Zahiri

Ẓāhirī (Arabic: ظاهري‎‎) madhhab or al-Ẓāhirīyyah (Arabic: الظاهرية‎‎) — a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence founded by Dawud al-Zahiri in the ninth century CE, characterized by reliance on the manifest (zahir) meaning of expressions in the Qur'an and hadith as well as rejection of analogical deduction (qiyas). After a limited success and decline in the Middle East, the Zahiri school flourished in Spain, particularly under the leadership of Ibn Hazm.

Although the Zahiri school is commonly characterized as extinct, it still retains a measure of influence and is recognized by contemporary Islamic scholars. In particular, members of the Ahl-i Hadith movement identify themselves with the Zahiri school of thought.

While those outside the school of thought often point to Dawud al-Zahiri (815–883/4 CE) as the "founder" of the school, followers of the school themselves tend to look to earlier figures such as Sufyan al-Thawri and Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh as the forerunners of Zahiri principles.Umm al-Qura University professor Abdul Aziz al-Harbi has argued that the first generation of Muslims followed the school's methods and therefore it can be called "the school of the first generation."

The Zahiri school was initially called the Dawudi school after Dawud al-Zahiri himself and attracted many adherents, although they felt free to criticize his views, in line with the school's rejection of taqlid. By the end of the 10th century, members of the madhhab were appointed as qadis in Baghdad, Shiraz, Isfahan, Firuzabad, Ramla, Damascus, Fustat, and Bukhara.

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