Islamic Economics: A Short History

the abbasìd’s golden age 167

taken for the first time by al-Bùkhari (810–870), followed by Muslim-
ibn-al-Œajjaj (d 875), Abù-Dawùd (d 888), al-Tarmaûì(d 892) and
al-Nasa"i (d 915).

Jurisprudence Schools of Thought

By the late ninth century, there were six main schools of law, though
the surviving schools became four: the Œanafì, the Màlikì, the Shafi"ì
and the Œanbalì. These are highlighted briefly as follows:

TheŒanafi/School. The founder of the school was Abù-Œanìfah
(699–767), al-Nu"man ibn-Thabit, who relied on juristic preference,
istiœsàn, and analogical deduction, qiyàs, in arriving at juristic rules
(Al-Qattan, 1986). Without perhaps realising that he would be form-
ing a juridical school, Abù-Œanìfah became the founder of the most
tolerant school in Islamic jurisprudence. The teachings of Abù-Œanìfah
flourished in Iraq, Kufa and Baghdad, and the jurist had many fol-
lowers among who were Abù-Yùsuf whose book “al-Kharàj”, pub-
lic finance, was the first to appear in Islamic economic writing.
Presently, the school has the largest followers in the Muslim world.
TheMàlikìSchool.This was founded by Màlik-ibn-Anas (715–795)
in al-Medìnah, who paid particular attention to the Sunnah, and
the customs of al-Medìnah during the Prophet’s time and the con-
sensus of opinions during the reign of the four Rightly Guided caliphs
(ibid.). His book “al-Muwatta’”, the levelled path, is the oldest sur-
viving book on the codification of Islamic law. To Màlik the theory
of public interest, istislàœ, is attributed. The main followers of Màlik
are in North Africa and Eastern Arabia. The difference between the
Œanafìapproach and that of the Màlikìis the difference between
the approach of opinion and that of the Tradition.
The Shafi"ìSchool. Founded by Muœammad Idrìs al-Shafi"ì
(767–819) who was born in Ghaza, the school strikes a balance
between the Màlikì, the upholders of Sunnah, and the Œanafì, the
upholders of opinion. Al-Shafi"ì, who was a disciple of Màlik, adopted
a balanced approach between those of his predecessors: Sunnah can
only be accepted through unbroken narrators and analogical deduc-
tion should be used as a last resort and should be restricted as to
exclude arbitrary opinions (ibid.). His major treatise on the princi-
ples of jurisprudence, Kitàb al-Risàlah fi Usùl al-Fiqh, is a landmark