The Zahiri Madhhab (3rd/9th-10th/16th Century): A Textualist Theory of Islamic Law (Studies in Islamic Law and Society)

In this book, Amr Osman seeks to expand and re-interpret what we know about the history and doctrine of the hir "madhhab." Based on an extensive prosopographical survey, he concludes that the founder, D w d al- hir, was closer in profile and doctrine to the "Ahl al-Ra y" than to the "Ahl al- ad th." Furthermore, Ibn azm al-Andalus may have had a damaging effect on the "madhhab," which never actually developed into a full-fledged school of law. By examining the meaning of " hir" and modern scholarship on literalism, he challenges the view that hirism was literalist, proposing textualism as an accurate reflection of its premises, methodology, and goals as a hermeneutical and legal theory."