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.
The Muslim personal law has a rich jurisprudential history because it is based on many
admirable and revolutionary concepts. It introduced the concept of inheritance rights for
women and was the first to recognize divorce by mutual concept. Many of these concepts
have now been incorporated in the modern day legal systems.
Shia and Sunni division
After the death of the Prophet, there was a dispute regarding the manner in which his
successor should be chosen. One group was of the opinion that the successor of the Prophet
should be elected. This sect is known as the Sunni sect. Abu Bakr was elected as the first
Caliph and was chosen to head the Muslim community. The Sunni sect supports the election
method on the ground that the Prophet had himself suggested that hisssuccessor would be
chosen by election.
However, some people, including the Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, believed that the
successor of the Prophet should be based on succession. This group constituted the Shia
sect. This group declared Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet to be the first Imam.

Schools under Muslim Law

In Islam, the people have been divided into two sects having different views regarding
certain aspects of Islam. Thus, the schools of Muslim law can be broadly classified into
two categories:

1. Sunni Schools
2. Shia Schools
Sunni Schools
There are 4 different schools under the Sunni sect. These schools are based largely on the
same principles and differ only on minor aspects. There are 4 sources of Muslim law. These
4 sources are the Quran, Ijma, Sunna and Qiyas. The differences in the 4 schools emerged
because of the difference in the degree of reliance placed on the different sources.
However, all the schools recognize the relevance and importance of all these 4 sources. The
different schools of the Sunni sect are:
In Sunni sect, there are four major schools of Muslim law which are as follows;
A. 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.
Legitimacy of child
Both the Sunni as well as Shia schools provide that if a child is born within a specific time
period from the dissolution of the marriage, then he would be considered valid. However,
this time period varies from school to school. Under the Hanafi school, the child is
considered to be legitimate if it is born within a period of 2 years from the dissolution of
marriage.

B. 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.

Imam Malik-ibn-Anas
Imam was a lecturer on traditions and he was also a jurist. He is recognized as one of the
most brilliant minds and he had vast knowledge of Sunna or traditions. Malik as well as
other propounders of this school were also judges and solved the day-to-day problems of
the people. Thus, the approach of this school was to make the law more practicable.
Imam relied on the traditions and usages of the Prophet to interpret the law. He also belived
on the concept of muslahat which means public welfare.

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.
It is interesting to note that Section 112 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 also deals with the
legitimacy of a child born after dissolution of marriage. Under the Evidence Act, the child
would be considered legitimate if it is born within a period of 280 days of the dissolution of
marriage. Moreover, the mother should be unmarried at the time of the birth of the child.
Thus, we see that there may be a situation where a child may not fulfill the criterion of
legitimacy laid down under the Evidence Act, but might still be recognized as legitimate
under the Maliki school.

C. 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.
Shia Schools
As per Shia Sect, there are three schools of law. Shia Sect is considered as the minority in
the Muslim world. They enjoy the political power only in Iran though they don’t have the
majority in that state also.

A. Ithna-Asharis
These schools are based on the following of Ithna-Ashari laws. The followers of these
schools are mostly found in Iraq and Iran. In India also there is the majority of the shia
muslim who follows the principles of the Ithna-Asharis School. They are considered political
quietists. This school is considered as the most dominant school of the shia muslims. the
ja’fari fiqh of the shias in most cases indistinguishable from one or more of the four sunni
madhahib, except mutah is considered as the lawful marriage. The people who follow the
Ithna Asharis school believe that the last of the Imams disappeared and to be returning as
Mehdi(Messiah).

B. The Ismailis
According to Ismailis school, in India there are two groups, the Khojas or Western Ismailis
represents the followers of the present Aga Khan, who they considered as the 49th Imam in
this line of Prophet, and the Bohoras i.e. the Western Ismailis are divided into Daudis and
Sulaymanis.
The Bohoras and Khojas of Mumbai are considered as the followers of this school. It is
considered that the follower of these schools has special knowledge of religious doctrine.

C. Zaidy
The followers of this school are not found in India but are maximum in number in South
Arabia. This sect. of the shia school is the most dominant among all in Yemen. The followers
of these schools are considered as political activism. They often reject the twelver shia
school philosophies.
Other schools
Besides the schools under Shia and Sunni sects, there are some other schools which are also
present which are:

Ibadi School
Ibadi is a school which belongs neither to the Shia nor Sunni sect and this school claim that
its history traces back to the times of 4th Khaleefa Ali. The Ibadi school gives more
preference to the Quran and they do not give the Sunna much importance. This school has
its followers in Oman. One of the most important points about this school is that besides the
Quran, it has provided principal consideration to Ijtihad (personal reasoning) which has been
partially accepted by the Sunnis and has been completely rejected by the Shias.

Ahmadiya School
The followers of Ahmadiya school claim to be Muslims but they do not follow Prophet
Muhammed. This school has a recent origin and they are followers of one Ahmed who was
alive in the 19th century.
This school is said to have a British-Indian origin and Mirza Ghulam Khadiani is the founder
of this school, who served the British Government. Even though this school claims to be a
follower of Islam, none of the Muslim Government has accepted them as Muslims because
they believe this school’s faith is completely against the faith of Muslims.
The Khadiyan village which is situated in Punjab in India is said to be the birthplace of
Ahmed and thus it is their holy place and the followers are also known as Kadhiyani. There is
no authoritative book of this school and because its origin is also recent, it has no
recognition by the other authoritative books of Islam.
There are many differences between the Ahmadiya School and Muslims therefore, they are
not regarded as part of Islam. The major points of difference between them are as follows:
 1. The Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammad was the Messenger of God on
Earth and he was the last Prophet who had spoken with God. Thus, his teachings
are an important part of the lives of Muslims but the Ahmadiyas believe that God
still communicates with his holy servants even after Prophet Mohammad.
2. The Ahmadiyans claim that the list of Prophets before Mohammad includes
Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster and Ramchandra and they claim it is according to the
Quran but the non-Ahmadiyans do not accept such claims and refuse to
acknowledge them as Prophets.
3. Unlike the Muslims, the Ahmadiyans do not accept the claim of the Sultan of
Turkey as the Caliphate and they claim that every Muslim person should remain
loyal to the Government of their country.
4. While Muslims believe that Mahdi will have a holy war or Jihad and Islam will be
spread by the sword, the Ahmadiyas believe that it will be spread by arguments
and heavenly signs and not through violence.
Conclusion
Muslim law is governed by the teachings of the Quran and the Prophet Mohammad. There
have been many different schools which follow their own interpretations of these teachings
on points on which the Quran is silent. While the major schools of Muslims can be divided
under the two sects of Shia schools and Sunni schools, even the schools under these sects
have been further divided into various schools.
Each school has its own beliefs and practices and because is no set rule regarding the
matters on which the Quran is silent, one school cannot be said to be better positioned than
the other schools and thus even though there are many schools in Muslim law, they all lead
to one path. Thus, the teachings of these schools can be compared to different paths which
all lead to the same destination.

What is the Mahr and what is the amount of Mahr prescribed under the various schools?
Mahr is the sum of money which a wife receives, under Muslim law, from her husband upon
getting married. The different Schools provide for different value of Mahr. Under the Hanafi
law, the minimum amount of Mahr is 10 dirhams. Under the Maliki Law, the minimum
amount is 3 dirhams. Shia law does not prescribe any minimum amount of Mahr but the
maximum Mahr cannot excel 500 dirhams.

What are the primary sources of Muslim law?

The primary sources of Muslim law are the Quran, Ahadis, Qiyas and Ijma.
Quran is the holy book of the Muslims. Ahadis refers to what was said by the Prophet.
Ijma refers to the consensus of the Muslim jurists. After the death of the Prophet, the jurists
had to reach a consensus to solve the problems whose answers could not be found in the
principles of the Quran or the Sunna. The consensus reached by the jurists is known as Ijma.
Qiyas refers to a process of analogical deduction. All the Sunni schools agree that if any
matter has not been provided in the Quran, Sunna and the Ijma, then such matters have to
be determined by analogical deduction of what has already been provided in the three
sources.