Madhhab
مذهب
Pronunciation: MADH-hab
A school of Islamic law; the four main Sunni schools often rule differently on financial questions.
Definition
A school of jurisprudence following the methodology of a founding scholar. The four surviving Sunni schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali; the Ja'fari school is followed by most Shia Muslims.
The schools share the sources but differ in method, which produces different rulings on finance: the Hanafi school counts jewelry as zakatable and historically tolerated some legal stratagems, the Hanbali school is most permissive on contractual conditions and options, and the Maliki school emphasizes blocking means to prohibited ends. Modern Islamic finance standards often adopt the strongest or most practical view across schools rather than following one.
Related Terms
Ijma'إجماع
Scholarly consensus: a ruling on which qualified jurists of an era have all agreed, making it binding.
Qiyasقياس
Analogical reasoning: extending an established ruling to a new case that shares its effective cause.
Ijtihadاجتهاد
Independent legal reasoning by a qualified scholar to derive a ruling where the texts are silent or unclear.
Fiqh al-Muamalatفقه المعاملات
Islamic jurisprudence governing commercial and financial transactions.
AAOIFI
The primary international standard-setting body for Islamic finance.
IFSB
Global standard-setter that sets prudential and supervisory standards for Islamic finance regulators.
Further Reading
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Madhhab (مذهب) - A school of Islamic law; the four main Sunni schools often rule differently on financial questions. A school of jurisprudence following the methodology of a founding scholar. The four surviving Sunni schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali; the Ja'fari school is followed by most Shia Muslims.
- A school of Islamic law; the four main Sunni schools often rule differently on financial questions.
- Category: Governance
- Related: Ijma', Qiyas, Ijtihad, Fiqh al-Muamalat, AAOIFI, IFSB
Source: HalalWallet (halalwallet.ca)
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Reviewed by: HalalWallet Editorial Team
Last reviewed: 2026-10-01
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