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The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam.
It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the Maliki school takes a unique position known as Ahl al-Amal, in which they consider the Sunnah to be primarily sourced from the practice of the people of Medina and Urf for their rulings on Sharia.The Maliki school is one of the largest groups of Sunni Muslims, comparable to the Shafi’i madhhab in adherents, but smaller than the Hanafi madhhab.Abdullah Saeed (2008), The Qur'an: An Introduction, Routledge, , pp. 16–18 Sharia based on Maliki Fiqh is predominantly found in North Africa (excluding parts of Egypt), West Africa, Chad, Sudan and the Persian Gulf.
In the Middle Ages, the Maliki school was also found in parts of Europe under Islamic rule, particularly Al-Andalus and the Emirate of Sicily.Bernard Lewis (2001), The Muslim Discovery of Europe, WW Norton, , p. 67 A major historical center of Maliki teaching, from the 9th to 11th centuries, was in the Mosque of Uqba of Tunisia.Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Riad Nourallah, The future of Islam, Routledge, 2002, page 199Ira Marvin Lapidus, A history of Islamic societies, Cambridge University Press, 2002, page 308 Jurisprudence and Law – Islam Reorienting the Veil, University of North Carolina (2009)
One who ascribes to the Maliki school is called a Maliki, Malikite or Malikist (, ).
Imam Malik (who was a teacher of Imam Ash-Shafi‘i, who in turn was a teacher of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal) was a student of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and 6th Shi'ite Imam), as with Imam . Thus all of the four great Imams of Sunni Fiqh are connected to Ja'far, whether directly or indirectly.
The Malikis enjoyed considerably more success in Africa, and for a while in Spain and Sicily. Under the Umayyads and their remnants, the Maliki school was promoted as the official state code of law, and Maliki judges had free rein over religious practices; in return, the Malikis were expected to support and legitimize the government's right to power.Maribel Fierro, Proto-Malikis, Malikis and Reformed Malikis in al-Andalus , pg. 61. Taken from The Islamic School of Law: Evolution, Devolution and Progress. Eds. Peri Bearman, Rudolph Peters and Frank E. Vogel. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2005. This dominance in Spanish Al-Andalus from the Umayyads up to the continued, with Islamic law in the region dominated by the opinions of Malik and his students. The Hadith, or prophetic tradition in Islam, played a lesser role as Malikis – like Hanafi jurists, viewed both with suspicion, and weren't very well versed in their study.Fierro, "The Introduction of Hadith in al-Andalus (2nd/8th - 3rd/9th centuries)," pg. 68–93. Der Islam, vol. 66, 1989. The Almoravids eventually gave way to the predominantly-Zahiri , at which point Malikis were tolerated at times but lost official favor. With the Reconquista, the Iberian Peninsula was lost to the Muslims in totality. Although Al-Andalus was eventually lost, the Maliki has been able to retain its dominance throughout North and West Africa to this day. Additionally, the school has traditionally gained a reputation for being the preferred school in the small Arab States of the Persian Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar).
While the majority of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia follows Hanbali laws, the country's Eastern Province has been known as a Maliki stronghold for centuries.Although initially hostile to some mystical practices, Malikis eventually learned from Sufi practice, as the latter became widespread throughout North and West Africa, as well as Al-Andalus. Many Muslims now adhere to Maliki Sufi orders.
The Mālikī school primarily derives from the work of Malik ibn Anas, particularly the Muwatta Imam Malik, also known as Al-Muwatta. The Muwaṭṭa contains Sahih and includes Malik ibn Anas' commentary, but it is so complete that it is considered sahih by Malikis in itself.Vincent J. Cornell (2006), Voices of Islam, , pp 160 Mālik included the practices of the people of Medina and where the practices are in compliance with or in variance with the hadiths reported. This is because Mālik regarded the practices of Medina (the first three generations) to be a superior proof of the "living" sunnah than isolated, although sound hadiths. Mālik was particularly scrupulous about authenticating his sources when he did appeal to them, as well as his comparatively small collection of aḥādith, known as al-Muwaṭṭah (or, The Straight Path). An example of the Maliki approach in using the opinion of Sahabah were recorded in Muwatta Imam Malik per ruling of cases regarding the law of consuming Gazelle meat. This tradition was used in the opinions of Zubayr ibn al-Awwam. Malik also included the daily practice of az-Zubayr as his source of "living sunnah" (living tradition) for his guideline to pass verdicts for various matters, in accordance of his school of though method.
The second source, the Al-Mudawwana, is the collaborator work of Mālik's longtime student, Ibn Qāsim and his mujtahid student, Sahnun. The Mudawwanah consists of the notes of Ibn Qāsim from his sessions of learning with Mālik and answers to legal questions raised by Saḥnūn in which Ibn Qāsim quotes from Mālik, and where no notes existed, his own legal reasoning based upon the principles he learned from Mālik. These two books, i.e. the Muwaṭṭah and Mudawwanah, along with other primary books taken from other prominent students of Mālik, would find their way into the Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, which would form the basis for the later Mālikī madhhab.
The Maliki school is most closely related to the Hanafi school, differing in degree, not in kind.Jamal Nasir (1990), The Islamic Law of Personal Status, Brill Academic, , pp. 16–17 However, unlike the Hanafi school, the Maliki school does not assign as much weight to qiyas (analogy), but derives its rulings from pragmatism using the principles of istislah (public benefit) and urf (common opinion) wherever the Quran and Mutawatir Hadiths do not provide explicit guidance.
Malik bin Anas himself also accepted Ijma and Qiyas along with the majority of Sunni jurists, though with conditions. Consensus was only accepted as a valid source of law if it was drawn from the Sahaba generation of Muslims in general, or the first, second or third generations from Medina, while analogy was only accepted as valid as a last resort when an answer was not found in other sources.Mansoor Moaddel, Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism: Episode and Discourse, pg. 32. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.Reuben Levy, Introduction to the Sociology of Islam, pg. 237, 239 and 245. London: Williams and Norgate, 1931–1933.
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