Source

The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law, 9th-10th Centuries C.E.

Christopher Melchert is a scholar of early Islamic law, and this academic book, published by the academic press Brill, traces the historical process by which the classical Sunni schools of jurisprudence, such as the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools, actually formed and consolidated between the ninth and tenth centuries, working from early Islamic legal and biographical sources. Its strength is close source based reconstruction of a formation process later tradition sometimes presents as more settled and linear than the earliest evidence actually supports. Its limit is that it is a specialized academic study aimed at readers with background in early Islamic history, focused specifically on the schools' institutional formation rather than serving as an introduction to their substantive legal content.

Facts

Citation

Author

Christopher Melchert

Publisher

Brill

Publication Year

1997

URL

https://archive.org/details/formationofsunni0000melc

Source Type

academic monograph

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Christopher Melchert's scholarly study, published by Brill, of the historical formation of the surviving Sunni legal schools in the ninth and tenth centuries.

Notes

Scholarly study of the historical formation of the surviving Sunni legal schools (madhabs) in the ninth and tenth centuries. Use for established historical facts about the formation of Sunni legal schools.

Connections

Associated With

Sunni

This source names Sunni directly: "process by which the classical Sunni schools of jurisprudence, such as the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali schools, actually formed and consolidated between the ninth and tenth centuries..."

Source The Formation of the Sunni Schools of Law, 9th-10th Centuries C.E.Christopher Melchert

Claims Backed By This Source (77 claims)

This source backs 77 claims across the atlas. As facts: 54 well-attested. As cited relationships: 6 holds. Plus 17 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Schools of Religious Law, 34 claims: 29 well-attested, 1 holds, 4 general references.
Articles, 15 claims: 9 well-attested, 6 general references.
Doctrines, 9 claims: 1 well-attested, 4 holds, 4 general references.
Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
Beliefs & Restrictions, 6 claims: 5 well-attested, 1 general references.
Denominations, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
Historical Figures, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.