Miongoni mwa Maimamu kulikuwa na baadhi yao waliounda kanuni kadhaa zenye utata ambazo walizitegemea katika baadhi ya hukumu zao. Matokeo yake, hukumu hizo pamoja na kanuni hizo zikawa chanzo cha tofauti miongoni mwa wanazuoni wa fiqhi. Kwa mfano, wanazuoni wengi walikubali uhalali wa Ijmaa' miongoni mwa vizazi vilivyokuja baada ya Maswahaba, lakini Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee alitilia shaka kutokea kwake, ilhali Imaam Ahmad aliikataa kabisa. Vivyo hivyo, wanazuoni wengi walikataa kitendo cha Imaam Maalik cha kutegemea desturi za watu wa Madina kama chanzo cha sheria. Na kanuni ya Imaam Abu Haneefah ya Istihsaan pamoja na Istislaah ya Maalik zote mbili zilikataliwa na Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee kwa kuwa zinajitenga mno na Qur'aan, Sunnah, na Ijmaa'. Yaani, kwa maoni yake, zilitegemea mno akili ya kibinadamu.

There were among the Imaams some who developed a number of controversial principles on which they based some of their rulings. As a result, both the rulings and the principles became source of differences among jurists. For example, the majority of jurists recognized the validity of Ijmaa’ among the generations after the Sahaabah, but Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee questioned its occurrence while Imaam Ahmad rejected it outright. Similarly the majority of jurists rejected Imaam Maalikreliance on the customs of the Madeenites as a source of legislation. And Imaam Abu Haneefah’s principle of Istihsaan and Maalik’s Istislaah were both disallowed by Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee as being too independent of the Qur’aan, the Sunnah, and Ijmaa’. That is to say, they relied too much, in his opinion, on human reasoning.

Kwa upande mwingine, Imamu ash-Shaafi'i aliona kwamba kauli ya Masahaba ilipaswa kukubaliwa katika mambo ya kisheria, ilhali wengine waliona kwamba ilikuwa ni ijtihadi yao tu, ambayo haikuwa ya lazima kwa vizazi vilivyofuata.181

On the other hand, Imaam ash-Shaafi’ee felt that the opinion of the Sahaabah had to be accepted on legal matters, while others felt that it was only reasoning on their part which was not binding later generations.181