Ahl al-Ra'y in the context of "Shafi'ism"

The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the largest school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four principal schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (c. 699–767 CE), who systemised the use of reasoning (ra'y). Hanafi legal theory primarily derives law from the Quran, the sayings and practices of Muhammad (sunnah), scholarly consensus (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas), but also considers juristic discretion (istihsan) and local customs (urf). It is distinctive in its greater usage of qiyas than other schools.

The school spread throughout the Muslim world under the patronage of various Islamic empires, including the Abbasids and Seljuks. The region of Transoxiana emerged as a centre of classical Hanafi scholarship between the 10th and 12th centuries, which gave rise to the Maturidi school of theology. The Ottoman Empire adopted Hanafism as its official school of law and influenced the legal thought of the school, eventually codifying it as the Mecelle in the 1870s.

The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas (c. 711–795 CE) in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the Maliki school takes a unique position known as Ahl al-Amal, in which they consider the Sunnah to be primarily sourced from the practice of the people of Medina and living Islamic traditions for their rulings on Islamic law.

The Maliki school is one of the largest groups of Sunni Muslims, comparable to the Shafi’i madhhab in adherents, but smaller than the Hanafi madhhab. Sharia based on Maliki Fiqh is predominantly found in North Africa (excluding parts of Egypt), West Africa, Chad, Sudan and the Persian Gulf.

The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the largest school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four principal schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (c. 699–767 CE), who systemised the use of reasoning (ra'y). Hanafi legal theory primarily derives law from the Quran, the sayings and practices of Muhammad (sunna), scholarly consensus (ijma) and analogical reasoning (qiyas), but also considers juristic discretion (istihsan) and local customs (urf). It is distinctive in its greater usage of qiyas than other schools.

The school spread throughout the Muslim world under the patronage of various Islamic empires, including the Abbasids and Seljuks. The region of Transoxiana emerged as a centre of classical Hanafi scholarship between the 10th and 12th centuries, which gave rise to the Maturidi school of theology. The Ottoman Empire adopted Hanafism as its official school of law and influenced the legal thought of the school, eventually codifying it as the Mecelle in the 1870s.

The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas (c. 711–795 CE) in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the Maliki school takes a unique position known as Ahl al-A'mal, in which they consider the Sunnah to be primarily sourced from the practice of the people of Medina and living Islamic traditions for their rulings on Islamic law.

The Shafi'i school (Arabic: ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-madhhab al-shāfiʿī) is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence. It belongs to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist al-Shafi'i (c. 767–820 CE), also known as "the father of Muslim jurisprudence", in the early 9th century. One who subscribes to the Shafi'i school is called a Shafi'i (Arabic: ٱلشَّافِعِيّ, romanized: al-shāfiʿī, pl. ٱلشَّافِعِيَّة, al-shāfiʿīyah or ٱلشَّوَافِع, al-shawāfiʿ).

The other three schools of Sunnī jurisprudence are Ḥanafī, Mālikī and Ḥanbalī. Like the other schools of fiqh, Shafiʽi recognize the First Four Caliphs as the Islamic prophet Muhammad's rightful successors and relies on the Qurʾān and the "sound" books of Ḥadīths as primary sources of law. The Shafi'i school affirms the authority of both divine law-giving (the Qurʾān and the Sunnah) and human speculation regarding the Law. Where passages of Qurʾān and/or the Ḥadīths are ambiguous, the school seeks guidance of Qiyās (analogical reasoning). The Ijmā' (consensus of scholars or of the community) was "accepted but not stressed". The school rejected the dependence on local traditions as the source of legal precedent and rebuffed the Ahl al-Ra'y (personal opinion) and the Istiḥsān (juristic discretion).