The Four Sunni Schools of Jurisprudence

The four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence (madhabs) — Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali — developed over the first few centuries of Islam as scholars in different regions systematized methods for deriving detailed legal rulings from the Quran and Sunnah, applying them to situations the primary texts do not address explicitly. Each school is named after its founding scholar: Abu Hanifa, Malik ibn Anas, Muhammad al-Shafi'i, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, respectively. They differ in some methodology — for instance, in how much weight is given to analogical reasoning (qiyas) versus the practice of the people of Medina, or in how narrowly certain hadith are interpreted — but they share the same foundational sources and agree on the core tenets of Islamic belief and practice. The differences between the schools mostly concern secondary matters of practice — specific details of prayer, fasting exceptions, or contract law — rather than matters of core belief, and classical scholarship treats this diversity as a recognized and accepted feature of Islamic law rather than a division within it. Different regions of the Muslim world have historically followed different schools, and many Muslims today identify with one school for everyday practice while recognizing the legitimacy of the others.