Reason for Different Schools of Thought (Madhaheb) in Islam

In our humble opinion, the biggest curse that have befallen on the Ummah of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is how the followers of each school of thought (Madhab) have used their own persuasions to divide this Ummah more and more. Even though differences between the Shiahs and the Sunnis are thought to be most, there are as much differences among the different Sunni schools of thought as there are between Shiahs and Sunnis. We don't have to look too far back to verify this. Only about fifty years or so ago, there used to be four congregational prayers at the Holy Ka'ba during each prayers due to the differences in the four Sunni schools about the prayer times despite the fact that they all follow one Qur'an and one prophet. Due to the differences among themselves, Muslims have called each other disbelievers, fought among themselves killing thousands while they all had the Holy Qur'an with them clearly commanding them to be united. The Greatest Shaykh (Ibn Arabi) says in his book, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyyah while commenting on how different schools of thought would behave when Imam Mahdi appears toward the end of Time:

"Indeed they will grudgingly conceal their disagreement, just as do [the two legal schools of] the Hanafites and Shafiites concerning those matters where they disagree. For in fact it has been reported to us that the followers of these two schools in the lands of non-Arabs [i.e., Iran and Transoxiana] are constantly fighting one another and that a great many of both groups have died - that [they go to such extremes that] they even break the fast during the month of Ramadan in order to be stronger for their battles." (Chodkeiwicz, The Meccan Revelations, Vol 1, p84)

In recent years, things got worse with the rise of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia. As all governments have their own clerics, the Saudi monarchy got theirs. The poison of Wahhabism spread all over the world in recent years producing people like Usama and the Talebans. Followers of Wahhabism considered non-Wahhabis non-believers and killing them was Halal for them. Below is what a Sunni brother wrote about this poison: (http://al-islam.org/encyclopedia/)

"When Ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab applied to the rulers of Dar'iyya with the view of disseminating his heresies easily through them, they willingly cooperated with him with the hope of extending their territories and increasing their power. They strove with all their might to disseminate his ideas everywhere. They declared war against those who refused and opposed another in joining the army of Muhammed ibn Sa'ud when it was said that it is halal to plunder and kill non-Wahhabis. In 1143, Muhammed ibn Sa'ud and Muhammed ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab hand in arrived at the conclusion, that those who wouldn't accept Wahhabism were kafirs and mushriks and it was halal to kill them and confiscate their possessions, and publicly announced their declaration seven years later."

This is not the place for discussing Wahhabism, however, people of similar mentalities existed before the Wahhabis and still do. Here we only are trying to figure out what the root causes of these differences are and try to find ways to improve the situations of the Muslim Ummah. It seems that there are two major reasons for differences among the Muslims: (1) Those who used Islam to rule the Muslims, (2) Those who got confused about the true Islam.

(1) Those who used Islam to rule the Muslims:

In the History of Islam, we see that, after passing away of the "Rightly guided Caliphs", the Ummayyids and the Abbasids used Islam to further their monarchies and did everything they needed to do without any attention paid to Islam. In fact most of the Islamic books were written during their times and they had their own official 'scholars' who were involved in fabricating the sayings of the Prophet (SAW) and using them to their advantage. Since they wrote the history, they could and did what they wanted. History, it is said, is the propaganda of the victorious. What this means is that in any conflict, the victor can manipulate history just as it pleases him, and there is nothing that the vanquished can do about it. The victorious party can cook up a story and broadcast it as the absolute truth without any fear of being challenged by anyone. It has not only the power to cook up its own story; it also has the power to spike the story of an opposing party.

M. Shibli, the dean of India's Sunni historians of Islam, writes in his famous biography of Prophet Muhammad, Sira-tun-Nabi, volume I, 4th printing, published by the Maarif Printing Press, Azamgarh, U.P., India, in 1976:

"Among all those extraneous forces which affect and influence the writing of history, none is more powerful than the government. But it will always be a source of pride for the Muslims that their pen was never subdued by the sword. Work on the compilation and collation of Hadith was begun in the times of the Banu Umayya. For full 90 years, from Sind in India (Indo-Pakistan) to Asia Minor and Andalusia in Spain, Ali and the children of Fatima were cursed from every pulpit in every mosque after every Friday sermon. Thousands and thousands of hadith (traditions; statements of the Prophet) glorifying Muawiya, were manufactured, and were put into circulation. In the times of the Abbasis, hadith were invented foretelling the birth and the excellence of each (Abbasi) khalifa by name."

They did all these knowing the fact that attributing false saying to the Holy Prophet (SAW) guaranteed them a place in the Fire as was foretold the Prophet himself. Similar tactics have been adopted by the Wahhabis in the current times. These groups are the rebellious ones who knowingly twisted the true Islam to misguide others. Maybe Allah talks about this group in His book:

(All) people are a single nation; so Allah raised prophets as bearers of good news and as warners, and He revealed with them the Book with truth, that it might judge between people in that in which they differed; and none but the very people who were given it differed about it after clear arguments had come to them, revolting among themselves; so Allah has guided by His will those who believe to the truth about which they differed and Allah guides whom He pleases to the right path (Qur'an 2:213)

(2) Those who got confused about the true Islam

As we have seen previously that the two main sources of Islam are the Holy Qur'an and the ways of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Now that we have just seen that sayings of the Prophet (SAW) had been widely fabricated to the extent that it has become practically impossible for the Muslims to authenticate true sayings of the Prophet (SAW). So, in this groups there are people who are sincere but misunderstood the correct ways of the Prophet (SAW) in the beginning. They tried  hard to deduce the laws of Islam from the ways of the Prophet declaring that they only tried to follow their Prophet and if they made any mistakes, their followers should not follow them, instead, they must follow the Prophet. For example, Imam Shafi’I declared:

“If it happens that a Hadith is in contradiction to my words, hurl my words against the wall and choose the Haidith, because my teachings (madhhabi) are the Hadith!”

Imam Abu Hanifa stated to his companions:

“It is formally forbidden for anyone who utters a fatwa based on my sayings to do so without knowing what I used as proof (dalil).”

However, the followers of these scholars, over time, treated the founders of these schools in a way that seemed to give preference to these founders even when the Holy Qur'an and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) went against them. It seems that Ummah of Muhammad (SAW) has done what the followers of Musa (A.S) did:

They have taken as lords beside Allah their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah son of Mary, when they were bidden to worship only One Allah. There is no Allah save Him. Be He Glorified from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him)! (Qur'an 9:31)

Political Differences between Shias and Sunnis:

Sunnis believe that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) did not appoint a successor explicitly. They maintain that Companions of Prophet were honest in general. So, therefore, what they had done in selecting Caliphs were correct. They base their opinions on the following: Sahih Muslim, Number 4486:

To answer the question of his daughter about nominating a successor Umar Ibnul Khattab replied as follows:

If I do not nominate a successor (I have a precedent before me), for the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) did not nominate his successor. And if I nominate one (I have a precedent), for Abu Bakr did nominate.

Abu Bakr was selected by a handful of people and allegiance was given to him by the mass later. Abu Bakr appointed Umar Ibnul Khattab. Uthman Ibn Afwan was selected by a 6-man council appointed by Umar Ibnul Khttab. Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib was chosen Caliph after Uthman Ibn Afwan was killed by the rebels.

Shias, on the other hand, maintain that Prophet was a perfect man and as such he must have appointed a successor and that was Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib. They base their opinions on the following: The Holy Prophet putting his hand on the back of the neck of Ali and said:

"This is my brother, my executor (Wasi), my successor (Caliph) among you, so listen to him and obey him."

History of al-Tabari, English version, v6, pp 88-91 (and many others)

Statistics of five Major Madhahib in Islam:

Hanafi = 31%, Maliki = 25%, Shafi’i = 16%, Hanbali = 4%, Ja’fari = 23%, Others = 1%

Hanafi:  The Hanafi school of thought was headed by Imam al-Nu'man ibn Thabit (Abu Hanifa) who lived from 80 h. to 150 h.  Imam Abu Hanifa was born to a non-Arab father, raised in Kufa, and died in Baghdad.  This school of thought prevailed during the time of the 'Abbasid Empire when a student of Imam Abu Hanifa, Abu Yusuf al-Qadi, became the head of the judiciary department and the highest judge and so spread this madhhab, in particular during the caliphates of al-Mahdi, al-Hadi, and al-Rashid.  No other man was as close to the 'Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid as was Abu Yusuf al-Qadi, but the 'Abbasid caliph al-Mansur also worked hard to support and consolidate Imam Abu Hanifa's school of thought and to spread his madhhab in the face of the growing popularity of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq.  Imam Abu Hanifa studied under the instruction of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq for two years and said about him: "I have not seen one more knowledgeable than Ja'far ibn Muhammad, and, indeed, he is the most knowledgeable one in the nation."

Maliki:  The Maliki school of thought was headed by Imam Malik ibn Anas al-Asbahi who lived from 93 h. to 179 h.  He was born in the holy city of Madinah, and his fame spread throughout the Hijaz on account of his quarrel with Imam Abu Hanifa, for Imam Malik was the leader of the school of tradition (hadith) while Imam Abu Hanifa was the leader of the school of opinion (ra'i); most Muslim governments were supportive of Imam Abu Hanifa.  Imam Malik  joined the 'Alawiyiin, the descendants of Imam 'Ali, and received his knowledge from Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, but thereafter, inconsistencies marked his life.  At one point he was oppressed: having earned the anger of the government, he was dragged through the streets by his clothes and lashed.  In 148 h., his fortunes reversed, and he regained his popularity and dominance, and the 'Abbasids tried to set him up as a popular reference for the nation in giving verdicts and injunctions.  The 'Abbasid caliph al-Mansur asked him to write al-Muwatta', his book of fiqh which contains the principles of the Maliki school of thought.  Furthermore, during the hajj season, the official announcer of the government proclaimed that no one had the authority to give fatawa (religious decisions) except Imam Malik.  The 'Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid sat on the floor to listen to him, and the caliphate in general exalted him to the point where they said that no book on earth - except the Holy Qur'an - was more authentic than Imam Malik's.  Ibn Hazm al-Andalusi says that two schools of thought were spread due to the government and the sultan: the school of Imam Abu Hanifa, since Abu Yusuf al-Qadi only appointed Hanafi judges; and the school of Imam Malik ibn Anas, for a student of Imam Malik, Yahya ibn Yahya, was so respected in the caliph's palace that no judge was ever appointed in Andalus without his consultation and advice.

Shaf'i:  The Shafi'i school of thought was headed by Imam Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi'i who lived from 150 h. to 198 h.   Imam Shafi'i was born in the Hijaz, and his school of thought emerged in Egypt.  At the time of the Fatimid Dynasty, the Egyptians were mainly followers of the ahl al-bayt [family of the Prophet], and the teachings of the ahl al-bayt were being taught in Al-Azhar University.  Then Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi came and waged an extensive war against the school of ahl al-bayt, banning the teaching of their madhhab in al-Azhar and resurrecting the other madhahib, including that of Imam Shafi'i, who was killed in Egypt in 198 h.

Hanbali:.  The Hanbali school of thought was headed by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal who lived from 164 h. to 241 h.  He was born in and died in Baghdad and only gained popularity in Najd (a region of the Arabian Peninsula) due to the ideas of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of Wahhabism.  The Hanbali madhhab spread in Najd primarily due to the teachings of Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Halim al-Dimishqi ibn Taymiyyah (661 h. - 728 h.) and his student ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya.

The above four schools are Sunnis. Major books of Sunnis are: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunans of Abu Daud, Ibn Majah, Tirmizi, Nisai, Musnad of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal and Muatta of Imam Malik.

Ja'fari.  The Ja'fari school of thought was headed by Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq who lived from 83 h. to 148 h.  He was born in and died in the holy city of Madinah and is the sixth imam of the twelve designated imams of the school of ahl al-bayt.  Although the fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) was developed by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his successors (the imams), the fiqh as taught by the Shi'a did not have the opportunity to be presented to the masses because of the political predicament that the ahl al-bayt suffered from under the rulers for many centuries.  Because they refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Umayyid and 'Abbasid caliphs and their governments, the imams of the ahl al-bayt and their followers were exposed to tremendous harassment and persecution at the hands of the caliphs.  Once the Umayyid government became weak, Imam Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq found a golden opportunity to formulate and spread the tradition of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and his family.  At one time, four thousand scholars, Qur'anic commentators, historians, and philosophers attended his classes in the holy city of Madinah.  Therefore, he was able to pass down the authentic teachings of the Holy Qur'an and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and crystallize them in what came to be known as al-fiqh al-ja'fari, the Ja'fari jurisprudence.  His teachings were collected in 400 usul (foundations) which were written by his students and encompass hadith, Islamic philosophy, theology, Qur'anic commentary, literature, and ethics.

After a period of time, three distinguished scholars categorized these 400 usul in four books which are the main sources of hadith in the Shi'a school of thought: al-Kafi by al-Kulayni (d. 329 h.), Man La Yahduruh al-Faqih by al-Suduq (d. 381 h.), and al-Tahdib and al-Istibsar by al-Tusi (d. 460 h.).  Those three scholars were known as the "three Muhammads" since their first names were all "Muhammad."  While those three books are the main sources of hadith for the Shi'a, their authors still did not label their books "sahih." Although they did their best to gather only authentic traditions, if a particular tradition contradicts the Holy Qur'an then it cannot be accepted as legal and valid. 

O you who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end (Qur'an 4:59)

O people! surely there has come to you manifest proof from your Lord and We have sent to you clear light (Qur'an 4:174).