Refuting Islam

⚖️ Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh): What the Schools Really Teach — and Why It Matters

All roads lead to Sharia — just with slightly different scenery.

📘 What Is Fiqh?

Fiqh means “understanding” in Arabic — specifically, understanding Islamic law based on the Quran, Hadith, consensus (ijma), and legal analogy (qiyas).
It is the practical implementation of Sharia, covering everything from prayer to warfare, marriage to apostasy, finance to blasphemy.
While the Quran and Hadith are considered divine, fiqh is man-made — but binding based on centuries of consensus.

Fiqh is NOT just about personal worship. It includes:

Hudud laws (fixed punishments)
Jihad law
Marriage, divorce, and inheritance
Status of non-Muslims
Lying (taqiyya)
Court procedures and testimony

🧱 The 5 Major Schools of Islamic Law

Name	Type	Origin	Founder	Regions
Hanafi	Sunni	Iraq (8th c.)	Abu Hanifa	South Asia, Turkey, Balkans, Central Asia
Maliki	Sunni	Medina (8th c.)	Malik ibn Anas	North Africa, West Africa
Shafi’i	Sunni	Egypt (8th–9th c.)	Al-Shafi’i	East Africa, SE Asia, parts of Egypt and Syria
Hanbali	Sunni	Baghdad (9th c.)	Ahmad ibn Hanbal	Saudi Arabia, Qatar (source of Wahhabism)
Ja'fari (Twelver)	Shia	Kufa, Iraq (8th c.)	Ja'far al-Sadiq	Iran, Iraq, Lebanon (Hezbollah), Bahrain

🔍 Core Differences — But Same Foundations

While the schools differ in methods and minor rulings, they all agree on:

The Quran and Hadith as ultimate sources
The perfection of Muhammad
The supremacy of Islam
Apostasy laws
Jihad doctrine
Gender inequality
Legal inferiority of non-Muslims

Their disagreements are typically in:

Evidence requirements (e.g., how many witnesses)
Level of punishment (e.g., lashes vs death)
Jurisdictional scope (can certain laws be enforced today?)
Importance of reason vs tradition (e.g., Hanafi uses more qiyas than Hanbali)

🧨 Where They All Agree — the Unchangeables

Issue	Hanafi	Maliki	Shafi’i	Hanbali	Ja'fari (Shia)
Apostasy = Death	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ (with differences for women)
Blasphemy = Death	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ (even stricter in some cases)
Stoning for adultery	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Amputation for theft	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Beating disobedient wives	✅ (Quran 4:34)	✅	✅	✅	✅
Two women = one man in testimony	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Polygamy for men only (up to 4)	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Non-Muslims inferior in law	✅ (dhimmi system)	✅	✅	✅	✅
Slavery permitted	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Jihad is a legal obligation	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ (though Shia delay offensive jihad until the Mahdi returns)

📌 All schools accept the same Quran.
All accept the same “perfect” Prophet.
All accept the same violence and supremacy as divine law.

🏛 Deeper Dive by School

🕌 1. Hanafi (Sunni) – The most flexible, but still lethal

Founded by Abu Hanifa in Kufa (Iraq), 8th century.
Known for emphasizing reason and analogy (qiyas).
Popular in South Asia, Turkey, Balkans, Central Asia.

Still enforces:

Death for apostates
Stoning for adultery
Legal inferiority of women
Dhimmi system
Hudud punishments

📌 Moderate in tone — not in doctrine.

🕌 2. Maliki (Sunni) – The Medinan preservationist

Founded by Malik ibn Anas, who relied heavily on the practices of early Muslims in Medina.
Emphasizes 'Amal Ahl al-Madina (practice of the people of Medina).
Dominant in North Africa, West Africa, parts of the Arabian Peninsula.

Special feature:

More conservative on blasphemy — almost no room for forgiveness.

📌 Claimed to follow the Prophet’s city — preserved the Prophet’s punishments.

🕌 3. Shafi’i (Sunni) – The legal perfectionist

Founded by Imam Al-Shafi’i, who formalized the principles of usul al-fiqh.
Gives Hadith primacy over reason or analogy.
Official school in Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt (partially), East Africa.

Rulings from Reliance of the Traveller (Shafi’i):

Kill apostates (o8)
Kill blasphemers (o9.14)
Enforce jizya on non-Muslims (o11)
Permit wife-beating and FGM (m10.12, e4.3)

📌 It’s the most systematized — and the most quoted in Islamic institutions.

🕌 4. Hanbali (Sunni) – Literalist and root of Wahhabism

Founded by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, based strictly on Quran and Sahih Hadith.
Rejects analogy, consensus beyond the first generations, and philosophical reasoning.
Dominant in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Wahhabi and Salafi movements.

Key features:

Harshest on women
Applies hudud at face value
Political Islam is central — no secularism

📌 ISIS and al-Qaeda use Hanbali or pseudo-Hanbali ideology.

🕌 5. Ja’fari (Shia) – Different starting point, same ending

Founded on the teachings of Ja’far al-Sadiq (6th Shia Imam).
Central in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain.

Unique Features:

Allows temporary marriage (mut’ah)
Delays offensive jihad until return of the Mahdi
Some leniency in women's rights in inheritance

But still affirms:

Death for apostates
Killing blasphemers
Sharia supremacy
Legal discrimination against Sunnis and non-Muslims

📌 Politically reformist when weak — theocratic enforcers when strong (e.g., Iran).

🧨 Final Truth: "Differences" Don’t Matter When the Foundations Are the Same

While the four Sunni schools and the Shia school may argue over how to apply the law…

They agree on:

Who the law serves (Muslims only),
Who must submit (non-Muslims),
What the prophet did (perfect),
And what the punishment is (violence, stoning, beheading, control).

The schools are not branches.
They are parallel engines of the same machine.

✅ Final Word

Islam doesn’t have sects of peace vs violence.

It has legal traditions, all grounded in the same foundation:

A prophet who waged war, married a child, and ordered executions.
A book that mandates supremacy, inequality, and conquest.
A law that punishes dissent with death.

Reform? Rejected.
Moderation? Surface only.
Sharia? Always enforced — sooner or later.

All five schools lead to the same outcome.
Only the tone and timing differ.