Risala fi al-Taassub al-Madhhabi - ضمن «Athar al-Muallimi»
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Risala fi al-Taassub al-Madhhabi (Treatise on School Partisanship) is a short treatise on juristic partisanship and adherence to legal schools by the Yemeni hadith scholar and jurist Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (1312–1386 AH / 1894–1966 CE), published within his collected works, Athar al-Muallimi .
Manuscript and Publication
The treatise survives in a four-page autograph manuscript held at the Library of the Grand Mosque in Mecca under shelf mark no. 4786, found within a notebook containing miscellaneous writings . It was published as the fifth treatise in volume 19 of Athar al-Muallimi and is cataloged among his works under number 96 .
Themes and Contents
The treatise addresses the historical emergence of school partisanship (ta'assub) among the followers of the legal imams, its causes, its consequences, and how it should be redressed .
- Foundations of Religion and Non-Infallibility of the Imams: The work begins by establishing that religion is God's revealed law (shar' Allah), derived directly from the Quran and the Sunnah whenever possible, or through a trustworthy intermediary . Al-Muallimi highlights that early scholars were subject to human error, as certain texts might not reach an imam, or might reach him through an unauthenticated route . He cites how rulings were retracted when evidence emerged, and notes that early authorities—such as Abu Hanifa, Malik, and al-Shafi'i—explicitly forbade followers from blind imitation (taqlid), as recorded by al-Muzani in the opening of his Mukhtasar .
- Historical Evolution of Partisanship: In early times, laymen consulted whichever scholar was available without confining themselves to a specific school . Over time, scholarly competence declined, personal inclinations spread, and strict adherence to schools solidified . Later jurists treated the sayings of their founding imams as fundamental principles (usul), elaborating branch rulings (furu') through analogy and pure conjecture—including far-fetched or impossible hypothetical scenarios . Subsequent generations replicated this process on the statements of earlier commentators, leading to rulings that frequently contradicted textual evidence and the objectives of the law .
- Typology of Jurists: Al-Muallimi explains that despite the spread of madhhabs, the Muslim community never collectively abandoned engagement with the Quran and the Sunnah . He divides scholars into three distinct categories:
- Independent scholars (mustaqill), whose affiliation to a madhhab was nominal only .
- Affiliated scholars (multazim), who adhered to a madhhab generally but adopted superior evidence whenever it contradicted their school's position .
- Strictly bound partisans (mutaqayyid), who acted as stubborn defense advocates for their school, rejecting or misinterpreting contrary evidence and unjustifiably attacking differing views to secure victory for their madhhab .
The surviving autograph text concludes after outlining the prejudice and lack of fairness exhibited by rigid partisans in defending fallible positions .
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