Schools of Thought

Lived

699 – 767 CE (80 – 150 AH)

Regions

Kufa, later the Ottoman and Mughal lands

Extensive use of qiyas (analogy) and istihsan (juristic preference), with careful scrutiny of narrations and a strong tradition of collective legal reasoning among his students.

Lived

711 – 795 CE (93 – 179 AH)

Regions

Madinah, North and West Africa, al-Andalus

Gives weight to 'amal ahl al-Madinah — the living practice of the people of Madinah — alongside the Quran, Sunnah, consensus and considerations of public interest (masalih mursala).

Lived

767 – 820 CE (150 – 204 AH)

Regions

Egypt, the Levant, East Africa, Southeast Asia

Systematised legal theory: the Quran, then authentic Sunnah, then consensus, then analogy — in a strict, documented order. His Risala founded the science of usul al-fiqh.

Lived

780 – 855 CE (164 – 241 AH)

Regions

Baghdad, later the Arabian Peninsula

Strong preference for narration over opinion: acts on hadith and the statements of the Companions wherever they are found, resorting to analogy only when necessary.