Ẓāhirī

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Ẓāhirī (Arabic: ظاهري‎), is a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence. The founder of this school was Daud ibn Khalaf (d. 270/883),^[1] better known as Daud al-Zahiri because of his insistence on sticking to the manifest (zahir) or literal meaning of expressions in the Qur'an and the Sunnah; the school and its followers are called Zahiriyah.

Among the textual evidence for their claim, the Zahirists use verses similar to "...this is a clear Arabic language" (Quran 16:103) to back their view. Anyone, in their understanding, possessing knowledge of the Arabic language is able to understand the message of God inasmuch is necessary to fulfill his religious duties.

However, it should be known that the name Zahiri itself is not endorsed by the adherents of this method, using other textual proof to suggest that there is no name to be known by except what has been mentioned thereby in the religious texts. God said, "He named you submitters [Arabic muslimeen) from before and in this." (Quran 22:76) Ibn Hazm, a well-known practitioner and teacher of this school, would refer to himself and those who followed this view as ashab al-zahir, or "the people of the literal sense," defining rather than labeling.

In history the Zahiri understanding has been persecuted by those preferring to interpret the texts by their inward meanings;^{[citation needed]} this happened to such an extent that many of the scholars of Sunni and Shi'ite religion have labeled the Zahiri school extinct, but it is not clear that this is the case.^{[citation needed]}

The modern Salafi movement can be described as influenced by the Zahiri school.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Zahir

[edit] References

1. ^ Wael B. Hallaq, The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law (Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 124.

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