The Maliki School of Thought in Africa: Its Origins, Characteristics, and Trials in the PeriodBetween the Second and Fifth Centuries AH / Eighth and Eleventh Centuries AD

Abstract

IN this article to highlight the importance of the Maliki school of thought in Ifriqiya. It managed to endure and remain steadfast, ultimately prevailing over all other schools despite their diversity and the political authorities’ support for them. I divided the work into three parts. The first part focuses on the reasons behind the spread of the Maliki school in Ifriqiya — primarily intellectual, political, and social factors. The second part examines the characteristics of the Maliki school that enabled it to survive and expand in Ifriqiya, as its features closely aligned with the customs and temperament of its people. The third and final part is devoted to the trials the Maliki school endured, which occurred in two main phases: the first during the Aghlabid dynasty, which adopted the Hanafi school as its official doctrine, and the second during the Fatimid dynasty, which was the most severe and violent period for the scholars and inhabitants of Kairouan.Despite the hardships they faced, the followers of the Maliki school adopted various methods of resistance until they ultimately triumphed — eradicating the Shi‘i doctrine from Ifriqiya as a whole and firmly establishing Malikism in the hearts of its people.