Ushbu bosqich 950 milodiy yildan Bag‘dodning talon-taroj qilinishigacha (1259 milodiy) bo‘lgan davrni o‘z ichiga oladi va ‘Abbosiylar sulolasining zaiflashishi hamda oxir-oqibat qulashini ifodalaydi. Munaazarah deb ataladigan raqobatli munozaralar ‘Abbosiy xalifalarining homiyligida davom etdi va ushbu munozaralarning ba’zilari kitoblarda qayd etildi. Vaqt o‘tishi bilan, asosan shu munozaralar tufayli yuzaga kelgan raqobat ruhi omma orasiga ham yoyildi va mazhabchilik keng tarqaldi. Mazhablar soni keskin kamaydi, omon qolgan to‘rtta mazhabning tuzilishi va faoliyati juda tartibga solingan bo‘ldi. Muayyan mazhabga mansub olimlar o‘z ijtihodlarini faqat o‘sha mazhabning asosiy qoidalari (usul) asosida qurishga majbur edilar. Ushbu davrda fiqh to‘plamlari yanada rasmiylashtirildi va mazhablar o‘rtasidagi raqobatni kuchaytirish uchun ishlatildi.

This stage covers the period between the year 950 CE and the sacking of Baghdad (1259 CE) and represents the decline of the ‘Abbaasid dynasty until its eventual collapse. Competitive debates called MunaadHaraat continued to flourish under the patronage of the ‘Abbaasid caliphs and some of these debates were actually recorded in books. In time, the spirit of rivalry largely generated by these debates spread to the masses, and Madh-hab factionalism became widespread. There was a drastic reduction in the number of Madh-habs, and the structure and operatin of the four that survived became highly systematized. Scholars within a Madh-hab were obliged to base their Ijtihaads solely on the fundamental principles (Usool) of their particular Madh-hab. During this period the compilation of Fiqh was further fomalized and used to further Madhhab rivalry.

Bu bosqichda asosiy mazhablar soni to'rttagacha kamaydi: uchtasi yirik, bittasi esa kichik mazhab edi. Boshqacha aytganda, al-Awzaa'iy, Sufyon ath-Thavriy, Ibn Abee Laylaa, Abu Savr va al-Layth ibn Sa'd kabi buyuk imomlarning mazhablari yo'qolib ketdi va faqat Abu Hanifa, Molik, ash-Shofi'iy hamda Ahmad ibn Hanbal mazhablari qoldi. Vaqt o'tishi bilan bu huquqiy fikr maktablari shunchalik ustun bo'lib ketdiki, oddiy xalq boshqa maktablar umuman mavjud bo'lganini ham unutdi. Har bir maktab ko'p o'tmay o'ziga xos harakatchanlikka ega bo'ldi va ularning izdoshlari o'zlarini tegishli mazhablari nomi bilan atay boshladilar. Masalan, "Sharh as-Sunnah" fiqh asarining muallifi al-Husayn ibn Mas'ud al-Bag'aviy shofi'iy mazhabiga mansub bo'lgani uchun shofi'iy deb ataladi.

During this stage, the number of major Madh-habs (schools of Islamic law) dwindled to four; three major and one minor. In order words , the Madh-habs of great Imaams like al-Awzaa’ee, Sufyaan ath-Thawree, Ibn Abee Laylaa, Abu Thawr and al-Layth ibn Sa’d had all disappeared leaving only the Madh-habs of Abu Haneefah, Maalik, ash-Shaafi’ee and Ahmad ibn Hambal. In time, these schools of Islamic legal thought became so predominant that the common people soon forgot that any other schools, even existed. Each of these schools soon took on a dynamism of its own and their followers started the practice of naming themselves after their respective Madh-habs. For example, al-Husayn ibn Mas’oud alBaghawee, author of the Fiqh classic, Sharh as-Sunnah, was Shaafi’ee after the Shaafi’ee Madh-hab.

Bu bosqichda har bir mazhab olimlari o'z mazhabining asoschi imomlari barcha hukmlarini tahlil qilib, ularning hukmlari ortidagi asosiy qoidalarni chiqarib oldilar va ularni tartibga solib kodifikatsiya qildilar. Shuningdek, asoschilar duch kelmagan masalalarda cheklangan ijtihodlar ham qildilar. Biroq, sud munozaralari ichida va tashqarisida faraziy fiqhning keng tarqalishi tufayli bu soha tez orada tugab qoldi.

During this stage the scholars of each Madh-hab analysed all the rulings of their Madh-habs’ founding scholars, deduced the fundamental principles behind their rulings and codified them. They also made limited Ijtihaads on issues which the founders had not come across. However, this area soon became exhausted due to the widespread use of hypothetical Fiqh, in and outside of court debates.

Oxir-oqibat, mustaqil ijtihod o‘rniga muayyan bir mazhabning qaror topgan usullariga asoslangan ijtihod ustunlik qildi.

Ultimately independent Ijtihaad was discarded in favor of Ijtihaad based upon the established principles of a particular Madh-hab.

Ijtihod madhhabiy deb ataladigan bu yangi fikr yuritish usuli yangi masalalar uchun hukmlarni chiqarishga asoslangan edi. Bu davr olimlari furu' (ikkinchi darajali qoidalar) masalalarida ba'zan o'z madhhablarining asoschilari bilan ixtilof qilishgan, ammo usul (asosiy qoidalar) masalalarida esa kam uchragan.