hanbalites agree with the Ẓāhirīs on this.
• Another example is their view on dogs. Many Muslims avoid dogs because a hadith says to wash a bowl seven times if a dog drinks from it. They think this means dogs are unclean. Ẓāhirīs, however, say that if the Prophet meant "the dog is an unclean animal," he would have said it directly.

Zahiris

It can be hard to know exactly who is a Ẓāhirī follower. Some scholars say that most Muslim scholars who used their own reasoning and based their judgments only on the Quran and Sunnah were Ẓāhirīs. People from other schools might have used some Ẓāhirī ideas without fully joining the school. Sometimes, historians mistakenly called people Ẓāhirīs just because they praised the school.

For example, the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi is often called a Ẓāhirī. This is because he wrote a commentary on one of Ibn Hazm's books. But he said twice that he did not follow the Ẓāhirī school or any other. Similarly, Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari included Ẓāhirī views in his comparisons. Yet, he started his own distinct school.

Imam Bukhari

Scott Lucas notes that al-Bukhari did not approve of qiyas (analogical reasoning). He also points out that Bukhari's legal methods are very similar to those of Ibn Hazm.

Famous Followers of the Ẓāhirī School

Here are some notable people who followed the Ẓāhirī school:

• Abd Allah al-Qaysi (died 885), helped spread the school in Spain.
• Muhammad bin Dawud al-Zahiri (died 909), son of the school's founder.
• Niftawayh (died 935), a student of Dawud al-Ẓāhirī.
• Ibn al-Mughallis (died 936), helped make the school popular across the Muslim world.
• Al-Masudi (died 956), an early Muslim historian.
• Mundhir bin Sa'īd al-Ballūṭī (died 966), an early judge in Spain.
• Ibn Hazm (died 1064), a famous scholar from Spain who wrote many books.
• Ibn Tumart (died 1130), founder of the Almohad Empire.
• Ibn Maḍāʾ (died 1196), a judge and linguist from Spain.
• Al-Maqrizi (died 1442), an Egyptian historian.

Modern Followers

• Hasan al-Hudaybi (died 1973), a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood.
• Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali (died 1987), translated the Quran.
• Sa'id al-Afghani (died 1997), a professor of Arabic.
• Abu Turab al-Zahiri (died 2002), a scholar and journalist from Saudi Arabia.
• Ihsan Abbas (died 2003), a Palestinian scholar.
• Abdul Aziz al-Harbi (living), a professor at Umm al-Qura University.

See also

In Spanish: Zahirismo para niños