Glossary
Madhhab
مذهبDefinition
A school of Islamic jurisprudence — the four surviving Sunni schools are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali.
Each madhhab developed a distinct methodology for deriving rulings from the Quran, Sunnah, consensus, and analogy. Differences on commercial fiqh tend to be smaller than differences on ritual practice, but they exist (notably on salam, currency exchange, and some forms of partnership).
Modern Islamic finance bodies like AAOIFI tend to synthesise across the madhahib rather than follow one strictly.