Jamia Hamdard

School of Law

BA.LLB (3th SEMESTER)

Family law assignment
Topic ;- sunni Schools of Muslim Law

Submitted To: Naheed ma’am

Submitted By: Tamanna
Enrolment No.: 2022-342-112
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My sincere efforts have made me to accomplish the task of completing this assignment. However, it is
not possible to prepare this assignment without the assistance and encouragement of other people. I
would also like to extend my sincere and heartfelt obligation towards all the personages who helped
me in this endeavour. Without their active guidance, help, co-operation and encouragement, I would
not have made headway in this project.

I am also very thankful to our professor Asst. Prof. Naheed for his continuous guidance and support.

I extend my gratitude to JAMIA HAMDARD for giving me this opportunity to work on this
assignment.

At last, I also want to acknowledge my friends and family members who have always supported me
morally as well as economically.

Thanks to all.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 - Introduction

2- The four main Sunni School are:

1- The Hanafi School

2-The Maliki School

3- The Shafi School

4-The Hanbali School

3- Criticisms of the Hanafi Muslim Law School

4- Provisions of the Maliki Muslim Law School

5- Conclusion
Introduction
The Muslim Law is based on the teachings of the Quran and Prophet
Mohammad. In all the circumstances where the explicit command is
provided, it is faithfully provided but there have been many areas which are
not covered by these sources and as a result, the great scholars had
themselves devised their interpretation of what should be done in such a
situation.

As these scholars provided their interpretations (Qiyas) regarding the

Muslim Law, it led to various opinions among many of them and out such
difference, different schools of Muslim Law originated. Each school has its
own explanation and reasons for their interpretation and it often leads to
conflict in judgments.

In the absence of express rules, it cannot be said that one school is better or
higher positioned than other school and thus all the schools have been
accepted as valid and if a person follows any of these schools, he is
considered to be on the right path.

1.Sunni School The four main Sunni School are:

1- The Hanafi School

2-The Maliki School

3- The Shafi School

4-The Hanbali School

Hanafi School

Hanafi School is the first and the most popular schools in Muslim law. Before being
named Hanafi, this school was known as Koofa School which was based on the name of
the city of Koofa in Iraq. Later, this school was renamed as Hanafi School based on the
name of its founder Abu Hanafee.

The Prophet had not allowed his words and traditions from being written, the Hanafi
School relied on the customs and decisions of the Muslim community. Thus, Hanafi
School codified the precedent which in prevalence during that time among the Muslim
community.

The founder of this school Abu Hanafee had not written any book for laying down the
rules of this school and therefore this school had grown through his two disciples-
Imam Muhammed and Imam Abu Yousuf. Both of them gave to the Juristic preference
(Isthi Hasan) and codified the Ijma’s of that period.

This school became widely spread in various territories, as a result, the majority of
Muslims in countries such as India, Pakistan, Syria, and Turkey belong to Hanafi
School. In India, since the majority of Muslims are from Hanafi School, the Courts
decide the case of a Sunni Muslim as per the Hanafi School unless it is specified that
they belong to other schools.

In Hanafi School, Hedaya is the most important and authoritative book which was
created over a period of 13 years by Ali bin Abu Baker al Marghinani. This book
provides laws on various aspects except for the law of inheritance. Lord Warren
Hasting tries to translate the Hedaya to English. He appointed many Muslim Scholars
to translate the book.

But the Sirajiyya is considered as the authoritative book of the Hanafi Law of
Inheritance. The book is written by the Sheikh Sirajddin, and the first English
translation is written by Sir William Jones.

Under the Hanafi School, children are have an obligation to maintain their parents.
Under indigent circumstances, the parents have the right to claim maintenance from
their children. Similarly, the grandparents can also seek maintenance from the
grandchildren. However, it is pertinent to note that the mother has a better title than
the father when it comes to claiming maintenance from the children.
Custody of children
Under the Hanafi school, the custody of a son lies with the mother until the son attains
the age of 7 years. In case of a daughter, the mother has the custody till the daughter
attains puberty. However, once the son attains 7 years of age or the daughter reaches
puberty, the father is considered to be the natural guardian.

In Abdul Kalam v. Akhtari Bibi (1987), there was a dispute relating to the custody of a
minor son. The parties were governed by the Hanafi School of Mohammedan Law. The
mother claimed the custody of the child under Section 25 of the Guardians and Wards
Act, 1890. Section 25 states that when a child is removed from his guardian’s custody
and the court finds that the welfare of the child lies in him being restored to the custody
of the guardian, the court may make an order to this effect.

The appellants had pleaded that since under the Muslim personal law, the father is
considered to be the natural guardian of the Child, Section 25 of the Guardians and
Wards Act does not apply to a Muslim Child.

Rejecting this argument, the Orissa High Court held that the interest of the child is of
paramount consideration while deciding the issue of guardianship. The Court held that
the Guardians and Wards Act applies to Muslims as well and thus, the mother was
entitled to claim guardianship of the minor child under Section 25 of the Act.

Criticisms of the Hanafi Muslim Law School

Gender Equality: One of the main criticisms of the Hanafi school is its perceived
gender bias in inheritance laws, where female heirs often receive a smaller share
compared to male heirs. Critics argue that this is discriminatory and goes against the
principles of gender equality and social justice.

Lack of Uniformity: Another criticism is that the Hanafi school allows for multiple
forms of marriage, including temporary and traveller’s marriage, which are not
recognized by other Muslim law schools. Critics argue that this lack of uniformity leads
to confusion and disputes and that there should be a standardized approach to
marriage laws in Muslim personal law.
Provisions of the Maliki Muslim Law School

Marriage: The Maliki school follows similar principles of marriage as the Hanafi
school, with an emphasis on mutual consent, proposal, and acceptance as essential
elements of a valid marriage contract. It also recognizes the concept of Mahr (dower),
which is a mandatory payment by the husband to the wife as a sign of respect and
financial security.

Divorce: The Maliki school recognizes three forms of divorce, namely Talaq, Khula,
and Mubara’at, similar to the Hanafi school. It requires the husband to give a valid
reason for divorce and emphasizes the importance of reconciliation and settlement of
disputes before resorting to divorce.

Inheritance: The Maliki school follows the principle of ‘Urf (custom), where local
customs and practices are taken into consideration in determining inheritance rights. It
also recognizes the rights of female relatives, such as daughters, mothers, and wives, in
certain cases. Critics argue that the Maliki school’s emphasis on local customs may lead
to inconsistencies and inequalities in inheritance laws.

Maliki School

This school gets its name from Malik-bin-Anas, he was the Mufti of Madeena. During
his period the Khoofa was considered as the capital of Muslim Khaleefa where Imam
Abu Haneefa and his disciples flourished with Hanafi Schools. He discovered about
8000 traditions of Prophet but complied only about 2000 of them. When the disciples
of Imam Abu Haneefa codified their law based on Ijma’a and Isthihsan.

The maliki school gives the importance to the Sunna and Hadis whereas the Hanafi
school gives the importance to the people and Isthihsan. As per Maliki School and Law,
they rarely accept the Ijma’a. As per the Law, the person gave Fatwa challenging the
sovereign authority of Khaleefa, he faced enmity and of lack of support from Muslim
governments. Thus, this Maliki school did not get much popularity.

In India, there are no followers of this school but when the Dissolution of Muslim
marriage act 1939 came in the picture, some of the laws and provision of this school
was taken in account as they are giving more rights to the women than any other
school. In Hanafi School, if the women not get any news of her husband, she has to
wait till 7 years for Dissolution of the marriage, whereas in Maliki School the women
have to wait 2 years for Dissolution of the Marriage.
Mu-atha of Imam Malik is considered as the most authoritative book of the Maliki
School. This book is also the first book written on the Hadis in Islam and this book is
considered as the authority over all Muslims in the World.

Unlike the Hanifi school, the Malike school believes that traditions are the most
important source of law. This school emphasizes that the rules of law should be based
on traditions.

Legitimacy of child
Under the Maliki school, a child born after the dissolution of the marriage is considered
legitimate if it is born within a period of 4 years from the dissolution of the marriage.

Shaffie School

The Shaffie School gets its name on the name of Muhammad bin Idris Shaffie, his
period was between 767 AD to 820 AD. He was the student of Imam Malik of
Madeena. Then he started working with the disciples of Imam Abu Haneefa and went
to Khoofa.

He conclude the idea’s and the theories of Hanafi School and Maliki School in a
friendly manner. The Imam Shaffie was considered as one of the greatest jurist of
Islam. He created the classical theory of the Shaffie Islamic Jurisprudence.

According to this school, they considered Ijma’a as the important source of the Muslim
law and provide validity to the customs of the Islamic people and follows more
methods of Hanafi School. the main contribution of Shaffie School is the Quiyas or
Analogy.

The Al-Risala of Imam Shaffie was considered as the only authoritative book of Islamic
Jurisprudence. In that book they discuss and interpret the Ijma’a (Consensus), Quiyas
(Analogy), Ijthihad (Personal reasoning) Isthihsan (Juristic preference) and Ikhthilaf
(Disagreement) in separate chapter in his book Risala. His other book Al-Umm is the
authority on Fiqh (science of way of life).

The followers of Shafie School are spread in Egypt, Southern Arabia, South East Asia,
Indonesia and Malaysia.
D. Hanbali School
The Ahmad bin Hanbal is the founder of the Hanbali School. He found the
Hanbali school in 241 (AD 855). He is the disciple of Imam Shaffie and
supports Hadis. He strongly opposed the Ijthihad methods. He introduced
the theory of tracing the root of Sunna and Hadis and try to get the answer
all his question. His theory was to return to the Sunna of the Prophet. When
the Imam Shafie left for Baghdad, he declared that the Ahmad bin Hanbal
was the only one after him who is the better jurist after him. The followers of
Hanbali school found in Syria, Phalastine and Saudi Arabia.

Imam Abu Abdullah Ahmed-Ibn-Hanbal

Imam Abu Abdullah Ahmed-Ibn-Hanbal established the Hanbali school. He

was born in Baghdad. He was a rigid tradtitionalist and have utmost
importance to the traditions. He considered traditions to be more important
than the other sources.

Even though he rigidly relied upon the traditions, he interpreted the

traditions in a liberal manner.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the schools of Muslim law in India, namely the Hanafi, Maliki, and
Shafi’i schools, have similarities in their basic principles and teachings, but also
have some differences in their sources of law, interpretation, and application.
While each school has its strengths and weaknesses, they all play an important
role in shaping Muslim personal law in India.

The Hanafi school, being the most prevalent, is known for its flexibility and
adaptability, the Maliki school emphasizes local customs and practices, and the
Shafi’i school strictly follows the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is essential to understand
and appreciate the nuances and diversities within Muslim personal law in India
and to promote inclusivity, fairness, and justice in its application.