The Evolution Of Fiqh by Bilal Philips

This Madh-hab traces its origin to one of ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib’s great grandsons through his son al-Husayn. Imaam Zayd’s father, ‘Alee Zayn al-‘Aabideen, was well known for his great legal knowledge and his narration of Hadeeths. Born in al-Madeenah in the year 700 CE, Zayd ibn ‘Alee soon became one of the foremost scholars of the ‘Alawee family. He narrated Hadeeths from all of his relatives including his older brother, Muhammad al-Baaqir.137 Zayd expanded his knowledge by travelling to the other major centers of learning in Iraq, Kufah, Basrah and wasit, where he sat and exchanged views with his contemporaries like Abu Haneefah and Sufyaan ath-Thawree.

The Umayyad caliph, Hishaam ibn ‘Abdul-Malik (reign 724- 743 CE) never missed an opportunity to degrade and humiliate the ‘Alawee family and Zayd ibn ‘Alee was often singled out for abuse.

He was not allowed to leave the city of Madeenah without the permission of its governor and his repuests for permission were often turned down repeatedly. Eventually, Zayd became the first of ‘Alee’s descendants to try to wrest the caliphate from the Umayyads after the catstrophe at Karbalaa. He travelled sectetly to Kufah where he was joined by the Shi’ites of Iraq, Wasit and other places, and made preparation to do battle with the Umayyads. A number of his relatives warned him against depending on the Kufans, as it was their betrayal of Imaam Husayn which led to his untimely death, but he did not heed their warnings. Before his preparations were complete, disputes arose among his new followers when they found out that he did not consider the first caliphs, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, to be apostates who stole the caliphate from his grandfather. The majority of his followers broke away from him and declared his nephew, Ja’far as-Sadiq, to be the Imaam of the time instead of Zayd.

Hishaam’s army took advantage of the confusion and made a surprise attack on Kufah. Only a little more than four hundred followers rallied to Imaam Zayd’s side and he was killed during the fighting which ensued. 138

Imaam Zayd was a scholar concerned mainly with the narration of Hadeeths and recitation of the Qur’aan. He taught in circles of learning in the cities of Madeenah, Basrah, Kufah and Wasit, and thus had a large number of students. The method used by Zayd was that of narrating Hadeeths and teaching the art of Qur’anic recitation. If legal questions were raised, he would solve them or choose an opinion of one of his contemporaries like the jurist ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn Abee Laylaa. The rulings of the Madh-hab were not dictated nor recorded by Zayd himself; but by his students.

The jurists of the Madh-hab evolved the following Sources from Imaam Zayd’s rulings as the basis from which they deduced Islamic laws.

The Qur’aan was considered the primary source of Islamic law.

The existing cop0y of the Qur’aan was considered to be complete without any of the deletions claimed by many extremist Shi’ite sects.

The sayings, actions and approvals of the Prophet (s.w.) were considered the second most important source of Islamic law. The Sunnah was not restricted to narrations of the ‘Alawee family or their followers, but included all reliable narration.

Rulings and statements of ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib which were not merely his personal opinions were considered by Imaam Zayd to be a part of the Sunnah. That is, If ‘Alee did not say or imply that it was his opinion, then Zayd assumed that it was from the Prophet (s.w.). However, Zayd did not accept everything attributed to ‘Alee and somethimes made rulings contrary to what were claimed to be ‘Alee’s rulings. For example, it is reported that ‘Alee ruled that Zakaah could be collected from orphans while Zayd ruled that it could not.

Zayd recognized the Ijmaa’ of the Sahaabah as a source of Islamic law. Hence, although he felt that his grandfather was better suited for leadership than Caliphs Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmaan, the unanimous acceptance of their caliphate by the Sahaabah made it, in his opinion, legally binding.

According to the jurists of this Madh-hab, both the principles of Istihsaan and that of Istislaah involved a form of analogical deduction. Consequently, they considered them a part of what was known a Qiyaan in the other Madh-hab

Human intellect was considered as a source of Islamic law in ce where none o the previous sources was applicable. As a youth, Imaan Zayd had met and studied under Waasil ibn ‘Ataa, founder of the Mu’tazilite school of thought. The Mu’tazilites were the first to propound the principle of ‘Aql; whatever, the intellect considered good was good and whatever it consedered bad was bad. However, according to the Mu’taziah, ‘Aql came directly after the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and thus they rejected Qiyaas, as well as the opinions of the Sahaabah,139 whereas Imaam Zayd placed the principle of ‘Aql last and recognized Qiyaas.

Imaam Zayd’s students recorded the Madh-hab. However, they also included the rulings of others scholars form the ‘Alawee family as well as Zayd’s contemporaries.

‘Amr ibn hai was perhaps the most famous of Imaam Zayd’s students. He spent a long time with him in Madeenah and accompanied him on most of his journeys. ‘Amr compiled Imaam Zayd’s teaching in two major works entitled Majmoo’ al-Hadeeth and Mjmoo’ al-Fiqh. Together they are called al-Majmoo’ alKabeer. Although all of the Hadeeth narrations in Majmoo’ alHadeeth are from the ‘Alawee family they all have corresponding narrations in the famous six books of Hadeeth.

The Zaydees did not restrict themselves to the rulings of the Husaynee side of the ‘Alawee family. Hence, the opinions of alQaasim ibn Ibraaheem al-Hasanee (787-857 CE), who became renowned for his scholarship, were also included in the rulings of the Zaydee Madh-hab. However, al-Qaasim’s grandson, al-Haadee elaa al-Haqq, who was made the Imaam of Yemen, made an even greater impact on the Madh-hab. An Islamic state was set up in Yemen according to the Zaydee Madh-hab which gave it a firm footing and ensured its survival till today.

Al-Hasan, known as an-Naasir al-Kabeer, was a contemporaryof alHaadee. He taught the Zaydee Madh-hab in Dailam and Jeelan. He was a great scholar and its considered by his successors as the reviver of the Madh-hab.140

Today, the followers of this Madh-hab are mostly found in Yemen where it is the Madh-hab of the Majority of its inhabitans.