Ndani ya robo karne ya kwanza ya kipindi hiki, umma wa Kiislamu ulipata pigo kubwa la kisiasa na kijamii lililosababisha kuibuka kwa madhehebu na makundi kadhaa. Makubwa zaidi yalikuwa yale yaliyosababishwa na uasi wa Khawaarij,100 Shee'ah,101 na 'Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr pamoja na wafuasi wake.102 Mashindano ya mara kwa mara ya makundi haya yanayopingana kuwania udhibiti wa serikali yalisababisha hali ya jumla ya machafuko.

Within the first quarter of a century of this period, the Muslim nation suffered a number of devastating socio-political blows which caused a number of sects and factions to appear. The most serious were those caused by rebellions of the Khawaarij,100 the Shee’ah,101 and ‘Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr and his followers.102 The constant vying of these contending elements for control of the government resulted in a general state of turmoil.

Makundi mawili ya kwanza, Khawaarij na Shee'ah, baadaye yalibadilika kuwa madhehebu ya kidini yaliyounda mifumo yao maalum ya Fiqh. Yakitegemea tafsiri zisizo za kawaida za Qur'aan na Sunnah zilizoendana na mitazamo yao ya kisiasa na kijamii, yalikataa michango ya Maswahaba wengi na Makhalifa Waongofu, yakiwatangaza kuwa ni waasi wa dini, na kuwapandisha viongozi wao wenyewe hadi hadhi ya watunga sheria.

The first two factions, the Khawaarij and the Shee’ah, later evolved into religious sects which developed their own particular systems of Fiqh. Relying on unorthodox interpretations of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah which suited their own socio-political views, they rejected the contributions of most of the Sahaabah and the Righteous Caliphs, declaring them to be apostates, and elevated their own leading figures to the rank of law makers.

Makhalifa wa Ummayad walianzisha mazoea kadhaa ambayo yalikuwa ya kawaida katika mataifa yasiyo ya Kiislamu wakati huo, kama vile Byzantium, Uajemi, na India. Mengi ya mazoea haya yalipingana waziwazi na Fiqh ya kipindi cha awali. Kwa mfano, hazina kuu, Bayt al-Maal, iligeuzwa kuwa mali binafsi ya Makhalifa na familia zao, na kodi zisizoidhinishwa na Uislamu zilianzishwa ili kuongeza zaidi utajiri wao. Muziki, wacheza densi wa kike, wachawi na wanajimu viliingizwa rasmi kama burudani katika mahakama ya Khalifa. Zaidi ya hayo, kwa kulazimishwa kukubaliwa kwa Yazeed kuwa mrithi wa kiti cha ufalme, uliowekwa na Khalifa Mu'aawiyah mwaka 679 CE, ofisi ya Ukhalifa ilibadilishwa kuwa ufalme wa kurithishana. Hivyo, uhusiano kati ya dola na Fiqh ulivunjika, na kipengele muhimu cha kuunganisha cha Madh-hab kikapotea kwa sababu hiyo.

The Umayyad Caliphs introduced a number of practices which were common in the non-Islamic states of that time, such as Byzantium, Persia, and India. Many of these practices were in clear contradiction to the Fiqh of the earlier period. For example, the central treasury, the Bayt al-Maal, was turned into the personal property of the Caliphs and their families, and taxes not sanctioned by Islaam were introduced to further increase their fortunes. Music, dancing-girls, magicians and astrologers were officially introduced as forms of amusement in the court of the Caliph. Furthermore, with the forced acceptance of Yazeed as crown prince imposed byCaliph Mu’aawiyah in the year 679 CE, the office of Caliph was converted into that of hereditary kingship. Hence the state-Fiqh link was broken and a significant unifying factor of the Madh-hab was thereby lost.

Kutokana na sababu hizi, wanazuoni wa Kiislamu (‘Ulamaa) wa kipindi hiki waliepuka kuketi katika majlisi za makhalifa, na hivyo kanuni ya Shooraa (serikali ya kushauriana) ikapotea. Kwa kila khalifa aliyefuata, serikali iliendelea kuporomoka hatua kwa hatua hadi kuwa utawala wa kifalme wa kidikteta unaofanana na serikali zisizo za Kiislamu za zama zile. Matokeo yake, baadhi ya makhalifa walijaribu kuigeuza Fiqh ili kuhalalisha upotofu wao. Ili kupambana na upotoshaji huu, na kuhifadhi Fiqh halisi kwa vizazi vya baadaye, wanazuoni walianza kukusanya na kuandika Fiqh ya kipindi cha awali.

Due to these factors, the Islamic scholars (‘Ulamaa) of this period avoided sitting in the audiences of the caliphs, and thus the principle of Shooraa (consultative government) was lost. With each successive caliph the government steadily dereriorated into a dictatorial monarchy similar to the non-Islamic governments of that day. As a result, some of the caliphs attempted to manipulate Fiqh in order to justify their deviations. To combat this distortion, and preserve authentic Fiqh for later generations, scholars began to collect and compile the Fiqh of the earlier period.

Wanachuoni wengi wa wakati huo walikimbia vituo vya kisiasa vya dola ya Bani Umayya ili kuepuka migogoro na mkanganyiko, pamoja na mateso kutoka kwa makundi mbalimbali yaliyokuwa yakishindana. Hatua hii ilisababisha kuvunjika kwa kanuni ya Ijmaa' (makubaliano ya kauli moja juu ya masuala ya sheria ya Kiislamu). Wanachuoni walipotawanywa katika dola nzima, ikawa karibu haiwezekani kupata makubaliano ya kauli moja juu ya jambo lolote jipya la kisheria. Hali hii ilisababisha ongezeko kubwa la Ijtihaad za mtu binafsi za wanachuoni, walipokuwa wakijaribu kukabiliana na wingi wa desturi na matatizo mapya katika maeneo yao wenyewe.

Many of the scholars of that fled the political centers of the ‘Umayyad state to avoid conflict and confusion as well as persecution from the various competing factions. This move resulted in a break-down the principle of Ijmaa’ (unanimous agreement on points of Islamic law). With the scholars scattered throughout the state, such unanimity on any new point of law became virtually impossible to establish. This in turn led to a significant increase in the individual Ijtihaads of scholars as they attempted to deal with the multiplicity of new customs and problems in their own areas.

Kila alipojitokeza mwanazuoni mashuhuri wa Fiqhi katika eneo fulani, wanafunzi na wanazuoni wa eneo hilo walikusanyika karibu naye. Mara nyingi, hata wanafunzi na wanazuoni kutoka maeneo mengine walijiunga nao, na kwa njia hiyo ikaundwa idadi ya madhehebu ya sheria za Kiislamu (Madh-habs).

Whenever an outstanding scholar of Fiqh arose in an area, the students and scholars in that region would gather around him. Often, even students and scholars from other regions would join them and in that way a number of schools of Islamic law (Madh-habs)

likaribu katika hatua hii yalikua. Katika kipindi hiki Abu Haneefah na Sufyaan ath-Thawree walijulikana sana huko Kufah, Maalik ibn Anas huko Madeenah, al-Awzaa'ee huko Beirut, na al-Layth ibn Sa'd huko Misri, kutaja baadhi tu.

evolved. During this stage Abu Haneefah and Sufyaan ath-Thawree became prominent in Kufah, Maalik ibn Anas in Madeenah, alAwzaa’ee in Beirut, and al-Layth ibn Sa’d in Egypt to mention a few.

Idadi ya hadithi ilizidi kadiri ya uhitaji wa taarifa ulivyoongezeka. Kwa kuwa dola ilikuwa imeacha kwa njia isiyo rasmi kutegemea Sunnah ya Mtume ﷺ, wanazuoni katika nafasi zao mbalimbali walilazimika kutafuta simulizi za kibinafsi za Sunnah zilizopokewa na Maswahaba na wanafunzi wao, ili kutoa hukumu zao za kisheria. Wakati huo huo lilijitokeza jambo jipya: maneno na matendo ya uongo yalianza kunasibishwa kwa Mtume ﷺ kwa mara ya kwanza. Ili mzushi aaminiwe, ilimlazimu kupokeza baadhi ya hadithi za kweli pamoja na mambo yake ya kubuni. Hili lilipelekea kuanza kukusanywa kwa hadithi na kukua kwa elimu ya kuchambua hadithi, jambo lililowasaidia wanazuoni waliokuja baadaye katika ijtihadi zao (hukumu za kisheria). Hata hivyo, kabla elimu ya hadithi haijakomaa, mchanganyiko wa simulizi za kweli na za uongo uliingia katika mwili wa elimu ya Kiislamu na ukatumiwa bila kukusudia na baadhi ya wanazuoni katika kufanya maamuzi. Kwa njia hii, mwili wa fiqhi isiyo sahihi uliibuka, na ukaimarishwa zaidi na maamuzi ya kifiqhi ya wanazuoni waliokataa baadhi ya hadithi za kweli kwa sababu walizijua tu kupitia wazushi wa hadithi wa maeneo yao.103

The narration of Hadeeths increased as the need for information grew. Since the state had unofficially stopped relying on the Sunnah of the Prophet (s.w.), scholars in their various capacities had to go in search of individual narrations of the Sunnah handed down by the Sahaabah and their students, in order to make their legal judgements. At the same time a new phenomenon developed: false sayings and actions began to be attributed to the Prophet (s.w.) for the first time. For a fabricator to be trusted he would have to relay some true Hadeeths along with his fabrications. This led to the beginning of the compilation of Hadeeths and the development of the science of Hadeeth critism, which aided later scholars in their Ijtihaads (legal rulings). However, before the science of Hadeeth evolved, a mixture of true and false reports worked their way into the body of Islamic knowledge and was inadvertently used by some scholars in making decisions. In this way, a body of incorrect Fiqh evolved, which was further bolstered by Fiqh decisions made by scholars who had rejected certain true Hadeeths because they were only known to them through the Hadeeth fabricators of their areas.103