Development of Jurisprudence ••• 111(in addition, of course, to the Quran and the sunna) as sources. Today it
predominates in Muslim India, Pakistan, and most of the lands formerly
under the Ottoman Empire. The Maliki rite developed in Medina and
made heavy use of the Prophetic hadiths that circulated there. It now pre¬
vails in Upper Egypt and in northern and western Africa. The Shafi'i rite
grew up in ninth-century Egypt as a synthesis of the Hanafi and Maliki
systems, but with greater stress on analogy. It was strong in Egypt and
Syria at the time of Salah al-Din; it now prevails in the Muslim lands
around the Indian Ocean and in Indonesia. The fourth canonical rite, that
of the great jurist and theologian Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), rejected
analogy, consensus, and judicial opinion as sources. Because of its strict¬
ness, the Hanbali rite has a smaller following, although its adherents have
included the thinkers who inspired the modern reform movement within
Islam. It is also the official legal system in present-day Saudi Arabia. Other
Sunni rites that used to exist have died out. The substantive differences
among the four rites are minor except in ritual matters. Each (except at
times the Hanbali rite) has regarded the others as legitimate.
Shi'i Legal Systems
Shi'i jurisprudence also relies on the Quran, the sunna (except that any isnad
authenticating a supporting hadith should include one of the legitimate
imams), analogy, and consensus. Some differences do exist between Shi'i
and Sunni Muslims regarding the authenticity of certain statements by the
Prophet, notably one concerning whether he wanted Ali as his successor. In
some matters Shi'i law is more permissive: It allows temporary marriage, the
female line receives a slightly larger share of the inheritance, and some sects
let Shi'i Muslims conceal their religious identity if their safety is at stake. The
major difference is that whereas most Sunni rites no longer allow reinterpre-
tation of the Shari'a, in Shi'ism the imams can interpret the law. They are
regarded as being, in principle, alive. Among Twelve-Imam Shi'is, whose last
imam is hidden, qualified legists called mujtahids may interpret the Shari'a
until the twelfth imam returns. This "interpretation" (ijtihad) does not
mean changing the law to suit one's temporary convenience; rather, it is the
right to reexamine the Quran and the hadith compilations without being
bound by consensus. In this sense, Shi'ism has kept a flexibility long since
lost by the Sunni majority, and the Shi'i ulama, especially the mujtahids,
have remained influential up to now in such countries as Iran. Indeed, the
main issue for Sunni Muslim ulama committed to Islamic reform has been
to regain the right of ijtihad.