Zahirites
The Zahirites ( Arabic ظاهرية Ẓāhiriyya , DMG Ẓāhirīya , in German also Zahirija ) is a now no longer practiced legal school of Islam ( Madhhab ), which goes back to the scholar Da'ud ibn Chalaf , wholivedin Iraq in the 9th century. Their ideas are similar to those of the groups that may be present today. a. are known as Wahhabism or Salafism and are characterized by a particular severity.
Basics of the Zahirites
The name of this madhhab is derived from the Arabic term zahir /ظاهر / ẓāhir from, which means "visible", "obvious" or "clear".
The central teaching of the Zahirites was that they derived their legal opinions ( fatwa ) from a literal understanding of the Koran and Sunna , as they took the view that these sources could only be understood through literal interpretation. The method of the literal derivation from the Koran and Sunna makes this system of jurisdiction ( Fiqh ) very simple. As a result, however, it also differed greatly from most other schools of law, as it strictly rejected the methods of analogy ( Qiyas ) and free argumentation ( Ra'y ) and only tolerated consensus ( Idschmāʿ ) as permissible in a few cases. Furthermore, this madhhab strictly rejected an anthropomorphic or secular image of God, since God can only be understood through his properties.
Reasons for understanding the Koran and Sunnah
The Zahirites justified their understanding with Sura 16, verses 102-104:
- 102 Say: The Holy Spirit [ Gabriel ] has revealed him from your Lord in the truth, in order to strengthen those who believe, and as guidance and good news for the devotees [Muslims]. 103 And We know very well that they say, 'Only a human being teaches him.' The language of the person they are referring to is a foreign one, while this is clearly Arabic. 104 God does not guide those who do not believe in God's signs, and there will be painful punishment for them.
By the last section of verse 103 they legitimized their fundamentalist and literal interpretation as the only legitimate basis of Islam .
distribution
The Zahirist law school of Da'ud ibn Chalaf originated in Iraq in the 9th century. Since at this time the umma (the totality of Muslims) was divided by many differences of opinion in the legal sciences ( fiqh ), Zahiritentum quickly gained popularity due to its simplicity and its fundamentalist exegesis of the sources and soon spread to distant, then Muslim-populated Spain where this school was spread by the Zahirite Ibn Hazm and later became a permanent legal system for fifteen years under Sultan Yaʿqūb al-Mansūr in the 12th century .
The end of the Zahirites
Within Islam, up to the 14th century, Zahirism remained a point of orientation in times of divided opinions, because its "purity of interpretations" provided the best support in these times. It seems as if the Zahirites subsequently risen in the midst of the Hanbalites , the strictest of the four remaining large schools of law . Their fundamental ideas can be found in groups that separated themselves from the Hanbalites (such as the Salafis or Wahhabis ), which form the basis of the teachings of Islamist organizations.
The ideals and the apparent “purity” of the Zahiritic doctrine influenced the ideas and the history of Muslims to this day through groups that are inclined to their ideas and have a disproportionate influence in the Islamic world (e.g. Salafites ).
The Sha'rani writings have preserved some of the ordinances made under the Zahirist legal system. These regulations are very detailed and mostly relatively rigid. Only in a few cases can they be used flexibly, which is an obvious problem with the zahirist system.
literature
- Ignaz Goldziher : The Zahirites: Their teaching system and their history. Contribution to the history of Muhammadan theology. Otto Schulze Publishing House, Leipzig 1884.