Zahiri school of law

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The Zahiri school of law is a classical Islamic legal school known for its strict literalism, rejecting analogical reasoning (qiyas) and relying solely on the Qur’an, authentic hadith, and explicit consensus.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
Zahiri school 1

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Islamic legal school
madhhab
associatedWith Dawud al-Zahiri
Ibn Hazm
category Sunni legal school
contrastsWith Hanafi school
surface form: Hanafi school of law

Hanbali school
surface form: Hanbali school of law

Maliki school
surface form: Maliki school of law

Shafi'i school
surface form: Shafi‘i school of law
emphasizes literal meaning of scriptural texts
founder Dawud al-Zahiri
geographicRegion Iraq
Islamic Spain
surface form: al-Andalus
hasDoctrinalFeature narrow definition of consensus
rejection of juristic preference
rejection of public interest as independent source
strict adherence to apparent wording of texts
historicalPeriod classical Islamic era
influenced later literalist trends in Islamic thought
influencedBy Qur’anic literalism
early hadith-centered scholarship
legalMethodology literalism
textualism
namedAfter Dahir (literalist) approach to texts
primarySource Quran
surface form: Qur’an

authentic hadith
explicit consensus
rejects analogical reasoning
istihsan
maslaha-based reasoning
qiyas
speculative reasoning in law
religion Islam
status largely extinct as a formal madhhab
viewOnAmbiguity prefers apparent (zahir) meaning over inferred meanings
viewOnAnalogy analogy is considered an unlawful innovation in law
viewOnCommands commands in texts are presumptively obligatory
viewOnConsensus accepts only explicit consensus of the first generation of Muslims
viewOnCustom does not treat custom as an independent legal source
viewOnGeneralTexts general wording remains general unless text restricts it
viewOnHadith authentic solitary reports are accepted as proof
viewOnIjtihad restricted to direct textual interpretation
viewOnProhibitions prohibitions in texts are presumptively forbidden
viewOnReason reason cannot establish law without explicit text
viewOnScripture scriptural texts are self-sufficient for law
viewOnSpeculation speculative legal tools are rejected

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ijma disputedBy Zahiri school of law
this entity surface form: Zahiri school
Qiyas rejectedBy Zahiri school of law