The Early Schools of Legal Thought in Islam ""Ahl Al-Hadith wa ‘Ahl Arra’ y”: A critical reading in the modern sources

• Main Author: Humaidan Abdullah Al-Humaidan
• Format: Article
• Language: Arabic
• Published: King Saud University 1992-01-01
• Series: Journal of Educational Sciences
• Subjects: The Early Schools; Legal Thought in Islam; Islam; Ahl Al-Hadith; Ahl Arra’ y; Islamic Law
• Online Access: https://jis.ksu.edu.sa/sites/jis.ksu.edu.sa/files/v4n11992-4_0.pdf

It is apparent from reading the modern sources on the history of Islamic Law, that the authors of these sources divided the legal movements during the followers period “Attabi in" into two different trends. One of them was that of the Hijazi school, which according to those authors, based its legal decision solely on the Qur’an and the Sunnah, and they adhere to the letter of the law in them, without the use of their independent reasoning “ra ‘y": therefore, they were called ‘Ahl Al-Hadith", the traditionalists. The other school was that of the Iraqi jurists who in addition to basing their legal opinions on the primary sources, also regarded the use of independent reasoning “ra “y" as a valid source of legal opinions: therefore they were called " ‘Al Arra ‘y". The authors of the contemporary sources supported their argument by several reasons to justify the differentiation between the two groups of jurists. The purpose of this study is to examine this argument, and look at its justification to see whether reasons such as those given by the authors would be sufficient to accept their conclusion on the subject.