Sunni Schools of Fiqh in the History of Islamic Law That No Longer Exist and Fuat Sezgin’s Classification

Abstract

Between the 2nd and 4th centuries after hijrah, during the period in the history Islamic law known as the time of mujtahid scholars, there have been Sunni madhhabs other than the four schools of fiqh known today. Almost all of these madhhabs (sects), which have reached numbers as high as several dozen at that time, have failed to maintain their existence and reach our time due to political and sociocultural factors. Although a small number of these schools have been able to continue their existence with small numbers of followers until the 5th century after hijrah, from the period known as the madhhab-oriented imitation period, they began to withdraw from the stage of history due to the growth of the thought that absolute Islamic jurisprudence was no longer possible and due to the fact that masses of people had turned their favor towards the four madhhabs due to direct and indirect reasons. In this study, we will try to determine which madhhabs are the ones that have failed to maintain their existence by utilizing classical and modern works and comparing these findings to Fuat Sezgin’s classification in his work titled Tarihu’t-Turasi’l- Arabi (GAS).