Zahiri

Zahiri, also known as the Zahirite or Ahl al-Zahir, is a historic school of Islamic jurisprudence and the label for its adherents. It derives its name from the Arabic zahir, meaning outward or apparent, reflecting its emphasis on the apparent meaning of the texts.

Doctrine and sources: The Zahiri school advocates strict textualism in interpreting the Qur'an and hadith, prioritizing the literal or apparent wording. It generally rejects taqlid (imitation) and is famous for opposing analogical reasoning (qiyas) as a primary source of law, arguing that law should be derived directly from explicit textual evidence rather than from juristic speculation. The school also assesses consensus and other methods by their anchorage in the textual sources.

Founding and key figures: The school is traditionally associated with Dawud ibn Khalaf al-Zahiri (d. 883 CE), who formulated its approach in Basra and Baghdad during the 9th century. A prominent later Zahiri scholar was Ibn Hazm of Córdoba (994–1064), author of Al-Muhalla, who extended Zahiri doctrines in al-Andalus.

History and influence: The Zahiri tradition remained a significant though minority current within Sunni Islam. It spread to intellectual centers across the Islamic world, including al-Andalus, but gradually declined by the 11th–12th centuries as the four main Sunni schools (Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanbali) predominated. Some Zahiri thought persisted in particular regions and among certain scholars, contributing to debates on textual interpretation and jurisprudence.

Legacy: Today, Zahiri denotes a historical school and, more broadly, a tendency toward maximal textual literalism in jurisprudence and Qur’anic exegesis. The term survives in scholarly usage as “Zahirite” or “Ahl al-Zahir.”